Date: Wednesday, 07 March 2012

Bill Gates dropped out of college to start Microsoft.

Jeff Bezos quit his lucrative job on Wall Street to drive to the other side of America to start Amazon.

Donald Trump faced personal bankrupcy at one stage taking risks.

So, is moving to the US and starting Marketing Eye, such a risk afterall?

We are all sexual beings. True.

And, advertising executives the world over will tell us that "sex does sell". They have a long history of showcasing scantily clad men and women in advertising with great success.

But, does it still work?

The last two men I have dated have been lovely guys. Wonderful in fact. Both over 50 yet neither opened the door for me until I made it clear that my expectation is that I believe that men should always open the door. I know this is old fashion in so many ways, but when you have always experienced men that are gentlemen, it's hard to settle for anything less.

It's like if an old lady is standing on a bus - someone should stand up and let her sit. Or a pregnant lady who needs to go to the restroom - you should always let her go first.

I can't criticise people for not opening the door, or eating before the host sits down to dinner or not placing their knives and forks together when they have finished a meal. The reason being is that too many people don't do this anymore. The more I travel, particularly in the US, the less I see people using old fashion manners in their every day lives.

Women have a lot to answer for this and I am sure that men find it hard to ascertain who to open a door for and who not to. I am sure most men don't mean it, and no doubt there are a lot of women out there with poor manners to, but in this day and age, can we really identify a common global manners protocol that every person should adhere to?

The English are always good with their manners and Europeans are very good also. I was out with some Formula One Drivers on the weekend, and all of them opened the door, walked on the outside of the women they were with and in every way were gentlemen. It was such a refreshing thing to experience.

What's your thoughts? Do you think that men being gentemen are a thing of the past? Is bad manners exclusive to people outside of Europe and the UK?

In business, what is the protocol? I always allow the client to sit down first, and whether it is male or female, I try to open the door for them as they are leaving. What other ways can business leaders show good manners?

What keeps you awake at night?

Some say a sales manager never sleeps. Constant questions seem to plague their minds - will I make that budget? How will I close this sale? Have I got the right team for the right job?

What if there was a way to help answer these questions? Some miracle program whereby sales managers no longer have to stress about the duties and targets of their entire sales team, but just focus on their own task at hand. A program which can change those plaguing questions from “Will I make that budget?” to “we will make that budget”

I received an email from the Sales Coach Academy, who provides a powerful and proven sales coaching program for sales managers. I was asked what are my biggest sales frustrations? What traits my ideal sales team would posses? And pretty much what keeps me awake at night?

The aim of the short survey is obviously to work out the needs of Sales Managers, what frustrates them and what concerns them most about their sales team. It provides questions that more or less allow you to vent your sales frustrations, so that the Sales Coach Academy can base their coaching programs around the areas of high interest to sales managers.

I strongly suggest you take the survey if you have been involved in the sales industry throughout your career – which most of us have! Perhaps we can finally get some answers to those questions that keep us awake at night!

Alison Lovatt, Marketing Eye.

One of the things that no-one tells you when you are thinking about expanding your business is just how busy you will be.

It is remarkable how much you can fit into a day, let alone a week.

I am travelling to the US on 22nd March to meet with some people over there; potential investors, key influencers, government and industry leaders. Organising my schedule and fitting everything in is near impossible. 10 days just isn't enough. But for this trip, it will have to do!