Business development Archives - Page 20 of 83

The best decisions you’ll ever make

By Jim Connolly | November 27, 2023

I have a very quick, yet powerful business development tip to share with you today.

It starts with a question.

Have you noticed how the best decisions you’ve ever made had 2 things in common?

Firstly, they were all big decisions. Really BIG decisions. For example, the decision to buy or rent your first home, or to get married, start a family, start a business, etc., are all huge, life-changing decisions. Secondly, you made these massive decisions even though you had no guarantee of success in advance.

Those same 2 factors are also essential to our business success. Our biggest commercial breakthroughs come from making big decisions, with no guarantees.

So if we have a poorly-calibrated view of risk, we place a very low limit on what we can achieve. We fail to enjoy the major progress, which is only possible when we make the major decisions that will lead us to major success.

If our business is growing too slowly, we need to identify the business decisions we’re avoiding. Because the answers we need are right there.

Photo by Matt Reiter.

How to sell your services into massive companies

By Jim Connolly | November 19, 2023

Have you ever considered selling your services to huge corporations? If you haven’t, then maybe it’s time that you did. I’m going to show you how to remove the main barrier, and make it far easier for you to land extremely valuable clients.

Once you understand what I am about to share with you, you may find it easier to gain a $10,000 client than a $500 client.

Allow me to explain.

It’s amazing what big companies spend money on

I was prompted to write this, after remembering an email I received from a friend. He’s a head of department for a massive software corporation. He had just sat through what he called a “cringe-worthy” motivational talk from a former, professional sportsperson.

Apparently, the speaker:

Had no business background.
Had no idea about the challenges they face.
Didn’t understand their industry.
Didn’t offer a single idea for how they can improve things.
He “shared a few funny stories, dropped a few famous names and finished with a copy/paste you can achieve anything speech”.

My friend wanted to know, why do such people get hired as speakers by massive corporations?

Here’s why that guy was hired

The reason people like that get hired to speak is simple. More importantly, it also explains what motivates massive corporations to spend money on any kind of product or service.

That speaker may have been a waste of company money, but he was a very safe bet. An easy hire, with no risk attached.

Hang on Jim, if the guy is a waste of money, how can hiring him possibly be a very safe bet?

That’s a great question! :)

Here’s how it works:

The decision maker, who hired the guy, isn’t spending his or her own money. The money comes from a budget, which they need to spend.
The decision maker’s priority is to spend their budget every year without screwing up. So they invest in what they hope will be the safest, least risky option.
The risk with a speaker like this is close to zero. That’s because it’s hard to measure the impact of a talk in any meaningful way.
Bonus: The decision maker can’t be blamed even if the speaker is demonstrably terrible. After all, they did hire a famous person!
So, decision makers eagerly grab any opportunity to spend chunks of their budget on these low commercial value, but 100% risk free, speakers.

The lesson here?

I think there are a couple of lessons.

1. Corporations should reward courage

Corporations need to stop rewarding decision makers, for making lousy, but safe, decisions. Instead they need to reward courage. They need to reward decision makers for advancing the company with smart investments.

Until then, former sportspeople (or influencers, faded TV celebrities etc.), can fill their boots with very easy money. At least until their impact is measured and they are no longer a safe bet for decision makers.

2. It’s really easy to sell into huge corporations

If you’re selling into a billion dollar corporation, remember that the decision maker is frightened. They will only buy from you if you can convince them that you’re a super-safe bet. If they see you as a close to zero risk, they will pay you thousands, maybe tens of thousands. And if you’re really good on the day they’ll pay you regularly, too.

Of course, in order to sound as safe as possible you need some supporting evidence. Former sportspeople have their fame.

If you’re not a former, professional sportsperson, influencer or celebrity etc., you will need to work on building your brand, like the rest of us.

If the decision maker hasn’t heard of you, you’ll sound risky. So get your name out there for all the right reasons. Highlight notable media mentions, accomplishments and anything else that will reduce or eliminate the decision maker’s fear.

Then remember the following before you market your services:

You’re never selling to a billion dollar corporation.
You’re always selling to an individual, whose priority is not to make a mistake.

Lasting success for your business

Lasting success comes from achieving the balance of being a safe bet… AND being someone who provides measurable value.

Get that balance right and you’ll build yourself a world-class reputation. You’ll also find yourself able to attract the most valuable clients, again and again and again.

Photo: Shutterstock.

Flip your business

By Jim Connolly | November 17, 2023

Did you know, the massive majority of small businesses are built on an ineffective, upside down model?

It looks like this.

The business owner decides the type of service they’re going to offer.
They then try to find clients for their service.

That’s nuts!

It can’t work in any meaningful way.

Why?

Because it’s literally the wrong way round. The most effective business owners do the exact opposite.

Here’s what they do

They decide the kind of clients they want to work with. For example, clients who are happy to pay a premium fee for a premium service, clients who demand the fastest possible service or maybe clients who value a no-frills service.
Then, and only then, they decide what services to offer. The service is based around the things, which their ideal profile of client will value and desire. And it works like a magnet!
They then market this service exclusively to these targeted prospective clients. They shun everyone else.
And it works spectacularly well.

If you struggle to attract the right kind of clients, I strongly recommend you consider flipping your business model around.

Focus on the kind of clients you most want to work with. Then, consider rebuilding your services so that those ideal clients will find it extremely attractive. Delight these ideal clients and not only will they hire you, they’ll tell their friends.

On a personal note: I built my own business on this model. As a result I work with fantastic clients every day. And over 90% of them come from client referrals.

It’s far, far, far more effective than trying to sell people a service that wasn’t specifically built around their needs, and is similar to what your competitors are already offering them.

Photo by John Fornander

Did you see what those liars are saying?

By Jim Connolly | November 7, 2023

Have you ever looked at the marketing promises made by your competitors?

Your most unreliable competitors will promise to deliver on time, every time.
Your lowest quality competitors will promise premium quality at low prices.
Your least competent competitors will promise a highly professional service.

And they’ll all have testimonials. Testimonials that are often the opposite of what a real client or customer will experience from them.

It’s horrible. It sucks. But it makes sense

After all, they’re hardly likely to admit that working with them or buying from them is a total nightmare. You see, the mindset that says it’s okay to produce low quality work and charge over the odds for it, has no problem being dishonest in other areas of their business.

What does this have to do with you?

Everything!

It has everything to do with you. And here’s why.

Your prospective clients or customers have been lied to before. This means the claims you legitimately make in YOUR marketing will only be treated seriously, if you back them up.

Here are a couple of tips to help you make the truth of your marketing a lot more believable.

One way to add credibility, is to link from your website to external sources. For example, link from your website to external reviews or positive media coverage. Similarly, if you’ve been accredited by a respected organisation, link to the page on their website, where you’re mentioned.

Another way to add credibility, is to turn up regularly with useful information, via a newsletter, a blog, a podcast or on social networks, etc. By providing genuinely useful, informed advice, you demonstrate your knowledge. By doing this regularly, you show your reliability. This also gives you an opportunity to show your personality. By demonstrating your knowledge and allowing your marketplace to get to know you, you create a potent marketing mix that really helps you to build trust.

Please don’t just find this advice interesting.

Do something with it.

When the economy is in bad shape, people think a lot harder before making any investments. This includes investing in the services or products you provide. Showcase your credibility and make the decision to invest in you as easy as possible.

Stop using buzzwords in your marketing. Seriously. Stop it

By Jim Connolly | October 23, 2023

remove buzzwords, marketing copy, clarity sells

One thing in business is certain. There’s no shortage of buzzwords and phrases. Here are just some that I’ve seen in use recently.

Knowledge transfer.
Price point.
Intersection.
Deep dive.
Disrupt.
Ruckus.
Knowledge transfer.
Ideate.
Pragmatic.
Whiteboard it.
Paradigm.

Buzzwords are used by people, in an effort to appear informed or fashionable. Interestingly, using buzzwords has the total opposite effect.

Here’s how they work against us and our marketing.

Buzzwords make informed people cringe. Not only is this embarrassing, it’s a terrible idea if we want our peers to take us seriously or recommend us.
Buzzwords confuse the uninformed. And that’s the last thing we need, when we want people to understand our message.

In short, buzzwords not only add nothing positive to our marketing, they actively weaken it. And because they’re totally unnecessary, we can remove them with no negative impact.

Remember: One of the keys to effective marketing is to always aim for clarity.

Photo by Kim Gorga on Unsplash