Service Market Fit: Product Market Fit for Creative Service Firms
Product market fit for professional service firms. It’s the pivot point for your sales. What is it? How do you put it into action?
How Owners renewed the love and passion for their business.
We’ve been talking all week about what we can do to get the love back, and today, I wanted to tell you a couple of stories about clients who have done just that! One needed a new focus, another a new role, and a third a new system. As you read these, notice which story…
What can focus produce?
I’ve been trying to make an argument this week that it’s easier to grow your firm by narrowing your focus than by taking on a broad range of work from the clients that come your way. I wanted to end the week by talking about an example, a client who actually did this! Meet Robin…
What’s wrong with fast food?
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…
Articles | marketing | positioning | Purpose | sales | strategic planning
How to reduce your client’s risk, when everything is risky
In 2020, we are living in a time when ambient risks have skyrocketed. The economic risks, social risks, 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: I could…
Articles | leadership | People | positioning | pricing
5 Keys to Growing Beyond $1M in Sales
“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…
You’re leading me where?
Neo was happy in the matrix – as long as he didn’t know it existed. But once he took the red pill, he could see the world as it really is. Did that knowledge make him happy? No, it turned him into a revolutionary whose very life was in danger! When we lead our clients,…
Reducing risk by targeting more
In our last discussion, we were talking about how clients hire expert firms to reduce their risk. They want a job done promptly with the expected benefit. For that certainty, they are willing to pay money! 2020 has undermined our ability to offer assurance to our clients, making it harder for them to decide to…
The riches are in the niches!
Most people start their business with a broad target. We throw some things up against the wall to see what sticks. Our biggest fear is that no one will buy, and so we try to sell to everyone! By trying to be everything to everyone, we weren’t the perfect thing for any client! Plus, we…
If you want raving fans, you might have to endure some haters.
When I talk to folks about the chat app Slack, I’m amazed at how folks either love it or hate it! Those who have embraced it tell me about how it reduces their internal email load to almost zero. They feel like everything is easier to find (Slack’s search is excellent) and better organized. They…