Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication!
"La Scapigliata" by Leonardo Da Vinci. The great artists of the world go to extraordinary lengths to produce work that is simple, flawless and natural. Leonardo Da Vinci was once quoted, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". You don't immediately think of the sacrifice made to produce great art. During high school I played the trumpet and subsequently studied at the Qld Conservatorium of Music for 2 years. Playing the trumpet [...]
Closing the deal
Alec Baldwin from the cult movie, "Glengarry Glen Ross." I In my early career I did print and online advertising sales for the banking and finance industry. To meet my short-term sales targets I kept myself busy on the phone and at meetings. I needed to create artificial deadlines for customers signed regularly. The pressure to produce weekly sales nearly turned me off a sales career. Here are some tactics [...]
Signing up Big-Name Clients – the Opportunities and Pitfalls
Signing up a big-name client will give your start-up great momentum. But are you up to the challenge to secure and maintain this clients? Over the last 12 years I've had successes and failures in getting big-name clients to buy my products. Benefits of signing big-name clients: Endorsement for future customers. Nobody wants to be the first customer! A well known brand that buys your product will give other prospects [...]
Keeping Sales Employees Happy
"As a technical consultant-turned-entrepreneur, how can I successfully hire and on-board sales staff to grow my start-up ?" This question was recently posed to me by a start-up CEO, with a strong IT technical/consulting background who is seeking to grow his business by employing a sales person. If you are a sole operator, then consulting and selling is synonymous. You are the product. However for a growing business, how does the sales person [...]
Overcoming the “Valley of Death” in Sales
Taken from "Bart the Daredevil" Simpsons Episode 8, 1990. Homer Simpson attempts to skateboard over Springfield Gorge. For a brief moment he is elated, before falling down the gorge. . Let me describe a situation I've seen countless times throughout my career. You identify the perfect organisation to sell your product. You reach out to the ideal prospect/s and they are happy to meet with you. The meeting runs well with good [...]
10 before 10
Having discipline is an important aspect of sales success for the start-up CEO. About 90% of sales time is spent in follow-up. But getting on the phone to follow up it not always easy or natural. After several years I still struggle to pick up the phone and make those first morning calls. You start to look for distractions - anything is more interesting! One habit that has always worked [...]