It probably won’t surprise you to hear that sales training is far from a new phenomenon. In fact, formal sales development has been going on for well over 150 years. As far back as the 1870s, salesmen (sadly no saleswomen back then!) who sold subscription books door-to-door received a “Sales Talk” before embarking on their… Read more »
Posts By: Flame Learning
Building Great Sales Relationships Through Trust
As we reach the end of the year, many of the salespeople we work with are focused on closing sales and hitting end of year targets. We are regularly asked, what is our #1 sales tip to help meet and exceed sales targets? At this late stage in the year it may feel there isn’t… Read more »
Selling or Helping to Buy?
If you are too focused on following your own sales process, you could risk losing the sale… As a sales consultancy, we’re often asked to support our clients in overcoming the challenges they face when selling to their own customers. As part of our approach, we’ll ask our clients about their sales process – what… Read more »
How To Sell If You Hate Selling
Do you hate selling? Does the very idea of having to promote your goods or service make you turn cold? Whether you like it or not, selling is an essential part of any business, regardless of the product or service you offer. If you set up a business without banking on the need to sell,… Read more »
10 Top Tips For Selecting a Sales Training Provider
You’ve decided to invest in developing the skills of your sales people – but how do you find the right partner to deliver the right sales training program that works for your business, that achieves the right outcomes? Most Team Leaders are responsible for making dozens of decisions every single day. Research suggests that one… Read more »
Our Altitude Sales Development Program wins Bronze!
We are delighted to announce that Flame Learning has received a Bronze award in the ‘Best Program for Sales Training & Performance’ category, at the recent HCM Excellence Awards. We are honored to receive this much coveted award from leading independent research and analyst firm Brandon Hall Group, and are thrilled to be recognized for this… Read more »
How to boost Personal Development buy-in
Ask a group of employees what they would like their business to be doing differently or better, and invariably the topic of Personal Development will be raised…Spending more time on it, investing more budget in it, and/or receiving more support around it. That being the case, why is it then that when time, effort, budget… Read more »
5 keys to implementing your new sales approach
You’ve made the decision to invest in a new sales approach, secured the budget and selected your training provider. You’re all set! You can now sit back and watch the sales come in, right? Wrong! Without a robust engagement strategy, it could all be over before it’s even begun! The case for investing in the… Read more »
Tools of Influence – Part 2
In our last blog we introduced you to the first three tools of influence. Based on over 35 years’ worth of evidence based research, and culminating in @Robert Cialdini’s work on the six universal principles of persuasion, our experience tells us that application of these principles is likely to elevate those working in business development… Read more »
Tools of Influence – Part 1
In our previous blog we highlighted the differences between true salespeople and order takers, the latter being almost exclusively led by existing customer demand for their offerings, the former using their skills of influence to create or further build that demand. We proposed that it’s becoming increasingly tough to thrive in a pure order taking… Read more »
Salesperson or Order Taker?
Over the years that we’ve had the privilege of working with sales teams across the world, it’s often struck me that many of the ‘salespeople’ we’ve worked with aren’t actually selling at all. Though their role titles may tell us differently, a significant chunk of this group could more accurately be described as ‘order takers’…. Read more »
How to succeed in the year ahead? Start by facing forwards…
New Year’s Resolutions are often a standard topic of conversation in January. Regardless of the timing or the reason, there is never any harm in a bit of stock-taking. As my previous blog suggested, looking in that rear view mirror helps to check where you have come from, but once you have done this I… Read more »
How successful was your year? Looking in the Rear View Mirror…
As another year draws to a close, many people will naturally find themselves entering introspection mode. In years gone by, this may have ordinarily only been something practiced by established high performers. However, given the current popularity of mindfulness, self-awareness and general personal growth. I’d hazard a guess that more people then ever before are… Read more »
12 Principles of Personal Leadership – Part 3
In my previous 2 blogs, I set out to offer some thoughts to those entering the workforce or those responsible for developing more junior members of their teams. In actual fact, anyone can benefit from being reminded of these key principles. You can even use them to help your children develop core skills that will… Read more »
12 Principles of Personal Leadership – Part 2
In my previous blog, I discussed the first 4 lessons that can help younger generations develop into the leaders of tomorrow. In this follow up blog, I will introduce a further 4 principles. In developing these skills from an early age, you can avoid years of unpicking bad habits, saving time, effort and even money…. Read more »
12 Principles of Personal Leadership – Part 1
With new generations entering the workplace around this time of year, it got me thinking. Truth be told, I was actually thinking about my own kids. In a world post #MeToo, #LeanIn and #BanBossy (amongst other campaigns), the focus on opening up leadership programmes to a broader, more diverse and inclusive audience is very much… Read more »
Building Trust – Part 2
In our previous blog, we introduced the concept of building trust in working relationships. We mentioned that that there are four elements which, according to the research that sits behind The Trusted Advisor, contribute to forming the Trust Equation. Last time we posted we positioned the first two factors – Credibility and Reliability. This month… Read more »
Building Trust – Part 1
A little while back I was invited to speak at a networking event for Property Professionals. Having accepted the invite, I was then left with the small matter of deciding what to talk about. These were property professionals in the broadest sense – a melting pot of investors, surveyors, agents, lawyers, and finance brokers. What… Read more »
The Power of Persuasion
If you view the world from the perspective of those you are attempting to influence, you are far more likely to succeed. The ability to effectively influence others has long been recognised as a key attribute of successful workplace leaders. Indeed, in a recent survey conducted across the Chartered Quality Institute’s Next Generation Network,… Read more »
Feedback – A Gift or a Slap in The Face?
A couple of weeks ago I ran a session for some senior leaders on Delivering Effective Feedback. At the start of the session I mentioned that feedback is a topic that both excites and frustrates me in equal measure. Exciting? When feedback is delivered well i.e. at the appropriate time and in the appropriate… Read more »