I frequently work with businesses which are in growth mode and doing really well. What I know from experience is that during that growth, there are absolute teething pains, often which come about because a business is set up and structured as a smaller business and no-one has taken the time to put things in…
Published on 8 July 2014. Updated on 29 October 2025. These are indeed tough times for many business owners, when survival needs business and fiscal smarts to stay on top of everything. However, unfortunately, there are some ‘nasty tricks’ some businesses action when endeavouring to get business. I’m going to talk about those tricks…
Let’s face it, some of us are better at sales than others, but we were not always great and I’ll bet, even if you’re great at sales now, you’ve made some of these mistakes at some point. Perhaps even recently, when you’ve been rushed and not done what you know you should. So, whether you…
For anyone in sales or business, you definitely will want to know why sales fail or fall through. To me, it comes back to two main factors – the salesperson and the buyer. Sure, the salesperson will have additional aspects affecting them, such as the branding and reputation of the business they work for, but…
If you’re in business, then reality is, you’ve got sales to action, so of course your sales conversion rate is important. As an experienced business coach and marketer, I know some people just say “so do more marketing” but can be wasteful. Firstly, you’re wasting marketing dollars with potentially ineffective means to convert those opportunities…
I was recently asked to speak at a business networking group, and chose the very popular subject of sales (tips). It was interesting, some of the participants said there were some items in my presentation they knew, but they were not doing. The reminder was timely. Even if you feel you’re good at sales, still…
Sales (particularly for business owners) isn’t always about being a great ‘talker’ or ‘having the gift of gab’ but rather it’s often having a sales process and communicating well. As a business and marketing coach, I work with clients on all this (and more) to help them improve their sales skills. This is what I’m…
Introverts can be exceedingly successful, including doing exceedingly well in sales roles. Michael Jordan, JK Rowling, Bill Gates, President Obama and even Christina Aguilera who gets up and belts out a tune are all introverts. Introverts don’t automatically lack confidence or self-belief or have to be shy. Interestingly, up to 40% of the population are…
There are many skills that business owners (and salespeople) need and that is selling. Understanding the psychology behind a sale will give you a helping hand when it comes to successfully closing a deal, quote or transaction. Generally speaking, there are three main types of sales: Product selling where you focus on the product…
A good sales process has many steps, and often for a busy business or a business where quotes take a reasonably large period of time, you want to ensure you’re quoting the right things. In other words, you want to pre-qualify a customer before you actually quote for them. Here are some things to…