Blog
Stories from the world of BD
Foundation Ex went off! A last minute conference MC experience
What a week The second ever Foundation Ex conference by Empire Engineering took place over Monday and Tuesday this week. I've had the privilege to be involved in Foundation Ex right since its inception way back in 2018, ahead of the inaugural 2019 event. It has been...
Looking forward to Foundation Ex 2022
Foundation Ex 2022 is a few days away. Over the past few months the team at Make the Break have been supporting Empire Engineering in getting everything ready for the event. The concept of the Foundation Ex conference was born out of discussions between Karl Davis and...
Running a business on a Chromebook, doable? Yep. A good idea? Actually, yep
Is it a good idea to run a business on a Chromebook? This is a post that has been bubbling away in my mind right since the early days of Make the Break, back at the start of 2020. Two and bit years further on and it feels like sufficient time to have fully road tested...
Knowing the buyer persona is good, understanding product market fit is better
Buyer personas are much maligned In recent years, the buyer persona has become a key foundation stone of many a marketing strategy. It is, however, not without its haters. For a while now there has been a Prince Charles vs Ozzy Osbourne meme doing the...
Want to make an impact as a Sales leader? Think transformational not incremental
According to the OECD, the definition of a scale-up business is: ‘A company that has achieved growth of 20% or more in either employment or turnover year on year for at least two years, and has a minimum employee count of 10 at the start of the observation...
Cold Business Development email can work
Email still has an important role to play in outbound B2B sales in 2022. Specifically, I’m talking here about personalised Business Development emails from rep to potential customer. It might not be glamorous, it’s certainly not as effective as ‘back in the day,’ but...
For success in Business Development, just speak normally
Starting this one with a statement. This is what I believe: There is a common mistake to be overly formal in email tone early in a career. Why is that and how to get over it? As the years go by, this is something that I’m seeing more and more. Perhaps it’s become...
How to build a career in renewables?
With COP26 about to kick off, all eyes are on the future of renewables In just a few days time, COP26 is about to begin in sunny Glasgow. The hot topics will no doubt include the accelerating indicators of climate change, sustainability and the pressing need for...
Events are back. Decided to sponsor and exhibit? How to get the most out of it.
It’s September 2021 and events are coming back at pace. All across the usual places, there’s post after post of people excited to get back to the world of face to face IRL conferences. While things are not quite back to normal, it is great to see. Long may it...
To RFP or not to RFP, that is the question
A few years ago, I said no to £100k, switched off the laptop and went home. It was a conscious decision. I was a commercial manager in a B2B agency, we were behind on target, any commission that quarter was looking unlikely and I’d taken it upon myself to say no to a...
Sales collateral 101. Basics basics, fundamentals.
A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with a tech founder and we got onto the subject of the plans for a product launch. And at that moment, this little gem tumbled out: "Oh but that’s the sore point, we don’t have anything to send. For sure, we have clients, we have...
Win at the sell on with video
Still relying on slides in 2021? It's possible to win at the sell on with video. Picture the scene. The New Business push has gone well, the discovery questions have unearthed a need and the demo went like a dream. What comes next? "That’s been great, can you share me...
I'm all ears
