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How To Build Confidence

We can all think of instances in our lives when we have felt either confident or under-confident in regard to a particular challenge that lies ahead of us. It might be an upcoming business meeting, perhaps a key presentation that needs to be made but whatever it is, the chances are we will approach it with a level of confidence and, be this high or low, it may well have a bearing on the results we achieve.

Process Over Results

Dr Dave Alred MBE, Johnny Wilkinson’s internationally renowned kicking coach once said to me, “If you want to learn how to kick a ball then kick a ball!”

So OK - that’s sport and this is business - but is there really any difference? Well it’s great advice for starters because to secure any sort of a result - in sport, business, pretty much whatever we’re involved with - we’re going to have to take action and probably decisive action at that.

Cardinal Rules of Telemarketing

During the process of writing this week’s post I took time out to answer an inbound phone call and as a result, was moved to set aside my original topic and concentrate instead on writing about the cardinal rules of telemarketing - rules we sales people ignore at our peril.

The call turned out to be from ‘Fraser' - who cleared the first few hurdles well - being both polite and helpful in articulating who he was and where he was calling from.

Politics or Leadership?

I’m certain it won’t have escaped your attention; there’s a new president in the oval office and I’m thinking you will agree here - it’s been a hectic few weeks as he’s settling himself in!

Setting aside that administration’s politics and policies (tricky one that) I decided instead to consider the quality of leadership on offer in this new era. It may inspire some, it doesn’t inspire me, yet I got to thinking, here’s an opportunity to audit the quality of our own leadership.

Critical Skills for Effective Sales Managers

My very first sales manager welcomed me on board, showed me where the tea and coffee was, identified on a map where my customers were and then gave me the keys to my car and told me to get lost for a week! In nearly 30 years since, I’ve experienced other sales managers, been a sales manager and managed sales managers, so let's consider those skills critical to effective sales management and in this case, my top five ...

1. Clarity

Are you Communicating Effectively?

Effective Communication should be easy shouldn't it? All it takes is for us to ensure that the message we want to transmit and the message received are the same?

Not difficult - so why is communication such a challenge? Where do we go wrong?

Top 5 Tips on How To Take Criticism

A colleague of mine once suggested that based on the origins and etymology of the word 'criticism', a literal meaning in English was, 'to tear flesh'.

Now I found nothing on the web to support or diminish this idea but no matter, thinking about times when I had been criticised - and there were many - it had on occasion felt like I'd had a good old mauling - in fact, I'd felt battered and bruised!

How to prepare for a presentation

Our ability to communicate has an enormous impact on our lives, both professionally and personally but for many, one form of communication - presenting - fills us with fear. We become petrified at the very thought and can go to extreme lengths to avoid doing it.

If it’s true that we fear what we don’t understand, here we deconstruct presenting as a skill and offer ideas for taking action;

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