Fear of change and differences of vision

We have recently added to our team a tech expert and a social networking specialist.  This lets us give a whole new array of services to our clients.  Due to all of these recent changes one of the issues we have had to deal with is how do we recreate ourselves.  This is an issue any small company moving to the next level must deal with.  Recreating the company in terms of responsibilities and delegation of tasks, our image, our services and who we feel we are.  This is something that will have a major impact on the future of the company.
Listening to everyone's ideas is one of the most interesting aspects of this process.  Each individual sees a different image in regards to the future and the goal isn't to compromise what each person wants and to find a middle ground.  Rather I believe the goal is to take what each person sees and to use it to make one bigger picture equaling more than just the sum of its parts.
I am happy we are at this stage yet it is also terrifying.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of letting go.  But the important thing is to remind ourselves that if we have carefully thought out the situation then the fear can be used to motivate us forward rather than to hold us back.
It also reminds us that the fact that we have to deal with this fear means that we are making progress.

What we do

This year has started off with a great stance. We have signed up a few new clients from different industries. Currently we are in the process of building with them the strategy to move forward. I had an interesting occurrence. I met with a potential client and the meeting itself was an interesting learning experience as far as I was concerned. Their idea was - we have been doing this for a long time and we realize that we need help to move forward (to be fair based on our research there was a lot which could be done which wasn't being done) but we are afraid of letting go. So far this is a fairly common occurrence when we deal with family companies. It is their baby and it makes sense that people don't want to let go. However what intrigued me was that I was being asked to see the research we had done (they admitted they had never analyzed the results of their efforts) but when I commented that we do not give that out for free then I was being aggressive.
I would like to explain two things:
1 - Our work is based on the fact that we do analysis which many times companies themselves don't do. It is true that afterwards you need to be able to act on it, but the basis of it all is the research itself. Why should we be giving that out for free?
2 - How can anyone expect to improve their business development without analyzing the results of their efforts? How can you know where to improve without checking what's missing?
Our job consists of researching what's missing and devising a plan based on that. We have certain methods of working which do not fit everyone but those who find it fits their needs are welcome to work with us.

New clients and lesson

I am happy to announce that I have signed up a new client this week. Considering that I'm new to the team and considering that each client takes up a lot of time and effort it is quite an achievement.

Regarding what we teach. A few days ago I was asked why it is that we can teach sales to any industry. This question is very valid but it is exactly the issue of what is problematic with most salespeople. Most salespeople try to sell their product believing that their product is the main reason a potential client will sign on the dotted line and pull out their checkbook. Though not entirely false - it is a very wrong assumption. The client needs to want to do business with you (the salesperson). If they don't want to do business with you, they'll find another company to do business with. If they do want to do business with you they will then oversee the flaws or find solutions for the flaws that your product may have. You are the one they are buying. This is not to say that you don't need to know anything about the product. On the contrary, one of the first thing I tell new clients is that I need to receive as much information about the product as they have. Anything that they know I need to know. Ultimately, though, if you have a meeting with a potential client and that you know that that meeting will be very technical - bring in one of the techies with you to explain that part.

SELL YOURSELF FIRST!

Happy to announce!

I am happy to announce that I have now joined the team and am looking forward to working on some great projects we have in place for 2010!

Happy New Year to everyone! And please feel free to contact me for any business inquiries at rb@fawkescassidy.com

This week is obviously a slow week with Christmas and the New Year's but true to ourselves we have taken this time to step back and plan 2010.

We have chosen our goals, given ourselves timelines, written down why we want to achieve those goals and have planned our future plan of action.

We can now relax, enjoy the year's end and move on to the next year.

Happy Holidays!

This week we are focusing on contacting various schools and companies to partner up with them.  This is being done as part of our expansion.

The good news is that next week we will have our new site up and new marketing material to be sent out to potential clients.

One point we want to make which needs to be very clear - no matter what your industry, job or role in life you are always selling.

Why?

Because our belief is that no matter what you sell, ultimately you are selling yourself.

So start by learning who you are.  Until you do that, all other sales knowledge will be techniques which will have a lower value to you than if you know how to implement it perfectly because you know who you are.

'til next time

http://www.fawkescassidy.com/

What comes easily...

A friend of mine has always said that what comes easily is never fully appreciated...
Having said this I can now say that we are having issues with our website so we have had to take it down and put up a temporary page in the meantime.

Hopefully we will have this issue resolved shortly so you will be able to visit our site.

In the meantime you can still visit our profile on the Press Release website.

If you would like more information regarding our books and/ or our services feel free to contact us at info@fawkescassidy.com

Hope to hear from you soon.

http://www.fawkescassidy.com/