“Loopthing is a social networking platform which enables businesses to create and maintain win-win relationships with other businesses and individuals around the world”

I was delighted when they asked me to do an interview. Here’s that interview.

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Q. Can you tell us a little about your business and what you specialise in?

We help businesses to overcome sales performance issues and to better leverage their current environment to grow business. Sometimes this means management consulting, sometimes it means process management, sometimes it means sales programmes and very often it’s all three.

I endeavour to be an expert in “all things sales”. In the US, they would probably call me a sales guru, although I am not sure that would go down so well in Ireland.

Q. How many staff do you employee currently?

Two full time and two part-time.

Q. In your opinion, what are the biggest hurdles for businesses to overcome in the current global economy? As a result, what do you foresee for the future of your particular businesses sector?

Phew! To a large extent that depends on the particular business. However, let me a general observation about Irish businesses that want to operate globally.

We are an open economy, so recovery will always be heavily tied into our ability to export and sell our products and services internationally.

We continue to have a very high cost base, which in turn limits our competitiveness internationally. Now you don’t have to a rocket scientist to see that this is contradictory.

That being said, I believe that pretty much all obstacles are there to be overcome. The biggest obstacle in overcoming all other obstacles is fear itself. Fear leads to inaction and inaction is extremely bad for business.

In my sector, you already starting to see “a survival of the fittest taking place”. I will be one of “the fittest”.

Q. What are you doing to grow your business and services? Can you tell us about any new initiatives?

My blog is now performing very well and it brings a lot of new enquires. It has allowed me to become better known and I am gaining a lot of respect within the Irish business community and internationally. Our business is fundamentally based on our knowledge and reputation, in both respects – I believe we are making very good gains.

Earlier, this year I changed my payment terms to include an ROI option. This takes any perceived risk away and gives my clients the confidence that we deliver.

Q. Do you consider networking to be an important aspect of your business activity? Why?

Networking is hugely important to me. I am the one responsible for developing new customers. As a sales trainer, I know that sales are about building strong relationships.

It’s a pretty simple equation:

Networking + Relationships = Sales

Q. How does your business interact with the internet and social networking? What have your experiences been like so far?

I spoke about my blog, and recently I am having a lot of success with social media tools such as LinkedIn and Twitter. In fact, social networking is proving so successful that I rarely get the time to make cold calls etc any more.

I spend a lot of time reading and learning about these online tools, because I think this is key to ensuring that you use them well. So much so, that I am now getting approached more and more to coach others in how to use social media for business development.

As a salesperson, I realise that any tool that gives me an opportunity to listen, ask questions and start conversations is extremely valuable.

Q. Any words of advice for other businesses and entrepreneurs?

1. Beware of the fear factor. It’s real and it can kill your business.
2. Speed is now more important than perfection. Take decisions, and try new things. Look at Obama in the states; he moves fast, he makes things happen – that inspires confidence. Of course, not all of his decisions will prove to be right, but that’s not the point. Remember someone who is afraid to make a wrong decision makes no decision.
3. Stop thinking obstacles, start thinking opportunity. This will prove to be a very opportunistic time for many businesses and entrepreneurs. Ask yourself how can we use this recession to maximise our business? Every day keep asking; why not? Why not? – Until the answer comes.

Thank you Donagh and Loopthing.

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In the News

“AN END to the recession is now “in sight”, after the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said that “a clear picture” was beginning to emerge of the likely extent of the economy’s troubles” From the Irish Times, full story here.

Very interesting post from Dave Brock on Twitter

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Over at TSE

Upcoming Masterclasses include:

Thursday July 16th 2009 : Achieve Real Results with CRM, Quickly and Affordably

Tuesday July 21st 2009 : The Best Damn Networking Process There Is

Thursday July 23rd 2009 : Turn Your Connections into Cash

Thursday July 30th 2009 : The Psychology of Selling

Tuesday August 4th 2009 : Make a Strong ROI in the Simplest Way

Thursday August 6th 2009 : Marketing Is All About Selling You

Tuesday August 11th 2009 : Sociable! — How to Profit from Social Media