The Competitive Advantage

August 27, 2019

Former Clients: A New Path to Growth?

In a meeting, recently, with a couple of leaders from our industry, we fell into a discussion about the state of “sales” in our industry. During our chat, one of them mentioned that a new sales rep at his firm – someone from outside of the industry, interestingly – managed to put several hundred thousand dollars of potential new business into her pipeline in just her first few months of employment!

I was blown away! That is absolutely unheard of. To reach level of success… that quickly… especially by an industry outsider. What was her secret?

August 6, 2019

Do you speak the “language of sales?”

We’re two weeks into the inaugural 3-week Seller-Doer Workshop… and with 30+ participants, I couldn’t be more pleased (or grateful).

In these first two weeks, we’ve covered a number of topics related to general selling philosophies, acquiring new clients and maintaining & growing existing clients. But the one topic that seems to have generated the most group discussion is the “language of sales.”

July 16, 2019

How to Maximize Your Time as a Seller-Doer

Does your firm subscribe to the seller-doer model for business development? That is, are there leaders and managers in your firm who, in addition to their primary roles, are also tasked with responsibility for revenue growth? If you answered ‘yes,’ then your firm is like the vast majority of others… the seller-doer model is, by far, the most popular sales structure in the MR industry among small and mid-sized firms.

Popular, yes. But also, incredibly challenging because…

June 25, 2019

Don’t sell to companies that can’t buy from you. Qualify your sales leads first.

Have you ever gotten deep into a sales conversation with a potential buyer – maybe even over the course of weeks or months – only to find out that they will never become a buyer? That your firm is just not the right fit with what they really need… or that they can’t afford your services?

Scenarios like that – which happen all too often – are incredibly frustrating. And a colossal waste of time!

So, what can you do? You need to qualify your sales prospects before moving forward. Here’s how…

June 18, 2019

Why you “hate selling”… and what you can do about it.

“I hate selling!” It’s one of those phrases I hear often from seller-doers in our industry – the independent consultants, small business owners and senior executives at larger firms who have “sales” as a part of their job description, but don’t really want to be doing it.

But why is that? Why do so many non-salespeople hate selling? Their reason for the disdain of sales can likely be traced back to one (or more) of the following…

June 11, 2019

All Clients Are Important, But Large Clients Matter More.

We like to think that all clients are important… and they are. Our goal is to do good work for all clients and deliver a high level of service to each of them… and we strive for that every day.

But the fact is… your large clients are more important than your small clients!

May 27, 2019

Does your sales presentation begin with…

… an ‘About Us’ section?

You know, those 3-4 (or more) PowerPoint slides about your firm – all of the great services you provide and your incredible staff back at the office. Most sales decks do. But here’s the problem with that…

The potential buyers listening to your sales presentation DON’T CARE!!

Sorry to spring it on you like that… but they really don’t! Those bleary-eyed prospects sitting around the conference table don’t care because they already know about you firm. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t be at the table in the first place.

So, skip the self-congratulatory platitudes and use your time at the head of the table to answer the one question everyone in the room is asking…

April 16, 2019

Why the Seller-Doer Model is So Challenging

Does your firm subscribe to the seller-doer model for business development? That is, are there leaders and managers in your firm who, in addition to their primary roles, are also tasked with responsibility for revenue growth? If you answered ‘yes,’ then your firm is like the vast majority of others… the seller-doer model is, by far, the most prevalent sales structure in professional services industries like ours.