Topic

quirky

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

What's Now 86'd?

I came across this American hospitality argot via reports of a 'lost in showbiz' incident. A talkshow host being barred from an NYC restaurant for being the rudest customer they'd ever suffered. A "tiny cretin of a man" to boot. After the publicity, a

Rebel Rousing Spreadsheet

The answer to the above, in a word, is "no". Remarkable. The country of my birth has gone round the bend. Who knew today was the day? Amid the political tumult of (shortest ever serving) Prime Ministerial resignation, there sit plenty of solution selling steers. I highlight one

Alligator Pitch

I recently happened across this term in relation to Marketeers' struggles to impress upon bean counters their wonderful 'effectiveness'. Principally due to speaking outside of the specific language Finance understands. Although as many a seller may ruefully attest, such hard numbered returns can often feel elusive when

The Case For KPEs

There's a pair of control mechanisms with which you're no doubt familiar. MBO (Management By Objectives) have been around a lifetime. Courtesy of (who else?) Peter Drucker in 1954. Apparently back then (new to me) aka Management By Planning. Hoping to recalibrate management from supervision to

Overview Overreach

'That 20-slide vendor corporate overview was really uplifting,' said no once semi-engaged buyer ever. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine any potential customer being riveted by how wonderful you think you are. Unless perhaps they are in the serious consideration stage of formal supplier vetting. Yet time and

Watercooler Starters

Spare a thought for Middle England. If the gender switcheroo in elected leader-unelected head of state wasn't perhaps traumatic enough, there's the late onset shock from realisation how much the twin towers of Putin invasion and China shaped lockdown closures eventually crash into their world. One

3 Front Talk Pillars Plus One

Looking back I perhaps first mentioned the minefield of Front Talk in 2008. Having then learned the most fertile trio for common ground. This month, I read that four minutes of small talk can better facilitate workplace collaboration. In a round-about sort of way. Four minutes feels quite a long

Moravec Selling

The complex is simple, yet the simple is complex. That's the basis of Moravec's Paradox around AI. A robot can solve the trickiest of calculations far beyond our brains. Yet cannot master the most natural of our movements. The difficult is easy, yet the easy is

Degrees of Change

My recent post on our Sales tips from conditions for the arrival of political change got me thinking. Most buyers can think in terms of 'change' when they want it. But they tend to focus on the one-size-fits-all impacts of it. Rather than considering the nuances from implications

Cook Up A Stirring Niche

How many times do you consider pursuing a deal outside your ideal? I recently learn of a £100 million British retail success "very comfortable flying below the radar" (their own words) that decidedly never does so. Elevating the longtime British culinary staple (first retailed there 1979), the ready