Business Essentials

How are you doing with sales? Do you have a winning sales strategy or approach? If not and you’re struggling to close, you might need a different pitch. Glenn Poulos has developed a sales pitch from his many years in corporate sales, marketing and customer service roles. The ‘Punch Perfect Pitch’ starts with a "punch" or "bang" – an impactful opening that grabs the audience's attention. Because it...

A successful sales team as one that is fully engaged, highly satisfied, able to handle pressure, and performs at their best. That’s according to Anna Glynn, speaker, author and coach on thriving workplaces, who shares her six secrets to sales success. Implementing the six principles, she insists, takes time and should be part of an ongoing plan. Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCarte...

There are four key questions a business owner needs to ask themselves about why customers or clients choose their business. That's according to Dan Williams, Asia Pacific Coach for EOS Worldwide, a global network of business coaches. In this episode, Dan Williams explains how studying your customers can lead to increased profitability. Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcar...

Lawyer Tracey Mylecharane feels that we’re in a crisis of knowledge. Countless business owners, she says, are simply not aware of some of the legal issues affecting their own business and their customers. There is a lot of risk that could be avoided by doing due diligence and risk management. She insists that businesses have the right legal documents that are tailored to their circumstances, the r...

We’re living in such a fast changing world, that for many the rate of uncertainty has made it difficult to plan for the long-term. But plan we must, says an optimistic Nigel Collin. You must find the right balance of planning for the future with the flexibility of shifting course when storms approach. Nigel, who’s weathered many business squalls over the years, offers some guidance for others in b...

Facts and stories play a vital role in successful sales operations. While facts build trust and demonstrate value, stories engage and connect with people on an emotional level. The problem is that businesses tend to use either sales or facts to convert customers or clients to purchase. Sales expert Sue Barrett, CEO of Barrett Consulting Group, insists a good story has the power to inspire action a...

Businesses are scrambling to keep up with latest trends in technology and take advantage of the efficiencies of digitisation. At the same time, mediocre customer service is rampant. So, how can you embrace the benefits of the digital era while also servicing customers with the human touch they crave? Well, Jaquie Scammell provides the answers in her new book, ‘The Future of Service is 5D’. The con...

How do you explain to a member of your team that they have body odour? It’s a delicate conversation – you don’t want them to feel terrible, but it’s important to let them know. For help, we turn to HR guru and CEO of Corporate Dojo, Karen Gately. Body odour aside, most businesses require a certain standard of appearance, particularly in customer-facing roles. Is it okay to expect staff to cover th...

The current economic climate is having a significant impact on small businesses, with SMEs struggling across various industries. According to Wayne Morris, CEO of Fifo Capital, many businesses don’t fully understand the importance of cashflow, often focussing solely on profit and loss statements. Managing cash flow effectively, requires forecasting, clear terms and conditions, and understanding cu...

More than a third of all businesses in Australia are female-owned – a significant proportion, with the vast majority being mothers. Incredibly this demographic is an audience that remains largely untapped. Kate Christie is a time management expert and author of five books, including her latest, ‘The Life List: Master Every Moment and Live an Audacious Life’. She discusses what business can do to e...

Too often sales people tell the customer what they think they want to hear, rather than asking questions and listening to customer concerns. That’s according to business coach and trainer Jim Cocks, who equates great questions with great sales. Jim offers insights into how to improve sales performance by focusing on mindset and building rapport with potential clients. He offers strategies for hand...

When Dr May Chan was a child, she had a fall which resulted in dental issues and an unwillingness to smile for family photos. This experience would later be pivotal in her ambition to pursue a career in cosmetic dentistry. Ten years ago, Dr May and her husband, Dr Reuben Sim, started Dental Boutique in the Melbourne suburb of Balwyn. Today it has grown to 10 surgeries across Australia and New Zeal...

Business Coach Dan Williams says he can chalk up most business failures to weak processes. An Asia Pacific business coach for coaching firm EOS Worldwide, he says successful firms need to have strong processes at their core, otherwise their possible growth and ability to scale will be hobbled. And he says strong processes will lead to fewer people leaving the company.  Business Essentials Daily is...

The good old days in agency land saw long lock-in contracts, mark ups on media buying and the money flowed. At a time when there are more ad, digital and PR agencies than ever, James Smith, CEO of digital agency Smith Brothers Media, explains why there’s a shift in monetization strategy across the industry. Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcartel.com.au +61 3 9882 8333 Se...

There’s a goldmine of extra income a lot of businesses are missing out on because they don’t follow up effectively. Sales expert and Founder of BOOM Sales!, Trent Leyshan, reckons businesses haven’t implemented a proper follow-up process or structure. Trent explains how to follow up, using both traditional and digital methods. Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcartel.com.a...

Rarely do we know when crisis will strike – a pandemic, war, or a GFC-like event – but if it does happen, the impact on your business and staff could be just as seismic. So how can you prepare for a potential disaster? It helps to have an adaptive mindset, insists Prof Martin Bean, CEO of The Bean Centre, and former Vice Chancellor of RMIT University, during the lockdown days of COVID-19. He has c...

To maintain long-term profitability, you need a strategy that can adapt to new trends and consumer demands. Companies that don’t change will fall behind, says consumer and marketing guru Barry Urquhart. Barry identifies three pillars of business success, and offers the example of a particular Australian hardware company, which is pivoting from hardware to homeware – a subtle, yet powerful realignm...

Many businesses are being held back because their owners either can't, or won't, identify what they are bad at. That's according to Dan Williams, Asia Pacific Business Coach for EOS Worldwide, a global network of business coaches. Dan says it is crucial for business owners to identify what they "suck" at. He says that by slowing down and taking stock of everything you do, it's possible to identify...

Several years ago the corporate world was going crazy over the latest business fad of Blue Ocean Strategy. The book of the same name won a slew of awards and sold millions of copies worldwide. The concept was simple: try to capture "blue oceans" of unexplored new markets. Like many theories, it just doesn’t work in a practical sense. Entrepreneur Roy Osing unpicks the problem of Blue Ocean Strateg...

Workplace culture is fundamental to the success of your business. If your people aren’t happy, the productivity and profits of your business are greatly impacted. Corporate mental health advisor, Kerry Howard, addresses the issue in her book, ‘How to heal a workplace culture: tackle trauma, foster psychological safety and boost happiness at work’. She says it’s up to the business owner or leader t...

Workplace productivity has taken a dive in the last couple of years. In fact, it dropped 3.7% in 2022-23, according to Australia’s Productivity Commission. Productivity in the workplace involves effectively leveraging resources to deliver outcomes. So how do you do that? HR consultant Karen Gately says bosses should set clear expectations, fostering engagement, and focusing on intrinsic motivators...

Traditional sales skills may not be sufficient to overcome the challenges faced by sales teams today. A new approach is needed to end rising disengagement, stress and burnout, and equip sales leaders to lead their teams confidently to success. That’s according to Anna Glynn, who says leaders need to ensure that their teams have the mindset and toolset – not just the skillset – to succeed in sales....

Some of Australia’s best-known and largest companies are some of the worst exemplars of customer service. That’s according to Milton Collins, Principal of The Action Business Coach. He says one of the biggest mistakes is forgetting or ignoring what the customer wants. Milton discusses all this from his book, ‘Delight, Disrupt, Deliver: Grow your business using the power of small surprises’. Busine...

Business owners can be their own worst enemies if they have a fixed mindset. That’s the view of Tristan Wright, a business coach and founder of Evolve to Grow. He says the way we are brought up can give us a blinkered view of the world and our own abilities. Tristan also says self-belief, the development of good habits, thinking laterally and embracing challenges can all be ways to remove obstacle...

Without doubt, there has been an increase of burnout across the board in recent years. That’s according to mindfulness and high-performance coach, Melo Calarco, who says much of it comes from a residual fatigue, or a hangover, from the pandemic. Melo’s book, ‘Beating Burnout Finding Balance’, offers tools to achieve mindfulness. And, he shares inspirational stories of his trekking adventures in re...