Helping People to Create Better Outcomes for Themselves

I’m writing this for empathetic leaders – particularly those in East Anglia…

I’ve always been interested in people; what they do and why they do it.

Been that way since I was a young lad – there’s a bit about that here.

Work-wise, I always knew that to be happy on a personal level, I needed to be ‘in and around’ people. Not miserable, uninspiring ones though!

That’s what attracted me to a sales career; the professional-looking ones I’d observed seemed to be smiling more than most. I was rather envious of the opportunity they had to interact with others and generate business to benefit both parties.

The prospect of creating regular ‘Win-Win’ scenarios and making people happy in the process was pretty appealing to this (then) 18-year-old from Norfolk!

Back then, I figured that if a company would take a chance on me, they’d see me working harder to be successful than anyone else. I mean, I’d need to work hard because everyone else would be super-gifted and metaphorically I’d be starting from the back of the grid, right?

Nope, wrong – so wrong! I was as good as anyone else, and with a rather unassuming ‘Norfolk-style’ attitude, I discovered I could calmly produce target-achieving results. Good enough to win a ‘Salesperson of the Year’ award aged 21. That performance was achieved in the supposed ‘Sales Reps Graveyard’ of East Anglia! A super-proud moment for me…

Clutching my award (I still have it), I vividly recall some of the more established members of that salesforce asking how on earth I’d managed to sell such high volumes? Some were slightly less-than-pleased for me.

Nowadays I share ‘the how’ with those who hire me for private consultancy training and coaching. However, back then, I was naive and struggled to explain! I muttered something like: “I just turn up at the sales meeting, listen to what needs to be done, leave with my targets and product samples, then go out and do what I’ve been trained to do!”

I was displaying the green shoots of growth and was highly teachable I suppose.

Four years later, following consistent year-on-year-sales growth, I found myself line-managing several of those quizzical people, which tells its own story. Rest assured, they got my full support and as a team, we achieved record-breaking market share for a brand-leading toiletries product in the East Anglia TV region.

Having been responsible for UK National Sales for many years (I was only 27 when first given that opportunity), I’ve found some people need a bit of help and encouragement to optimise how they operate.

That’s one of the reasons I formed ‘UpThinkers’ – a peak performance mindset consultancy providing training and coaching. We help people create better outcomes for themselves by implementing well-proven psychology-based methodologies in an emotionally intelligent way.

Mainly sales, but not exclusively. I’ve provided training for thousands of people in a multitude of roles. Private, Public and Charities too. I’ve helped leaders in the NHS, Police Forces, County Councils, Energy, Oil & Gas, FMCG Grocery, Property, Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals, Engineering – the list goes on…

Have you ever wondered why it’s crucial to ensure your people ‘Think about their Thinking’?

‘The quality of your results can never exceed the quality of your thinking’.

Rather important to your bottom-line ￡ profits then...

Stuart Sayer, UpThinkers - T: 07500 877675