I recently re-read The Challenger Sale. 

Granted, I don't work in sales but everybody sells - whether it's a product, a service or your personal brand. 

I also believe that sales skills are essential for any consultant because they teach you to think differently when you're trying to provide solutions, are doing presentations and pitches or are simply talking to a customer about a difficult situation.

Especially when it comes to solutions, you need to help your customer get to the solution on their own by probing them with questions and guiding them rather than point-blank dropping the solution onto them because that's not how they'll truly adopt it - they need to come up with it on their own so that it sticks and so that they firmly believe in it. 

Back to the book - it lays out the ideas and strategies behind some of the most successful sales teams and sales reps and how they perform the job in today's world of sophisticated buyers.

Most of the selling approaches used nowadays are no longer effective because buyers are fed up with being interrogated without receiving any value.

There's a better approach to successful selling that the book promotes - the Challenger model.

Why the Challenger Sales Approach Works?

When people ask me how old I am and then find out that I'm 28, they are often shocked. 

They're surprised that I've managed to achieve so many things in my career in such a short timespan and are curious to understand my journey and what I've done differently.

I don't consider myself extraordinary or different. There are so many people out there that I admire who have done way more tremendous things that I have. 

However, I do feel that I've learned a lot over the years by pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and trying new things to discover my passions and my strengths. 

I'm a Plymouth University alumni and I have kept in contact with the great team there. 

They recently reached out to me to ask if I could participate in their International Students Week and present in front of students about my career journey. 

I've always said that one of my purposes in life is to help so of course, I agreed and I want to share with you today the recording of my talk and the slides which you can view below.

It's time for another "Why Work in PR?" interview and I'm delighted to introduce you today to Rafal Salak who will share with us his exciting PR career story in software and offer key advice for students and young professionals who want to learn more about the industry and how to get into it, especially if wanting to work in tech. 

I'm a big fan of Prowly where Rafal works. We've never met but we've been in touch through email or Twitter many times for various projects, initiatives or simply to share ideas.

Before you move onto the interview, don't forget to follow Rafal on Twitter. 

(If you've missed any of the previous interviews, you can take a look as well: Richard Bailey, Pippa Hanson, Jessica Hodkinson, Chryssa Skodra, Farzana Baduel, Scott Guthrie, Sarah Hall, Angharad Welsh, Alex May and Maria Gergova-Bengtsson.) 

Why Work in Public Relations: Interview with Rafal Salak

It's time for another "Why Work in PR?" interview and I'm delighted to introduce you today to Maria Gergova-Bengtsson who will share with us her exciting PR career story and offer key advice for students and young professionals who want to learn more about the industry and how to get into it. 

I'm glad to call Maria my friend even though we only met a few months ago in Sofia where she invited to speak at the IPRA conference. I truly admire Maria for the dedicated work that she is doing in the Bulgarian market, the team she has grown around her successful PR agency and the global network of professionals that she has built.

Before you move onto the interview, don't forget to follow Maria on Facebook and say Hi to her team on Twitter @United_Partners. 

(If you've missed any of the previous interviews, you can take a look as well: Richard Bailey, Pippa Hanson, Jessica Hodkinson, Chryssa Skodra, Farzana Baduel, Scott Guthrie, Sarah Hall, Angharad Welsh and Alex May.) 

Why Work in Public Relations: Interview with Maria Gergova-Bengtsson

It's been over a year since I've run a "Why Work in PR?" interview but today we have Alex May sharing with us her PR career story and offering some very thoughtful advice for students and young professionals who want to learn more about the industry and how to get into it. 

Alex is a good friend of mine (we met in Dublin) and I asked her to participate in my PR interview series because I felt it would be good for PR students thinking about the profession to hear from a younger pro who's closer to their generation and experiences. 

Before you move onto the interview, don't forget to follow her on Twitter @AMayHopscotch and say Hi. 

(If you've missed any of the previous interviews, you can take a look as well: Richard Bailey, Pippa Hanson, Jessica Hodkinson, Chryssa Skodra, Farzana Baduel, Scott Guthrie, Sarah Hall and Angharad Welsh.) 

Why Work in Public Relations: Interview with Alex May