My key business specialisms, developed over the past 4 decades, are:► Communication► Marketing► Sales► AS A MUSICIANBeginning as a professional musician I learned about performance and how to engage my audience. I now apply this to sales. I learned what effective groups/teams looked like and how to create them. In a crowded marketplace I learned the importance of developing a distinctive, compelling brand.► IN PUBLISHING & PUBLIC SPEAKINGI developed my communication skills while working for a national newspaper, and in my own performing and journalism. Regular, high-profile public speaking activities also contributed, from presenting and selling to groups of professionals at national events, to addressing MPs at the Houses of Parliament. It has also informed my professional face-to-face and non-verbal communication with my retail customers.► TEACHING & TRAINING (education & business sectors)I came to understand how people learn and change, what motivates them and what gets in the way. In a rapidly changing world I learned the importance of having clear goals and constantly questioning what I'm doing, why and how. Instead of focussing only on the detail I have made a point of regularly referring to the bigger picture. In my work running training and consultancy businesses, initially in the late-80s and then in the 2010s, I learned how to sell and how to retain customers and motivate them to take their businesses to the next level.► MUSIC INDUSTRYI deepened my sales and marketing skills, while working in the music industry from the mid-90s to 2012. I was part of a team selling music-related business opportunities, training and support materials across the UK. I created high-ticket sales opportunities by developing relationships with high-profile education clients, including conservatoires and schools.► BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHERAll this learning, coupled with CPD from the Institute of Consulting, has given me an analytical, strategic approach and broad insight, which I bring to my work managing and growing a sales territory at The House of Sarunds and as non-exec director at Apothecary 87.