If the economy slows over the next 18 months winning new business will get more challenging. To keep your business strong in any economic condition, you need to upgrade your business development process. There are three critical decisions you have to make to ensure you’re able to win business in unfavorable economic conditions: Focus on…
During the last slowdown in 2009 – 2010, I had one client who had a unique response to the economy. She is a very focused and driven leader who doesn’t accept excuses and knows the power she has to create the reality around her. So, when the economy started to slow and other leaders became…
If you’ve been listening to the news the last few weeks, you’ve likely heard about inflation and the fears that it will cause a recession in the US economy. What does that mean for how you should be managing and leading your agency? First, what is a recession? A recession occurs when economic growth slows…
“Don’t get too high with your highs, don’t get too low in your lows.” I have heard my clients, agency founders, describe leading their firm like they are riding a rollercoaster. One minute they were on cloud 9, they closed a big deal or had a client presentation dripping with insights, and their clients clearly…
For a minute, let’s imagine that there are two parallel worlds. In one world, we’ll call it the rosy world; opportunity is plentiful. When you need new business, you can find it. Not just any client, but good profitable clients who value you at your best. When I meet clients living in the rosy world,…
Whenever I see someone’s calendar and it looks like a failing game of Tetris, it reminds me of that Anti-drug PSA from the ’80s. Because if I tried to manage that many meetings, changing topics and keeping track of everything, my brain would fry. One of the first assignments I work on with clients is…
You work hard, harder than you did when you worked for someone else. You are forced to learn about things, like employment law, or payroll taxes, that you don’t care to learn about. Over and over again you find yourself on the edge, a place where you learn a ton, and that also keeps you…
When I worked as a consultant, I frequently found myself having conversations with team members who reported to the agency founder that would go something like this: Team Member: If my boss would only do these three things differently, what a difference it would make… [Then I’d listen to a long explanation about ways the…
When last I wrote we talked about the fact that if you wanted to see change, in your business or your life, you needed to change. (Then Memorial Day weekend happened and I missed a whole week of emailing!) I got quite a response to that email! Some thought it was a little harsh, some…
I spent over 15 years as a consultant. During that time clients would hire me to fix a “problem” that they had in their business. Their new business system was broken, their margins were terrible, they had too much turnover, etc. They had a problem, my job is to fix it. Most of the agency…