Review of podcast Appetite for Change.
2021 Festive Season
Happy birthday David Bowie.
I had the best Christmas day. My daughter and son-in-law hosted a beautiful lunch and our family enjoyed being together with food in the garden. I was enthralled by my grandson and was in bliss watching how he navigates his backyard and extended family. It was the best day ever. On Boxing day I visited my son’s new place and enjoyed a stay with him and my son-in-law showing me around their new neighbourhood and home and enjoying more delicious food.
I’ve spent a little time working on my new place, which still hasn’t settled, so I haven’t done anything major yet. It’s been good to be in the space and I’ve changed my plans a few times due to noticing more.
I’ve been listening to a lot of astrologers and have found out there are many systems, which has set me back a little as I try to work out which is most relevant for me. I have relistened to the Mystic Medusa rant on Saturn in Aquarius “Imagine if we had basically highly qualified public servants whose role it is to enact the will of the people.” That was in reference to technology that could allow the people to vote on each issue. Saturn in Aquarius sounds promising and then it will be followed by Pluto in Aquarius.
I watched a 6 season series on ABC Iview called Stella, a BBC production. It’s a lighthearted comedy about a community and there were so many beautiful scenes in it.
I listened to an old lecture from Margaret Atwood from 1994. I have no idea how I came across it, to be honest, but still gold. She has a brilliant sense of humour.
I’ve consumed a heap of other media as well. In between sitting outside watching bees buzz around on my unmown lawn and catching up for coffees and chats with friends. I’ve continued my daily practise learning Portuguese on Duolingo.
I’ve made some progress on the book about The VRI experience and completed my first interview this week with a past staff member. There is still so much to do. Time is strange because I often felt like things weren’t happening fast enough and I wasn’t doing enough. Looking back though, a lot happened, more than I realised.
I’m very grateful for my own experience of 2020. As far as the new year goes I am looking forward to Chinese New Year on Friday 12th February. The year of the Ox sounds better than the year of the Rat.
Guard your joy at this time.
The Modern Techniques of Sales and Negotiation
A local company, In2 Project Management hosted Jack Corbett to deliver sales training and I was fortunate to win a ticket to the event. Neil Betts and Chris Allford from In2 have been supportive of our project – The VRI – and worked with me in 2014 to help me realise the vision we had for a community space. They are an appreciated part of our whole community approach that has made The VRI what it is.
Jack Corbett practises what he preaches. I got a pre-event call from his sales team to ask what I was most seeking from the training and this was well and truly covered with humour and humility by Jack in the training. He packed a lot into the 5 hour session, covering the process of sales and negotiations as well as sharing a lot of learning, presenting and business improvement tips. I received a call after the event and had the opportunity to work on my elevator pitch with one of ISR’s team members, which was a bonus.
Jack’s company ISR gave participants access to his LMS allowing us a vast range of resources to interact with. The training session was packed with value and my friends who attended were impressed. One of the bonuses he offered was a live call on overcoming objections a couple of mornings later, lots of us showed up.
The last sales training I did, was in the 90’s with Money & You, when I was on the sales team. When the opportunity to do this training came up I reflected on what I needed to improve. That’s where the learning process begins isn’t it? Looking at yourself and thinking about the results you are getting and what could be better. This was reinforced by the call from ISR.
What I most wanted to improve was closing a sale. One of the distinctions I got was to stop talking and give the client/customer/person the opportunity to think. Interestingly I’ve been doing the Lifeline training this year and the learning has been similar. It is more powerful to listen and to allow people to think for themselves.
I’m very grateful to the In2 team for sharing this learning opportunity with our region. The training was very affordable and improved sales is something we can all benefit from. The investment of time (and $$ if I hadn’t been a winner!) was entirely worth it.