BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND / AGILITYPR.NEWS / February 20, 2020 / In the latest instalment of ProfileTree’s award-winning Business Leader series, we sit down with Brendan Murphy, expert sales strategist and owner of Lisburn-based firm, Ghost Consultancy. Followers of Business Leaders can now gain Murphy’s valuable insights into the unknown benefits of business consultancy and his own background in management and sales training.

Murphy’s insights join a series which was recently awarded at the inaugural Irish Content Marketing Awards with the Best Content Marketing Award for a Video Series. The episode can now be accessed via ProfileTree’s Business Leader channel, which features a library of videos offering advice and stories of success from leaders in tourism, hospitality, retail, real estate and more.

Introducing viewers to his business and line of expertise, Murphy self-identifies as a “Jack of all Trades”. Working with businesses and organisations across a range of industrial sectors, Murphy assists the leaders of those bodies in bettering themselves and their ways of working. “They bring me in, and I give them the tools to improve,” he says, “whether its their social, their business, their sales, marketing - anywhere they want to improve - I improve those elements, then I leave. It’s intensive, but I love it.”

Opening up about his career background, Murphy takes us through the stepping stones which led him towards his current path at Ghost Consultancy. After working in bank management for 10 years, he spent another decade working for a Fortune 500 company. He then moved into public sector account management where he met his wife before moving to Lisburn.

Murphy’s move to Lisburn saw the entrepreneur move into recruitment, where he specialised in sales. “Sometimes I would be asked to train, and other times I would be asked to look at other areas such as sales and marketing. I was getting asked to do more stuff around those areas than that of actual recruitment, so I had a real decision to make. So, I moved into consultancy,” he recalls.

“When I was dealing with business, I frequently used my ‘war chest’ of business professionals. When I was with a client, if I had a contact in my chest that would benefit their business, I would make that introduction and referral. These are people that I keep around me, and they encouraged me to make that transition to full-time consultancy,” says Murphy. However, with clients, a ‘one size fits all’ approach is rarely suitable. Indeed, the consultant shares that in some cases, he is there to simply motivate businesses to act on improving themselves. 

“I hear a lot from people about thinking outside the box,” says Murphy, “but I tell them to actually bring those tools out of the box. The tools they have are being left in that box, and you need to have those basics of business right. Do you have a service level agreement, for example,” he continues. The consultant admits that in many cases, it is necessary for an individual to come from the outside, advising business leaders who are often engrossed and entrenched in their own flawed processes. 

Murphy shares that in many cases, helping a business to improve themselves often involves invoking some soul-searching at senior level. “In a lot of scenarios, I often ask clients to ask themselves why they are in business. They may say that they have inherited the business and are stepping into the role of their parents, for example. I ask them to dismiss this and to actually ask themselves why they are on this path, and not joining the Army or flipping burgers,” says the consultant. “I often find that when individuals have a think and realise why they are in that role, they perform much better at it,” he adds.

Notably, Murphy admits that his services aren’t suitable for everyone. In some cases, for example, he may disagree with a product the company is making, or he may struggle to work within a certain company culture. Some companies enjoy senior accountability, whilst many neglect the concept at management level: “I have met companies where the Managing Director may admit that they don’t have to answer to anyone. I tell them that from now on, they will answer to me. Some like that, some don’t.”

Murphy’s full interview can be accessed in full via the official Business Leaders YouTube Channel. 

Business Leaders is an award-winning thought leadership series from ProfileTree content marketing agency. To hear more about the series or to enquire about taking part, get in touch with the team today.