Topic

quirky

ideas and experiences with a selling angle that come from left-field

Is Your Unique Relevant?

[http://www.thegrand.co.za/gb_main.html] I stood at the gates of a relatively new Cape Town venue on a glorious Summer’s evening. I asked the young pair on the door what it was all about. Proudly, one of them gushed, > “it’s South Africa’s

The Prospect Whisperer

Here’s a cuddly parallel that struck me as I enjoyed festive downtime. Now, I’m not one for pets. So I was amazed when National Geographic’s Dog Whisperer telly program held my attention. Our hero Cesar Millan [www.cesarsway.com] ‘rehabilitates dogs and trains people’. He takes on

Crocodile Fight

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the festive bash of a company in Cape Town the other night. The Chief Exec gave a rabble-rousing review of the year. He described how their sales growth had come in the face of much larger multi-nationals, all with huge, better funded

100 Word Story

I only ever seem to see the Reader’s Digest in health centre waiting rooms. I recently discovered their intriguing 100-word story competition [http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/magazine/179-Reader's-Digest-Main/1382-Web-Exclusives-100-word-story.html] . It alerted my sales antennae for two reasons. I’d blogged before [http://salespodder.com/political-elevator-pitch/

Six Point Steers

Long ago as a teenager, I admit to hanging out in what we used to term Maccie Dees. Oh the shame. They had small ad boards next to the tills. I remember peering behind once and being amazed, and dismayed. A message was emblazoned on the back-side. No pretty colours.

Fair Trading Pricing

[http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2010/124-10] What can a b2b salesperson take from the seven retail pricing [http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2010/124-10] practices now being investigated by the UK’s OFT? These “price frames” are: Drip Pricing– where optional price increments such as

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

Email Intro

So I received some pitching spam on email the other day. Whilst muttering shame on my anti-spam filter, I pondered whether there was anything to learn from my cyber assailant. Here’s what I received: > [my first name], I would like to schedule a brief call next week to

True Or False Game

At a fundraiser for their local community initiatives, I came across a cracking idea for a moment of levity at an internal sales meeting. One which can also lead whoever introduces it onto making a serious point or two. At these Walsall Football Club events you pay a pound to

Rumour to Fact

According to a talking head I caught as background the other day, apparently stockbrokers enjoy living by the phrase; > buy the rumour, sell the fact Intriguing, if a little cheeky. Yet it does introduce aligned thinking for the solution seller. Get a sniff of a ‘problem’, and you’re