In a recent clearout of ancient files, I could hardly believe my eyes that I still had a couple of mags someone had given me from 1993.  Such hoarding would normally be inexcusable, but on this occasion they were part of a box crammed with sales advice I collected from

Picture the scene.  You’re in an internal sales team meeting and people are moaning.  Product, marketplace, environment, marketing, competition, support, pricing, production, commissions.  Take your pick.  You know you shouldn’t get involved, but the herd mentality kicks in and the downward spiral destructively crashes ever deeper. I recall

And another sales tip from Newsnight (!) this time from a fella that worked inside Number Ten under Blair.  He made the interesting disclosure that on the wall of the Cabinet Office was emblazoned the quotation: “Quiet, calm deliberation disentangles every knot.”  This apparently comes from the Gilbert & Sullivan opera