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quirky

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

Small Talk Common Ground

Establishing rapport with a prospect is of course essential. Making someone feel comfortable with you is a vital pre-requisite towards getting an order, especially if you’re not the cheapest player in town. But trying to work out how to initiate such front talk can be tricky the first time

The 'Not' Description

One of my cold-callers is having success by explaining what we do, through stating what we do not do. All our suspects run sales teams. They often (mischievously) claim to receive hundreds of calls a day trying to woefully peddle them stuff they already have and don’t need replacing.

Turning The Tables

A surprising source of interview tips came from daytime Goodhope FM this morning. They wheeled an ‘expert’ in called (I think) Kashi to answer listener questions in-between snorily predictable synthetic R&B. The two posers he spent longest on were: Where do you see yourself in five years? and

What Do Buyers Actually Do?

One of my customer’s salesreps, Tony, was determined to impress upon me how appalled he is with buyers at the moment. He sells engineering consumables, and his patch breaks down like this: 1600 – prospect companies with potential to buy 370 – customers, outfits that have bought 200 – number of organisations

Obituary: John Harvey-Jones

I fondly remember my addiction to all things John Harvey-Jones in the early 90s. The genre-starting Troubleshooter was essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in proper business. His consultative successes soon racked up. These included: * Apricot Computers were told to ditch hardware and focus solely on software; next year profits

Price Slide To Pants Decline

Anyone taking more than a passing interest in the Gordon Brown inspired gloomy UK retail expectations will know that among others, M&S are experiencing less growth than many analysts consider achievable. Cognisant of this terrific commentator Jeff Randall devised the Pants Index [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/

It's The Emotion, Stupid

So a choked tear replaces her husband’s focus on the Economy 15 years previously, to conjure a mass-pundit defying victory for Hillary Clinton in the second American presidential candidate eliminator. The evolution of 24 hr new stations really does no justice at all to their potential. They all, even

Telephone Euphemisms

Every single salesperson must, at some point in their career, pick up the phone and try to persuade people that don’t want to speak to them, to do something we suggest. The most common such discussion is probably geared towards gaining a face-to-face appointment, but several other sought outcomes

Choose The Right Figure

Just witnessed a brilliant sales lesson delivered by an old hack called John Torode (wow, tan/orange/white tie, burgundy shirt and browny school master jacket!), now of the Spectator on Sky News’ review of tomorrow morning’s papers. Major UK energy provider npower are the first in their market

Your Heart Must Be In It

I’ve spent a large part of the past few days writing a business plan for a friend. Although to do a proper one (and lamentably few people ever attempt one at all preceding a new venture) is notoriously tricky, it’s a fantastically rewarding experience when you complete. I’