Understanding how to communicate across cultures is an absolutely indispensable skill. Do you work with colleagues and customers from around the world whether face to face, by mail or tele-conferencing? The answer is probably ‘yes’ as more and more of us need to connect and work well with a whole range of people from different […]
View Post Cross-cultural, diversity, global, international teams, Leadership
We all need to occasionally phone somebody up who we have not met before with aim of securing a meeting. Maybe if telemarketing is your day-job, this is an everyday occurrence! But perhaps you are: Leading a start up company A partner in a professional services firm A salesperson with a new business responsibility An […]
View Post Cold Calling, Sales Training, Telemarketing, Triggers
My people want to learn and be developed! Training budgets are tight – or non-existent! My team need to share more and support each other! We need to share best practice across teams! All of these are things that I frequently hear from managers and HR professionals. So I have good news! We have been […]
View Post Action learning, Fly-on-wall, Making training stick, on-the-job training
When I talk to commercial leaders they frequently focus on the issue of margin. And that’s not surprising – arguably, it’s one of the most important ways in which businesses can protect their profitability, long-term growth and ultimately marketplace survival. Without healthy margins, profitability drops. Without profitability, no business has a future. But although those […]
View Post Business Development, High margin, Negotiation, Sales
I can almost guarantee that when coaching or running workshops on the topic of leadership and influence that I am asked 2 questions about this! Let’s start with the first question… ‘Why should I manage my own manager?’ When I am asked this, I often refer back to the classic Harvard Business Review article: “Managing Your […]
View Post coaching, Leadership, manager, Managing Upwards
Sales Management is a tough job…. Today’s business environment is increasingly complex, and as a result, Sales Managers are being given more and more responsibilities. With aggressive sales goals, new technology adoption, territory management, forecasting, and all the other day to day activities, it’s all too easy for Sales Managers to focus on these important […]
View Post Developing Sales Leadership, Sales management
We’re approaching the time of the year when many of us are turning our thoughts to that annual festival of giving, receiving and then giving again: Christmas. If we do mark this holiday, while some of us enjoy the hassle and hustle of present seeking, others would rather run anywhere than to the shops. So, […]
View Post Insights, Learning and development, Personality types
With the UK voting to leave the European Union, the torrid race for the White House now over (no matter on which side you lean politically) and currently no government at all in Spain, there is change — and lots of it — across the globe. International trade agreements are now far from certain, policies […]
View Post agile leadership, Change Management, leadership skills
It’s often easy as a salesperson to make assumptions about what buyers are really looking for. It’s much more powerful though when you experience it yourself! As some of you reading this will know, Judith and I have recently moved our home and office from the green fields of Surrey to the urban delights of […]
View Post Differentiation, Empathy, Sales, Trust