The Weekly Brief
Sales performance … they make it sound so easy.
But it’s not … for example take some of the bog-standard sales advice you’ll hear:
* Relationship first.
* Lead with
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Memos written for consultants Aug 2014 - June 2024.
The Weekly Brief
Clients always have issues.
Clients always have issues, whether they're problems to solve or opportunities to capture. You may need to raise
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Stop wasting time with budget-buyers and start influencing top table executives.
You're wasting your time trying to have value conversations with budget-based buyers.
Budget-buyers are middle managers with a
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The value of staying in touch
Staying in touch with past clients is essential for consultants, but it can often be neglected due to a lack
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Do you ever feel like you’re not a “real” consultant?
It’s called feeling like a fake* and that's far more common than you might think.
So, this
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The reality of value-based selling
I decided to write a much shorter brief about this.
It’s always tempting to write more. To explain more.
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A checklist of 9 reasons clients hire external experts and services
The biggest threat to you winning a project might be the client's own internal resources. I've
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Here’s a horrible task to think about.
Here’s a horrible task to think about. Going through 10 years of emails and deciding what to keep.
I’
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Practicing the ‘in-the mud’ work improves results ...
Last week I was reminded how often ideas for consultancy growth can look very good on paper … but in reality
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How often do you let your clients off the hook?
How often do you let your clients off the hook?
Here's an example of what I mean from
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Are you naturally a “can kicker” or “wheel greaser”?
Two phrases I recently heard made me think about influential stakeholders. Some take steps to avoid decision making. Others won’
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10 things to work on with your sales coach.
These are the game changers ...
1. Delegation to have more client development time.
2. Mindset to win a bigger project.
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The simple action plan for consultancy business developers.
* Weekly - Reach out to 5 connections (3 existing / 2 new).
* Monthly - Research and publish a point-of-view article.
* Quarterly
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You don't become great overnight.
It struck me as strange for a while. Big tech firms train sales people in ‘consultative selling’. And consultancy firms
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Leaders: you must get a firm's sales culture right.
Firms spend gazillions on training for 'consultative selling'.
Yet have a culture and systems that don't
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To win high-value projects you need influence.
To win high-value projects you need influence.
But many people mess it up.
Because they aren't happy to
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A prescription to improve conversations.
Listen well.
Summarise what people say.
Let them know you heard and understood THEM.
Then reflect back your thoughts on
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Aren’t we all dynamic, focused consultants?
Consultancy speak.
We all do it. Some more than others.
Projects framed as … digital transformation … blue sky thinking …
Results described