This post is from 3 years ago, but more relevant than ever. Consultants are likable. If you are not likable, uh, you have a problem. New comments in red color. Eager to hear your comments on this one. Being likable is a characteristic of all successful consultants. The more people “like” you, the more likely they will listen, interact, and be… Read More »
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Transcript
There are three steps that you can take, three very simple actions you can take on a daily basis that will significantly help you to build your business if you’re not already doing something like this.
Let’s get right into it.
If you want to grow your business, right, essentially, there’s one thing that you always want to keep in mind and that is that you want to have more conversations.
The more conversations that you have, as long as they’re meaningful conversations, the more business that you’re going to generate because all consulting business, the vast, vast majority, 98% or more will come from a conversation you have with a buyer.
Knowing that it’s important to have more conversations, you want to always be focused in terms of your marketing, your business development around what can you do to create more conversations. I’m going to offer you just a very simple kind of process that you can use on a daily basis. If you really commit to it and you’re intentional with it, it’ll help you to grow your business, so here’s the three, right? It’s three phone calls or three outreaches that you do every single day.
The same way that you wake up and brush your teeth, the same way that you … like whatever habits you have, you have a cup of coffee, you go to the gym, you take your dog for a walk, you create habits in your life. Everyone creates habits. This can also be a habit in your life if you choose to make it one. I would suggest that if you really want to grow your business that choosing to make this a habit in your business will be very beneficial.
It’s either three people or types of people that you should contact, okay? Number one is contacting what we’ll call a key contact and the goal for this is to ask for a referral, so asking for a referral. Now, this is really important because the more people that you reach out to, the more people that you kind of connect with to ask for a referral, the more referrals you’re going to actually get.
These might be friends, family members, past colleagues, employers, vendors, suppliers. It can be a lot of different kinds of people but the more people that you reach out to, to have a quick conversation, to learn what they’re doing and to find if they might know somebody who would be a good fit for you, the better, right, so you want to do that. That’s on a daily basis. It’s daily basis, one phone call. Boom. Call someone up. Send them an e-mail but phone calls are always better in most cases.
Number two is you want to reach out to a past client. I don’t know if I can write today. You want to reach out to a past client. Why reach out to a past client? Well, reach out to a past client because past clients are actually the best source of new business for you.
A lot of people believe that they need to somehow be doing new marketing, like they need to be getting new business, like new people into their pipeline all the time and while there is truth to that, you will be able to win significantly more business faster and typically at higher levels with existing or past clients than with new ones.
Why?
Well, because you have a relationship with them. They already trust you. They know that you can deliver results and so because of that, they’re much more likely to want to work further with you.
Now, there’s a couple of different options here or ways to think about it. One is just working on a new project with the same exact client. The other … This also what we kind of call … the work you’d be doing here will be called client development. Essentially, what you’re doing is you’re developing business from within your clients.
Now, the second is a new department. If it’s a larger organization, they’re going to have different departments and if you connect with your previous contact and you ask who else in the organization should I speak with or maybe you’re just around in the organization, you meet people, there’s almost always opportunities to win additional business from different departments in that same organization but you got to be reaching out.
You got to be asking. You got to be inquiring. You got to be active to find those opportunities.
Now, number three is a prospective client. Prospective client. The idea with the prospective client is that they are someone who you’ve identified as an ideal client. You don’t yet really have a relationship with them and so you want to start that relationship. You want to identify one person, reach out to them each day and the other part of this, kind of would be a secondary part but in the same category is follow-up, right?
You can choose to either reach out to someone brand new or you can choose to do follow-up to someone that is also brand new but the idea with this is that you are making these three phone calls … E-mail’s okay but it’s not going to be as effective typically because people can easily just put an e-mail to the side or forget about it or like star it. We get a lot of e-mails or I get a lot of e-mails.
I get a lot of e-mails and I will star ones that I’m going to come back to later on for whatever reason because I’m busy or this is not a priority.
I might then forget to respond to someone if it’s not like of top importance. If it’s not from a client, I might delegate to someone else or say, “Okay, I’ll come back to that later in the day or the next day,” or whatever it might be.
It’s the same thing with prospective clients. People are busy but if you pick up the phone and give them a call, there’s a better chance you can actually engage in a conversation. Now, if a phone call doesn’t work, that’s okay. Then, send an e-mail.
Then, do follow-up, right? Keep working through but here’s the key to all of this. If you work through these steps like every single day, you do it consistently, you get in front of people, you do three phone calls or three outreaches to these people every single week, just think about it.
That’s three times five. That’s 15 per week. That means you’re having 15 touch points per week. That means you’re having 60 per month. That adds up like, are you currently having 60 per month right now?
You might be saying, “Okay. Well, Michael, I’m actually doing five prospective clients per day.” Even better. That’s awesome. I’m already doing three of these per day. Wonderful, but if you’re not doing these consistently, then create a habit.
The more that you do this at early in your consulting business, the better because you want to build momentum and as you build momentum, then you’re going to start having a more pipeline, so, especially in the early days, the more outreach, the more of this that you do in the early days, either of your business if you’re a new consulting business or if you’re an established consulting business but you’re new to marketing and new to like really being intentional with that, then the more that you do of this process consistently, the more that your business will grow. You’ll attract more clients.
You’ll create more conversations and you’ll be on a path, a nice growth curve but it does require that you’re doing these things consistently and that you’re creating a habit with it but as you can see, just three now straightforward steps. That’s all it takes to really build your pipeline an opportunity.
Give it a go if you’re not already and I think that you’ll see some nice results for it as well.
3 Daily Steps to Grow Your Consulting Business is a post from: Consulting Success
What business books have you read recently? When I ask this of friends and colleagues, I usually get this guilty look of someone who hasn’t read a book in year. Honestly, who has time to read? After 45 hours of billable work + 15 hours of non-billable work + 15 hours of travel time, who wants to read?… Read More »
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You will find greater satisfaction and incredible value in your work when you stop working for someone else and start investing in yourself.
Elliot Begoun is the principal of The Intertwine Group, a consulting group which works to help food and beverage brands grow. Elliot spent over 25 years working in the food industry before his wife challenged him to pursue his dream of becoming a consultant. On this episode of Consulting Success Podcast, Elliot shares how he made the leap from the safety of a big company and experienced the incredible satisfaction that comes with working for yourself. He shares his ideas on retainer fees, how expert writing can keep you in demand, and the number one mistake he made that has taught him the importance of consulting mentors.
You may feel a sense of security working for a big company, but working for someone else means you are betting on someone else. Taking the leap to become an independent consultant means betting on yourself. This is a path that Elliot has gone down, and he shares what it means to him to be able to ‘fish for his own food.’ The success he has enjoyed since starting his own consulting business proves that there is something to his theory, so be sure to listen to find out more about the incredible benefits of betting on yourself.
Instant gratification is just not something you can expect to achieve when growing your own business. The amount of work and effort, specialization, and focus that has to go into your business when you start out can absolutely be discouraging at times. According to Elliot, confidence is the number one thing that helped him stay the course when times have gotten especially tough. He shares more insights on what else has worked for him, and you won’t want to miss the tips he shares on how you can find the greatest success as you are growing your consulting business.
Retainer fees are often considered the ideal payment structure — they provide consistency and can be a sure-fire way to monetize your efforts with each client. But Elliot shares a strong argument that maintaining these fees will make your consulting work feel just like your regular old job. He has found a better way to capture greater value in his work, and it has produced a higher level of satisfaction both in him and from his clients. It may sound risky, but you’ll definitely want to hear the approach he takes when determining appropriate fees and how happy his clients have been with it.
Even if you happen to have a background in marketing, you may find marketing yourself and your business to be a great challenge. Your visions for success in your work is undoubtedly on your mind all the time, and that is why it’s essential to connect with other consultants, masterminds, and mentors. Utilizing this network will help you work through your tunnel vision and maintain a healthy — and slightly removed — perspective of your efforts. Without these proper outlets, you may actually be putting your business at risk. Don’t let this happen to you — listen to and learn from Elliot’s mistakes on this episode of Consulting Success Podcast.
[1:00] Elliot’s leap from the food industry to independent consulting was 20 years in the making.
[5:06] Growing your own business doesn’t come without challenges.
[7:55] Clarity in consulting success comes first from confidence.
[10:05] The evolution from retainer fees to something that really works.
[15:59] How you can leverage writing to increase your credibility and keep you in demand.
[21:02] The single biggest mistake Elliot made in his business was also the most isolating.
Elliot Begoun
The Intertwine Group
“So many people today expect instant gratification, but that isn’t always the case when you’re growing a business.” — Michael Zipursky
“The number one motivator for me is to make a difference.” — Elliot Begoun
“I live with my clients now, in a way that their success is my success.” — Elliot Begoun
Elliot Begoun and The Power of Betting on Yourself: Podcast #9 is a post from: Consulting Success
I find this to be incredibly true. People who are busy (and effective) can really cut through the clutter, and get the most important things done. They don’t try to do everything, they do what is critical-to-quality (CTQ). What needs to get done, gets done. A few characteristics of “these” people. 1) They qualify the… Read More »
The post “If you want something done, give it to someone busy.” appeared first on Consultant's Mind.
Love this expression. I first heard this in a Tim Ferris interview of Marc Andreessen here (min 6:10). Andreessen created the Netscape Mosaic browser (making the internet easy to navigate), sold it to AOL for $2B, then spent last 15+ years investing and running a dozen+ companies. Crazy smart guy. Listen to what he says.… Read More »
The post Strong opinions, loosely held appeared first on Consultant's Mind.
Mondays 440am wake up. My wife and I have a love/hate relationship with Mondays and Wednesdays because they start with a 440am alarm. Massive coffee. 515am we are at the gym with a physical trainer. Planks, V-ups, Goblet squats, push-ups, dead-lifts, lunges, you get the idea. Yes, we love the feeling after the workout. You feel… Read More »
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Don’t waste your time dwelling on your problems — use your setbacks to achieve the consulting success you’ve been dreaming of.
Mitch Russo is a certification business model expert who specializes in working with companies that are looking to quickly grow substantially in size. He understands that making small, calculated shifts in your thinking can change everything for your business and your success. This is a lesson Mitch learned when his career took a sudden turn toward success — even though he was faced with what initially looked like a major setback. He shares the story of his success and the mindset that created it, on this episode of Consulting Success Podcast. You’ll also hear what it takes to identify your greatest strengths, and how you can use them to secure the high value clients that you’ve been seeking.
Setbacks don’t have to set you back.
When faced with setbacks, many people get stuck in their problems and waste too much time trying to get over them. If you’ve ever found yourself in this situation, you need to listen to Mitch’s perfect analogy to understand why it’s not worth spending any more time looking at what has been lost, but instead dedicating your efforts to moving forward with the resources you still have. When Mitch discovered that an IRS ruling rendered his newly developed technology obsolete, he didn’t give up. He shares how he turned this disaster into one of the greatest opportunities of his career, but more importantly, how he was able to do so quickly.
Many consultants feel like “sales” is a derogatory term. You can listen to Episode 1 of Consulting Success Podcast to learn more about why it absolutely isn’t, but first you need to listen to this episode to hear Mitch’s approach to sales. A successful sales mindset can empower you with the moral obligation to help your clients get the business they need for major success. Approaching your clients with a helpful mindset rather than a selling mindset is going to ensure your success. It also means that you’re going to be offering something of extreme value to your prospective clients. This is one major key to consulting success, and you’ll want to hear this episode to find out more about how it has worked for Mitch.
It can take time to figure out which of your most powerful skills can be marketed to be useful to other people. Once you land on the idea that will give you the greatest success, the information that you have in your area of expertise will be key to landing new clients. This information is essential, but what clients will be willing to pay for is the implementation of these ideas. Find out how to land clients that need your expertise, and more, on this episode of Consulting Success Podcast.
[:26] Mobilize your existing client base with certification — Mitch details how.
[5:00] The inspiration for Mitch’s success hit while he was working as a programmer in a basement.
[7:45] How can you narrow on your specialization ideas to create a winning business?
[10:15] Opportunities can be disguised as problems.
[14:10] Why desperation can be the greatest inspiration for success.
[16:00] How Mitch grew his business on a shoestring budget.
[18:08] Proof that persistence in sales can have major payoffs.
[22:26] Embracing this mindset is a major secret to sales success.
[26:38] How to land clients without giving away too much value.
[29:43] Work life balance means taking care of yourself first.
Mitch Russo
Ultimate Business Mastery System
“Opportunities can be disguised as problems.” — Mitch Russo
“You have to start with an unshakeable desire to ensure that you’re helping others.” — Mitch Russo
“Having a coach is instrumental in overcoming the circuits that you end up running in your own head.” — Mitch Russo
How to Capitalize on Your Setbacks to Propel You Toward Success with Mitch Russo: Podcast #8 is a post from: Consulting Success
Swing like Tarzan. A consulting partner gave me this advice (hat tip: AG) when I asked him how to navigate my consulting career. At the time, I was staffed on the same project for a while and did not want to get pigeon-holed. Wanted to be a consulting generalist and experience different clients, industries, and functions. Was… Read More »
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