A couple of years ago, we introduced you to a Christmas survival guide – using the wonderful Insights Discovery model to suggest how different personalities might best copy with the hustle and bustle of shopping for presents. This year we focus on how we can best celebrate with a little tipple – a cocktail that might suit each of the main 4 Insights personality types!
This can mean of course showing an in-depth understanding of their business needs and pressures (as per the Challenger Sales ‘tailor for resonance’ approach for example) but it can of course also mean tailoring your message or even your whole sales approach to fit better with your prospect’s ‘personality’ differences.
This was brought home to me recently when I was on a buying panel myself and was really impressed with the enthusiasm and vision of one the salespeople pitching – only to be faced with alternative views from other people on the panel who saw them as lacking attention to detail and potentially untrustworthy, citing a couple of minor (in my view) grammar mistakes on the slides…
Many of you reading this will have been through an Insights Discovery workshop with us, and will already have a common language for understanding personality differences, so we thought we’d summarise some top tips to help your sales teams use this knowledge to be more successful and really ‘resonate’ with their prospects…
If you use a different personality language in your organisation (eg DISC, Social Styles or MBTI), then you should be able to translate this fairly easily – but you might also want to consider switching to Insights Discovery as it is absolutely brilliant for sales teams!
For competitive, purposeful Fiery Reds:
“The hotel bar which some say concocts one of the world’s best Martinis” (NYT)
If you live in London or you are a high flying executive who is here on business then the place to go for that special holiday cocktail is DUKES HOTEL The legendary bar is internationally renowned for its famous martinis and personalised cocktails. Frequented by James Bond author Ian Fleming, the bar is said to be the inspiration for the classic line, ‘shaken, not stirred’.
So whether you’re relaxing after a high powered meeting, celebrating another big business deal or getting together with some select friends for special drinks, try the unforgettable experience of the Fleming 89 Martini –probably the best martini in the world!
If however you prefer to impress your friends at home then here is the perfect Vodka Martini recipe for you…..
The best Vodka Martini – Because you’re worth it!
Ingredients:
- A few drops of dry vermouth
- Stolichinaya Elit vodka – This is no ordinary vodka! Elit is the prized possession of the most prestigious vodka brand in the world
- Shaker and strainer
- Ice
- Chilled martini glasses
- Lemon twist or olive to garish
Preparation
When you have this quality of ingredients then preparation of the best martini in the world is both fast and simple so you can be confident to delegate this to someone else and still be sure of the best results.
Place a few drops of Dry Vermouth – those in the know prefer Martini Blanco – into a chilled martini glass, swirl to coat the inside of the glass, then dispose of the excess vermouth.
Gently stir Elit by Stolichnaya in a shaker full of ice, then strain into the martini glass. Garnish with an olive or a lemon twist.
For extravert, sociable Sunshine Yellows
For Sunshine Yellows, there is of course, nothing better when out in a crowd or at home with friends, neighbours, work colleagues ….to make a large pitcher of drinks to share. So our first suggestion is a pitcher of our Latin favourite – the Caipirinha. Coming from the bars and carnival streets of Brazil this has to be the drink that signals party time – a chance to meet up with old friends and of course make new friends and even in the most crowded bar there is surely space to try out those Latin dance rhythms!
Caipirinha (pronounced kie-purr-REEN-yah) roughly translates to “country bumpkin”. It is made with cachaça, an intensely sweet Brazillian style of rum made from sugarcane juice. The Caipirinha is the national drink of Brazil, where it originated, and is a common Carnavale drink. Although it is more difficult to find, it’s important to choose a premium golden cachaça for this cocktail in particular because the drink is not heavily flavoured and a cheaper brand can ruin an otherwise perfect Caipirinha.
Caipirinha Carnivale – To share with 6 Friends or more!
Caipirinha (pronounced kie-purr-REEN-yah)
Ingredients:
- 6 limes, quartered
- 12 tsp fine caster sugar
- 12 oz golden cachaça – www.thedrinkshop.com but if all else fails, or you forgot to order the cachaça in time, substitute with your favourite white or golden rum
Preparation
First invite your friends to help- this is something everyone will enjoy both making and drinking…
Place the lime wedges and sugar into the glass jug or pitcher or anything you have to hand.
Find a rolling pin or some other mashing implement and muddle well to create a paste.
Fill the jug with ice cubes
Pour in the golden cachaça
Stir well
Let everyone help themselves…..and let the party commence!
For caring, relaxed Earth Greens
For Earth Greens, Christmas is a precious opportunity to spend quality time with family and loved ones. It is a time to step off the tread mill and relax with the friendship and good conversation of those close to you. After a cosy dinner what could be better than sitting together around the fire reminiscing about Christmas’s past and sharing a special cocktail.
We think that a Brandy Alexander might be the right cocktail for you and could soon become one of your personal family traditions…..
A smooth and comforting Brandy Alexander to share with those you love
Brandy Alexander
Ingredients
- 1.5 measures of brandy
- 1 measure of Crème de Cacao*
- 1.5 measures of organic cream-locally sourced is best
- Freshly grated nutmeg to garnish
You might like to make sure that all your ingredients are fair trade products and or organically grown. We couldn’t find organic Crème de Cocoa already made, so we concocted our own, it is pretty simple, however if you want to cheat you can purchase conventional Crème de Cocoa:
*Homemade Fair Trade and Organic Crème de Cocoa Recipe:
Makes enough for 4 drinks
2 oz Organic Vodka
1 tsp Organic/Fair Trade Cocoa
1/4 Cup Organic Corn Syrup
Before mixing your Brandy Alexander’s combine the ingredients for Homemade Crème de Cocoa. Once you have all ingredients shake them up for a few minutes and set aside.
Preparation
Gently pour all the ingredients into a shaker, shake, then strain into serving glasses. To garnish – dust with freshly grated nutmeg.
Mock Brandy Alexander
As Earth Greens you will be conscious of others’ needs – and some of your guests or course may not want (or be able) to drink an alcoholic cocktail. However you can still offer that after dinner experience with our non-alcoholic Mock Brandy Alexander:
Ingredients
- 2 ½ measures of freshly ground brandy flavoured coffee beans sourced from www.realcoffee.co.uk The fiery warmth and flavour of Brandy blend perfectly with this Central American arabica coffee, to produce a delicious non-alcoholic foundation for your mocktail
- For those with a sweet tooth – unrefined Demerara sugar to taste
- 1.5 measures of organic double cream
- Freshly grated nutmeg to garnish
- Prepare strong black coffee as usual and stir in sugar to taste. Allow this to cool thoroughly then continue by adding the coffee and cream to your shaker, pouring into your favourite glass and add a dash of ground nutmeg.
Enjoy and savour the end of a perfect day together!
For cautious, precise Cool Blues
For many cool blues, the cocktail is a relatively new fashion and therefore to be avoided. Although the names and ingredients may seem exciting they can sometimes be a bit of a disappointment – a haphazard array of fruit juices, strange liquors and paper umbrellas just might not be your idea of a real celebratory drink. So although this article is about cocktails we would like to suggest an alternative for the discerning drinker…
A classic glass…or two of fine red Bordeaux
We looked for some expert opinion about the best Bordeaux to drink this Christmas. We found it in the Observer Food Monthly magazine where wine expert David Williams recommended his 20 best Christmas wines 2 of his top 20 were classic clarets. We would like to pass on his recommendations to you:
The first represent excellent value and gives all the pleasure of good claret without stretching the budget too much. Given all the other expenses that we all have at this time of year this seems an excellent choice:
Mauregard Bordeaux, France 2010 (£5.99, Marks & Spencer)
For many people, Christmas dinner still means claret (aka red bordeaux), but it’s rare to find a decent example under a tenner. Marks & Sparks deserve considerable credit, then, for sourcing this juicy merlot-dominated bargain, with its classic favours of cassis and pencil-lead, and its crunchy texture.
David Williams second Bordeaux is a rather special occasion wine to be savoured and enjoyed slowly perhaps with close and discerning friends:
Château Les Ormes de Pez, Cru Bourgeois, St-Estèphe, Bordeaux 1995 (£35, Majestic)
From the same stable as the very smart bordeaux-classed growth Château Lynch-Bages, this is a perfectly mature Christmas claret from a chateau that regularly outshines its relatively lowly cru bourgeois ranking. There’s some strikingly pure blackcurrant fruit alongside developed savoury notes, a touch of graphite and a mellow smoothness.
Preparation:
Having carefully selected your wine you will want to make sure that you drink it at its very best. Planning and preparation really makes a difference here.
For mature claret, the bottle should sit undisturbed for a day or more so any sediment can settle at the bottom. Keep the bottle unshaken when you open and pour it and leave the last spoonful (with sediment) unused.
The wine is best served at room temperature but take care if it is too warm – or all you will taste is the alcohol! Ideally a wine breather should be used to decant the wine at least 30 minutes before drinking to allow a little oxidisation before drinking. However, if you do not want to decant the wine pour it into a red wine glass (a clear, thin, stemmed glass with a round bowl tapering inward at the rim – typical size is 8 oz.) and swish it around for 30-40 seconds before drinking it for the first time. Many people find that the second drink is usually better that the first.
Enjoy this classic fine wine – but please remember that even though it is the holidays we all still need to drink responsibly!
And Finally…
If you would like to know more about how Insights Discovery can help provide a common language for your own team and allow them to work better together and with other team, then please contact us on judith@greenbankltd.com and we’d be delighted to explore how we can help!
Judith Hirst
December 2018