best practices

Revenue solves all problems

c/o depositphotos

c/o depositphotos

We have some unwritten laws of behaviour in society, for example, the body language of how to tell whether someone is interested in our culture. This is because people tend not to tell 100% the truth, not because they are lying, it’s just because no one ever gets rewarded for delivering bad news. There are also laws in sales, the problem is no one ever tells you about them. As sales persons we are used to establishing best practices, our own rules or other peoples that fits into what you are selling and the way you sell. There are principles and habits which are simple ways to confine the game we are playing.

When you buy a new board game - one you have never played before - the first thing you do is read the instructions and learn the rules. What are the laws of how to move? Who goes when? Who gets skipped? What are the definition of winning? etc., etc. And in sales these are all critical elements. For some reason in sales, no one really talks about them or shares them because they are no incentives to do so. Most sales persons are lone wolfs and see everybody as a competitor instead of a collaborator.

We learn the traffic rules whilst learning to drive, but in reality, we learn the rules once we have passed our driving test. The speed limits, the rules of when to stop, when to slow down, when to pull over, which lane to drive in, etc., etc. Some of them are written down and others are not. Similarly, in sales the rules and laws also needs to be learned because this is the way the game is played. I think it will save us so much time if we document our sales rules and occasionally review them, as we cannot remember all of them. We have to have a general rule of behaviour, patterns and habits to become successful. Contact me via e-mail for an evaluation of your procedures or sales training opportunities.


Question: Why me?

Why-me.jpg

What can I bring of experience and competence that can potentially beat a candidate with industry experience?
The love of winning! Sometimes an “outsider” can see a smarter way of doing it as I would have to learn the procedures and performance routines. And when you are learning a performance, you model yourself after the smartest way, which more often than not is also the best way.


Too many of us think the best people are the people who are metaphorically speaking, screaming “look at me” the loudest, and talking down to the rest of us. They are not the best!
The best people are out in the field - doing it - showing you the distinctions, articulating to you about what has worked for them, so you can benefit from their experiences. I think it’s genius to learn from other peoples mistakes, not in a miraculous way.

Too many of us have to learn from our mistakes several times before we really learn from them. Contact me via e-mail for sparring, mentoring or guidance.


We can always do it better

Via Getty Images

Via Getty Images

Stephen Covey said, ”We should always start with the end in mind”.  And getting really clear about not only the vital priorities that organisations are trying to pursue in gaining clarity around that but also what are the vital metrics that they use (KPIs). Essentially, what are the data points that are used to determine if they are on track? 


Now if we have these and know what the performance metrics are, in other words when it's green and when it's red - then focus on how we can do more green stuff. And what are the things we need to do to fit into that? Will it become a predictive and repeatable model (best practice)? This does not mean it works perfectly or that some of the predictions are inaccurate because life changes and business is not static. I think being able to go into a marketing campaign or thought leadership campaign with the end in mind will certainly increases our chances of being successful by a factor of 10. And this is because of having that thoughtful planning from the outset.


Are you looking for a team who you can trust and have your best interests at heart? A team who really want to help your business navigate around the thought leadership process? A team who can help you generate revenue from that content, so you can do a better job in front of your customers?