Redefining Sales and the Power of Radical Collaboration

I recently sat down with Peter Barclay, the co-founder of SalesGeek Scotland, to discuss the cultural shift that needs to happen in Scottish boardrooms.

Peter has spent years changing how businesses approach revenue generation, and he is spearheading the upcoming Scottish Growth Expo at Hampden Park on May 26th. If your business is currently struggling with growth, or if you still view sales as a dirty word, you can watch our full conversation here.

If you haven’t watched the full interview yet, you can watch it here.

Here are the three biggest things I learned from our conversation.

1. The Landscape: Overcoming the Sales Stigma

One of the most interesting points Peter made is the lingering discomfort many Scottish founders feel around the word sales itself. Even after a long and successful career, Peter admitted that he used to describe his role at social events without ever using the word.

This stigma comes from a negative association with manipulation or being forced to buy something unnecessary. In reality, sales is simply about problem solving. When small businesses face growth challenges, they are almost always revenue problems. Sales in the business is the vital service that solves this problem, and provides long term solutions for your customers.

2. The Opportunity: Maximising Exisintg Trust

When businesses want to grow, their default setting is almost always to hunt for new customers. Peter argues that this outward focus often ignores the most accessible revenue stream sitting right in front of them.

The most efficient growth strategy is to look at your current clients first. Assessing how you service them, understanding their business deeper, and finding new ways to support them is far easier than trying to close a cold lead. These clients already know you and trust you, making them the most sustainable foundation for increasing your revenue.

3. The 2026 Action: Embrace Competitor Collaboration

Peter’s key action for 2026 is to break the habit of becoming insular during tough economic times. When faced with market uncertainty, the instinct for many leaders is to lock themselves away with spreadsheets.

Instead, the path to growth lies in radical collaboration, even with your direct competition. Your competitors face the exact same supply chain and market challenges as you do. By understanding your ideal client profile and how you differ from your rivals, you can foster partnerships that strengthen the entire sector. Peter’s advice is to get along to Hampden on May 26th for the Scottish Sales Expo and start open conversations with everyone in your industry.

My Takeaway: Sales is an important profession that focuses on trust and we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it. By shifting our boardroom culture from isolation to collaboration, Scottish businesses can build a much more resilient economy together.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Saltire Sentinel’s editorial stance.