by David Cottrell | 17 Aug 2015 | News
The new season of the English Premier League football is only two weeks old and already Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho has caused controversy (surprise!). His pitch-side antics when his medical team rushed to attend to an injured player were extreme. He then went on...
by David Cottrell | 14 Aug 2015 | News, Sales Skills
Cold calling! Don’t you just hate it? Even ‘warm’ leads can be hard work on the phone. However the telephone still is one of the best ways to generate new business. You’ll have an even higher success rate if you follow this checklist: Do you...
by David Cottrell | 10 Aug 2015 | News, Sales Skills
This cartoon used to be shown at virtually every sales training I attended ‘back in the day’. You’d expect people to be more open nowadays but I was staggered recently while trying to speak to a particular person/company. I had attended a Food...
by David Cottrell | 5 Aug 2015 | News
Are You Experienced was the first studio album from Jimi Hendrix back in 1967. In my line of work I meet a lot of ‘experienced’ people. I hear that “I’ve got 20 years of experience” or “I’ve worked here for 15 years”....
by David Cottrell | 4 Aug 2015 | News
Development is an essential part of being a human being. Learning new life and work skills is an essential part of what gets us out of bed each day (or needing the bathroom). With these three simple keys in your pocket you will be able to unlock the talent in your...
by David Cottrell | 3 Aug 2015 | News
Succession Planning Everything running fine at the moment? No vacancies for senior managers? Sit back for a few minutes and enjoy the feeling. However don’t gloat for too long. Answer the following 10 questions to understand if there are issues that could derail...
by David Cottrell | 27 Jul 2015 | Customer Satisfaction, News, Sales Skills
What is Market Segmentation? A market segment is simply a group of customers with common needs and values. That’s the easy part! How do you decide which ones to attack? Just answer these two critical questions: Why is this group of customers attractive to me and...
by David Cottrell | 23 Jul 2015 | Customer Satisfaction, News, Sales Skills
So you’ve been seeing this Customer for almost a year and feel you want to take the relationship to the next level? What do they say? They’re saying all the right things but don’t back it up with actions? Customers sometimes speak with forked...
by David Cottrell | 22 Jul 2015 | Negotiation, News, Sales Skills
At the end of a tough negotiation I could see the visiting sales team were really happy to be ‘escaping’ as we arrived back at our reception. “David, thanks for your time. We’ll get back to you about those outstanding issues.” This is...
by David Cottrell | 20 Jul 2015 | Customer Satisfaction, News, Sales Skills
What’s the single biggest reason customers switch business to one of your competitors? Price too high? A possibility but no. Poor quality/service? Could be but again no. Competitor undercutting your price? Not even close! Let me put you out of your misery (and...
by David Cottrell | 27 Nov 2014 | News, Sales Skills
Have you been working hard all year for little or no profit? Customers making more demands but unwilling to pay for them? It’s time to increase prices! “Are you crazy? Don’t you know that the economy is still very weak?” I hear you say....
by David Cottrell | 6 Nov 2014 | News, Sales Skills
We’ve all seen sales stories represented by people climbing ladders. Looking up (Still so far to go!). Looking down (Don’t look down!) What are the steps or rungs that we have to climb in order to get to the top of the ladder and deliver sales? The...
