grapevine

I can imagine this is a heart-warming tale that every salesperson will applaud. And then pass it on to someone they know that are possibly going down a spiralling despair of a prospecting drought thinking that their luck’s run dry. Hail the 23-yr old [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Salespeople I know tend to like business reality shows as they often revolve around selling situations. The Apprentice is probably the daddy, with Dragons’ Den not far behind. It is from this latter stable that I came across a winner’s story as documented in The Telegraph [http://www.telegraph.

In March 2003 Calvin Klein sold his fashion empire for $400m. In the Red Bull lifestyle mag [http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Red-Bulletin/001242813576014], I learned what drove him. Here’s the cracking insight which he credited with shaping his pricing policies; > As a young child

I happened to be chatting to a chap that had recently won a service contract. In neither a town nor sector renowned for its structure and process, the reason for his award appeared to be the pitching of his “Diamond Way”. The man in question enjoyed the surname Diamond and

In today’s Indy [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rudeness-at-work-can-lead-to-mistakes-2020369.html] a finding that will annoy many a sales manager. Not only those who suffer, but also those whom witness rudeness experience levels of under-performance in its aftermath. One deliberate, yet said in normal and un-angered speech,

A recent meetings-bashing piece in the Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/apr/23/meetings-work-boring-stressful-unproductive] rams home the uselessness of meetings. They quote Applied Cognitive Psychology which finds brainstorming does not work. Apparently “non-interacting individuals” in fact create better/more unique ideas. It struck me that there were

A friend of mine is part of Cisco’s delivery team. His insights showed how salesteams are viewed the same the world over. He grumbled along about how their sales people were notorious for informally asking for help, expecting it to be done “by tomorrow”, then not speaking to them

I’ve seen a documentary series on one man’s efforts to establish a new type of (dark, perhaps almost bitter) luxury chocolate to the all too sweet craving English taste buds. Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory [http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/willies-wonky-chocolate-factory/] follows our eponymous hero spend every