Yes – even the grumpiest git in your company can sell….

January 31, 2012
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In earlier posts. here  and here, we’ve talked about ‘the missing gene’ in professional services consultants, and the challenges that professionals face when asked to sell, particularly when ‘the wind is in your face’ and the economy is moving away from you. For business leaders, the problem of getting your team ‘out there’ is a [...]

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Dear Jim it’s going to be a tough year

November 23, 2009
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Dear Jim, I wish the boom was back because selling was so easy. I would write a pleasant e-mail that would chat in a non-specific, wooly way that tends to provide the comfort that over-busy executives like yourself. It would repeat a few ‘hot buttons’ from any received scope and talk about delivery in such [...]

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Bringing in hired help….

November 23, 2009
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So, you are looking to develop your business development capabilities. You can take your smart, knowledgeable professionals and inject them with some commercial acumen; provide them with a “business development process”, dangle a carrot or two and watch them go…. The main focus of this book / blog is to help you navigate your way [...]

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Farming

November 8, 2009
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Farming is the phrase we use for the soft sell work that a natural consultant does without even thinking about it. It starts with talking to clients and potential clients regularly – finding a reason to talk with them on a semi-regular basis; say one a quarter or twice a year. What do you think [...]

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Making the most of conferences

October 20, 2009
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Conferences are hard work and can be sometimes a little soul destroying. Get the delegate list, identify your targets, book meetings, prepare for 2 days of squalid drudgery that comes to nought when you walk into the conference centre and decide that anything would be better than this and book into the spa for 2 [...]

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What do world class organisations do?

October 17, 2009
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When you cut through all the bull, and there’s plenty of it, as the new business responsible fool in your firm, it’d be nice to have a benchmark of what makes the difference between the sharpest operators in the field, and the ‘bottom-feeders’ wouldn’t it? Here’s a really simple chcklist for you to use to [...]

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What is the best marketing tool?

October 17, 2009
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I know that sales people see marketeers as floppy-haired tossers, more interested in their clothes and teeth than selling, but even the most cynical salesperson would, on a good day have to say that when you’ve got a marketing director who’s conneceted to her front-line sales people, it’s bloody marvellous. So the question is valid. [...]

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Speaking at a conference

October 17, 2009
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As a professional, perhaps with a valuable technical expertise, the chances are that you are going to use conferences as a marketing tool to convey to the market that you are innovative, approachable and available for hire. If you are going to a conference then, get a speaking slot. You won’t get one if you [...]

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The real value of networking

October 15, 2009

While every business development professional dreams of out of the blue phone calls from potential customers, they seldom happen. It’s really important to remind ourselves that most new business opportunities come from following up on referrals and tips from your own network of friends, clients and contacts. We all know the old saw about it [...]

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Selling professional services is different…

October 11, 2009
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Yes it is, it really is…. Selling professional services is different to selling ‘stuff’. You are selling an intangible, a relationship, trust. I’ve seen the greatest salesman in the world reduced to blubbering wrecks as they try to close a consulting sale whereas some of the most introverted analysts within my organisation make great salesmen; [...]

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