Month: February 2019

Posted on

019 Dealing with Rejection

019 Dealing with Rejection

Welcome to the Bottom Line Top Line Podcast with Carol Bartlett, Jol Hunter, and Chris Spurvey.

This week, we delve into the topic of handling rejection, from both a sales perspective and a personal perspective. We share some of our stories and ideas about managing rejection and the mind-set that is needed to overcome rejection and grow afterward.

Listen to the full episode!

To download the document, scroll to the bottom of these show notes and fill in the form.

Developing Grit

There are two ways that we experience rejection. One way is when you expect something good to happen but it doesn’t, and the other is when people say outright, “Oh, no thanks.”

When you’re in sales, you must embrace rejection and either learn from it and use it to improve your process or simply focus on the number of offers you make rather than the number of rejections you receive.

Reasons for Rejection

You should try to understand why the rejection happened. Often, our assumptions about the reason for the rejection are wrong.

It’s entirely possible that there’s nothing wrong with you or your potential client. Maybe the timing just isn’t right for you to come together. Your potential client may think that your product or service is awesome but might just be overwhelmed or not have enough budget. Maybe the individual or business is dealing with recent failures or other pressures and doesn’t have the bandwidth to start a new project. There are many possible reasons.

Having the Right Mind-set

Managing ourselves, our mind-sets, and our health are all important elements of building a successful business and dealing with the ups and downs that come along.

I’m reminded of a video of Steve Jobs in which a man walked up to him and said, “I want to be an entrepreneur. What advice do you have for me?” Steve said, “I encourage you to be really passionate about what you’re doing. You need to expect that lots and lots of things are going to go sideways and, therefore, you’ll need your passion and belief in that thing that you’re doing to help you get through those things. And you’ll need to look after yourself well in order to be persistent enough to keep on going.”

To learn more about these topics, please listen to the episode.

Mentions

Connect with Carol, Jol and Chris on LinkedIn.

Steve Jobs’ Advice for Entrepreneurs

Posted on

018 Roles of the CEO

018 Roles of the CEO

Welcome to the Bottom Line Top Line Podcast with Carol Bartlett, Jol Hunter, and Chris Spurvey.

This week on the podcast, we dive into the roles of the CEO and the key areas on which the CEO should focus to ensure the overall success of the organization. We also talk about the difference between a CEO and a founder, succession planning, leadership challenges, key relationships CEOs should nurture, and so much more.

To learn more about the role of the CEO and get some insights about leadership, check out the full episode!

To download the document, scroll to the bottom of these show notes and fill in the form.

Ensuring That Key Processes Are Working

The keyword is ensure—not do. Disciplined business processes are foundational to the organization’s performance.

Indeed, the set of business processes can be thought of as the engine of the organization. Ensuring that those processes are working may be simply a matter of determining and monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs). Regardless, the CEO must ensure that the processes are working and leading the organization toward achievement of its goals.

Identifying Key Relationships

Think of what relationships need to be managed the CEO must manage. Relationships are key in any size organization. In smaller organizations, a larger proportion of key relationships are managed exclusively by the CEO.

I encourage CEOs to think about those key relationships and assess whether they’re proactively managing them.

The more proactive they are in maintaining those relationships, the smoother things go when they encounter hiccups and the fewer hiccups there will be.

When you’ve shown what you can do for the client, your next offering to them can be of higher value and price.

The Importance of Building Solid Relationships

We have said many times that all businesses revenue comes from relationships. When you have a solid relationship with a client, you can be honest with that client and retain the business even when things aren’t going smoothly. And things don’t always go smoothly.

Strong relationships are critical for the long-term survival of any business.

To learn more about these topics, please listen to the episode.

Mentions

Connect with Carol, Jol and Chris on LinkedIn.

Posted on

017 Client Analysis Framework

017 Client Analysis Framework

Welcome to the Bottom Line Top Line Podcast with Carol Bartlett, Jol Hunter, and Chris Spurvey.

In this episode, we talk about a framework called Client Analysis—a way you can, at any point in your business journey, analyze your current and potential clients. We also look at client analysis specifically for start-ups, ways to increase customer loyalty, and how to set competitive prices.

To download the document, scroll to the bottom of these show notes and fill in the form.

Don’t Take Advantage of Cash Cows

You shouldn’t have cash cows. They’re not sustainable.

I worked with a company that had a great client, earned good revenues from that client, and then, year after year, went to that client with a price increase. When the company acquired the client, the market had taken a dip but that downturn wasn’t considered in the price charged to the client, so the starting price was good. And the subsequent price increases made the account even better. It was a cash cow. Right? No. The moment that they decided to look at their other options in the market, they realized that we were grossly overcharging them for the service. We lost their business, and we lost it forever. There’s no going back from that kind of client experience. That’s the risk you run when you take advantage of a client.

Don’t Set Your Prices Too Low

You may say, “This is a strategic client that I really want to work with. I want to get them in the door, so I’m going to offer them a really low price.” But increasing that price later is difficult.

A better approach is to start the client with a small product or service.

When you’ve shown what you can do for the client, your next offering to them can be of higher value and price.

Be Competitive

Your prices need to be competitive in the market, so setting prices requires delicate balance.

You don’t want your prices to be out of the ballpark relative to the other providers that your clients are considering.

To learn more about these topics, please listen to the episode.

Mentions

Connect with Carol, Jol and Chris on LinkedIn.

Posted on

016 Business Development Diagnostic—Part 2

016 Business Development Diagnostic—Part 2

Welcome to the Bottom Line Top Line Podcast with Carol Bartlett, Jol Hunter, and Chris Spurvey.

Our episode this week is the second part of a series in which we talk about business development tactics and assessing your business development processes.

We walk you through some tips that business owners and leaders should keep in mind and questions to ponder as you assess your business development processes. We also talk about building brand and reputation, how to protect your reputation, how to nurture client relationships, and how to organize your business development efforts.

Last week, we talked about the mind-set and principles to apply in assessing your business development efforts. This week’s episode isn’t the end of our discussion of business development diagnostics. Stay tuned for a question and answer forum in February!

To download the document, scroll to the bottom of these show notes and fill in the form.

Avoiding a Salesy Culture

What we’re trying to get away from is a salesy culture. Who wants to be sold to? No one.

But if you’re offering a service, you shouldn’t hold back your solutions from a client who has a problem you can solve. Of course, you should lend a hand and say, “This is something I can do.”

Building Reputation and Creating a Brand

You’re creating both a personal brand and a business brand—whether intentionally or not—so why not be intentional?

Visualize what you want your brand and reputation to be and then create them deliberately by sharing in emails and conversations the right level of expertise at the right time. Be authentic and genuine. Intention and deliberateness are the two most important qualities to have in these interactions.

Committing to Proactive Business Development

Based on my own experience, I recommend that you put business development activities on your calendar and prioritize them. Be proactive.

Schedule an hour or so each week—maybe at the start of the week—to plan your business development activities. Then follow through by meeting new people, attending meetings, and so on. Otherwise, business development can get postponed or even pushed aside when seemingly more important things come up.

How committed are you to scheduling time for business development on a regular basis?

To learn more about these topics, please listen to the episode.

Mentions

Connect with Carol, Jol and Chris on LinkedIn.