(Updated 17 October 2009) Selling anything requires trust, you need to trust the brand, the salesman or (preferably) both. Why do you buy stuff? This is a digression from the focus of selling professional service but bear with me, when did you last buy a car? Who did you trust, the brand or the car…
When you’re trying to explain what you do to other people whether in conversation, through the written word or as part of a proposal, remember that ‘concrete is always good’. I’m not talking about the noxious mix of cement, sand and lime used in building, obviously, but it’s a useful metaphor as it’s an almost…
With all of the stuff I’ve been writing recently about the importance of campaigning, it’s easy to forget that there’s a hard-edge to it all. The edge is that it’s about building and maintaining your network over time. But like all advice, unless you trust the source of that advice, I’m simply a stranger asking…
A war is made up of a number of campaigns with distinct aims, leading to your ultimate victory. Campaigns should be connected and shaped by the ultimate war aim. For Churchill in 1941, it was the unconditional surrender of Germany and her allies. Every campaign of the war, whether in the air, on the ground…
There’s a gene missing in many professionals who have spent years building their skills. That gene is the “telling anyone who’ll listen that you’ve a skill that you’re proud of, and if they ever need that skill, they know where you are” gene. We just don’t tend to spend enough time getting out there and…
I once saw charisma defined as- “the ability to transfer an emotion that the speaker has to his audience.” I thought it was a pretty good definition too because it covers all of the angles that you might need, positive and negative. Let’s think about Gordon Brown for a moment. Gordon must be charismatic by…
I know it might sound glib but it just came to me sitting here. Focus is about all of those things that I mentioned yesterday, and here’s why: If you concentrate on doing things that you really enjoy then the chances are that you’ll also be really good at them. I know this flies in…
We’re going to ask you to look at some pretty simple things in the first part of this book. Then we’re going ask you to identify some fundamentals to work on. Again simple things that when done well will see you through. In short we’re going to ask you to look at your business and…
It’s a time of year- moving into winter, and an economic season- bloody cold- that can combine to make anyone with a new business responsibility feel like staying in bed. When even the weather is against you feeling sunny, it takes a few simple truths to get you out there doing what you’ve got to…