I got quite a response from my last email about being more choosy in your business development approach. Folks felt like choosing clients, and especially projects from existing clients came across as “snobby.” “There’s nothing wrong with being efficient in your sales process,” replied one agency principal, “some of us don’t want to become full-time…
French cooking techniques and recipes have influenced cuisines all around the world. Chefs from every modern cuisine, from cultures worldwide, come to France to learn from the masters there. One of the defining features of French cooking is the ingredients. You cannot make an excellent, top-shelf French meal without choosing the freshest, most flavorful ingredients….
Ambient risks have skyrocketed. Economic, social, and public health risks are massively higher than they were last year. This includes the risk of hiring a professional services firm. People hire these experts to reduce their risk of negative outcomes. For example: The money I spend hiring these experts reduces my risk of adverse outcomes and…
In a “normal” year, we would be in the middle of the busiest hiring season of the year. About half of searches and new hires occur between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. This is far from a typical year, but I still see a fair amount of hiring going on among my clients. We’ve gotten beyond…
Most of us have been doing some version of WFH for at least 5 months now. Things that we thought we’d never do 5 months ago, interviewing candidates, on-boarding employees, pitching for work, doing a kick-off meeting or strategy meeting with a new client, brainstorming and refining creative ideas…we’ve done all those things at this…
We are in the middle of the most important three months of the year for B2B services companies. It’s budget season, and your clients and prospects are making their plans for 2021 over the next few weeks. Do you have a plan to get money allocated to projects you can complete for them? 1. Budget…
If you run a B2B business, this is “go time.” We’re in the playoffs. It’s showtime. Use whatever metaphor gets your juices flowing, but it’s a crucial time to set your business trajectory for 2021. Over the next 100 days, your clients are making plans for 2021. They are setting priorities, creating budgets, and laying…
In his famous book Good to Great, Jim Collins writes about interviewing Admiral James Stockdale, who was a POW in Vietnam. There’s one line from that interview that has remained seared in my brain ever since. Collins asked Stockdale about how he dealt with the cruelty, the deprivation, and the uncertainty of not knowing if…
Last week I wrote to you about the challenges I was having. I got several nice notes back from you, encouraging me. I appreciate that! My attitude lifted seeing your notes and reading your replies. This week I’ve been talking with more business owners who are facing similar challenges. With all the change and stress 2020…
“What got you here won’t get you there!” ~ Marshall Goldsmith Congratulations, you’ve grown your business and achieved a major milestone, one million in revenue. Well done! It’s a huge achievement. Less than 4% of business in America reach this goal. Now that you’ve celebrated, let’s talk about your next steps. Do you want to…