Balloon Animals… and other professional sales skills
I don’t know how many of you have children, but if you do, you have probably at sometime watched them marvel at the skills of a children’s entertainer producing fantastic balloon art. And, whilst watching you have thought, “I could do that”.
You may have even gone so far as to buy the balloons, or even a book on how to do it. I know I have. The resulting “Dog” may not have been quite what you or your children were hoping for.
I’ve also tried my hand at face painting, much to the ultimate disappointment of my kids. I think the response was something like “Daddy, that is rubbish”. Ungrateful you might think? Well, not if you have seen my art work.
So what makes these children’s entertainers so skilled, it is pure talent, or have they taken the time to learn, improve and practice their art. For some it may be pure artistic talent, but for the majority I think not. They have been taught, even mentored and trained.
Selling professional services isn’t so different
So here we come to my point, making balloon animals or painting faces is not so different to selling professional services. (no seriously, stay with me on this…..)
Each is a developed and learned skill which takes time and coaching to perfect, and each follows a simple set of structured steps to produce a result. Simple when you know how and you have practiced it enough.
In my time as a Legal Recruiter I am often asked to provide my clients with a new prospect who is both technically excellent, but also a great marketer. Someone who will bring in plenty of new business.
A sign of the times?
A sign of the times? Not completely. Like other traditional professions the legal profession is changing. It is becoming more sales driven. More about growth and profit, than an impressive and enviable client list. When I ask if my client is able to provide this training, I am most often told either, “no”, or “informally yes”. So where will this training come from?
Myself and my new business
This leads me to introduce myself and my new business. My name is James Nathan and I am the founder and principle at the James Nathan experience, a professional training and development consultancy aimed specifically at the Legal, Accountancy, Finance and Consultancy sectors. I hope that across the next few weeks this blog will develop and that you will come back and find the discussions interesting and ultimately get involved too.
Find out more
If you would like to find out more about me or the James Nathan experience, please see the rest of this web site, or call me on 07736 831151. Balloon animals and face painting purely optional!
