In this short video (hat tip to Presentation Zen ), John Cleese shares some of his ideas about the creative process. Even though this video is only 10 minutes of his presentation, it contains some great lessons. Here are a few of the lessons I took away: We don’t know where creative ideas come from, but we know they don’t come from our laptops. Interruptions are the enemy of creativity. We need to create boundaries of time and space – what... 

This is the last post in this series about marketing for the newly promoted. Here is what we have covered so far: How to talk about what you do Understanding what your customer really buys Understanding your customers buying process Cross selling – spotting other opportunities to help Giving Referrals Knowing which customers business to turn away Networking Marketing vs. Sales and knowing which role you are in   Today I want to wrap up by talking... 

Sales and marketing are often lumped together. This is easy to when marketing and selling professional services because both roles are often assigned to the same person. Sales and marketing are different roles, both with different goals,  and requiring different skill sets. Having a clear idea of the which role you are in at a particular time will give you a better chance of successfully achieving the goals of that role. A clear vision will also... 

Join me in congratulating Dave McGillicuddy of McGillicuddy Electrical Services on the launch of his new website. Base in Braintree, MA, Dave McGillicuddy started McGillicuddy Electrical Services in 2006. They provide both residential and commercial electrical services. Check out the photos on their site, they do some really beautiful work. I worked with Dave to create his new blogsite using WordPress . Not only does having a site based on WordPress... 

Continuing the series on marketing for the newly promoted , today’s post is about networking. Networking is another one of those things that we are told to do, but we aren’t given a lot of instruction on how to do it effectively. Much of what I’ve already written in this series of posts applies to networking. To be effective at networking, you certainly need to be able to talk…  Read More →

Need a little help with your prospecting skills in order to finish the year strong? Then  Kansas City Sandler Sales coach extraordinaire Dan Stalp ‘s Immediate Impact Session is just what the doctor ordered. I’ve attended this workshop with Dan in the past and I can tell you that not only do you learn what to do to improve your prospecting, you also leave motivated to get it done: Here is what you will learn: Overcoming Call Reluctance... 

Why would a series of posts about marketing for the newly promoted include a discussion about turning away business? Mostly because it’s one of those things that everyone seems to learn the hard way. You are probably going to prefer to learn it the hard way yourself, but here goes. This is one of the things that I typically get the most push back on when working with customers – narrowly defining who you serve. Their brain tells them that they... 

Continuing on the theme of marketing for the newly promoted , today I want to talk about giving referrals. When we talk about referral marketing (newly promoted or not) most of the focus tends to be how to get referrals.  I think we should put more focus on giving them. And not just reciting platitudes like ”givers get”, “give first”,etc., – but actually setting and tracking goals related to how many referrals... 

I found this via the Verasage blog and thought I would pass it along as it promises to be an interesting and educational event. VeraSage Founder, Dan Morris, will lead the 1st Tweet Chat sponsored by CalCPA ( http://www.calcpa.org ) this upcoming Thursday, August 12th starting at 10:00 AM (Pacific) (GMT -8). Readers, friends, and even challengers, are invited to participate with fellow professionals using the Twitter Hash Tag : #cschat1.  Read More →

As professional service providers, most of our new business probably (should?) comes from our existing customers. Whether you call it cross-selling, up-selling, or anything else, being able to identify additional needs and sell services to meet those needs is an important part of business development. What this really boils down to is listening. You have to listen to…  Read More →

What’s better than free CPE credits? How about free CPE from the comfort of your own office or home? My friends at SurePayroll just let me in on a sweet deal that I can pass along to you. Here’s the deal. SurePayroll is giving you a chance to win the HIRE Act Self Study course for FREE. But your chances at winning significantly higher because the first 10 people who sign up using the How Heard code of “BILLB” will get the course for free.... 

Do you understand the process your customers go through when making a purchasing decision? For most of our customers, buying professional services is process, not an event. Therefore, it makes sense that we have marketing and selling processes that match their buying process as closely as possible. In her book, eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale (Amazon affiliate link), Ardath Albee outlines a 7 step buying process. Status Quo – Beginning... 

Yesterday, I posted about talking about what you do . An important part of talking about what you do, and marketing your services in general, is understanding what your customer is really buying. People don’t want to buy insurance. They don’t want to buy legal or accounting services. They purchase protection. They may be buying compliance, relief from worry, the ability to communicate, or the ability to make money and provide for their family.... 

I think everyone, newly promoted or not, struggles with this one at some point in their career. How do we talk about what we do and talk about it without boring ourselves and everyone around us to tears. The default, of course, is to fall back on your title – I’m a banker, I’m an accountant, I’m a attorney, etc. One of the main problems with this approach is that we, as human beings, like to categorize things. It helps us make …  Read More →

Getting promoted in a professional service firm can often feel like a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we all like to be recognized for our hard work. We also like the raise in our salary. It can often feel like a curse because we are often asked to do things we don’t know how to and probably won’t be trained to do. The two areas that immediately come to mind from my past are 1) leading others and 2) developing business. Today I created...