News, views, tips and training from around The Sales Masters Guild network
Decisions Decisions
by John Kettley
Decisions Decisions... if there's one thing I've learned over the years it's that success is achieved from being 'business agile' which in of its self is based on our ability to make decisions quickly and if that decision is wrong to quickly make another decision without beating ourselves up over having made the wrong decision earlier. The procrastinators often don't think of themselves as being slow decision makers, they typically just 'think' they need time too carefully think things through which translates ...
Thinking of selling your Business?
by John Kettley
Thinking of selling your Business? If you're thinking of selling their business in the next few years please do not make the single biggest and most costly mistake that 95 % of business owners make...i.e. leaving preparations until 6 months before they actually want to sell!!Doing this means that you won't have enough time to do the financial engineering needed to get the best possible price, it also often means that the business is simply not 'packaged' well from a buyers ...
So what is a sales process & do I really need one?
by John Kettley
So what is a Sales process & do I need one? The sales subject is a subject many people almost avoid learning because they have a misconception about i.e. they believe that it is almost immoral to reach out and sell to people stuff they don’t want to buy! The truth is sales is actually about ‘giving’ people what they WANT to buy, because it gives them a gain… To give you a foundation, sales essentially consists of 3 basic elements, each of ...
Why there may never be a better time than now to sell your business
by Mike Ainsworth
Why There May Never Be A Better Time Than Now To Sell Your Business In my experience, it’s not unusual for business owners to leave it too late to sell their business. In an ideal world the best time to sell is when your business is trading profitably, business is on the increase and the economy is booming. So after four years of Brexit and 12 plus months of Covid, it’s easy to see why a lot of business owners are putting ...
What's your next move?
by John Kettley
What’s your next move? Whenever we go through a period of flux, there comes a moment when we think to ourselves Am I on the right track? Is what I’m doing the best way? What should I do next? The good news is…. you’re asking the ‘right’ questions Most people out there will simply be do nothing, paralysed by the fear of doing something different for fear that it will be the wrong thing to do. This my friend is the entrepreneur’s moment and the moment when ...
Are you designing the business that you want to?
by Toby Acton
Are you designing the business that you want to? I recently had a call from a client which really hammered home to me that it is up to us to design our businesses in the way that we want to... He was being pushed in a certain direction by potential business partners who were promising to find him investment, media exposure and market access. Whilst it could be potentially extremely lucrative, it was very much going against his ethos of 'why' he ...
To thine own self be true
by James Davey
To Thine Own Self be True…. Shakespeare is not normally cited as a business guru, but you cannot argue that he has built a sustainable brand which has lasted nearly half a millennium and has offered great value to the people of Stratford-upon-Avon to name but a few. Where would ‘Brand UK’ be without Shakespeare? Maintaining a consistent and honest brand identity has long been an obsession of mine. Having spent a number of years in the franchised motor industry, the importance of ...
Why these next 4 weeks are crucial to making 2021 a business success!
by John Kettley
Why these next 4 weeks are crucial to making 2021 a business success! If you take into account that the business community doesn’t ‘normally’ kick into gear until the 2nd to 3rd week of January each year, I think it’s fair to say that this on top of everything that’s happened in 2020, most people in the SME world are going to have a very bumpy start to the 2021. Which is why it’s absolutely crucial that we create as much momentum ...
From 6 to 7 figures in a tough business environment
by John Kettley
From 6 to 7 figures in a tough business environment It was at Martin’s kitchen table in 2010 that he shared with me his desire to take his business from 6 to 7 figures, ‘despite’ the business landscape looking really tough at the time. We were still very much in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 crash and businesses were still not making any significant investment in their ‘IT’, that said Martin had done exceptionally well in having maintained a steady turnover ...
Does your business operate like a winning pit stop?
by Olivier Carion
Does Your Business Operate Like a Winning Pit Stop? In F1, pit stops play a vital part in each pilot’s race. It is a well-rehearsed procedure, very much like a precisely choreographed dance. The team of mechanics works in perfect harmony to change the four tyres as quickly as they possibly can. After much preparation and rehearsing, Red Bull Racing holds the record for the fastest pit stop time of 2.05 seconds in 2013. They then smashed it in 1.923 seconds at ...