The Best Advice I Got ... As I Struggled To Sell.

The Best Advice I Got ... As I Struggled To Sell.

When I was new to sales, Adrian gave me an unforgettable piece of advice.

I had just started in sales and was struggling to get my first deal away. I'd been 9-months in the job ... nothing. I knew I was facing the sack if I didn't close something soon.

But I had some big deals in play. These were all complex projects with many stakeholders. Corporate politics and structures to navigate, then legal and commercial negotiations.

I thought I was making a lot of mistakes. I was losing more confidence every day. And believe me desperate salespeople don't close deals!

Until one day, Adrian a highly-successful sales executive took me to one side and said to me:




That day, my whole life changed. I finally got 'sales' in a way that made sense to me as a consultant.

That's it, stop persuading and start facilitating.

Winning a consultancy project is all about the decision-making. My job was to help clients commit to a decision. That's what I was being paid to do.

I won my first project two weeks after that advice from Adrian.

Helping the client make the best decision possible for them, not me.

From that time onwards I've seen my role as a professional mind-maker-upper.
And, I've been doing that ever since.