What is Value-based selling?
You’ll probably have a very accurate idea about what your business costs you. The bricks and mortar (or your desk, laptop, printer and supply of chocolate Hob Nobs) Your people – either on your payroll or as associates or suppliers. Your manufacturing, purchasing or tech development costs. What you spend on marketing your business and…
Read MoreHow long does it take to improve sales performance?
By the time a business owner asks the question : ‘How long does it take to improve sales performance?’, what they really mean is: When will the headache go away?
The problem has grown big enough – or dragged on long enough – for them to feel the pain of a below-par sales performance. The implications are usually clear: not paying yourself enough this month, or worse, worrying about meeting payroll.
Read MoreFalling out with an AI agent — and what it tells us about using AI in sales
I’ve fallen out with an AI agent. How can that happen and what does it tell us about the risk of taking shortcuts when using AI in sales?
AI agents don’t have emotions.This means my “falling out” is a one way thing. If I go back to that same agent now it will treat me in the same even-handed, unemotional way it has done for the last four weeks.
This is probably a good thing.
Read MoreNew B Corp certification standards: are they truly holistic?
Everyone’s calling the new B Corp standards “holistic”. We’ve just finished our recertification under them, and we’re not sure that’s the word. Five pillars have become seven areas, the points have disappeared, and the workload has multiplied. Here’s what’s changed, what it took us, and why comprehensive might be the better description.
Read MoreWhy your sales plan isn’t a sales plan (and how to write one that is)
Most business leaders have a sales plan. Some are detailed forecasts. Others live “in my head”. And plenty are just targets dressed up as plans. This post sets out the six things that turn a growth number into a real sales plan, with side-by-side examples of the difference. Because the target is your destination. The plan is your route map.
Read MoreWhy do people think they need a “hungry” sales team?
“I need a hungry sales team.”
We hear it all the time. It’s never appeared in a single job description — and that’s the problem.
You can’t measure hungry. And in sales, you get what you measure.
Keep a dog hungry and you don’t get loyalty. You get an angry, aggressive dog. So why do it to your sales team?
In our latest blog we unpick the hungry sales team myth (also Sales Myth #6 in Untangle Your Sales)
Summers are getting longer. Your sales pipeline isn’t.
With summer in full swing, sales pipelines are quietly grinding to a halt — and this piece makes the case for not letting it happen. Between record heat, the World Cup, and school holidays, there’s every temptation to coast until September. But with half the year already gone and December offering little relief, that leaves a very narrow window to hit revenue targets.
Read MoreWhy you’re losing out on revenue if you don’t use Good, Better, Best pricing
GBB is a way of structuring your pricing so you have an offer for everyone. UK supermarkets are experts in this, appealing as they do to a wide range of shoppers.
If you shop for a pie in Sainsburys there’s an entry level offer, either under the Value or Stamford Street brand. Then there will be a Sainsburys offer at maybe twice the price. Then if you want to indulge yourself you have the Taste The Difference option at twice the price of the mainstream offer…or four times the base price.
Read MoreWhy so many sales forecasts are fiction dressed up as data
A sales forecast is only as good as the sales leadership, operational discipline and culture that sits behind it. The good news is that it’s possible to shift these things, replacing optimism with a more scientific approach. That’s a load off the shoulders of most business owners.
Read MoreAI leadership and clarity: Why the leaders who thrive won’t be the busiest – They will be the clearest
AI is flooding leadership teams with ideas, tools, and urgent priorities — but more information is making decisions harder, not easier. This article explores why AI leadership today is a cognitive problem, not a capability one
Read MoreWhy it’s so hard for business owners to diagnose sales problems
Most small business owners know something’s not working in their sales — they just can’t pinpoint what. When you’re deep in the day-to-day, it’s hard to see clearly. This guide walks through how to diagnose sales problems in your small business, why more activity rarely fixes them, and the simple diagnostic approaches that actually move the needle.
Read MoreTime to Value: Why clients question the value you deliver. And how to fix it
You delivered great work. So why is your value still being questioned? For many B2B service businesses, this is where things start to unravel. The project lands, the work was delivered, and the client was satisfied. But a few months later, the relationship feels fragile. Procurement starts asking harder questions. A competitor appears with a…
Read MoreThe hidden risk of AI in business: Why faster pace limits learning
AI is accelerating business growth, but many founders are losing something critical: learning. Discover why speed without reflection leads to poor decisions and how to fix it.
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