Plenty of employers still list ‘closing’ as a must-have skill on a job advert and plenty of salespeople take pride in their ability to ‘close’ business but is there really any skill in this part of the process? Not IMO. Closing is only a natural conclusion to all of the communication from the start of, and during, the sales process. If, during the early stages of the sales process, a
Orbital Net – a Telecoms company based locally to me started 2025 by getting me in to do some work with their sales teams. Their sales department is split into essentially hunters and farmers; one group whose job is to find and engage with potential clients so that, when they have a need, they give Orbital Net an opportunity to tender for their services. The other team then provides account
A timeless classic of a book – it does what it says on the tin! Like everyone else I know who is a fan of this book, it has remained close by ever since I was introduced to it back in 2005. I was given an original copy which, despite being written using language and anecdotes from the 1930s, hooked me instantly as I already recognised several principles as natural
Not your boss’, not your customers’ and not your colleagues’ – it’s all down to you and that’s why you struggle to properly switch off when on holiday. That’s why you convince yourself that it’s ok to check emails and take work calls. That’s why you convince your partner and children that you must still work otherwise you can’t go on holidays. That’s why you will miss opportunities to create
When prospecting for new customers in B2B sales, every interaction counts and the art of the follow-up will make all the difference between winning or burning an opportunity! Whilst the initial contact is obviously important (can’t get to the end without starting), it’s the strategic follow-up that determines the outcome – these are the specific reasons as to why tactically following up with prospects is a critical element of any
A beautiful contradiction in the life of a salesperson. Whether you’re doing outbound yourself or someone else is on your behalf (be that employees, freelancers or agencies), this principal remains key to building connections with potential clients. Think back to the last purchase you made…. Before you even checked the cost, did you picture the outcome of you making the purchase? How did that make you feel? Happy? Excited? Relieved
Whether or not you’re asked this by the other person – this should be at the forefront of your mind with all sales communication; what is the beneficial outcome to the other person in what you’re communicating to them. You’re on a mission to find some new clients and sell them your services/products. You know what your service/product is, you believe wholeheartedly in it (if you don’t BTW, don’t expect
The argument rages on in the sales world but maybe the time when ‘cold calling’ is dead isn’t that far off. For the purposes of this blog, the definition of ‘cold calling’ is using the telephone to call strangers without a pre-arranged appointment and initiating a sales conversation with the ultimate aim of that stranger becoming a customer of yours. Since 1998 when I got my 1st sales job booking
Those who do sales are constantly on the lookout for ways to make their outreach more effective. Unless you live on the moon, you would’ve seen a lot of info about ChatGPT, a powerful AI language model that can help generate personalised messages and engage with prospects in a more meaningful way. This blog explores how best to use ChatGPT in sales outreach specifically in the UK. Research your prospectsBefore
Sales = life for your business. No sales = death for your business. Even though my sons might think otherwise, I wasn’t alive when the 1st businesses were created anywhere between 3000-5000 years ago (depending on what you find online) but I didn’t need to be to still know that they, like all businesses, would not have survived (let alone grown) without a consistent influx of opportunities to sell. If
