Case Studies

How many times have you started the day wishing you had more time? And thinking how wonderful it would be if someone could miraculously grant you an extra hour or two to help you get through the long list of tasks, meetings and calls you need to complete in your day? 

I am sure most of us can relate to these experiences. Yet, the question is - how often do we begin our day already stressed and overwhelmed?  How many times have we gone around in circles worrying about how much we have to do and getting nothing done?

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Many people will be familiar with the concept of the “positive sandwich” and others may wonder what it is? 

Rather like a sandwich, the two pieces of bread represent positive feedback whilst the filling sitting in the middle signifies the negative comment or corrective action needed. 

Often, people use it to give someone negative feedback and make suggestions in the management of employees, in sales and customer service. 

I fully understand some people are sceptical of the concept, believing it may come across as pandering, false or by watering down the problem, making it an ineffective tool. It may be impractical at times, but I think this happens when we use it incorrectly or in the wrong circumstances.

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Do you know that feeling when you are holidays and walking down the street looking for a restaurant? You are not familiar with the area and the place is bussing with lots of people. There are plenty of choices, yet you don’t know which one to choose.

Some restaurants are busy, some half full and others empty. So, which one do you pick? 

Each time I ask this question in training, most people tell me they would choose the busy one. When I ask why I get similar responses.

They assume it must be good if everyone else is going there. Sometimes they even say they are just drawn to it. So, what does this say about us as people, as buyers or even the human condition?

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Back in September 2017, Focus Ireland launched a ground breaking campaign to highlight the serious problem of young people who are becoming homeless when they leave state care at the age of 18, here in Ireland.

A short film entitled “I can’t sleep” tells the story of a young woman called Lucy who leaves care. As the story unfolds, it takes two different paths of Lucy’s life. One side shows her as safe, happy and dancing as she gets aftercare support and housing from Focus Ireland. In the other version, she is out on the street, scared and in danger without any support which leads to a very sad and unhappy outcome.

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Over the years, when people asked what I worked at and I told them “sales” I reckon that sometimes they would conjure a picture in their heads of dodgy characters such as “Delboy” (Only Fools and Horses), “Arthur Daley” (Minder) or even Jordan Belfort (the Wolf of Wall Street).

Although pushy people like these gave sales a bad name, I knew it wasn’t personal. I am thankful that sales has developed a lot over the years where we now focus on “relationship selling” by putting the customer at the centre of the experience. This has taught me the importance of living by key principles which I would like to share with you:

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