by Jacques de Villiers | Mar 9, 2026 | Sales Tips
Salespeople rarely struggle with rejection. They struggle with the story they tell themselves about the rejection. As a young salesperson I used to get emotionally triggered by rejection. I was also the undisputed master of inventing stories. A prospect didn’t return...
by Jacques de Villiers | Jan 29, 2026 | Marketing
We need a villain.Finally, someone has said it. Not because we enjoy conflict, but because without contrast, meaning dissolves. We don’t decide who we are in isolation. We decide by drawing a line and saying, “We are this, not that.” When a brand names a clear enemy,...
by Jacques de Villiers | Dec 16, 2025 | Sales Tips
Most salespeople don’t realise this, but every sales meeting is a small theatre. You walk into a room with a complete stranger and, in seconds, the roles are set: judge and defendant, king and beggar, prize and pursuer. The tragedy is this: too many salespeople arrive...
by Jacques de Villiers | Dec 7, 2025 | Eccentricities
Since November, I’ve been hearing the same refrain whispered like a tired prayer: “I’m exhausted.” “I can’t wait for December so I can disappear.” “It’s been a hard year.” Some people have already shut down. The doors are closed. The lights are dimmed. They will...
by Jacques de Villiers | Oct 30, 2025 | Sales Tips
Every sales conversation has that moment — the tension point where logic and emotion collide.You know it. You’ve been there. The prospect leans back, folds their arms, and says, “It sounds expensive.” And in that instant, most salespeople freeze, defend, or...
by Jacques de Villiers | Oct 30, 2025 | Sales Tips
I don’t know about you, but I grew up sort of Calvinist. I say sort of because my father — a Dutch Reformed minister — was excommunicated from the church before I was born. He went full Pentecostal after that. Speaking in tongues — that was the alcohol, I’m sure....
by Jacques de Villiers | Oct 12, 2025 | Eccentricities
Just this Saturday evening, at a friend’s dinner party, it happened again.I turned into a ghost. I was mid-sentence — telling someone something mildly interesting — when a woman slipped into the space between us and began a fresh conversation with him. No apology. No...
by Jacques de Villiers | Oct 8, 2025 | Marketing
When someone tells me they’re “authentic,” I flinch. Because the moment you have to say it… something’s already off. Authenticity isn’t something you declare; it’s something people sense.You don’t convince others you’re real by announcing it — you show it...
by Jacques de Villiers | Oct 5, 2025 | Book Reviews
I’ve read a lot of marketing books over the years.Most focus on tactics, funnels, hacks, and quick wins.Seth Godin’s This Is Marketing hit me differently. It reminded me why I started doing this work in the first place. “People like us do things like this.”...
by Jacques de Villiers | Oct 5, 2025 | Sales Tips
Some sales teams work incredibly hard. Early mornings. Late nights. Relentless activity. They hit the phones, they send the emails, they follow the scripts. And still… the results fall short. Not because they don’t care. Not because they’re lazy. But...
