grapevine

Overrated Business books. They are dry and self-righteous and simply drag out meaningless platitudes across hundreds of pages. I say: trust your instincts, go with your heart and work non-stop until you succeed. So reads one emailed-in proforma pop-quiz 'interview' response (in this case, to The Times) of Richard Branson's

I recently read one of those 'what I learned about' interviews. With a solution seller roughly a decade into their career, having started out in (whisper it) Marketing (but escaping by will for more excitement). The full awakening seems just beyond the horizon still, yet points indeed for the realisation

O-oh. The latest in a consistently disappointing string of BDev outreach attempts duly lands in my inbox. I noticed that you previously provided your contact details on our website, but unfortunately, despite many attempts, we weren't able to connect with you. I understand that your time is valuable, but I

There we were, in an Uber, riding to a good time. The driver was a delight. An African lady, making some much appreciated extra cash, with a wonderful lilt, full of her smile. Her tweenie youngsters were with her mother. Which we got to talking on due to her seemingly

If the first time you see a tender is when it lands in your inbox, then you will never win it. A Solution Sales aphorism if ever I heard one. And don't let the exceptions fooling you into disproving the rule. If they do miraculously occur (not gonna happen), they

Tell someone you bump into you're a salesperson, what happens? The odds are the reaction is less than ecstatic. Tell that new acquaintance you're a sales trainer, and it's likely that's put the mockers on any chance of 'rapport'. Even worse should you claim status - as does this guy

An ad for something or other. With this cyber security outfit leveraging the kudos of Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield. You do wonder to what extent he is scripted by the producers, yet there are a few salient sentences we can use in our solution selling orbit. The shortform 60sec piece

Writing recently about the huge UK Lottery supplier switch, (click here [https://salespodder.com/what-uk-80bn-bid-win-tells-us/], with an earlier less savoury example also recalled here [salespodder.com/billion-dollar-tender-fix/] ), I was reminded about another recent public sector contract award controversy. Back in 2018, the latest ten-year arrangement to produce UK passports came