grapevine

Preparation. Or lack of it. Especially when it’s a deal killer. We’ve all got these stories. Even if we pride ourselves on always doing our “research” before that pivotal first meeting. In the days immediately prior the web – yes, solution selling did take place in such a darkened

I remember long ago advice on arranging a Board Meeting agenda. It included the instruction to always have that item for which you most desire to seek agreement immediately follow a previous one which was both contentious and likely to find no agreement reached. The theory being that subconsciously, after

A Times of London Friday Arts pullout piece caught my Sales eye. “Top tips” from “theatre impresario Nica Burns”; How to have a hit in the West End: my 10-step guide. As is sadly the way, the title slightly misleads. Yet her list contained at least one useful selling spotlight;

[https://university.which.co.uk/university-of-hull-h72] English A-Level results day. What a day. The local media full of screaming teens just before they head down the pub and leave home bye-bye. “Clearing” is the well-worn process whereby those wanting to go on to uni but under-achieve, halting initial ambition, get

Flagship current affairs breakfast radio. Millions of listeners. Hopes on reviving mining in Cornwall. Exploratory drilling for known deposits of lithium begins. Will commercial quantities of the precious metal be uncovered? To end the dialogue, a final question; “So, all being well, what’s your vision for the company?” >

You can only speak when you’re holding the Speakball… Speakball is an American counselling technique I’d used on my own son when he went through a stage of throwing chairs at his teacher for which I later bought the global rights, in perpetuity. It is also something I

[http://www.cityam.com/266974/uk-has-backed-down-timeline-brexit-talks-very-first-day] As I noted a few days ago [http://salespodder.com/drop-the-macho-negotiation-stance/], salespeople unintentionally and sometimes excusably tend to be rubbish at negotiation. So those selling in Europe may well take close heed of the brexit negotiations which began yesterday in Brussels for tips. One

[http://todontlist.net/] How does your email style go down with prospects? Many years ago in the Noughties I met a guy who – a lifetime before the slack app – invented an internal email search engine delving any and all company comms. I recall him being dismissive of sending on a

I caught a TV review slot I would never normally seek. It did not seem one run with any great informative intent. More to display the insouciance of the so-called reviewers in a manner that made me wonder whether I’d be relieved of my lunch money. Yet the odd