Advertise on podcast: The Shift Control Sales Podcast

There's a great line from the book "The paradox of choice" by Barry Schwartz - “The more options we have, the less satisfied we are with whatever we choose.” I was drawn to it recently when I was getting a coffee and some breakfast in Belfast - the choices we make and what influences them. Location, price, familiarity, curiosity, recommendation - whatever motivates you puts pressure on the business owner to not only get it right first time but to keep getting it right, then changing, then going again all the while watching out for rising costs in produce, energy and the ever-decreasing attention span of humans - both staff and customers. I have watched on as SEED have taken their successful, food-outlet business into the world of high value content, via social media, email and events. If you are not familiar with them, check out their places in Dungannon and Lisburn Road - also their social media content SEED People on instagram and the brilliant content from chef, StevieB.

I have noticed recently how businesses have become reliant on data to determine whether their business development efforts work or not - over-reliant maybe. The numbers, lead indicators or whatever the performance metric will tell you what is working on that campaign but what is there to tell you how well your 'brand' is performing overall in the minds of your potential or existing customers. Well executed outreach will generate meetings and begin sales cycles but doesn't impact the sentiment rating (my words...not sure if they're the right words but bear with me) - what the brand means to the customer or the way it makes them feel. It seems that data has become omnipotent in many marketing campaigns at the expense of creativity and experience. It goes back to the notion that marketing isn't an expense but an investment - advertising and sales aren't marketing they are "channels" of marketing. Other channels are available.

A first networking event in years - a breakfast event at The Reform Club on Belfast's Royal Avenue in the company of business leaders, listening to journalist Simon Kuper talk about what business can learn from sport. Simon has written books on Barcelona, taking a different approach to Damian Hughes but also writes extensively across other areas than sport. A journalist for the FT he brought a perspective to the topic that has me moderating my own view - that sports teams and business teams are very different my nature - there are clearly some areas of crossover. A very worthwhile event and grateful for the invite as well as the opportunity to meet some very interesting people from different corners of the north. (thanks to Joanne at Clarendon and AAB and MLN.)

Contracting is a concept that that has been applied to the coaching, psychotherapy and counselling industries whereby boundaries are created and clarity given to collaborative work between a coach and a coachee. Is this something that can be applied to our meaningful interpersonal relationships and is there space for it to add value to your sales activities? Many coaching methodologies offer guidance in how to bring the prospect and customer forward in a sales discussion but for me it is the true intention of collaborative selling whereby you establish and agree the protocols of engagement - PURPOSE, PROCESS and mutual EXPECTATIONS. Every good discussion works better when there is clarity, respect and and understanding of why the discussion is being had in the first place. What do you think?

Beginning a new learning journey and I have picked up some valuable insights already - one being the use of the word 'why' in sales and the importance of finding a different way of asking that question without it. This podcast suggests a rethink on your questioning / information gathering techniques. I also talk about the value of learning later in life and starting the journey of getting to know yourself better.

I used to work with a business man who was as good at coaching as he was at growing a multi-million pound business. “I really pity the man that doesn’t know he doesn’t know.” He said to me one day, almost 20 years ago. It took a while to land but he was talking about that thing everyone is afflicted with – a blind spot. The phrase ‘blind spot’ comes from the Johari Window, a psychological model developed in 1955 by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham — the name “Johari,” comes from a blend of their first names. It was originally created as a framework for understanding and improving interpersonal communication, particularly within group dynamics and team settings. As a coach, a manager to as a sales person intent on improving, it's important to spend some time looking for that which is harder to see - or those characteristics that you have been spending a lifetime trying to avoid

Having invited guests over last week, I found myself without some key ingredients for a vegetarian dish I had planned to make. Taking the list of ingredients I challenged CHAT GPT to create a recipe for a similar meal - and it did. At no point did I question the recipe and it made me realise how much trust I have placed in this technology in such a short space of time. Research suggests that almost 60% of people in sales believe that AI tools sometimes provide inaccurate or misleading information. The big question to sales leaders becomes are you constantly regulating the veracity and quality of the information used by your sales people (and lets face it, yourselves)? If not giving you a competitive edge just yet, AI has given you the chance to reclaim some of your time each day - if you are not integrating AI in your sales function you are missing out. If you haven't given your team the authority to use AI, work on the basis that they are already taking some short cuts - you need to make sure if those short cuts aren't going to case long term damage.

Plenty of the recent episodes focus on the importance of process, from pipeline management to presentation formats. We can get caught up with the lure of CRM, believing that data and data management is everything. It gets tiring, sat in another sales meeting, discussing pipeline and nothing has moved from the previous meeting. A slow agonising death. Data is important, process is important but when it comes to influencing sales decisions, awareness and emotional intelligence matter most. In this episode I talk about the importance of awareness and being present when it comes to closing out on deals in your pipeline.

I was making plans for this coming weekend - Tyrone V Kerry in Dublin. Should I or shouldn't I? Weather isn't all that relevant but I looked at the forecast and found another reason to go. The importance of being able to predict something accurately. (It was in 2008 that Croke park was flooded after one of the quarter finals - so accurate is the operative word.) And so to sales forecasting - the devils business. So critical to all other parts of the business, planning, buying, HR, logistics and so difficult for sales people to get it right every time - because it matters every time. Some thoughts on forecasting from the world of the sales person and the sales manager.

I came across the following quote from a post on Instagram: “It doesn’t make sense to continue wanting something if you’re not willing to do what it takes to get it. If you don’t want to live the lifestyle then release yourself from the desire. To crave the result but not the process is to guarantee disappointment.” The journy of 1,000 miles doesnt begin with the first step - it begins with awareness. In sales performance that 'awareness" is critical - it is a level of self awarenes that might be beyond many - it certainly was beyond me for a long time. A line from their most famous song, David Byrne in Talking Heads asks YOU to ask the question: "you may ask yourself, how did i get here?" In trying to improve your sales performance you need to understand where you are, how you got there, where you wnat to go and more importantly are youy aware of what changing for success looks like? I have included a little clip at the end from Eric Thomas - the bane of every young sportstar's life....I hope you enjoy

A different episode to the usual - about going to a fundraiser for Palestine at the Dockers Club in Belfast, music supplied by Irish DJ, David Holmes, Roisin El Sherif and Bernadette Devlin McAliskey. At the age of 78, Bernadette can hold court now just as well as she did in 1969, on her maiden speech in Westminster. She read out some poetry on the evening from an Irish Poet, Dorothy Cullen from her book of poems "300 days and counting" - available on Amazon. I have posted a copy of her maiden HOC speech on my website here: https://www.shift-control.co.uk/words-maiden-speech-bernadette-devlin/

According to Gartner research, only 17% of the buying process is spent with suppliers — that’s not much more than one-sixth of the journey. So if you're waiting for that 17% to come to you, you’re missing the 83% where the buyer is actually shaping the deal. That’s why proactive prospecting isn’t just good practice — it’s survival. In this episode there are some intended and unintended points for discussion - what started out as a piece on rewarding self-contained sales prospecting, ended up shining a light on the importance of having your marketing game on point, to ensure that buyers are able to access you WHEN THEY want to and also why prospecting still has a value when the world thinks that digital channels provide the only real meaningful solution to business development and lead generation.

I found myself a little hypocritical in the previous episode - trying to maybe make everything sound so easy when in truth getting into good habits in any part of your life can be anything but easy. I felt it important to reframe a few things - it is a struggle for me in loads of areas and I try hard to inject some stability and form rituals where i can in order to improve myself, in the margins. Small, steady improvements might make big differences over the longer term but they 100% have greater impact over doing nothing. For me, Im cutting out media for a few days - I find watching anything about Palestine now a torture and something that Impacts my own well being. On the up side, I am happy to recommend a few apps - one is Merlin, the other Picture this - but handy for the immersion in nature experience. The other is NO THANKS - an app that tells you which companies are directly linked in supporting countries whose ethics you might find somewhat despicable.

The second part of the podcast devoted to the importance of Process is itself broken down into 2 parts - the practical part of the process that impacts the physical work you do and the prices you have (or don't have) that helps you emotionally and mentally prepare for the work that you need to do. Sales is not an easy job and you can find yourself under pressure from a number of different angles day in day out. Having a process in place or putting some order into your work means that you are able to build up momentum in your work and to create a particular rhythm' to your selling. Having a clear objective within allows you to focus on progressing in a particular way but also gives you more certainty that you are in the right place, the right job with the right opportunities beckoning. Giving yourself the best chance you can is all you can do - how you start your day, your mindset, the structure you out to your work and how you deal with the challenges are all very much within your control. Once you find the right process that works for you.

Episode 1 of 2, were I talk about the importance of disciplined process in sales management and leadership. It's all pretty straightforward and common sense and yet many sales leaders are fixated to the outcome - the revenue target for the month, quarter or year instead of having a clearly defined sales management process that offers you every qualitative and qualitative measurement to ensure that you can respond quickly to any warning signs or potential areas of concern, in real time. It can be a tough call for business owners who have usually taken the journey of hunter, gatherer to business leader and might want everything done in the 'old way' just because it has worked in the past. Today with so much technology and software to support the sales and marketing function, the sales management role has become easier but only when built around a solid process and implemented by a highly disciplined sales, marketing and admin team. Episode 2 will focus on those processes that can help sales people navigate challenging economic times as well as the emotional highs and lows of sales.