Topic

grapevine

A collection of 635 issues

The Emotional Transportation Business

Here’s another in a growing canon of work around the power of storytelling. Former film producer Peter Guber [www.peterguber.com] is entertainingly on the promotion trail for his tome of tips; Tell to Win – Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story. Pushing an open door

Impossible Mission The Heston Way

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heston_Blumenthal] What must the French think. For the past few years the best chefs in the world herald from beyond L’Hexagone. Heston’s Mission Impossible [http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hestons-mission-impossible] follows one such cooking-star as he tries to transform truly awful and

Rory Sutherland and The Small Stuff

Sales and Marketing make restless bedfellows. It’s hard to find good words that either side says about the other. The very fact that different ‘sides’ is accepted language belies comradeship and gives a glimpse of mistrust. So we should hail Rory Sutherland. A distinguished ad man, he certainly doesn’

Spotting Corporate Fibbers

Here’s an entertaining nugget from the Economist. How to tell when your boss is lying [http://www.economist.com/node/16847818] lifts the lid on the language people use when they lie, based on an incredible 30,000 conference calls. With typical Economist brevity it’s only five paragraphs

Old Sales Activity Survey

A quick blog on a mid/late Nineties survey into how the average sales person spends their time. Attributed to sales trainerCargill [http://www.gilcargill.com], it encompasses five straightforward possibilities. > 34% Admin tasks 32% Waiting, Travelling 15% with Customers 14% with Prospects 5% Service Calls Recognise these figures in

4-Hour Workweek On Goals

My final of third reference to the “life-hacker bible” as lived and preached by author Tim Feriss. An easy reading manifesto for ditching the Nine-to-Five trudge that urges the pursuit of experiences over cube-dwelling, one fascinating section discusses the appropriateness of goal setting. [http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/] Its System Reset

Final Risk Concerns

Here’s a pleasant article to read from a lady called Heather Baldwin through Selling Power. She cheersReasons to Celebrate Last-Minute Objections [http://www.sellingpower.com/content/newsletter/article-nr.php?ia=9089]. I flag it because I have suffered, with my own twitching ears, reps buckle at the death in

Edgecraft Shower

Why has brainstorming gathered such a relentless force behind it as a problem solving and creative juice flow panacea? I recently blogged [http://salespodder.com/brainstorming-myth/] about findings that show it to be misleading in its impact. I’ve heard all sorts of comedy terms applied to the practice in

Lean Principles

Around two decades ago, Quality was the management buzzword. Since then we’ve progressed, from Business Process Engineering through to eCommerce. In the same way high street fashion recycles, so it seems do business fads. Quality makes a return in the guise of Lean Principles. As seen on the BBC’

Chief Exec Involvement

The Miller-Heiman solution selling mailing list received an invite to participate in their annual best-practice survey last week. They teasingly included their favourite finding from last year’s [http://www.slideshare.net/alinutley/miller-heiman-sales-best-practice]. Only 7% of companies qualified inside their definition of “world-class”. I realise that you could cloud