Business Source

We recorded this one just before Christmas so please forgive the jumpers!

Ian is a close friend of mine and has been an inspiration to me of late when it came to me taking time out for paternity leave.

He shares his career journey with the BBC and others and how he was lucky enough to be able to take an extended paternity break to care for his two children and share the parental responsibilities with his amazing wife Claire.

It's a long chat but well worth the listen / view.

This weeks conversation is truthful, constructive and forward thinking.  How do WE as humans in the Sales world need to adapt ourselves and our approach to the modern buying environment?  (Like switching your TV from the old analogue signal to the digital feed).

Tim Hughes give his wonderful insights, thoughts and opinions as well as some valuable tips to take away.

When our business is thriving and we begin to think about expanding into new countries/markets, we often fall foul to lots of local laws/regulations, we don't necessarily understand the hiring laws and quite frankly, we don't tend to have existing relationships in new territories.

This is where Charles Smee and his team can help expedite things.

Roland Vanbuchin is an Entrepreneur, Author of the Dream Selling Business and CEO at VANX Digital.

He lived in Russia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Gaining experience in the go-to market strategies, digital selling actives and sales enablement in Fortune 100 companies like Dropbox Business, BMC Software and Oracle Corporation. 

In 2020, Vanbuchin resigned from his post at the Corporation and transitioned from Intrapreneur to Entrepreneur. Joined by former SAP, Google and Citrix professionals Vanbuchin build VANX Digital which is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland with business ventures all around the globe.

Michael's LISTEN, INNOVATE, GROW approach to Sales & marketing coaching really is standout and resonates with me a lot.

His 'buyer centric' philosophy really makes you think about your sales process and whether you are actually connected to your customer or just doing it how you 'want' it to be.

Michael is also a guest speaker and mentor, which he loves, but his passions are travel and athletics.

Did I mention he's a Canadian living in Sydney!

This year has been the weirdest, most bizarre business period of my lifetime.  With that comes the need to review what you have, how you got there and just what the hell you're going to do in order to survive.

Jon Simmonds shares his journey in business and how he had to think quickly about how to pivot his Social Media Marketing business.

Even with a business geared towards modern marketing strategies, it doesn't mean your business is safe from disruption or complete decimation during a pandemic.

If you think your business is safe, think again.  In fact, think some more... keep going, never stop thinking.  As responsible business owners, we must never rest in our pursuit of keeping our business current, but also looking to diversify and strengthen our position.

Finance is never a sexy subject, nor is it one we are comfortable talking about, particularly when things aren't going well.  Like they aren't for many businesses in 2020.

It's reassuring to know that there are options available to make like a little easier.  Invoicing Factoring is one such option.

Armand Roux of GRENKE shares their approach in supporting SMEs with cashflow challenges.

We also discuss all things Dorking Rugby Club where Armand is Director of Rugby and a well respected member of the community, helping over 600 children learn the game each year.

Armand's Books

• Legacy by James Kerr

TV Shows

• Worlds Greatest Race

THAT is some title!  Albeit it's made up!  But it does make you wonder... why is he the UKs most hated sales trainer?

To put it bluntly, as Benjamin does, it's because he tells you the things you don't always want to hear.  He makes you feel uncomfortable, makes you do things you don't want to be doing...but SHOULD be doing.

We are all guilty from time to time of being complacent.  We forget to do the things that got us to where we are, we think we know it all and that someone wearing red braces and a red baseball cap could never teach us something new.  WRONG

If you're struggling to sell and can't understand why, I highly recommend watching/listening to this one.  But hold on to your hats... it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Benjamin's Books 

• Advice - Buy ONE sales book, read it and do EVERYTHING in it...GET GOOD AT IT.  Don't take bits from different books and try to mash them together.
• How to run your own life by Jut Meininger

When I was presented with the chance to chat with an International Bird Watching Tour Guide, naturally, as a CRM consultant, I said YES!

I mean wow... how do our two worlds ever collide?  Through the power of relationships.

You might think, what can other businesses learn from such an obscure industry?  But there lays the key point.  It's an industry... a big one.  One that relies heavily exclusively on travel, repeat business (recurring revenue) and diversifying to stay current and attract new clients.

I'm sure you'll love Jesse's approach to life and business.  He's a warm, caring, passionate, HIGHLY intelligent human that I felt a connection with.  I feel I've made a friend for life.

Did I mention he was a Mathematics University Teacher in a previous life!!!

Jesse's Books

• Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy by Kip S. Thorne
• A brief history of time by Stephen Hawking
• Light in August by William Faulkner
• The happiness hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

With all that's going on, staying focused in Sales is a real challenge.  It's affected every business globally, whether that be positively or negatively.  Some have had significant challenges due to being overloaded with orders/work, but for many, surviving has been difficult.

So how do we as sales people remain motivated, focused and make the best use of our time?

Janice shares her wisdom with me covering areas such as customer success, strategic selling and how the buyers have become smart to the shortcuts salespeople try to make to get the sale.

We also talking about how it can also be healthy to cull your client bank of customers that demand the earth but pay very little.  

Low Revenue / High Need - lowest 10-20% of your client base
Reasonable Revenue / Low Need - Sweet spot
High Revenue / High Need - Top 10-20% of your client base

A key take away for me is about ensuring your end-to-end customer experience is solid and that each business unit contributes and understands their part.

Janice's Book's

• Essential Business by Janice B Gordon :-)
• The Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters
• Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed