So here we are, week 2 of The Apprentice and it?s time for the Apprentices to show how little creativity they have. Maybe it?s the applicants, maybe it?s the people the BBC selects, maybe it?s the way they edit the programme but, whatever the reason, year after year the Apprentices struggle whenever anything creative is thrown into their paths.
Tonight?s task was to design and then pitch a domestic gadget. Two heavyweight retailers (Amazon and Lakeland) were lined up so that the Apprentices could make sales or make fools of themselves with the simple objective that the team with the most orders afterwards would win.
Team leaders for the week were elected as Jane and Azhar. The boys quickly came up with two ideas? a portable waste bin that compacted organic waste for the kitchen and some rubber gloves for washing up with scourers and sponges attached. The girls struggled (to have a thought between them) but eventually decided upon? a tap cosy (basically a pillow to go over your bath taps) and a screen for the bath which would stop a baby from splashing and be used as an ?actvity centre?.
Both teams split in two and sent half of their members out to do ?market research? whilst the other half, in both cases run by the project managers, did their own thing with seemingly no intention whatsoever of listening to the results of the research. Lip service paid to market research both project managers duly ignored it and went with the ideas that they favoured instead.
In the sales pitches to the retailers neither team appeared impressive although we saw very little of the actual presentations themselves but the girls did excel by messing up the maths and then seemingly being unable to sort it out between them. This reminded me of the memorable Apostrophe-gate scandal from a couple of years ago when none of the Apprentices seemed to know how to use an apostrophe! Apparently, the basics of language and maths are unneccessary for business.
So what did we learn tonight??
Sales training and success tip 1: Don?t think? Do!
Walk the walk don?t talk the talk. Talking about what you are going to do is irrelevant. Saying how great you are is boasting. Bragging about how you will make the sale, win the client or get promoted is pointless? if you?re not going to walk the walk. Success is about doing a good job not talking a good job.
Sales training and success tip 2: Be creative.
If you want to succeed in business today then you need to be creative? creative in your offerings, creative in your marketing, creative in your sales techniques and creative in how you get and stay on top of your game. People talk about ?developing? creativity but I believe everyone has all of the creativity in them that they will ever need. They just need to have confidence in their own ability to tap into it (* see sales leadership tip below).
Sales training and success tip 3: Ditch the ego.
I?ve said it every year that The Apprentice has been on and several times inbetween? Ego has no place in sales. Ego is not the route to success. Indeed, there is a good chance that your ego will get in the way of your success. There is a good chance that your ego will trip you up. There is a good chance that you will not attain what you deserve in your life as long as you hold onto your ego.
Sales training and success tip 4: Sales pitches require structure.
Planning and preparing your sales presentation or sales pitch is critical. Spewing out alphabet soup about your product is easy. Making it engaging, relevant and compelling for your client is where the rubber hits the road. Make sure that your sales pitches are well thought out, well structured and relevant for your clients.
Sales training and success tip 5: Know your figures, know your facts.
I have never seen anything quite as inept as the mess the girls made of figures this week. Had they been on The Dragon?s Den facing Peter or Theo they?d have all been tossed down the wooden stairs and out of the den. Messing up your figures or your facts is inexcusable.
Sales training and success tip 6: Know when to shut up.
Enough said!
Sales leadership tip: Great sales teams are inclusive.
Great sales leaders run inclusive teams. They share. They are open. They have good communication. They work together. They help each other out. They play together. They are in it for each other not against each other. They can cope with healthy competition. * Great sales leaders give encouragement and it?s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them.
In the Boardroom?
The boys had won gaining 13,000 orders compared to (a somewhat lucky) 7500 for the girls. They boys went off to The Ivy to celebrate and Jane opted to bring back Maria and Jenna. Predictably, all three girls blamed someone other than themselves for the failure of the task. Unpredictably, Jane tried the X-Factor rain dance pitch about her young son to try and get the sympathy vote to keep her place. Unsurprisingly, Lord Sugar stamped on this line of attack pronto. You need someone less grizzly than him to make that dog hunt.
But she was safe anyway (just) as Lord Sugar sacked Maria.
Related posts:
- The Sales Apprentice 2012: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 1
- The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 4
- The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 6
- The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 11
- The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 7
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