Importance of feedback in leadership

Everyone who’s had a job will have heard an office conversation in which people profile the boss. Good or bad, most people figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the boss and are happy to compare notes by the coffee machine. Yet if this individual’s shortcomings are obvious to the entire team, why isn’t feedback…

Do I need a coach or a mentor?

Coaching or mentoring These are different, but often discussed in the same context. Both focus on helping you develop and grow but they do it in different ways. Understanding this will help you to decide whether you need a coach or a mentor. Coaching is more likely to be question-based, content-free and agnostic. It provides…

How do you give feedback to sales people?

Questions around giving feedback to sales people is something that’s come around a number of times just recently. It’s perhaps revealing that it rarely shows up as a question about “building a buzzing sales team” or “getting the very best out of” someone. When people pose this challenge it’s much more likely to be presented…

When’s the right time to create a business strategy?

This question came up with clients a couple of times in February. This challenge is especially acute as 2022 kicks off with so many uncertainties. Many organisations have seen their “known knowns” torn apart in the last two years. Brexit was followed by the pandemic, which in turn has been eclipsed by a brutal war…

The danger of absorbing inflation into price

Last week that dreaded message popped up on my dashboard: Warning! Tyre pressure alert! Just a few days earlier I’d topped up the air so this one looked like being a slow puncture. Yes, there was enough air to get home, but the diary was packed for the next 48 hours with little chance of…

How to buy the right sales training for your business

sales training - pondering while looking out over a lake

Choosing the right sales training for your business is a real challenge. Search for ‘Presenting Skills’ in Google and the pages of offers and companies go on and on and on. We did, and Google reported is has 246 Million results for you to choose from! How are you finding sales training options for your…

Getting the best results from employing consultants

Inviting a consultant into your business is a big commitment. Even more so if a whole gang arrive together. Not business as usual It’s Monday, it’s 9am and already you’ve got a faulty printer, a production issue, one late order urgently awaiting a courier, and six new customer enquiries looking back you from your inbox.…

Am I where I think I am in business?

Business sales review - Sales Untangled team hiking in the moors

During a really important pitch to a new client…and of course within your business. Taking Stock Now’s a great time to be taking stock, reflecting and learning. It’s an opportunity to adjust your plans, refine your activity or leverage something you’ve become really good at. 2020 didn’t go to plan for most people. But there’ll…

Getting the best from sales training

Sales training is more than just making the booking and hoping for the best. All training has a cost attached to it. There’s the obvious financial one if you appoint an external training business to support you. There’s also the opportunity cost of asking your people to leave their day jobs and spend time doing…

Getting the best from working with a sales coach

Making the most of any coaching support you invest in takes effort. Coaching is often transformative. However, like most things in life, what’s right for one won’t suit another. And understanding the circumstances by which the relationship might be put under pressure can be helpful before you commit your time, brain and cash. How coaching…

‘Busy’ – A hard habit to break

“I guess I thought you’d be here foreverAnother illusion I chose to createYou don’t know what ya got until it’s goneAnd I found out just a little too late” For anyone who has a fondness for 1980’s rock ballads, or for whom this era was a formative part of their life, you may well recognise…

Hiking boots, hooves and fun

“Ain’t no mountain high enough, Ain’t no valley low enough, Ain’t no river wide enough” By Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967 More than fifty years on we recently discovered that’s not true and there are mountains absolutely high enough… This is a story about happiness and it’s role in busy-ness for owners at work. But…