Have you left a first-time meeting with potential clients, thinking, "that went well", feeling quite chuffed, then you never hear from them again? Isn't that foot-stompingly, toss the laptop out the window, frustrating? You felt like you were so close. On to winner. What the $%*£ is up with them? Is it them or us? You might be making a common mistake, which is thinking about you. Check out this video to help you think less about you and more about your prospective clients so you can help … [Read more...]
F-Words: The secret to overcoming objections
Sooner or later you will face objections while selling your swag. Sometimes you just can’t get around them, but if you’ve targeted the right prospects, most are avoidable. If handled well, objections can be an opportunity to provide comfort and erase doubts. But let’s start with an example of what not to do when an objection arises. Fifteen minutes into her tour of the nearby co-working space Hipster Hot-Deskers, Sunita was getting a great vibe - the location was convenient, it boasted a … [Read more...]
Day 7: How to “process” your way through procrastination
Scroll. Like. Scroll. Comment. Scroll. Retweet. Scroll scroll scroll. It’s never been easier to put off the things that really make a difference to our success. Prospecting - i.e. actively looking for new clients - is one of those crucial tasks. In this video a simple tip to overcome the procrastination troll. You might enjoy my review of a great book: The Procrastination Equation Also check out my interview with procrastination expert and Piers Steel; he's author of … [Read more...]
Why your prospects will say no to you every single time
I don’t mean to be a drama mama, but there is a reason why your prospects will say no to you every single time. They can’t help it. It’s not you, it’s them. But there is a way to get around this tendency towards the negative, while maintaining your core values and sanity. No time like the present Ever snoozed your alarm instead of going to the gym? Or suddenly decide to clean the house or adding things to your Amazon wishlist instead of starting that important project? Our brain has a … [Read more...]
The secret to sales success: interview with best selling author Bob Burg
Do you want to know the secret to sales success? In August of 2008, my beloved returned from a holiday in India. She brought me back a gift from the bustling East Indian metropolis of Kolkata. The gift was a little red book. When I started reading the book I couldn’t put it down. After several hours I finished the book and my mind was blown. Since then I’ve re-read that book every year. The book is The Go Giver: A little story about a powerful business idea. And my guest for this week’s … [Read more...]
How to communicate value to customers
Do you own a smartphone? If so, does it have a case? What sort of case? One of those heavy-duty ones that look like it would survive a drop from a four-story building? If so, I’m guessing you either have kids or butterfingers. If not, maybe your case is plastered with cartoon characters or decked out with a mini kick-stand? If you google “iPhone case” or “Samsung phone case”, you’ll see pages upon pages of cases of various styles, features and colours. They might all be great cases, some … [Read more...]
Steve Martin on powerful and costless persuasion techniques in sales that really work
In this interview, persuasion expert and New York Times best-selling author, Steve Martin gives entrepreneurs powerful and costless persuasion techniques in sales that really work. Topics discussed [1:05 mins] What is a Small Big and why is it important? [2:15 mins] Key component of successful influence [3:28 mins] A fundamental principle of influence and how you can apply it (ethically) to have people follow-up on commitments [6.10 mins] A persuasion technique startups can use level … [Read more...]
3 Most successful persuasion strategies backed by scientific evidence
The 3 tenors of persuasion, Robert Cialdini, Steve Martin, and Noah Goldstein, are back with a new book, The Small Big: small changes that spark big influence. They were at the RSA last week talking about their findings; here’s a video of their talk. Here are the key takeaways from the talk. 3 most successful persuasion strategies People desire to make the most efficient, effective and rewarding decisions Core to this motivation technique is that the outcome you want has to be … [Read more...]
