Topic

quirky

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

Where's Your Local?

I spend a fair amount of my time helping sales people make the most of their latest new product. There’s no doubt that technological advances such as the immediacy of and permanent connection to email is contributing towards making us intolerant of patience. Where once it would be quite

Agility Quickens Kondratiev Winter's Thaw

I admit to being bowled over by the spooky accuracy of Kondratiev during an overwise painful series of economics lectures at Uni. He’s the Russian who unearthed the reasoning behind patterns of boom and bust that his disciples consider hard-wired inside trade cycles. You can read about him and

Calculating Reduced Worth At The End Of The Day

Here’s an unpleasant retail experience from a surprisingly mild Autumnal day in central London. Heading back to my desk during the afternoon, I walked by a deli-patisserie that I often pass. Combining the knowledge that I’ve only ever been an occasional customer with my desire to stop giving

If At First You Don’t Succeed

As we canter worringly into a time when only instant solutions will do, I was pleasantly reminded of the power of persistence recently. Developers of hydrogen fuel cells (ITM Power) took 6 years and 25,000 attempts before cracking the problem of a safe and simple zero-emission car power solution.

What Happened?

In a taxi the other night, the cabbie remarked that supposedly being in Meltdown Week Two seemed at odds with all the partying going on in London after school. Pubs remained packed, restaurants still rammed. ‘What credit crunch?’ was his refrain. He’ll know soon enough, I’m sure. Which

You Refuse To Hear The Word

Credit crunch begets recession begets depression? Hopefully not, but to watch rolling tv news channels, confusion becomes annoyance that they revel in such gloom and see negative growth as guaranteed prime time entertainment. A client of mine was talking this morning about how absurd and wrong it was that people

Renewing Dampened Enthusiasm

We’ve all been there. You’ve a new idea that you’re convinced your bosses will love. A new product you know will change your customer’s life. Excitedly, you deliver an impassioned pitch. Their response? Yawns, at best. Demoralisation crushes your pride. There are countless examples of world-beating

+15% Credit Crunch Impact

Listening to BBC Radio 4 most mornings recently, they’ve an innovative approach to consistent programming. Eight o’clock, Business Editor Robert Peston talks you through constructing your own gallows. Quarter-past eight, a pair of luminaries recommend their take on which rope makes the sturdiest knot and how to tie

Giving Up On CRM Adoption?

I read my latest Selling Power [http://www.sellingpower.com] newsletter on crm last night. They mentioned a piece of PR they’d received from the boss of a crm vendor [http://www.itworld.com/tip/53695/top-5-ways-get-your-employees-use-crm-software] . It was satisfying that they disagreed with a third of what he

By How Much Are Buyers Liars?

I think every salesperson goes through this rite of passage. You’re told that you are going to win a deal by the prospect. You proudly, maybe even smugly, pass on the good news to your boss, your peers, your support staff, your spouse, your pet. Then what? Jupiter mis-aligns