There’s no sugar coating it: business development is a royal pain. It wouldn’t be so bad if more of your conversations actually led to revenue. But the reality is, the vast majority of your prospects will not become buyers. At one level, that’s just the way it has to be. Unless you have some magical […]
MARKETING INSIGHTS FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS
Why Buyers Make Irrational Decisions
The presumption underlying much of modern economic theory is that consumers always make rational decisions. Economists define rational behaviour as “a decision-making process that is based on making choices that result in the most optimal level of benefit or utility for the individual.” Of course, anyone who has insight into their own decision making process […]
Why Buyers and Sellers Can Never Seem to Agree on Price
Sometimes it can feel like you and your client are on different planets. You agree there’s a problem, you agree something needs to be done, you even agree on what the solution looks like… But you can’t seem to agree on what it should cost. It turns out there’s a very simple explanation for this. […]
Want to Close More Deals? Ask Tough Questions
Do you need to be “well liked” to win deals? This is one of the questions addressed by a landmark sales study that sought to identify the unique traits of high performing sales reps. The study, as detailed in The Challenger Sale, involved over 6,000 B2B sales people from over 90 companies across different industries. […]
The Wrong Way to Position Your Firm
Chances are you’re not the only player in your industry. There are probably dozens of other firms who compete for the same clients and claim to provide the same services you do. You may think you’re unique. You may think your firm is clearly differentiated from those other firms. You may think there’s no way […]
How IBM Survived The Great Depression
IBM wasn’t always the technology giant it is today. Founded by Thomas J. Watson in 1917, IBM got its start making simple business machinery such as scales, time clocks, punch cards and tabulating machines. In the years that followed, the company flourished as Watson accurately predicted a rise in the demand for data processing solutions […]
How to Grow Faster by Spending Less on Marketing
No one likes spending precious resources on marketing. In a perfect world, clients would be lining up at your door to do business with you. They’d also pay whatever you feel like charging and settle your invoices a few days early. But in the real world, growth doesn’t simply land on your lap… you have […]
The Business Case for Thought Leadership
Neat and tidy listicles on how to become a thought leader are easy to come by. Follow these 10 steps, use these 5 platforms, or say these 7 things… and you’ll become the sought after expert everyone wants to do business with. It sounds so easy. And yet, most people who attempt thought leadership either […]
3 Ways to Unlock the Power of Referrals
Most referral advice boils down to two simple (and simplistic) ideas: Be really good at what you do, because clients don’t send referrals to average professionals. Ask for the referral, because clients need to be reminded that you want one. But beyond the obvious, what else can you do to get more referrals? Marketers often […]
5 Questions Clients Secretly Ask Before Making Referrals
As long as you do great work and deliver outstanding value to your clients, they’ll tell everyone they know, right? This is the kind of naive thinking that leaves countless professionals spinning their wheels wondering why they can’t get any traction. Clients don’t make referrals just because you’re good at what you do. Being good […]