Ben Brabyn

One of the limitations of CRM systems is that they locate your organisation at the centre of a network – a hub with a lot of spokes. But have you tried mapping the organisations around you that you are NOT yet connected with but share interests, constraints or critical dependencies with? You will find that […]

I first met Andy Lopata while I was on a fintech panel. He asked a question from the floor, and I realised I was the only member of the panel who didn’t know him. Later, he helped me build a clearer understanding of the role and power of networks and relationships while I was leading

Have you ever seen an organisation that is overwhelmed because its senior leadership need to sign off every decision? This is a common growth issue, and its less well-known side-effect is loss of influence. As organisations grow, their ability to build and maintain external relationships – for example with customers – reduces relative to their

The structure of your network reliably predicts the results of your sales activity, and how much you will be paid. Research by Ronald S Burt in his excellent book Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital shows that the structure of your network determines the effectiveness of your business development activity. Your network identity

Albert Einstein said; “If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it well enough.” Put another way, we need to “Keep it Simple Stupid” if we want to communicate effectively. This is where so many set out to fail. But help is at hand. How complicated are your sales messages? You can easily find out

If you’re pedalling hard to grow your sales, you’ll know the effort it takes to keep your growth momentum, and you may be finding the cost of each new sale is higher than the last as you finish picking up the “low hanging fruit”. So it’s time to start looking at ways to change gear,

I spent much of my childhood trying to persuade my father to give up smoking. Things reached a climax when I miscalculated a small explosive charge I’d inserted into one of his Gauloises and pitted his face with tobacco strands. Fortunately he was too startled to be angry. But I was amazed when my former

What is the Minimum Viable Message (MVM?) that you would like other people to be sharing about your business (by twitter, in a bar, over breakfast – wherever and whenever)? If you feature in an unforgettable and brief message, your reputation will build well beyond your sales funnels, and your prospects will be surrounded by

B2B Sales involve the sharing of complex information, and alignment with procurement processes. It’s no surprise that the chances of lining up your pitch with their buying timetable – and getting the essential information exchanged between you – with a single pitch are remote. In fact, the most successful B2B sellers don’t attempt to pitch

Clusters of companies provide ideal conditions for spotting successful and unsuccessful behaviours. One of the most notable distinctions between those that achieve rapid growth and those that do not is the share of sales that come by referral. What share of your sales are referral sales? At Level39 I worked with over 200 companies to