Business Ideas For Smes And Start Ups

What else would you be at on a bank holiday except recording a podcast on life as a start up against life as a mature business. My work with a few of these clients recently has prompted me to record this - also watching some of the 2014 Queens Sigerson team flourish in the start up world. Some clear differences in setting up a business in 2023 v 1998 but surely there must be plenty to learn from each other for both parties...? I posit yes - from sales, branding, customer and talent acquisition as well as raising money, scaling and everything else. There is less structure too this episode but I hope there is still enough worth thinking about. Thanks for listening and reading.

Selling is not a symmetrical process. It's far from it. Once a seller makes a connection with a business thats when the hard work starts but it's important that to understand that most of the hard work should be done before the selling even starts. This podcast covers a methodology to consider when you are looking at the other person's(the buyer) perspective. Edward De Bono was a physician, physiologist, writer and inventor and apparently a deadly man from the 45m too (in house GAA joke) Much of this methodology will make sense if you find yourself in the middle of a complex buying process.

For me the jury is out when it comes to NLP, DISC profiles and the rest...learned recently that I'm more of a skeptic than a cynic when it comes to this sort of thing but it made me wonder about other aspects of personality and the softer skills when it comes to selling. I also learned that there are as many as 12 learning styles - I had thought there were 4...audio, visual, kinaesthetic and digital...this podcast focuses on just the 7 but asks an important question - how are you making your digital platforms and your sales content work to cater for all 7 learning styles. more questions asked than answers in this one - would be keen to hear your thoughts.

Some thoughts on what might well be the most important part of the sales role - territory planning and forecasting. There is an obvious logic to planning in almost every aspect of our lives and yet when it comes to sales management and sales that's not often the case. This podcast is a quick run through some tips and ideas to help with planning a sales territory for. the next 12 months - helpful, I hope for both sales people and sales management and business owners. let me know what you think.

Around this time each year, I get asked to speak to a group of business owners from across Northern Ireland - the brief: "What's new in sales?" Everyone wants to hear what's new in sales - quite rightly. Any new methodologies? Technologies? Routes to market? What is everyone else doing? The truth is that pretty much everyone else is making some basic mistakes - across acquisition and retention. In this podcast I look at some the failings made by business owners, sales leaders and sales executives that when corrected could make a massive difference to your overall performance.

A series of short-form podcasts - only a few minutes long - with some areas that I think are worthy of consideration if you are struggling in sales. All based on experience as a sales person - been guilty of a few of these myself for sure - and most of them I have seen from the position of a sales coach and trainer. We all know that relationships are based on trust - are we doing enough? Do we have a plan? Have we rehearsed? Do we know what Trust is? Competence, Character, Confidence? Were are the weaknesses - and our strengths...and how can we improve?

A series of short-form podcasts - only a few minutes long - with some areas that I think are worthy of consideration if you are struggling in sales. All based on experience as a sales person - been guilty of a few of these myself for sure - and most of them I have seen from the position of a sales coach and trainer. It all depends on the sales cycle - 6 months to 18 months or more...or even a month. It is important not to rely on your initial engagement. Do you have a process - an effective one? What are your touch points? From sales and marketing? How do you feel about waiting? Think about detail, resilience, focus, commitment...

A series of short-form podcasts - only a few minutes long - with some areas that I think are worthy of consideration if you are struggling in sales. All based on experience as a sales person - been guilty of a few of these myself for sure - and most of them I have seen from the position of a sales coach and trainer. A classic here - many people ridicule this notion..."communicating value" but the truth is, if you cant communicate the value fo what you are selling, your customer won't be completed to buy or put in the hard work trying to understand. It's as much about NOT selling features and benefits but talking about the outcomes and giving them proof that there is value to be had.

A series of short-form podcasts - only a few minutes long - with some areas that I think are worthy of consideration if you are struggling in sales. All based on experience as a sales person - been guilty of a few of these myself for sure - and most of them I have seen from the position of a sales coach and trainer. This one is about all those times when we think we don't need to, or don't make time to thoroughly research up on our customers or our prospects. It's important to make the time to understand as much as possible - no shortage of information out there at the minute with search engines, media, machine learning tools etc...

A series of short-form podcasts - only a few minutes long - with some areas that I think are worthy of consideration if you are struggling in sales. All based on experience as a sales person - been guilty of a few of these myself for sure - and most of them I have seen from the position of a sales coach and trainer. This episode is where we find ourselves spending too much time talking about ourselves - as people - or as businesses, spending way too much time on our products and services. It's what we get paid to do? Not really - we get paid to sell - and presenting products and services is only one every small part of all of that.

A week has passed since I made the veneration at the altar of Bruce Springsteen whilst making my first stay at the Merrion hotel. It made me think about what good customer service looks like - how good brands not only read the room, they anticipate it. Again and again. Against a back drop of the music, whiskey and craic was the headline dominating domestic abuse claim levied at an inter county manager. An example of how easy it is to misread the room.

How do you decompress from a hard shift in the office or out in the field? "Climb a mountain or jump in a lake?"

A busy time of year for many businesses as they close off 2023 and gear up for 2024. By the end of March 2023, 5 of my customers will have activated significant campaigns to target new business across the North of Ireland - from completely different sectors. Great to see sales and marketing teams working together for that common goal - I have always been an advocate of collaboration but sometimes I get scared by the amount of data that drives all activity - surveys, traffic analytics, predictive behaviour, and, and, and... People. One of the 4 Ps from back in the day. Isn't that what it's all about? When should the Human touch come into play in your business development activities?

This podcast takes a few left turns on the way to talking about the 3 fundamental reasons why you should consider sales training for your business...there might even be a fourth. On the way I talk about the cost of creativity - thanks to ChatGPT, MidJourney, Fiverr etc...creativity can be funded from petty cash compared to 'back in the day.' Less than 20 years ago, let's say. Then onto one of the most influential music programmes of UK culture...The TUBE...and a segue into the portrayal of Paula Yates in the media.

This episode is nothing short of a signpost to another podcaster and a specific podcast - Lex Fridman and Chris Voss on the Lex Fridman Podcast. If you're interested in fine-tuning your negotiation skills this episode gives a brilliant insight into human behaviour, emotional intelligence and helps explain some of the common stumbling blocks that we all face. I have listened to the episode 2 or 3 times at this stage - there's way to much for one listen.

In the world of sales, closing deals and generating revenue are often seen as the most important metrics of success. However, what is often overlooked is the role that empathy plays in achieving those goals. Empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, is a crucial skill that sales professionals need to possess in order to succeed. Everyone might have heard of Emotional intelligence but how many of us continually practice it and how many of us recognise the importance of empathy in sales? In this episode I discuss Daniel Goleman's 1995 best seller, Emotional Intelligence and how having a better understanding of our own emotions can help us become better sales people.

Root cause analysis is a method used to identify the underlying reasons or causes of a problem or issue. The goal of root cause analysis is to uncover the source of the problem and address it at its root, rather than simply treating its symptoms. This approach to problem-solving has been widely adopted across a range of industries, including business and sales. The origins of root cause analysis can be traced back to the field of industrial engineering and quality control. The method was first popularised in the 1950s as a tool for improving manufacturing processes and identifying the root causes of defects. Think Toyota, Lean manufacturing and 6 Sigma Since then, root cause analysis has been adapted for use in a variety of fields, including healthcare, safety, and finance, and has become an essential tool for organisations looking to improve their processes and operations. In the podcast I discuss how RCA and the 5 x why's can be used in sales.

The quality of the work at the very first stage of any sales process usually defines the success of the campaign – get it wrong at the start and the ending will be predictably bad. Get it right and it can be a game changer. For salespeople and sales management alike, the art of prospecting is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it is the lifeblood of sales success – without a steady stream of qualified prospects, the sales pipeline will inevitably dry up, resulting in missed targets and lost revenue. On the other hand, prospecting can be a formidable challenge, requiring a unique set of skills, patience, and an indomitable spirit to persist in the face of rejection. In B2B sales, the importance of effective prospecting cannot be overstated. It is the foundation upon which sales success is built, the crucial first step in the sales process that sets the tone for the entire customer journey. Prospecting is about more than just finding leads and making a list of potential customers. It is about understandin

I reckon I'm qualified to post this podcast based as much on a legacy of failures in negotiation and the odd success. I have been holding back on recording a podcast on negotiation - it's a complex area, with hours of content but you have to start somewhere. Negotiation is the business end of sales - where you earn your commission or get sacked, as I once did. Sources I would recommend are the Negotiate like the pros, JP Dolan, Never split the difference, Chris Voss Harvard University to name but a few. Big question is - are you a townie or a culchie?

January is a tough month for most of us - it's especially tough if you work in sales, either as a sales leader or in business development. January is usually a time for rate increases. It's also the time of year that buyers and prospects can easily avoid your calls - which leads to no meetings for the month. Unless you have planned. Seasonal mood swing compounded by dark and cold mornings and evenings. Failed resolution making. No time to get to the gym. The boss is highly charged and rejuvenated after a long fortnight off over Christmas. It can be hard to get the engine started, lack of enthusiasm, motivation, inspiration, energy. In this podcast, I talk about one of the challenges facing sales people and how that adds to the other burdens of January.