The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
When it comes to sales, we should treat others the way they need to be treated. Whenever I lead sales trainings, I encourage salespeople to stretch themselves beyond their comfort zone and be kind to themselves during the learning process.
““Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance, and equity is being allowed to choose the music.””
In sales, our compensation is directly tied to the opportunities we generate and successfully seize. If we are not actively creating, capturing, or closing deals, we're not fulfilling our role effectively. It's crucial to recognise that our customers often find themselves in stagnant situations, requiring us to innovate and deliver superior value. As a sales professional our task is to navigate this scenario, devising strategies to secure meetings and effectively communicate the benefits we offer. I think your number one goal in sales is to make your customer as successful as possible, and if your motivation is to make your customer win, then you will always win in sales.
I think that leaders create culture, and culture drives behaviour, and behaviour produces results.
Why is our diversity training failing?
What can we do to really drive organisational change?
How do we learn and truly embed change into our organisation?
When we learn about diversity, what are we learning?
How will we create a psychological safe space in our organisation?
If any of the above questions are reflective of what is happening in your organisation, please contact me here, or via e-mail to arrange a meeting.
““If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have power, then your job is to empower.””
In today´s world, most organisations are becoming increasingly global in their operations, attracting talent with diverse backgrounds, skills, and competencies from around the world. To build a seamless and well-functioning team, cultural intelligence is needed to facilitate communication and collaboration. Our mission is to be the preferred consultancy supporting companies bridge cultural differences between and within markets. Would your organisation like to have a better relationship with your business partners or clients from another national or cultural backgrounds? Contact me here, or via e-mail to arrange a meeting.
We are not our worst thoughts that our brains often take us along by constantly pointing out the things that may go wrong, the anxious negative route which we all recognise is only because our brains are trying to protect us. Ultimately, we are in charge of our brains and unless you suffer from a neurological condition, you can train your brain to do whatever you want it to do. I think you can choose the narrative or spin that you put on any situation, as every life situation is basically neutral, and it’s just the perspective that we attach to it which gives it meaning.
We are in sales because we are motivated by financial success. Selling is more than just transactions, it's a dynamic interaction centred on understanding people's needs, desires, and motivations. In reality, sales involve facilitating a connection between a solution or product and an individual or organisation that would benefit from it. I think to accomplish this, successful salespeople should delve into understanding their clients' perspectives deeply. As at its core, sales is an art form that combines understanding, communication, and persuasion. Contact me via e-mail for sales training and workshops.
Typically, our sales process entails a sequence of critical milestones. These milestones include gaining a comprehensive insight into the client's internal buying procedures, acquiring a clear understanding of the legal review process, and identifying key stakeholders while understanding their individual and business objectives and motivations. In order to navigate the inherently non-linear nature of this process, we approach sales and buying as a series of commitments we establish with our clients. This involves phases such as initial discovery, examining potential solutions, involving additional stakeholders, further discovery, comprehensive discussions, reaching mutual agreement on the investment, bringing in more stakeholders, managing conflicts, fostering collaboration, and refining the solution. I think at times, it may appear as if we are starting from scratch, despite being in close proximity to the finish line.
Human beings fear two things more than anything else in the world: death and rejection. And research has shown that people fear rejection more than death, this is because we are biologically and historically wired to avoid getting thrown out of the tribe, so we do everything in our power to net get rejected. I think we have to change our interpretation of rejection as our brains are always trying to interpret everything – What does this mean and how can I protect you? Unfortunately, the brain is not always our best friend, so we have to learn how to reframe the stories we tell ourselves. Contact me via e-mail for sales training and workshops.
““Asking is the beginning of receiving. Ask the question, receive the answer. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” ”
There are three ways we experience rejection:
1) Real rejection
2) Perceived rejection
3) Anticipated rejection
Whether the rejection is anticipated, perceived or real, it creates an emotional response. The hardest part of the selling process, which is top of the funnel is interrupting a stranger and asking them for their time – emotional control in these situations is of paramount importance. I cannot teach you how to take away the “sting” of the client saying “no” when you are reaching out to clients, but what I can teach you are frameworks that you can use in context to control the emotion and flip the buyer’s script, so you can ask again and get what you want. When I have leveraged this for sales teams, I have seen results exponentially increase with the number of meetings the sales team gets.
Image c/o Harvard Business Review
Time management is the ability to use your time productively and efficiently. I have found that the highest achievers manage their time exceptionally well as making a positive difference in the people’s lives gives time a deeper sense of purpose. From my perspective, cultivating gratitude and being present in the moment allows me to appreciate the time I have. And I think the pursuit of knowledge and personal development adds depth and meaning to our lives. Contact me via e-mail for a 1:1 evaluation of your time management.
Sales can be a high-pressure job, and dealing with rejection and failure can take a toll on one's mental resilience. I think that failure is a natural part of the sales process. Rather than seeing failure as a setback, try to view it as an opportunity to learn and improve. Take your time to analyse what went wrong and use that knowledge to refine your approach and become more effective in the future. Success in sales requires a combination of mental and physical resilience, as well as a willingness to learn and adapt.
It's important to find ways to maintain your mental and physical well-being to avoid burnout. Staying physically fit can definitely help you maintain mental resilience. Exercise can be a great way to release stress and boost your energy levels. In addition, finding activities that you enjoy, such as listening to podcasts or reading books, can help you relax and recharge. Ultimately, by taking care of yourself and continuously improving your skills, you can overcome the challenges of the profession and achieve your goals. Everybody’s energy comes from different sources, I attend the morning Church service in central Copenhagen and I can highly recommend it.
I think sales is a challenging profession, and not everyone who attempts it will succeed. It's important to remember that rejection is a natural part of the sales process, and it's not always a reflection on the salesperson's abilities or performance. That being said, there are certainly things that salespeople can do to improve their chances of success, such as improving their appearance, communication skills, and presentation style.
It's also true that some clients may pick up on a salesperson's nervousness or lack of confidence, and this can be a turnoff. However, there are ways to overcome this, such as practicing sales techniques and developing a deep understanding of the product or service being sold. In addition, salespeople can seek feedback from clients or colleagues to identify areas for improvement. Ultimately, it's up to the salesperson to take responsibility for their performance and strive to improve. By doing so, they can increase their chances of success and minimise missed opportunities. Contact me via e-mail for sales coaching and training sessions.
Problem solving is the process of identifying a problem, developing possible solution paths, and taking the appropriate course of action to solve the problem. Problem solving is an essential skill in both your personal and professional life. When framing a performance issues, I think it makes sense to break them down into smaller problems and ask yourself the following questions:
1. Is it a skill problem?
2. Is it a hill problem?
3. Is it a will problem?
Contact me via e-mail for problem solving training.
I have found that there is a great deal of pleasure in coaching and nursing teams, guiding them through a structured process to identify a focus area that enables them to maximise their inherent power by tapping into the hearts and minds of consumers. For example,
• Creating needs (listening, objections, negotiation and presentations)
• Motivation (rapport, communication and mindset)
• Pipeline management (plan, prepare and execute)
• Sales Savvy (decision maker access, network mapping & development, best practise and analysing success)
Contact me via e-mail to book coaching, mentoring or 1:1 sparring sessions.
““Your potential customer doesn’t care about your company. They care about the problem they have and the possibility of resolving it. Are you creating enough value in the sales conversation or are you just talking about yourself?” ”
Image c/o Adobe stock photos
Maybe you’ll stand up and applaud a speaker you agreed with or just sit staring in silence after listening to a speaker you didn’t like. Now I think you are beginning to understand the complexity of listening and the great potential for errors. Acoustic ecologist, Gordon Hempton defines silence not as the absence of sound, but as the absence of noise from modern life. What do you think?
“The biggest threat to innovation is internal politics and an organisational culture which does not accept failure, and/or does not accept ideas from outside, and/or cannot change.”
c/o Getty Images
Knowledge does not come by naturally, you will have to go through a systematic training program as this is vital for ensuring a happy and successful life. In our everyday lives we can change and transform ourselves through training. I think that no matter what activity or practice we are pursuing, there isn’t anything that isn’t made easier through constant familiarity and training. Therefore, we should consider education as a very important factor for ensuring a successful and happy life.
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
Most salespeople are product pushers, I think you have to stop acting like a seller and start thinking like a buyer. In other words, spend more time discovering their problem and then use this knowledge to solve their problem. The ability to uncover problems that the buyer already has becomes much easier when you detach yourself from the outcome. All salespersons can find out the buyers’ problems, but only the best salespersons can find out their why. And only the greatest salespeople can find out what’s behind their why. It doesn’t matter what industry; you have to learn the right questions to uncovering what’s behind the buyer’s why.
TIP: Ask questions slowly, as it will give the buyer time to be a little more reflective in their answers.
Why is experience in life considered to be the best teacher?
I think experience is one of the best teachers because when you do something you are actually involved in the whole process. And this helps you understand your behaviour and reaction towards a given situation. Learning by doing and teaching by experience can produce higher learning results and have a more lasting effect. Too many people in sales get a little bit of success and get carried away thinking they know it all, and don’t need to practice, study, plan, or review because they think they are already great. Sometimes that’s just the ego, but I think it’s imperative to remain humble. Do you think that happens in any other profession, sport, or activity?
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
The Power of Habits training is based on the New York bestselling author, Charles Duhigg’s book of the same name, “The Power of Habits”. During the Covid lockdown I completed the Power of Habits training course and learned how habits work and how to unlock the power to change them. The training taught me the skills to identify and create the habits needed for success within your organisation. The course focused on the science of habit formation and helped us to learn how to recognise when they need to change, what behaviours they ought to change, and how to make the desired behaviours stick. It sounds simple but in practise it’s much more difficult, for example,
a) Identify the habits,
b) Use skill instead of will, to replace limiting habits with effective ones, and
c) Create new routines that produce desired outcomes.
Everyone who you come into contacts with wants to know what’s in it for them and they don’t really tell you what they are going to get out of it, they may not even know or realise, nor want to admit it. One thing for sure is that they are thinking about it because it’s a selfish desire and in most cases, they wouldn’t care if it wasn’t selfish. Once you figure out what it is and you genuinely understand these concepts, you can use it for good or you can use it mysteriously, and this is so powerful that professional salespersons need to keep it in check.
Just imagine that you had a framework of questions that would unveil what your buyers vested interest were and a guided series of “need/payoff” questions that align with your buyers. These questions are just as valid in a romantic scenario and I know they will give you an advantage over your competitors. Contact me via e-mail if you are interested learning these concepts?
