Sales, Marketing And Business Development Consulting And Coaching For Information Technology Companies

My consulting work runs on three parallel tracks sort of neck-and-neck.

The way we change anything in our lives is that first we establish what we want, then we acquire a new mindset, then a new skill set and finally we build a new tool set. And by education I don't mean training where participants passively listen to the expert for a few days, and then try to regurgitate what they've just heard. You can read about the difference between training and education here.

The way I look at it, coaching is about aligning people's perspectives and mindsets with the new objectives the company wants to achieve. Education is an inductive process of self-discovery and self-exploration. And consulting is about designing structures, frameworks, systems and processes.

Leaders and managers in IT companies have great dreams and bold objectives, but more often than not they struggle to rally the troops and activate the necessary resources to pull off the necessary changes. And when the changes take place in some shape or form, revenues and profits often fail to follow. The business development sections is just left behind with the terse instruction from management...

"Go, hit your numbers and make quota! Or else..."

The sad truth is that in many IT companies the business development folks are expected to make up for management's incompetency. So working with minimum help, support and encouragement from management, at the end of each month business development folks go through the ritual of being beaten up by management if they fall short on their sales targets. The irony is that the business development folks always know more effective methods of selling but management disallows them to use those methods.

And although the world of marketing and sales have changed quite a bit over the last 10-20 years, most business owners are so wrapped up in the technological changes that they ignore the changes in the ways they should sell their stuff. And since the money often fails to follow the "great" change initiatives, management almost always blames the business development folks.

And this short-sightedness opens the proverbial revolving door on the business development department. People come and go at the annual attrition rate of 43% because management fails to create a culture which is worth belonging to. And the company pays the astronomical price (roughly 4 times of departing people's annual compensation) year after year for replacing their business development people. And we haven't even mentioned the clients departing people take with themselves.

But since business owners and managers revolving door syndrome is just normal, they often carry on treating their business development professionals the same way. So, the company can never attract truly great business development talents and it continues operating light years under its true potential.

The other problem is that when management dictates to highly talented business development people how to do their jobs. And this makes me wonder what it is about business owners and senior managers that wed them more to certain methodologies of doing something than to achieving their supposed objectives. I guess, it's partly managerial ego...

"I'm the boss here, and you either do as I say or start packing."

A manager who was good at cold-calling in the 70s, insists that cold calling is the only method business development people are allowed to use to prospect for new business. So, although nowadays cold-calling is a rather pathetic way of acquiring clients, this manager insists that this is the only way.

Ideally, business is about joy, freedom and expression. To change your results, you have to change your behaviour; to change your behaviour, you have to change your thinking; to change your thinking you have to examine your motives. What are yours? What is the legacy your company is building?

Intended Results

IT companies that engage my consulting help can expect to achieve the following results...

Quantitative Improvement

• Increased company's productivity up to $1.34 million per employee with as high as 78% margin


• Raised consulting fees by as much as 174% within 6 months


• Increased direct mail response rate from 1.3% up to 11.7%


• Reduced sales-related expenses by up to 36%


• Improved proposal acceptance rate by as much as 157% while reduced proposal preparation time by as much as 83%


• Reduced annual client attrition rate by as much as 27%


• Improved prospect to client conversion ratio as much as 239%

Qualitative Improvement

• Improved leadership and better sense of "where we're heading"


• Becoming the choice of employment for top-tier talents


• Enhanced organisational pride


• Higher quality of clientele


• Enhanced teamwork with better collaboration and no internal competition


• Reduced stress and fewer days of medical leave


• Quicker and more accurate decision-making


• Improved communication at all levels of the organisation


• Increased client and talent retention


• Enhanced brand, image and reputation


• Better media exposure

Logistics

Logistics is a hard word, so here is a bit of clarification. This is not logistics in the legal sense. My work is based on mutual trust and respect, so I keep lawyers out of my operation.

I don't expect to need legal help, and so far it's been good. This is logistics to avoid surprises and to make sure clients know step-by-step how the engagement works. That's all really.

Format

The format varies pretty broadly. When necessary I work on site with the implementing team, but most of the time we work virtually using email, forum, and tele/video conferencing to interact with each other. I've found this approach is more effective than wasting time on waiting for in-person interaction.

Process

To make sure we address the real cause of problems not just a symptom, I start every engagement with an extensive diagnosis. Without this element, the rest of the work is pointless because we're likely to address the wrong issue. There is a reason why in medical school, some 45% of the curriculum is diagnosis.

Yes, it's that important. And it's important for us too. Yes, it may slow down the implementation process, but this loss of speed adds to the certainty of addressing the correct issue and not some veneer stuff.

A few years ago a McKinsey & Co. study found that some 50% of sellers' "solutions" don't deliver the value which their clients bought and paid for. The problem in most cases is a lack of proper diagnosis. That is, sellers develop solutions based on their clients' self-diagnoses. And that's plain retarded.

After exactly diagnosing what the hell is going on and what causes it, we start building the solution. However, instead of building a grand solution at a huge price tag, we build a prototype on a small scale and test it. Then we tweak it and test it again. And again. And again. Until we're happy with the result and then we call it "done".

At that point we gather for an After Action Review to debrief the whole engagement and decide whether or not thre is anything else we can do together.

And now it's time for me to don my hat, pack up, bugger off and leave you in peace. The benefit to you is that since we developed and implemented the solution together, your people can sustain and further improve your results without my ongoing help and without needing to pay me.

There is one exception: The copywriting gigs. Sine I receive ongoing royalties on the copy I write, I'm available on an ongoing basis to improve that copy. After all, the more the copy sell, the more we all make. Follow the link if you don't mind being bored to tears by reading my Engagement process. But keep some Kleenex(R) within reach just in case.

Time Frame

I work in a sort of commando mode of 90-120 days: Short time frame, rough upfront planning and rapid but flexible implementation with lots of improvements on the fly. Every grand initiative can be broken down to smaller elements, and we work on these elements in a high-intensity fashion. After all, the proverb "Divide an Conquer" has validity for a very good reason.

Where To Go From Here?

By now you may have got so confused reading all my poetical splendour, that the only place you want to go is the pub and get drunk as a skunk and forget about your bad fortune that brought you to my website. Well, that's certainly is an option.

Alternatively, if you are brave enough to stay and want to create a conducive culture in the business development department, in which your people are naturally aspired and inspired to do their best work every time, as opposed to merely coming in to put in time and pick up their paycheques, then follow the link and read my On Becoming A Client document.

Relax, there is no obligation here. This package helps you to define whether or not there is a sound financial justification to commence change initiative you have in mind either with me or someone else. It merely guides your decision-making process then you select whoever you deem to be the most qualified to help you to pull it off.

And if you think you can put up with my gallows humour and other idiosyncrasies, then I look forward to working with you, oh Brave One.