Tea and Timbits

Are business awards genuine badges of excellence, or just trophies? This week, we're continuing our series on building trust by tackling the surprisingly complicated world of awards and recognition. We start with a little trade show wisdom from Indianapolis, where we've discovered that the best networking strategy isn't necessarily collecting business cards—it's building relationsh...

Recorded on location at Abbey Road Studios, London Coming to you from the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, we're talking about something that never goes out of style: trust. And no, apparently AI hasn't replaced the good old-fashioned handshake just yet! In this episode, we explore how the right messaging, genuine customer testimonials, and meaningful relationships can help business...

We've all seen them. A wall of impressive logos, a few glowing claims, and perhaps a suspiciously round percentage improvement. But does any of that actually build trust? In our latest episode, we're talking about how case studies can become genuine business development tools rather than expensive exercises in congratulating ourselves. We explore: Why evidence beats a polished sales pitch....

We’re back with a bonus episode on negotiations, because apparently four weeks of talking about contracts, deals, and difficult decisions just wasn’t enough. This time, we’re tackling due diligence. How much homework should you really do before signing on the dotted line? And at what point does being thorough turn into chasing certainty that simply doesn't exist? We explore the dangers of rush...

“Just sign the contract. It’ll be fine.”Possibly one of the least reassuring sentences in business. In this week’s Tea and Timbits, we’re talking about negotiation tools — and not the kind that require another software subscription, three dashboards and a consultant to explain the dashboard. We mean the practical stuff:• A letter of intent that records what everyone thought they were agreeing to •...

Negotiations have an annoying habit of refusing to follow the script. In this episode, we look at why a negotiation playbook isn’t about memorising clever lines or predicting every possible objection. It’s about doing the thinking before the pressure is on. We dig into setting principles and walk-away points, agreeing internally on what success actually looks like, preparing alternative packages,...

A deal can survive months of selling, negotiating and relationship-building… only to wander into legal and emerge looking like it’s been through customs twice. In our latest episode, we talk about contract reviews and one of the biggest mistakes we see: treating the legal stage as a handoff. It isn’t. Legal teams are there to identify and manage risk. Commercial teams still need to stay involved s...

Negotiation has a bit of a reputation. It can sound like two sides digging in, guarding their territory, and waiting to see who blinks first. In this episode, we talk about why the best negotiations rarely feel like that. We explore the difference between collaboration and negotiation, why the two should work together rather than compete with each other, and how a collaborative mindset can take a...

This week, we’re talking proposal tools… although, in classic Tea & Timbits fashion, we spend a fair chunk of the episode explaining why the shiny tools probably aren’t the first thing you need. We start with a reminder that good sales often comes back to the basics: a defined process, clear next steps, and the courage to recognize when a prospect is quietly telling you “no.” From there, we ge...

Proposal templates are useful. Until they aren’t. In this episode, we talk about one of those deceptively simple sales questions: what format should a proposal actually take? A polished PDF? A PowerPoint? A response inside the buyer’s RFP template? A simple statement of work? A video? A one-page website? Our conclusion: the format should follow the buyer, the decision, and the situation—not our in...

RFP arrives. Cue excitement. Then, occasionally, several days of frantic proposal writing followed by the dawning realisation that perhaps we should have asked a few questions first. In this week’s episode, we talk about the three broad choices we think businesses have when an RFP lands: Try to win it. Reshape the process. Or walk away. The important bit is deciding which one before mobilising hal...

Most proposals explain the solution. The best proposals prove the decision. In our latest episode, we explore “proof architecture” — the combination of evidence, structure and story that helps a buyer feel confident saying yes. A strong proposal should show: • Why the problem matters • Why acting now makes sense • Why your approach is credible • Why you can actually deliver • What success looks li...

Visibility without direction is just noise. That was one of the slightly uncomfortable conclusions we reached in our latest bonus episode. It is easy to assume that building an executive profile means posting more, speaking more and generally making sure our face appears everywhere short of the side of a bus. But being seen is not the same as being useful. A strong executive visibility plan needs:...

We have discovered the fastest way to waste money in marketing: Buy a shiny new tool before deciding what problem it is meant to solve. In this episode of Tea and Timbits, we talk about the marketing tools we actually use—and, more importantly, the thinking that should come before them. We cover: • Turning recorded conversations into blogs, posts and short-form video • Using StreamYard, Opus Pro,...

What happens when your marketing department is missing, disconnected or simply not giving sales what it needs? You build your own marketing engine. In this episode, we explore how salespeople, business development professionals and commercial leaders can create the content, systems and momentum needed to move prospects from visibility to trust — and from trust to an actual commercial conversation....

This week, we’re talking about what happens when sales and marketing either work beautifully together… or stare at each other across the office wondering who dropped the lead-shaped ball. We dig into the classic sales-versus-marketing tension: marketing says sales ignores the resources and leads, sales says marketing sends things that look suspiciously like “busy work with a logo on it,” and somew...

We kick off our July marketing theme by tackling personal branding — which, despite sounding like something you’d find printed on a suspiciously expensive notebook, is actually quite useful. We talk about why personal branding isn’t really about vanity, self-promotion, or becoming a LinkedIn superstar — thankfully, because that sounds exhausting. It’s about being deliberate with how people underst...

This week, we wrap up our month on sales methodologies by getting practical: what tools actually help teams turn clever frameworks into real commercial outcomes? We start, naturally, with a highly professional sports briefing involving Blue Jays baseball, Canadian hockey confusion, and cricket formats that may or may not require a week off work. Then we get into the useful stuff: training, coachin...

This week, we continue our sales methodology mini-series with Sandler, the one that politely asks: “Is this actually a real opportunity, or are we just getting excited because someone said the word ‘proposal’?” We look at how Sandler fits alongside Challenger and SPIN, especially in complex B2B sales where enthusiasm, budget, authority, and commitment are definitely not the same thing. We also get...

We’ve all had that moment when a prospect says, “We need you to build X.” And the tempting response is: “Brilliant. Where do we send the invoice?” But this week’s episode reminded us that the better response is probably: “Interesting — how did you get to X?” That’s where SPIN Selling comes in. Situation. Problem. Implication. Need-Payoff. It’s a simple framework, but a useful one. Not because it m...

Sales methodologies month has begun, and we’re starting with the Challenger Sale. This one is all about helping customers think differently — which sounds noble until you realize it also means saying, “Are we sure that’s actually the problem?” without getting escorted out of the room. In this episode, we talk about: How Challenger is built around teaching, tailoring, and taking control Why it work...

Complex selling sounds like it should require a giant tech stack, seven dashboards, and at least one acronym nobody fully understands. But in this episode, we discovered something slightly annoying: the best tools are often the simplest ones. We talked about: – borrowing ideas from completely different industries – using design thinking to untangle messy business problems – reading broadly, not ju...

Complex selling is never just about “the buyer” and “the seller.” We wish it were. It would make life much easier, and we could probably all spend less time in meetings pretending the spreadsheet is “basically under control.” In this episode, we talk about stakeholder engagement — the people inside and outside the deal who can quietly make everything work… or loudly make everything fall apart. Tha...

This week, we’re recording together in London for a rare in-person episode, which naturally means things go slightly off the rails before we even get to the topic. We kick things off with a story about hiring event security, where we learned the hard way that ticking qualification boxes doesn’t always mean someone can actually do the job. Turns out “having the badge” and “being able to climb stair...

This week, we dive headfirst into the world of complex deals and team selling — and discover that the secret to winning big opportunities isn’t bringing eleven people and a 300-slide deck into a meeting. In fact… it’s usually the opposite. We explore why complex deals are more often lost to internal chaos than to competitors, how healthy businesses create healthier sales processes, and why clarity...