As  a motivational speaker and seminar leader I speak with tens of thousands of sales and business people every year and my blogs and articles are read by far, far more. Speaking with so many salespeople and business owners gives me a unique insight into what drives people to do what they do and to behave how they behave.

I really enjoy this aspect of my role as I am, and always have been, intrigued by how and why people behave the way that they do. It’s certainly one of the reasons that I became a motivational speaker and author in the first place. And I have a few questions that I like to ask of nearly all of the groups that I speak to in nearly all of the seminars and keynotes that I run…

7 strategies for selling more in an economic downturn or recession. This 14 page special report on how your business can not only survive but thrive and grow in even the most difficult of markets is yours to download and read at your leisure. Packed full of strategies, tips and ideas this report will help you, your team and your company to focus in on what’s important - more sales.

I have decided to restrict the downloading of this report for members of GavinIngham.com only but don’t worry if you’re not a member of our sales and business success club as you can download your own private copy of these powerful sales success tips by joining the GavinIngham.com community free here.

I was interviewed this week about being a motivational speaker by Simply Sales Jobs who are running a series of interviews to help sales professionals and people thinking of commencing a career in sales to better understand the benefits, challenges and rewards of  a career in selling…

You own and run ‘Gavin Ingham Ltd’ - tell me more about your role, company and what motivated you to establish the business.

“It’s not affected me yet!” That’s what most salespeople and busines owners were saying to me about their sales results, when booking motivational speeches and sales training programmes, until a few months ago, “It’s not affected me yet!” Few clients or business people that I meet are saying that now. Far from it. 6 months ago most were hoping that this “correction” (“credit crunch”, “recession”… call it what you will) was going to pass them by if they kept their heads down. They figured that they’d heard doom and gloom from the media before and that it would all blow over and everything would be back to business as normal.

I’ve been really busy the last few weeks with two of my sales seminars, Close the Deal and Sales Negotiation Skills, and speaking at several sales conferences so it has been a little while since I’ve posted onto my blog. Given the challenges that some salespeople and business owners are facing at the moment with trying to win new business I wanted to do something a little different…

It’s hard to look at this week and to not worry about the impact that current events might have on sales. Many of you may be reading this and thinking, “They already have”. Every media outlet, every paper, every radio station and (seemingly) everybody is talking about events. Even people whom I have never heard talk about economics or the economy have had something to say - usually negative!

As a sales motivational speaker I get the pleasure of working with thousands of salespeople every year and I get asked about many sales training challenges that they face. One area that rears its ugly head quite frequently is the act of reaching and building rapport with senior decision makers.

Many succesful salespeople who prospect new clients effortlessly every day can be pushed out of their comfort zones by asking them to contact CEOs, MDs and COOs. The ability to find, locate and build rapport with senior decision makers is critical if you want to be a sales superstar.

As a sales author, sales motivational speaker and sales force development consultant it is very important that I walk the talk and continue to learn and develop myself. One activity which I am always recommending to clients, friends and everyone alike is to keep reading new, old and interesting ideas to keep yourself stimulated and on top of your game. My personal favourite subjects for reading about are personal development, sales training, sales force development, motivation and mindset, general business and marketing.

Few people would argue that motivated salespeople and business people sell more. Wandering around looking like the world is out to get you and with your chin dragging along the floor never helped anyone to be a sales superstar and it never will.

Your attitude, your mindset and your approach will always play a huge part in helping you to smash your targets and build the business and the life that you desire. When I am invited to companies as a motivational speaker or sales development consultant one of the most common questions asked by sales managers, sales directors and business owners alike is, “How do I get and keep my sales teams motivated?”

A few weeks ago I was enjoying the sun on my back and a long cool drink on my balcony in Spain when I got a message to call Jennifer Celerier from this year’s Apprentice. Having written so much about them I was intrigued so I decided that I would give her a call straight back.

Apparently, both she and Kristina Grimes (who came second in 2007) had enjoyed my blogs on the Apprentice and wanted to talk to me about a sales and business project that they were planning…