Grant Stanley Consulting

Sales leaders are obsessed with closing. Even movies elevate closing to a mythical status. We’ve all heard the line, and maybe even implored our salespeople to, “Always be closing” (Alec Baldwin in “Glengarry Glen Ross”). The “State of Inbound 2018” report, which compiled the responses of more than 6,200 leaders from around the world, identified “closing more deals” as the No. 1 priority of sales leaders. Nothing else was even close! It’s no wonder that everyone would like a quick fix. Google the term “sales closing” and you will find: “How To Close A Sale: 7 Closing Techniques And Why They Work”, “20 Modern Sales Closing Techniques That Will Help You Win More Sales” and a host of other closing miracles. However, despite all the fanfare, focusing on closing alone does not work. Here is why. The data from nearly 2 million evaluations and assessments of salespeople conducted by Objective Management Group, shows that fewer than 6 percent of all salespeople are stron...

The key to instant popularity? Make people feel good about themselves. When people around you feel good about themselves, they will like you and seek more opportunities to experience the same inner glow. If it is so simple, why don’t more people do it more often?  One simple answer is that we spend too much energy focused on ourselves and our own feelings that we end up ignoring the energy of others, if only by default. Smile   Sincere smiles from the heart trigger warm, reciprocal feelings. Praise Compliment. Appreciate. Be specific and avoid insincere flattery. Look for the best in everyone and in every situation.  Ask questions that show an interest, listen attentively Use their names. Dale Carnegie, author of the perennial best seller, “How to Win Friends & Influence People,” said “a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Empathise See the world from their perspective. Reflect ...

It can be seen from my transition curve that it is important for all of us to understand the impact that change will have on our own personal construct systems; and for us to be able to work through the implications for our self-perception. Any change, no matter how small, has the potential to impact on an individual and may generate conflict between existing values and beliefs and anticipated altered ones. One danger for the individual, team and organisation occurs when an individual persists in operating a set of practices that have been consistently shown to fail (or result in an undesirable consequence) in the past and that do not help extend and elaborate their world-view.  Another danger area is that of denial where people maintain operating as they always have denying that there is any change at all.   Both of these can have detrimental impact on an organisation trying to change the culture and focus of its people . Anxiety The awareness that events l...

Five reasons why emotional intelligence matters right now An emotionally intelligent workforce can help organisations meet many of their current challenges. Managers who are high in EI can help the business drive through change, stimulate innovation and get the best and most inspired performance from its people. Emotional intelligence is however a tool that is under-used and often widely misunderstood within the corporate environment. Managers are suspicious of the very word ‘emotion’ and often feel it has no place in a fast-paced competitive climate where tough decisions are being made on a daily basis. It’s important to recognise however, that being emotionally intelligent isn’t about being emotional – it’s about being able to manage yourself better and get the most out of your team while also paying attention to their welfare and individual needs. Here I share five reasons why emotional intelligence should form the backbone of every manager’s tool-kit: 1. It makes ...

For many years I have struggled and beaten off my competition through hard work and failures.   I have read many books and many articles on how to be the best Salesperson or the Best Marketer and have tried implementing all the advice.   I am sick to death of all of these How-To guides and the lack of actual real life examples of when these tips actually worked! A bit about me first so you can understand my frustrations.   I left the British Army in 1995 and having no actual trade to fall back on (well not one that would be of use in Civvy Street) I stumbled into Sales.   I found that I had a natural ability to listen to people, identify opportunities and close business, so did quite well.   For three years I worked for a small Sales and Marketing company that sold products and services on behalf of developing companies.   I managed to save enough money to put myself through University and in 1999 started a 3 year Bachelor of Science degree in Comp...

I will probably incur the wrath of many a Project Manager with this post but hey I have had that happen to me many times when working with them on various change initiatives. Anyway here we go … It never ceases to amaze me how the words Project Management and Change Management can be used in the same breath. In my experience (and this is not a criticism of PMs) Project Managers cannot execute Change Management because the two disciplines require a whole different set of skills and competencies. Unfortunately this seems to be something that is on the rise and it makes me wonder whether this contributes to so many change failures. Both disciplines aim for totally different outcomes: •Project Management is about installation. It focuses on a plan built around events and timelines with the aim of getting from a current state (no installation) to a future state (installation achieved). •Change Management is about adoption. It focuses on the people aspects of the change with...

Let’s face it. Your boss might not be the most emotionally evolved mammal on the planet.   Chances are you will have to deal with (or have already dealt with) a boss that is all too like the chicanery you see from Dunder Mifflin’s leadership team. No matter what you do, it’s never enough.   Your results are never big enough or fast enough.   Even though the boss is never there, when he/she does decide to show up they “second guesses” all your decisions and keeps asking “what the hell is going on around here?” All the while you are using all your big people skills to not shout out the obvious answer — “You would know if you were here…”   But you shut your mouth and pretend to take notes on the clipboard you are holding.   Muttering to yourself if having a job is really all that worth it. Not for bosses like that! The extra stress and chaos does nothing but bring you years closer to your death.   It’s not only stupid, it’s dangerous – to you...

Innovators or Sheep? Have you ever notice that so many companies want to be visionary? Able to predict future products and services you need; but yet they also say they respond to market demand by being market-driven . Seems to me that’s an oxymoron. Can you be both market-driving and market-driven? To disruptively break free from reactive business strategy and accelerate the agile and pivot-able strategy, we need to understand the difference between market-driving and market-driven companies. In his 2004 book, “Marketing as Strategy,” Nurmalya Kumar characterised these two types of strategies. Market-driving companies rule the future – they push the envelope of possibility and consistently surprise customers by introducing unique value in exceptional brand new products and services. Market driven companies are doomed to fall increasingly further behind as they react to customer needs that will surely change by the time they deliver the ultimately out of date p...