Tag: chris spurvey

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022 Maintaining Health for Optimal Performance

022 Maintaining Health for Optimal Performance

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

This week on the podcast, we talk about the importance of maintaining a healthy mind, body, and spirit and how doing that can help you to bring do the best in business and in life. We also discuss work-life balance and some routines that you can practice and habits you can cultivate to make your lifestyle healthier.

Listen to the full episode!

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Being Mindful of Health

The healthier we are, the better our personal and professional lives are.

And we can do a better job of supporting others if we support ourselves. Healthy practices include diet, exercise, and meditation.

Ensuring That Development Programs Contribute to Employee Growth

If I’m feeling a bit down, physical activity brings energy back into my day, so I make sure to get moving.

Sometimes that means taking the dogs for a walk. A lot of my creativity comes after a walk with the dogs, maybe because I’ve been out in nature.

Benefits of Taking a Course Along With Your Employees

I focus on two principles in my life: gratitude and expectancy.

Gratitude means that I’m thankful for the things and people in my life and that I pay attention to them each morning as a way to start my day. Expectancy means that I expect the best from life. I notice when good things happen. People who don’t have an attitude of expectancy may not.

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

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021 Evaluating Methods of Training Employees and Business Leaders

021 Evaluating Methods of Training Employees and Business Leaders

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

This week, we talk about ways we can train our employees and ensure their long-term development. These methods include courses, conferences, conventions, coaching, and mentorship. We also talk about how effective these methods can be in improving our employees and our businesses.

The goal is to help you evaluate where you should allocate your resources, including your time, to help your employees and your business.

Listen to the full episode!

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

Why Conferences May Not Be Helpful

I suspect we’ve all been guilty of this: We go away to a conference on a Thursday and Friday and get excited and inspired. But then, by 10 o’clock on Monday morning, the realities of the world have kicked in and we’re trying to catch up on the things that we didn’t do while we were at the conference. All of the learning and excitement goes out the window and we sink back into our familiar ways.

The issue isn’t that that the conference was poorly done—that the content wasn’t relevant or presented well. The conference may have been wonderful. But conferences don’t include mechanisms to help you apply their content in the workplace. Most people have fun at conferences but don’t get much career benefit from them.

Ensuring That Development Programs Contribute to Employee Growth

For long-term growth, I think it will be helpful to learn about how adults learn things. The second thing would be supplementing those programs with mentorship, executive coaching, and by giving feedback—and doing them effectively.

When you take a course, keep in mind the aspects of the course that inspire you and that you think are relevant. Talk about those aspects with your employees, focusing on how they can be applied, and then build those aspects into an ongoing supportive process with accountability.

Benefits of Taking a Course Along With Your Employees

Taking a course along with your employees can be beneficial if the course is consistent with your organization’s strategy.

Having taken the same course, you and your employees can work together to find ways to apply what you learn from the course. The key is to set up an ongoing process that includes accountability so that you can evaluate whether you have applied what you’ve learned and whether the learning is still relevant to your business and its goals. With such processes in place, we and our businesses can be successful.

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

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020 Small Business Diagnostics

020 Small Business Diagnostics

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

In this episode, we discuss fifteen checkpoints that can help entrepreneurs to analyze their businesses—whether startups, solopreneurs, or small businesses—and identify opportunities for growth. These checkpoints can also help you evaluate where you should focus your time and effort in your business.

Listen to the full episode!

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

Business Model: A Successful Formula for Your Business

Start with your business model, and then break it down to its components. This is your business’s formula. Then think about how to improve each component.

Sales Plan

Is your organization being persistent, deliberate, and consistent in its sales activities? And are the sales efforts focused on the right areas?

Cash Flow Projections

If you’re not thinking ahead in terms of cash flow, you’re putting your business at risk.

Cash flow must be either in your head or written down on a piece of paper. Accountability happens only when something is recorded and then becomes a focus. Having a cash flow projection will enable you to focus on which of the elements of your business need attention.

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

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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.

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Steve Jobs’ Advice for Entrepreneurs

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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.

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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.

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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.

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015 Business Development Diagnostic—Part 1

015 Business Development Diagnostic—Part 1

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

Today on the podcast, we talk about the principles we apply in assessing business development efforts. We also talk about ways that businesses can improve their development processes.

Check out the full episode!

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

Assessing Business Development Efforts

We businesspeople tend to come out of the gate strong but then, later, slip. Maybe we forget or skip some important elements of the process. Regardless, somehow business development stalls.

Having a process in which you continually assess and improve is an important element of business development.

Tapping into Your Network for Business Development

Another theme I have seen in business leaders is a hesitation to put themselves out there by talking to people in their networks. Perhaps this hesitation is related to impostor syndrome, in which people progress in their careers but still have self-doubt. They’re a little afraid. They’re not confident. And they hold back.

But when we connect powerfully and confidently to the market—including members of our own networks—we’ll attract more opportunities.

All Revenue Grows Through Relationships

Many times when I talk with people about this, they say, “That’s applicable to you. You’re in a service-based business.” But I believe that relationships are important in driving revenue for any business. And by business relationships, I mean all relationships—clients and customers, partners, investors, employees, and any other stakeholder.

Business flows through relationships.

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

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014 Setting Annual Goals

014 Setting Annual Goals

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

In this week’s episode, we talk about annual goal setting. We share with you our goals for 2019, how we were able to achieve our goals in previous years, and how we plan to achieve our goals this year.

We also talk about how passion fuels us to achieve our goals and remain open to the opportunities that are presented along the way.

This episode is a gold mine for tips about goal setting. Listen to the full episode!

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

Fueling Goals with Passion

I’ve been told by reliable sources that at one point our business school tracked 4,000 graduates during a 30-year period. The graduates were divided into two groups. One group was composed of those who were very deliberate, set specific goals, and made decisions that they expected would help them to achieve those goals. Graduates in the other group followed their hearts, their passions, didn’t necessarily have direct objectives in mind, and took a more values-based approach rather than a goal-based approach. At the end of the 30 years, the school found that graduates in the second group reported happier lives and larger bank accounts.

But does that mean you shouldn’t set goals? Not necessarily. But it provides evidence that goals are more easily achieved if they’re driven by some fundamental passion.

Having a Work-Back Schedule

We recommend using a work-back schedule—a plan in which you decide what you want to achieve and then work backward to plan the steps that you have to take to get there. In putting together a work-back schedule, you may find out that you don’t know the steps. That’s OK. Somebody has done it before, and you can find out the steps from them.

Surround yourself with people who have done what you want to do.

The Path to Achieving Your Goals Is Not Always Direct

I prescribe to the idea of acting on intuitive impulses along the way to achieving goals. And I don’t find that to be incompatible with using a work-back schedule and being methodical. I simply recommend that you never close your mind to opportunities or impulses that might set you on a different track.

Airplanes go off their calculated paths 90% of the time but still arrive at their destinations. What I’m saying is that, like airplanes, we need to be adaptable.

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

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013 Family Councils for Family-Run Businesses

013 Family Councils for Family-Run Businesses

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

In this week’s podcast episode, we discuss the importance of family councils for family-run businesses, how such a council can benefit the performance of the business, and some tips for maintaining open dialogue among family members.

If you want to know more about this topic, listen to the episode!

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

Setting Agendas for Family Council Meetings

To fully engage the council members, meeting agendas should be fresh, dynamic, and interesting.

Particularly when multiple generations are involved, no two agendas should ever be the same. But the agenda should always relate to the family council’s purpose—the value that you expect to gain from the council’s existence.

The Importance of a Family Council

You should set clear rules for your family council—both its purpose and how it will operate.

These rules must be set up early and with input from not only members of the family but also non-family who are leaders in the business. The point is that everyone have a solid understanding of the council, including what to do when something unexpected happens.

What if the business’s leader gets hit by a bus?

I’ve worked in the leadership of family-run companies, and the senior executive and I weren’t allowed to travel on the same flights. We weren’t allowed to go to the airport together. Those are the types of procedures that the family and the Board of Directors put in place to secure a smooth leadership transition if the worst happened and the flight crashed.

What Makes Family-Run Businesses Different from Other Businesses

In a typical business, senior management reports to a CEO, the CEO reports to the Board of Directors, and the members of the Board report to the owners.

In a family-run business, senior management may be owners or members of the Board of Directors. The CEO may be an owner, a member of the Board, or neither, and he or she may or may not be a member of the family.

Given these potential complications, the way in which family-run businesses report to their owners and other stakeholders may differ from other businesses. For example, the head of the family may work for the CEO if that approach is best for the business.

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

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Younger Next Year (book) by Chris Crowley