Words
The Sunday Dispatches archive...
Why daily business development grind is important ...
Why daily business development grind is important ... You'll notice a pattern in consultants who are great business builders. They all take time - every day - to do some form of client nurturing. Every day. No excuses. Proper connection. They prioritise time to work on their business. That's
Do small daily actions lead to unpredictable outcomes?
This week, I've been struck by how small daily actions can lead to unpredictable outcomes in consultancy business development. What got me on track was these two examples of networking: Example #1 A change management consultant decided to try something different: they wrote a daily email to respected
Leaders: the smart alternative to Customer Satisfaction Survey invitations ...
We all get these in our inbox. The idea behind them is to get feedback, see how your team is doing, and make improvements where necessary. I'm guessing most customers - like me - ignore them. Tips for finding ways to get better ... Don't: -- Rely on email. -- Spend
Leaders: the smart alternative to Customer Satisfaction Survey invitations.
Leaders: the smart alternative to Customer Satisfaction Survey invitations ... We all get these in our inbox. The idea behind them is to get feedback, see how your team is doing, and make improvements where necessary. I'm guessing most customers - like me - ignore them. Tips for finding ways to
Focus on problems, not solutions, to self-source new projects
If you hang out with me for any length of time you'll hear me talk about Sales Conversations and Marketing Conversations. In essence Marketing Conversations are dialogues between a consultant and a client, the desired outcome of which is to uncover a worthwhile project to work on. And
How likely are you to close that opportunity you’re working on?
How likely are you to close that opportunity you’re working on? This week, I’ve conducted deal reviews with several clients. We’re one month into 2024, and clients have already postponed projects to the next quarter. That’s not good. We review the likelihood a deal closing by
The people who most influenced my performance offered tough love.
The people who most influenced my performance offered tough love. Their perspectives were candid and often painful to receive. But I was left with no illusion what good (and excellent) looked like. And where I was falling short. If you’re ambitious I strongly advise you put your sensibilities to
7 things I got from my sales mentors.
7 things I got from my sales mentors: 1/ Pushed me to exceed my status-quo current performance level. 2/ Set higher benchmark and challenges for me to achieve more, faster. 3/ Helped me turn failure into feedback and learning. 4/ Developed my awareness of stakeholder motivations. 5/ Raised my
4 decades of mistakes I've made talking with clients
This week makes my 45th year in business. I started my career as a graduate trainee with International Computers Limited (ICL) and could never have predicted I'd end up here. The week also marks the end of my 2nd month living in Ireland. I've had a
Always interested to read what others have to say about selling …
Always interested to read what others have to say about selling … especially expertise based services. But I find much guidance up at the stratospheric ‘become a trusted advisor’ level or ‘define your niche / ideal client / value proposition ’. Yawn! None of that makes you better at selling. It isn’t sales.