All Audiences

A prospect comes along and expresses interest in working with you.

You get excited. It’s been a few months since you closed a deal.

The first call goes swimmingly. The client likes you. You like them. Things are looking good.

“I’ll turn this into a proposal and send it your way by tomorrow“, you say.

Feeling good, you fire over the proposal bright and early the next day, and….

Crickets.

You follow up. No reply. That’s weird.

You leave it a week and follow up again. You’re pretty sure the email must have gone to spam.

So you send one more email the following day asking if they got your other messages. This time, in a new thread just in case the old one is in the spam folder.

Finally, another week and a half later, you get a response:

“Thanks for your patience. We ended up going in another direction but we appreciate the time you spent with us.“

What went wrong?

It could be anything.

It could be your positioning. It could be the source of the lead. It could be your prices. It could be the scope. It could be the competition.

Really though, you’ll never know.

You’ll never know because you broke the cardinal sin of sales: rushing too quickly into a proposal.

You thought you heard them. You thought they liked you. You thought you were on the same page.

But there’s a good chance you missed something. You didn’t get a conceptual agreement going.

And so you sent a proposal that didn’t exactly fit their needs. That’s what happens when you try to rush through the sales process.

But to make things worse, you also broke the second cardinal sin: you didn’t walk them through the proposal over a live call. 

Your initial sins could maybe have been forgiven if only you had booked a call to walk through your proposal.

Maybe your proposal would have missed the mark. But at least you’d be there to try and salvage things.

You would have been able to ask questions like, “Did this proposal meet your expectations based on what we discussed?”

But now, the prospect thinks you can’t solve their problem. Or they can’t afford your solution.

They don’t want to negotiate you down, so they look for other options.

There must be a better way to do things…

When I approach sales, my mindset is to be a co-buyer with the client. To shop my services with them to come up with a solution that feels like a home run for them.

Everything is treated as custom—even if they go for a productized service in the end.

I aim to get super clear on where they are today, where they want to end up, and the obstacles they’re facing between those two points.

That’s the transformation I sell.

But to truly understand the project, I then need to figure out what the value opportunity is so I can propose something appropriate.

And that, my friend, is a story for another day.

For now, I want you to remember two things:

1. Slow down the sale.
   You can’t in good faith put together a well-considered proposal if you’re in a rush. This is your opportunity to go slow and solve the real problems your prospect has.
2. Don’t send proposals by email.
   No matter how tempted you are, just don’t. Walk them through it on a call because it’s your moral duty to make sure you understand their goals, obstacles, the value of achieving those goals, and how they plan to measure success.

If you do these two things, you’re well on your way to putting together more considered options that set your engagements up for success later on.

Slow… down… the… sale.

Your (good) clients will appreciate it.

—kevin

P.S. The doors are open again for the membership. You can go deep into topics like this with dozens of hours of recorded training, coaching, templates, and more. Sign up here: https://howtoselladvice.com/membership

I recently spoke at a conference for the industry I consult with (coworking spaces).

And while speaking on stage was valuable, the real value I got was from the conversations.

There’s something magical about relationships. Whether it’s knowing other consultants, industry vendors, or operators—you gain so much by getting to know people.

The reality is, we’re all in one big ecosystem. Everyone serves a function—sometimes with a little overlap—but ultimately each contributes a small part to the big picture.

More often than not, it’s the referrals that happen during and after the event from the people I chat with that drive the majority of my returns.

In some cases, it can lead to even more speaking opportunities for adjacent communities and events, which further drives the same flywheel.

Whether you’re attending or speaking at a conference, remember the goal: meet and chat with as many people as you can.

It’s not about trying to get clients directly. That’s only going to distract you.

The better approach is to meet the rest of the ecosystem. Build relationships with zero angle. See what happens.

I suspect this approach will be your most valuable mindset at the next industry conference you attend.

Have fun!

—kevin

 

P.S. In case you missed it, Liam Curley is teaching his magic sauce around “insight marketing” and long-form content tomorrow at 11 am EST. Register here if you haven’t already.

 

 

Do you want to do “content marketing” or do you want to do insight marketing?

Subtle rebranding of terms? Not so much.

Mindshare member and marketing strategist, Liam Curley, has a unique ability to extract expertise from his clients’ minds and help convert it into long-form insight pieces.

But don’t call it content marketing. His approach is all about articulating deep insights with long-form pieces. He calls it insight marketing.

Liam’s own marketing is also super interesting.

He spends upwards of 50+ hours researching and writing Case Studies on well-known consultants—like David C. Baker, April Dunford, and Louis Grenier to name a few—proving just how effective this strategy can be.

So, I invited Liam to teach his approach to “insight marketing” for this month’s training session.

Normally, these training sessions are for members only, but we decided to make this one open to the public.

The session will be held on Thursday, April 25th at 11am EST/4pm UK.

If you’re interested in attending live, you can register here: https://lu.ma/insight-marketing

The recording will only be available to members, so be sure to attend live if you wish to join for free!

See you there,

—kevin

P.S. I am going to open doors on the membership again in case anyone wishes to join before/after the session. Stay tuned for that.

Let’s talk about soft skills.

Soft skills are the interpersonal skills we bring to our work.

They’re things like empathy, kindness, navigating politics, work ethic, and maintaining positivity in difficult circumstances.

If I could guess, I’d say more than half of our long-term success depends on these skills. Probably more.

Technical expertise is table stakes. It’s expected and not that difficult to find.

And while technical skills might get you a gig, it’s your soft skills that often keep you around and get you referred.

One of the reasons I don’t need to promote my consulting services as much anymore is that my clients stick with me for so damn long! 2+ years in most cases.

I’d also guess that about half new my business comes via referral.

Sure, the technical skills I bring to my role are important. But I have seen first-hand what happens when I let my soft skills slide.

I make the mistake of lacking empathy and someone gets offended. The next thing you know, our engagement is winding down slowly or immediately.

Or I give up being patient in difficult circumstances and I just know the relationship has been affected.

All it takes is a moment of short-sightedness to lose what could be a lot of money in direct and referral business. I don’t take that for granted.

We’re paid to do work in uncertain circumstances. If things were easy, they wouldn’t need you.

Which means we need to be ultra-aware of the soft skills we’re bringing (or lacking) and how they affect our clients.

I don’t have all the answers and I make mistakes. But I do try my best to be honest, keep things light, and see things from other people’s perspectives. Especially when it’s difficult.

Never underestimate the soft skills of marketing.

—kevin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHrGjOjlkFk/

If you’re thinking about doing fractional CMO work, I created a video that will help you spot and mitigate some of the downsides you’re likely to experience.

In this 9-minute video, we’ll explore the downsides of the model, who it might be ideal for, and what I recommend you consider doing instead.

Give it a watch and be sure to “Like” and Subscribe to the channel for more videos helping you grow a more successful marketing consulting practice.

—kevin

I remember reading the book, Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson when I was studying marketing in school.

It was written in a pre-digital era (1984) which meant attributing customer acquisition from marketing was hazy at best.

Today, we have all kinds of tools to help measure and quantify our work. And yet, we’re seeing more and more that customers live in a multi-touch, multi-channel, word-of-mouth world.

One thing he said in the book that stands out in my memory to this day is that revenue is the overarching measurement of successful marketing.

I’d personally argue that profitable growth is the key metric, but I understand his point. Our job is to drive sales.

The reality is, modern marketers need to be able to speak in terms of revenue, ROI, and profitability with our clients and not just in terms of clicks, likes, and engagement.

We need to show how the activities we’re doing are creating financial outcomes—even if it means using proxy metrics like leads and opportunities of other kinds.

We need to know how things like repeat purchase rates, average transaction value, lifetime value, and contribution margins play into our ROI calculations.

When I ran an agency years ago, I focused too much on vanity metrics like page views, website traffic, clicks, time on page, etc.

They had very little to do with actual money. I left it to my clients to figure out if it was a good deal for them.

No good.

Now, I try to sit on their side of the table. I think holistically about how I’m going to help them generate more money—and profit—in a sustainable long-term way.

If you’d like to know how I do that, be sure to register for the workshop on Wednesday at 11 am EST.

It’s for members only, but if you want to buy just the recording and not join the membership, hit reply and I’ll make it available afterward.

Let’s talk money.

—kevin

 

Nobody told me that when I grew up, I’d be a professional marketer.

In fact, when I left school, I had no idea my web development and design skills were even valuable!

I’ve been coding up websites and designing graphics for friends and family since I was a teenager. It turns out, those skills were valuable and would eventually form the basis for what I do today.

Ironically, so much of what we do as marketers is creating and articulating value. It’s our core reason for existing.

And yet, measuring and communicating value can be one of the hardest things to do.

Unless you studied business (and even if you did) it can be hard to put into words the value of our ideas and the outcomes we help create.

I’m going to change that.

Next week, I’ll be doing a training for Mindshare members titled Financial Acumen for Marketers.

Without the ability to speak with CEOs about the tangible value of our work, we can’t with a straight face justify our prices nor the added cost of implementing our ideas.

Not being able to speak in financial terms is costing you money and making your work a lot harder.

In next week’s training, I’m going to explore the various ways to “speak CEO” to help you sell your ideas and measure their results.

We’ll get into concepts like:

• Allowable Acquisition Costs
• Payback Periods
• Budgeting
• Benchmarks
• Profit Margins
• Contribution Margins
• Costs of Goods Sold
• Financial Statements
• Marketing Efficiency Ratios
• Net vs. Gross
• Return on Ad Spend
• Conversion Rates
• Lifetime Value
• Churn
• Cash Flow
• ROI Estimates
• Key Performance Indicators

… and a lot of other things that are usually boring but I will try to make fun. 🙂

At the end of the day, only a handful of these metrics and terms matter most on a day-to-day basis. But they all mean something important and you won’t go far without this fundamental knowledge.

If you want to talk like a CEO and get buy-in from the CFO at the same time, you won’t want to miss this.

For now, it’s a members-only training. And I plan to close the doors for the membership again for a while to do further housekeeping on Monday.

Consider this your second-to-last chance to get in while doors are open!

When you join, you’ll also get access to dozens of hours of training on topics like:

• Business model design
• Generating leads and opportunities
• Methodology and IP development
• Content and copywriting skills
• Templates & processes

As well as a private Slack community, live calls, mentoring, and more.

See you inside: https://howtoselladvice.com/membership/

—kevin

 

When times are good, companies spend more on marketing.

When times are hard, they spend more carefully on marketing.

Either way, somebody is getting paid. Marketing, like tax or accounting, is a non-negotiable for most businesses.

So how can you make sure it’s you that gets paid in all weather conditions?

The way to be an all-weather consultant is to be positioned as an expert in a narrow vertical or horizontal service.

Simple to say, harder to do.

It’s easy to sell when times are good but you have to be able to survive when times are bad, too.

So how do you pick your specialty?

The best approach is to build around the kinds of clients you get the best results for—assuming you enjoy working with them.

Don’t try to imagine a niche or horizontal specialization. It never works as well in practice as it does in theory.

Sure, test your hunches and run campaigns to areas you think you can win at, but don’t bet the business on them until they’re proven.

Instead, double down on your actual best clients and most profitable services (for you and your clients).

The more specific your vertical (ideal client) the broader your services can be. The more specific your services are, the broader your vertical can be.

It’s a balancing act that takes time to master.

But one thing is for sure: the fluff doesn’t sell in hard times and being a specialist in moving the needle for a specific type of client and/or with a specific set of services will make you a compelling all-weather option.

If you optimize for what moves the needle for you and your actual clients, you’ll probably be fine.

—kevin

 

P.S. Closing doors to the membership again early next week. Now is as good a time as any to get in.

 

The other day, I mentioned how the long tail of execution work is a commodity… and that the real value was in knowing how to execute to get business results—not necessarily doing the execution yourself.

That doesn’t mean if you’re freelancing you should suddenly stop everything and outsource your projects. It just means your hands are the least valuable thing you could offer.

Let’s say you could outsource (or even refer) the hands work and still get the same outcomes. People would gladly pay for it as long as you gave it your strategic input and stamp of approval on the final product.

And thus you would begin your path to greater leverage…

A big part of why people hire you specifically is because they like your taste, worldview, experience, and ability to get the outcomes they desire.

It doesn’t need to be you doing the hands work. It could be, but it doesn’t need to be.

Let’s say you write content for a living.

What’s stopping you from figuring out how to teach someone else how to do what you do so you can delegate that part to them, freeing you up to learn, market yourself, and get more clients?

As long as you achieve the desired outcomes in the process, that’s all clients really care about.

Of course, how you do that without using your hands is another question. That comes through refining your process, documenting it, and making it easy for someone else to replicate.

When you eventually do get to a place where you no longer need to be hands-on-keyboard, you can then take your methods, templates, and processes and teach, advise, or give them away as marketing.

Now you’re creating even more leverage around your expertise.

The key thing to remember here…

If you can get the same results without using your hands—and either mark it up, do the strategy, or teach the process—you get to capture 80% of the value with 20% (or less) of the labour.

Every minute you spend with your hands on the keyboard—in a way that isn’t documenting, advising, or teaching your expertise—is a minute of unleveraged time.

It’s fine to do that for as long as you need to so you can learn and master your craft.

But eventually, it will hold you back from earning more and helping more people.

Have a great weekend,

—kevin

P.S. If you want to sell and scale your marketing expertise, then the membership is for you.

I’ll be closing the doors to the membership soon, then I might make some changes to the pricing/model again.

This is a good time to join if you’re at all interested!

Some people aren’t going to like hearing this, but it’s true.

Execution is a commodity.

Phew, I said it. But before you unsubscribe in rage, please hear me out to the end.

Technical crafts can be learned (and taught) by almost anybody.

Designing pixels, writing words, coding websites, analyzing data—they are difficult to learn, sure, but they’re fairly easy to hire for and even AI can do much of the legwork without much input.

The real value is in knowing how to get business results.

It’s the strategy. The process. The unique combination of elements that shapes the execution. It’s your taste. Your style. Your experience weaved together.

These parts are expensive to hire for and almost impossible for AI to replace.

But let me backpedal just a bit for clarity.

You still need to learn how to execute before you can successfully lead the strategic side.

Mastering the fundamentals is critical.

And having deeper expertise in all areas of marketing will absolutely help.

The better you know the fundamentals, the easier it will be for you to get results on the strategic side.

Beyond that, the actual doing for your clients is not where most of the value is created.

The person who can combine the right ingredients, instructions, and sometimes people to execute is the person who will capture most of the value of a project. 

And this is why some level of expertise in execution helps.

You can be specific, speak the technical lingo, bring in quality examples, and facilitate the outcome to create repeatable results.

But the long tail of execution is, in many cases, easy to find online. The entire agency model depends on this fact.

Upwork is full of capable people to execute tasks to perfect specifications at increasingly low cost. AI is only increasing that downward price pressure.

So yes, learn to execute. But master the art of getting business results as a strategist. 

Document your processes. Create templates. Provide examples. Create frameworks. Be good at briefing. Know the lingo of the craft. Practice as much as you can.

But sell the strategy and hire out or refer the execution.

People don’t want shiny pixels. They want business outcomes.

—kevin

P.S. Join the only place online where marketing strategists go to learn, connect, and grow their businesses while doors are open.