grapevine

The country’s longest-serving poppy seller, 92-year old Olive Cooke, threw herself to death in the Avon Gorge. Reportedly driven in part by the exhausting pursuit of charities. She appears to have received countless contacts, including 180 letters a month, from various ‘good causes’. Her friends say she was hounded

I was talking with a business owner recently. They aimed to have lots of foot soldiers. Account Managers (also known in their company parlance as Ambassadors) on the road. Physically walking from door to door. The masterplan was to get 1,600 of them up and running. I wondered what

[https://salespodder.com/content/images/wordpress/2015/02/laramorgan6mgtkeys.jpg] Reading the business section of London’s Times in a reception Monday, I came across Lara Morgan (click pic to enlarge). She apparently built Pacific Direct, supplying hotels with branded bathroom disposables. Started on her own with nothing but a

[https://salespodder.com/content/images/wordpress/2014/09/lonsdale-GBP1-carrier-bag.jpg] The shame of it, I found myself buying from Sports Direct. I’d already been asked if I’d like special insoles, for just £7 reduced from 20, by the lad that’d got my shoe size. Then at the

[http://paidpost.nytimes.com/cathay-pacific/business-travel-and-the-boost-to-your-bottom-line.html] The PR department of airline Cathay Pacific [http://paidpost.nytimes.com/cathay-pacific/business-travel-and-the-boost-to-your-bottom-line.html] splashed a fair few quid lately to ensure their message “slash travel budgets at your peril” was read by business leaders. I’m interested in this as a Sales

This little treasure had the temerity to sneak through my spam filters the other day. How’s this for a blind, cold mail. Straight to the point; > [firstname] Can we schedule a few minutes to discuss our video production work and pricing structure? We work with hundreds of technology

Over brekkie this morning I caught the promotion of ‘soft skills’ in schools. One time UK telly Dragon’s Den investor, James Caan [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Caan_%28entrepreneur%29], is the drive’s figurehead. On that show his performances were largely underwhelming. Yet he made a mint

The Tangle Teezer [http://www.tangleteezer.com/]. I was blissfully unaware of this product. Until I heard a one-time hairdresser describe his rise. For ten years he’d battled with how to untangle young ladies’ knotted hair in his salon. Gradually, his preferred method of combining comb and brush morphed

Here’s a not un-typical format for an initial email. I was shown it on a real-world printout in a live sales office. > I work with [company x] and would like to set up a meeting on how you manage [ whatever relevant buzzword] Here’s what we do, who