“Today, you are a rooster! Tomorrow you’ll all be feather dusters unless you make your numbers!! So stop your BS and get out there and bury the competition!!” Now, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were on the set of Glengarry Glen Ross decades ago, but these words unfortunately came from the boardroom of a… Read More
About Bernadette McClelland
5 Ways to Kick Start Your 2014 Sales Calls
One of the great eye openers when working with a sales person is asking them to share what’s on their calendar for the next week and the reality that sometimes brings with it. But more of an eye opener is asking them to share what’s on their call plan and the reality that brings with… Read More
Artificial Larry versus Amplified Leadership – 4 ‘Must Have’ Competencies To Stay In The Game
A milestone was reached in the world of selling this month. ‘Adelaide-based artificial intelligence software vendor Complexica has secured a software deployment contract with pharmaceutical company Pfizer Australia’ and launched the artificial intelligence engine, Larry, the Digital Analyst. The early adopters and creatives have brought artificial intelligence into the realm of sales, and it is… Read More
Creating A Sales Smart Culture
Let me share a personal story. An arm of my business includes pro-bono sales mentoring. For no monetary purpose but for a way of giving back and helping those salespeople who are struggling to become better. It reduces stress for many and can even save a business. Earlier this week, I spent an hour with… Read More
Did Simon Sinek get it wrong?
Yes and No! The power of purpose, the power of why is fundamental to our legacy, our leadership and our day to day living. Those that have it are driven, have a pull that creates its own powerful momentum and almost creates a life of its own. I mean, all we need to do is… Read More
Do you WANT approval or NEED approval?
We all love approval and we all love connection but only one is a human need that’s been demonstrated over and over again from models that come from the likes of Abraham Maslow and Tony Robbins, and even show up in the failure to thrive syndrome of babies. So clearly we all need connection in… Read More
Does Personality Sell?
It may not sell, per se, but in my opinion, someone with a ‘personality’ does engage, entertain and educate, allowing you to have a positive experience with that person. When you contrast that with someone that doesn’t have a personality (as such), then there is not much engagement, very little entertainment or you may not… Read More
For The Women Of The World Not Afraid To Take A Bow
It is a privilege to be asked to share some of my thoughts for this year’s International Woman’s Day. It’s also a time to reflect on what the day actually stands for – outside our default celebration of the suffragettes or those who have voiced their views, run their races and remained on buses. With… Read More
How do salespeople REALLY scare their prospects?
A salespersons’ biggest competitor today is not the business down the road or the salesperson sitting in his Porsche around the corner – it is a little word called ‘MAYBE’. The status quo is what most salespeople today are grappling with and that means change, on so many levels. That means that salespeople aren’t selling… Read More
How do you really show up? Yes, you!
As someone who works with executives, salespeople and business owners to create peak performing outcomes, a common phrase my clients will hear from me is, “how you show up in one area of your life is how you show up in every area of your life.” If I ask a client to complete a specific… Read More
How EMPATHY can kill a sale!
I had a client ask me about the importance of empathy last week, and before reeling off the standard answer, I gave it a little more thought and so would be keen to hear your views. It doesn’t matter where you go, you will find that one of the main qualities a salesperson must have… Read More
How Tension Trumps Pressure in a Sales Scenario
Ever read a book, wanted sex or turned up the music? In a novel or movie, there needs to be a central focus on emotional tension between the hero and the heroine that will keep you interested, keep you on the edge of your seat or have you personally invested. If it were all about the… Read More
How to ask the tough sales questions and handle the tough client answers
These are qualities salespeople today must embrace. What stops this happening is a need for approval and that need is steeped in our conditioning. Weknow that. It stops us pursuing passions, reaching our potential and creating our own art just in case we colour outside the lines. It’s OK to meet that need for approval… Read More
How to Showcase Your Personal Brand
I SO get it! You’re selling a product or a service and that’s what you think the brand is. You are leveraging off ‘The NAME or ‘The LABEL’ you think is the brand. But you couldn’t be any farther from the truth. You are selling YOU – Such a cliché. You Inc. We’ve all heard… Read More
I Forgot To Be Who I Was Supposed To Be
Hang on, am I supposed to be this super successful, sales guru/expert/ authority who knows what she wants in the world, is a beacon of hope for salespeople and sales leaders and puts on a mask to show that she has it all covered? I might have toyed with the idea a long time ago,… Read More
I have lied…
“I have no intention of telling you the truth Instead I’m going to tell you a story. This is a story about why marketers salespeople must forsake any attempt to communicate nothing but the facts, and must focus on what people believe and then work to tell them stories that add their world view. Make… Read More
Kick Ass Message Kills Business
So you are in the queue with a heap of other people in the queue. Ready to stand out. Your product is the same. The functionality is the same. The end result is probably the same. Your kick ass marketing message wins the day. Hooray!! You are now the cowboy (or cowgirl) strutting your stuff… Read More
Let’s Do A Deal…The Real Deal
I don’t shop at Hugo Boss. But my 22 year old son, who has just landed his first B2B account management role, as of this weekend, now does! Still happy to take Mum with him, we stroll through DJ’s and look at the choice of suits. We have no idea what we are looking for, just… Read More
My Top 7 Ways To Begin Your Conscious Selling Journey
A couple of years ago I read a book that shifted my thinking around what constitutes a successful business. ‘Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business’ written by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia led me to embrace the term conscious in the business sense and led me to coining conscious selling, and sharing why this concept is… Read More
Negotiating the Sales-Engineering Interface®.
Why are sales people terrified to sell to engineers and other technical experts? What can they do to overcome their fears? Listen to the Sales Leadership Series: Sales Conversations that Drive Value and Deliver Multi-Million Dollar Results. Find out the solutions! Australia’s Bernadette McClelland interviews Babette Ten Haken in this comprehensive tour de force conversation. http://babettetenhaken.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Babette_Ten_Haken_Interview_with_Bernadette_McClelland.mp3
SALESPEOPLE ARE THE GOOD GUYS
It wasn’t that long ago that the Drink and Drive campaigns, the QUIT smoking campaigns, the LIFE BE IN IT campaigns became part of our social landscape – pulling into line those that who needed to watch their health, their safety and their wellbeing. And little by little, business took these same initiatives to a… Read More
SALESPEOPLE: LISTEN UP!
Most people who are selling something whether it be an idea, a product or a service know that they have to find the pain that their prospect or customer is experiencing first. They are to ‘give them a headache and hand them a panadol’ as the old metaphor goes. Instead what many do is hand… Read More
Salesperson or Entrepreneur?
One of the things I love about what I do is that I get to have really stimulating, intelligent conversations with sales managers and leaders about how they can differentiate their offering from a sales approach perspective. It is my belief that salespeople who are employees of an organisation have got to start leaving the… Read More
Slow Down to Speed Up
‘Will you stop running!” my grandfather would always call out to me as I raced past at a million miles an hour knocking into things as I went, which today probably contributes to my lack of patience with people who I find slow to act (something I’m working on). But the lesson to be learned… Read More