Malcolm Duffield

Malcolm Duffield provides advanced high-level sales coaching, ‘basic sales training’ and sales training for pre-sales and post-sales engineering staff. In ways markedly different to the typical classroom lecture approach. Like the game of ‘Go’ – selling is strategically complex, nuanced and more dependent on intuition than process. Sales – process alone is no guarantee of success because customers are humans, are fiendishly complex, intuitive and need to be met on their terms. Humans need to interact rather than merely transact. They have many needs, wants and aspirations – not all clearly stated. Having a proposal that is a good fit to the stated need is a start. Having a price that’s in the ball park will also help – but what will invariably make the difference between success and failure will be our ability to understand, connect with and provide value to the customer as a person. Focused primarily on IT sales, where solution and value, but above all human connection through respect, integrity and empathy, have to be brought together to win high-value deals - it would appear that other 'capital acquisitions' benefit from a similar approach. I have 30 years experience in such sales, and know what works and what doesn't work.

Salesmen in Art

Somewhat belatedly, I finally watched the movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” – whilst enjoying/enduring an enforced ‘film festival’ on the long-haul from Zurich to Melbourne (I never could sleep on a ‘plane). The film, released some 20 years ago, was based on David Mammet’s play of the same title from 1983. With a truly stellar cast […]

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Appropriation

Leveraging the power of reframing, it is possible to turn a negative into a positive. By reframing into an appropriate context, even the most apparently limiting of traits may be seen as ultimately beneficial. It is particularly sweet when you ‘steal’ and re-purpose a term or notion that your competitor uses as a weapon to

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Reframing – turning ‘not interested’ into ‘sold’

The practice of re-framing – the re-stating of an idea, position, proposition or problem (lets call it the ‘point’ of your communication) using different terms to evoke a different perspective for the audience, is one of the most powerful tools available to a sales professional – and one that all sales people must master. The idea

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