Richard Maun

Author: moderncareers

  • Crow Does… Authenticity

    C'mon, proper kisses only! You know you want to...
    C'mon, proper kisses only! You know you want to…

    Caw caw! I’m back! Hello humans it’s me, Crow! I’m back for three weeks. Richard has wandered off to think great thoughts and get on with his book, apparently. Personally I think that’s all nonsense; my hunch is he’s just slumped in a chair somewhere sleeping great thoughts… Caw!

    Oh and if we’ve not met before, I’m Richard’s handler. He thinks it’s the other way round, but what does he know? I like to help people develop their presentation skills and help them understand more about Ego States. If I squawk, well that’s just me being a friendly sort of bird.

    …And if I was on Twitter (which I am sort of, in the big field where I park my beak sometimes) my bio would say; Bird. Fluffy. Fun. Likes to say Caw! Hates pigeons. Tweet me (unless you’re a pigeon).

    Oh, caw! I need to write something don’t I…was forgetting that. Well here goes my blog…

    We can’t avoid the fact that Christmas is nearly on us and for us birds it’s a fairly miserable time of year….I’m just glad I’m not a turkey, or a goose, or a duck. I mean, why not have half a dozen pigeons instead? They’re so stupid, they’d probably jump into the oven for you…where was I…oh yes my point.

    Well my point is that lots of birds do that silly air-beak-kissing thing and squawk ‘happy Christmas’ without much meaning. I find it so annoying and if any pigeons try it on, they’re likely to get knocked out of the tree. Silly birds.

    I heard a great word the other day called ‘authentic’ which apparently means ‘expressing yourself honestly and sincerely, without editing’. To me that means wishing love to those birds who you really love (not pigeons of course) and giving my friends and family proper warm hugs and not thin seasonal squeezes. I trust them to know I mean it and they hug me back just as hard, which for a crow in a cold field, is the best thing.

    So, if you love someone; tell them. If you’re writing a card, or sending a message, or email, be authentic and share your happy feelings with them, knowing that they will receive them and smile. And none of that silly air-beak stuff either. Proper kisses with feeling, or none at all. Caw!

    Right, that’s enough slush…I’m off to annoy some pigeons and see if Richard is dribbling as he ‘thinks’. See you next week for more crow-wisdom. Caw caw!

  • Sales Skills #4 …Sharpen Your Message

    Probably the best Christmas card in the world...
    Probably the best Christmas card in the world…

    Hello there and I hope that you’re not suffering too much under the extra workload that this time of year brings. It’s been terrible for me so far, as I’ve had to eat at least 20 mince pies…my days are already busy enough, without needing to find time to scoff extra confectionery. Preferably warm, with lashings of cream please…

    However, I did make the effort to go to a meeting with Marshall Cavendish last week, to hobnob with fellow authors and work out how we could sell more books. Apart from having a great conversation about the use of the semi colon and finding out what makes for a great cover image, I did pick up some useful sales tips from a chap called Bob Etherington, who’s written several cracking books on the subject. Seeing that Christmas is the season of giving, I thought I’d give you my choice of some of his top tips. I won’t gift wrap them though, to save paper.

    Here they are:

    1. Start your sentences with a word that ends in ‘ly’, such as ‘Probably the best soft skills blog in the world’. Or: Surely the only soft skills blog you’ll ever need. This construction tends to shut off any doubt people have about your product or service. It may feel a bit cheesy at first, but it does generate a huge halo of confidence.

    2. Use the word ‘because’ because when you do so people are more likely to buy in to your argument and be convinced. For example; this is probably the best soft skills blog in the world, because it only talks about what works in real life and includes elements of Transactional Analysis to bring depth and insight to the weekly posts.

    3. Say it simply. The key to sales success is to have a short, relevant, message which highlights what you are genuinely passionate about and really deliver to your clients. This message is likely to be something you find yourself saying often, and don’t recognise that it’s a core attribute of your business. I was reminded of this during the author meeting when asked to tell people what kind work I did and I replied; ‘I build confidence’.

    Primary People is now working with Chilli Pepper Global to bring outplacement services to industrial and service sector clients. We were asked why someone should invest in us and our answer was because we’re;

    Probably the best confidence builders in the business.

    That’s what we do to a high standard, because we passionately believe everyone has the ability to succeed.

    What are you the best at? How would you summarise your competitive edge in 10 words or less? And most importantly; do you make time for mince pies?

    That’s enough questions for now. Don’t you think? So, thank you from me for being part of a fantastic year of blog posts. I really do think this is the best soft skills blog in the world, because if I didn’t I wouldn’t spend hours writing and honing it each week. Fortunately for me though, I have my feathery guest blogger to keep my feet on the ground. He’s back next week for a while to cover for me whilst I take a festive break. I do hope he’s not too rude about me.

    Happy Christmas, sincere good wishes to you and I look forward to seeing you again in 2011.

    – Richard –