Adam Gray’s Post

That Album - Blue Lines, Massive Attack (rescheduled from 5th April) That Album, our regular "pub" (or bar) chat about great albums over the years that have shaped our lives. What was going on in the world and the band at the time, what was the inspiration, which songs we like and why... This week we are reviewing the 1991 album Blue Lines from Massive Attack with guest presenter Andrew Slessor. Come along and listen, join the chat, become part of a community of people who love classic music and its power to create a shared experience. What does this album mean to you and what memories does it bring back or is this something entirely new! A fun way to end the week. Why not come and join our That Album LinkedIn group too https://lnkd.in/eXrmhHed #thatalbum #music #linkedinlive #1990s #1990smusic

Dispelling the Myth of the Non-Stop Workweek with Traci Bermingham “There’s only 28 hours in a day, and I’m working all of them.” – Every business owner Join us this week on The Digital Download as we explore a critical, yet often overlooked, aspect of business management - delegation - with Traci Bermingham. With over 25 years of experience in project management and business consulting, Traci will debunk the myth that success only comes from relentless work by the Founder. She will discuss her approach to creating efficient systems and aligning teams to achieve more by working smarter, not harder. #BusinessManagement #Efficiency #WorkLifeBalance #socialselling #digitalselling #LinkedInLive #Podcast

Rory Sutherland is the most brilliant of speakers on the subject of advertising (as Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy it’s not surprising) and a TED speaker (well worth a watch). He is funny, engaging and most importantly thought provoking. Whilst much of his narrative is from the perspective of advertising working (which is a dubious assertion today and certainly isn’t true inn the B2B world) still much of what he says about the psychology of value and how your audience perceive value is spot-on. He says “Perception is leaky” meaning that the quality of what we are buying and our perception of what we are buying are intertwined. He gives the example “when I drive away after having my car valeted it seems to drive better than it did before” which seems to make people smile because we have all experienced exactly that sensation. It may well be that in your business you cannot control the innovation, the marketing, the product features or the delivery but you absolutely can valet the experience for the customer. You can make yourself as interesting, charming, funny and accessible as possible so that by association your product seems to be better than your competitors. So much of what we do when we try to market, sell and generally promote our products is based around the narrative “my product’s better than theirs” which is ludicrous because the buyer seldom has the experience to validate whether that’s true or not. Because you are an expert (and the buyer isn’t) there is a huge disconnect. You talk about these little differences that are outside the buyer’s experience and in many cases understanding. So, give them a differentiator that they do understand. You. So put your best foot forward. Dress your profile on the social channels to make yourself look interesting, approachable and generally “nice” and you will be amazed at how this facilitates more conversations with buyers. #socialselling #pipeline #digitalselling #salestransformation #sales 

At DLA ignite we put the “social” in social media when most people seem to focus on the “media” of social media. I was watching a podcast the other day that Timothy pointed me at, and one of the confusing and perplexing things about the podcast was that the two people speaking totally understood what the purpose of social media is and what the secret sauce was. They knew that it was all about authenticity about approachability, about being human… However, when they spoke about how these ideas can be deployed and what you actually needed to do to make these ‘human” traits a reality at scale they spoke about bots, and apps, they spoke about AI and prompts. The whole narrative was about “shortcuts”… Not surprisingly, these people had small networks and little/no engagement from their audience. No matter how you want things to be the truth is that there’s no shortcut to being human. There’s no shortcut to making friends. There’s no shortcut to finding a romantic partner. There’s no app to build you relationships...there is just you. Social media is NOT a media channel. Don’t view it as a TV channel or newspaper for your ads. Social media is a SOCIAL gathering. View it as a cocktail party with millions of people attending. You need to make sure you put on your best clothes to look as cool/interesting as possible and you need to have lots of great stories and you need to listen to them speak when it’s their turn (preferably first). To do this you need to have a process, you need to let the platform scale your voice and your audience and you need to not force things. There isn’t a shortcut but if you do this efficiently and in a smart way frankly there doesn’t need to be. #socialselling #pipeline #digitalselling #salestransformation #sales 

One of the challenges that we see that seems to be a repeating theme amongst sales leaders is the lack of predictability with most activities. Sometimes a marketing campaign, an event or even a “push” delivers some degree of success…but often…usually, it delivers little or nothing. Our research shows that typically sales leaders know that the old actions aren’t working but are unsure how to move forward with any degree of confidence. The old “let’s have a xxx refresher course” seems to be the default position. As a sales leader there are a few things that you KNOW to be true from both your business experience and your own life. - Complex things are seldom sold from a brochure or a website, they need a conversation. - People rarely engage in a meaningful commercial conversation if they don’t know/like/trust you. - You don’t believe everything you read (so why would someone else). - The limiting factor for your pipeline is the number of people prepared to talk to you. These are all fairly major issues because much of the sales methodology that organisations use doesn’t address these fundamentals. If you adopt a social-first strategy you are making the relationship front and centre of your strategy and this addresses these big issues: - You aren’t well-enough connected in to your target accounts, relying on a handful of people who know you rather than scaling your relationships (and spreading risk). - You focus on who YOU want to talk to rather than thinking about who wants to talk to you. - The lack of volume of conversations means that every call takes on monumental proportions (making you nervous and giving the prospect the impression you’re desperate). - You look like one of many people who all seem to be the same - you are neither memorable nor do you look like the best option. - The content you share simply doesn’t engage your audience and looks like everyone else at your company. - You don’t enjoy being in a sales role because the constant stream of people who avoid your outreach attempts gets you down. All of these issues and more can be resolved by tackling how you generate opportunities in a different and more human way. Want to find out more? Oh, and a photo of me with a guitar because…well, why not! #socialselling #pipeline #digitalselling #salestransformation #sales 

Selling the Destination and Not the Bridge This week on SalesTV.live our newest host Helga Saraiva-Stewart welcomes Kylie Watson, Head of Security for DXC Technology in APJ MEA. With an extensive background in Information Technology Infrastructure, Apps, and Services, Kylie brings over 25 years of executive leadership experience, blending technical transformation with change management and behavioral economics insights to drive adoption and embrace new technologies. #SalesLeadership #SalesCoaching #ValueSelling #sales #pipeline #linkedinlive #podcast

On Thursday I was in London for a meeting just near the Oxo Tower and arrived 30 minutes early. So I popped to The Tate Modern to drop in to the Rothko exhibition, which I have always found to be a very relaxing way to spend time. Dimly lit, quiet, contemplative… OMG it is no longer there. Disappointment is not strong enough a word. End of an era. One of the greatest artists of all time. Gone. So here is a snap from my last (possibly THE last) visit I made.

That Album - The Band, The Band That Album, our regular "pub" (or bar) chat about great albums over the years that have shaped our lives. What was going on in the world and the band at the time, what was the inspiration, which songs we like and why... This week we are reviewing the 1969 album The Band from The Band with guest presenter Peter Swanson. Come along and listen, join the chat, become part of a community of people who love classic music and its power to create a shared experience. What does this album mean to you and what memories does it bring back or is this something entirely new! A fun way to end the week. Why not come and join our That Album LinkedIn group too https://lnkd.in/eXrmhHed #thatalbum #music #linkedinlive #1960smusic #1960s

A Pirate's Guide to Strategic Leadership with Special Guest Dr. Don Thomas Ahoy, mates! This week on The Digital Download, we're navigating uncharted leadership territories with ARR special guest, Dr. Don Thomas, author of A Pirate's Guide to Strategic Leadership. Ready your compasses and set your sails, as we embark on a swashbuckling adventure through the tumultuous seas of modern leadership challenges, under the guidance of tactics and wisdom straight from the Golden Age of Piracy. #StrategicLeadership #DigitalTransformation #Innovation #NavigatingLeadership #LinkedInLive #Podcast

I went to a small launch event in London yesterday where I was able to meet-up with some old friends...which was nice. I also got to meet the delightful Leigh Ashton who I have been connected to on LinkedIn for well over a decade and have messaged/interacted countless times but I've never actually met in person. This was another reminder (not that I needed one) that as Brian Fanzo once said "social media turns the first meeting into a hug"...and it did. What a lovely treat this was. #socialselling #pipeline #digitalselling #salestransformation #sales