Monthly Archives: February 2015

Marketing , , Leave a comment

How Much Free IP?

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Absorbing your Intellectual Property, distributed free of charge by you through content marketing, is one way that potential new clients make their hiring decision. They are not sure if you are worth the investment represented by your fee for service, so a factor in the hiring decision is the perceived value of your free content. Does the prospect find it helpful and credible?

Your blog, newsletter, white paper, podcast or webinar demonstrate your authority and may help to convince a client who needs reassurance about your expertise.  A prospect who discovers your online content in theory could reach out and propose getting together for coffee, or scheduling a quick call to get some questions answered.  Or maybe you offer a free 30 or 60 minute consultation call as part of your services?  Either way,  remember that you are in business to get paid and giving away free advice does not necessarily lead to a contract.

Preserve the value of your IP

When you too often give away your expertise, the incentive to pay for it decreases. Scarcity and unique value must define your services.  You deliver the desired results and for that you are paid a premium price.

Establish boundaries because time is money

Your time and expertise are your most valuable resources and it is essential that you monitor their expenditure carefully. If you agree to speak with a potential client at no charge, do not allow the conversation to turn into a fishing expedition.  Answer two or three important questions and then let it be known that if more information is needed, an hourly rate will be instituted.

Gaining experience

If you are early in your Freelance consulting career, you must build a client list. If you have a new service that you’d like to test market, you will need exposure.  Selectively offer your services gratis, for a limited time.

Pricing

There are times when adding a free service upgrade is a way to maintain your pricing structure in the face of pressure to lower your fee.  The cosmetics industry does the very well when a free gift with purchase is offered to customers.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Business Strategy , , , Leave a comment

A Capital Campaign for Your Enterprise

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Businesses are powered by capital and the “capital” includes all resources that contribute to the success of the business.  The emerging field of corporate sustainability, which translates the goal of long-term business growth that is simultaneously respectful of stakeholders inside and outside of the business venture into pragmatic action items and encourages business owners and leaders to recognize and quantify forms of capital, in addition to financial capital, on its own terms.

Mark W. McElroy, PhD, consultant, author and educator in the field of corporate sustainability and founder of the not-for-profit Center for Sustainable Organizations in Vermont and Martin Thomas, former head of global strategic planning at Unilever, recently developed the MultiCapital Scorecard, the first and only context- and capital-based integrated measurement, management and reporting system. Using the Scorecard, business leaders and owners of any size organization can assess company performance in terms of impact on all types of capital used.  Which resources is your organization maxing out, which are under-utilized and how do these practices impact prospects for sustainable growth?

1.  Economic capital

All financial resources, including access to investment capital,  credit and loans and also the value of the brand the business possesses.

2.  Human capital

The combined expertise, experience, knowledge, motivation, focus and discipline that you and your employees and consulting specialists possess and your shared intellectual capital.

3.  Relationship capital

The extended team you work with, including any networks, strategic partners, your informal business advisory board, referral sources and in addition, your reputation as a professional.

4.  Constructed capital

The infrastructure that we depend upon, including transportation, electricity, heating and air conditioning, the internet, effective and appropriate laws and regulations, public safety and available places where business commerce might take place.

McElroy and Thomas advocate for the MultiCapital Scorecard to be used to create a sustainable vision, mission, goals, management and business practices for organizations. They recommend that the organization first identify its internal and external stakeholders and the duties and obligations owed to them. Next, define the ideal standards of performance and apply context-based metrics to measure your organization against those standards.

Small businesses and self-employed Freelancers can make use of the Scorecard to account for the various types of capital that is available,  measure the use of each form of capital and better understand how to manage and nurture resources.  Goal-setting will become more obvious as priorities surface and opportunities and weaknesses emerge. The stage will then be set making plans that usher in sustainable growth and profits.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Professional Development , Leave a comment

Listen and Learn, Hear and Understand

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If we would become better listeners, then the world would become a better place. Effective listening is a cornerstone of relationship – building  and relationships are the foundation of diplomacy.  The ability to listen effectively is a valuable leadership skill.

Listening is complex and contrary to popular perception it is active, not passive . Our ears and eyes, biases and fears, past experiences and hopes for the future all impact our interpretations of what is said to us.  We really do hear what we want to hear.

Active listening is a demonstration of empathy and respect . When we grant an opportunity to hear one who would like to share information, we validate  that person and the  story. Active, effective listening requires that we are fully present. Simultaneous engagement in multi-tasking activities is detrimental to the process.

In the September 1, 1957 issue of the Harvard Business Review, Ralph Nichols and Leonard Stevens interviewed more than 1000 college students and several hundred business executives and found that our listening skills are not stellar. We are largely unable to retain more than 50 % of what has been told to us, immediately after the telling.  Eight hours later, we will retain about 1/3 of what has been told to us.  Six months later and we retain merely 25 % of the story or information.

Nichols and Leonard revealed a main obstacle to listening—we think much faster than we speak. As we listen, or if we listen,  to information that is being delivered comparatively slowly, our busy brains are either coloring the story with our personal biases or agendas, or we’re thinking about something  else entirely.

They suggest that in order to bolster our listening skills, we might give our brains something to do that supports the activity:

1.  Take notes to improve recall of important points.

2.  Incorporate other senses, such as sight, and make note of body language and facial expressions. As well, note tone of voice and emotional state.

3.  Process the information as it is delivered and  try to make sense of it. Formulate questions and think about what was not said.

4.  Respond by first confirming that you correctly understand what has been said and then move on to other clarifying questions.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Sales , , , , Leave a comment

Prospects and Tire-Kickers

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Tire-kickers, those self-absorbed time-wasters who parachute into your life, present themselves as interested buyers, pepper you or your sales staff with questions, raise red-herring objections and then slide away without spending any money. Freelance consultants, business owners and sales professionals regularly contend with “prospects” whose mission in life, it seems, is to squander others’ valuable time. Tire-kickers feel completely entitled to mislead honest working people by feigning interest in products and services that they have no intention of purchasing any time soon.  They also get their jollies by inviting marketing consultants to meet for coffee and discuss projects that have neither official support nor budget.

Tire-kickers are the bane of a Freelancer’s existence.  A method to politely expose and dispose of them is a useful time management skill. Posing questions and raising objections while in the buying process is responsible behavior and all whose livelihoods depend upon making a sale welcome serious prospects, including those who do not buy at that time. How does one tell the difference between a tire-kicker and a prospective customer? It all starts with asking the right questions (but you knew that).

The Zero Pain Hypothesis developed by Liz Ryan, founder and CEO of Human Workplace, assumes that a caller has no need for what you sell and it is an effective template to follow. Keep your tone friendly and helpful throughout. You might be able to persuade the tire-kicker to either make a purchase in the near term, or make a referral to a colleague who has money and motive to do business with you now.

1.  Who?

To whom are you speaking? Get the name, title, company, phone number, email and location of the person who makes contact. Get qualifying info up front and begin to make that person commit to the buying process. Questions are cheerfully answered, but this is not a game, it is business. The job title can help you know whether this person is likely to be the decision-maker or key influencer.

2.  What and Why?

What is the product or service that is being investigated and why is it needed? What business imperative is a priority for the caller? If the caller can provide a logical reason for contacting you and/or describe what has been done that is not  working, then you probably have a genuine prospect. The counter-intuitive genius of the Zero Pain Hypothesis recommends that you offer up an inexpensive, maybe DIY alternative to your services. Tire-kickers should back off once told of a cheap and easy path to what they want. As well, tire-kickers will reveal themselves by their vague and evasive answers to your questions.

3.  When?

Assess the urgency. Is there a deadline for completing the project or making the purchase? If things are open-ended, then you are speaking with a tire-kicker. The Zero Pain Hypothesis recommends that if possible,  you recommend a “place-holder” alternative, an inexpensive band-aid that will help out for the short-term, since there is no defined timeline.

4.  Where?

Where is the organization in the buying process — early stage vendor list making, soliciting proposals, or close to finalizing the decision? Is your questioner the decision-maker and who else may need to weigh in? What is the budget? If the caller has a deadline and/or a budget, then you probably have a genuine prospect. If the caller’s budget does not meet your minimum, then refer back to the cheap alternative. Restate what the project or product means to the caller’s business. If something big is on the line, that person might be able to perceive the “pain” point that your qualifying questions encourage him/her to acknowledge and proceed to talk him/herself into increasing the budget and selling him/herself on the value of your services.

Thanks for reading,

Kim