))
In The Accepted Authority, Greg Roworth discusses how owners of consulting firms can generate a predictable flow of premium opportunities to grow their business. Each weekly show features a lively discussion of a common growth challenge, covering strategies, tools, mistakes and how Greg has achieved results with clients or in their own business. Always useful, entertaining, and never more than 20 minutes. Sponsored by Business Flightpath.
…
continue reading
Most consultancy firms tend to work on promotion as their marketing strategy, judging by their websites and the way they present themselves and their firms both online and in networking meetings. However, from what I see, promotion creates resistance and triggers questions that raise doubts about competence, trustworthiness and reliability. On the …
…
continue reading
There is one critical question your marketing must answer, if you are going to be able to create relevant marketing messages that connect with your ideal clients. I see a lot of marketing from consultancy firms that fails to answer this question. The result is failure to attract the attention of ideal clients and an inability to attract regular new…
…
continue reading
Many consultants have a fear that if they give away any or much of their valuable intellectual property in their marketing process, the recipients will use that material to solve their own problems instead of coming to the consultant who provided the material to ask for their help. The conundrum is that we know that if we give away some of our IP i…
…
continue reading
Most consultancy firms make a big mistake in their marketing that slows down their progress to new sales and acquiring new clients or may prevent them having an opportunity with some potential clients at all. There is a predominant tool on most consulting firms' websites that asks for too much too soon. That is typically the innocuous "Contact Us" …
…
continue reading
In many consulting firms, operational processes are more complex than they need to be. Rather than offering a wide range of services to potential clients in order to achieve higher revenues, in my experience, operating with a focused specialization is what achieves greater simplicity in running the business, greater operating efficiencies, lower op…
…
continue reading
Many consultancy firms do a lot of activities in their marketing with the aim of attracting their target market. But do these activities actually attract? A lot of the activities I see consultancy firms engaging in don't get the results the owners of those firms are looking for. They don't attract. Instead of doing things to try to attract more cli…
…
continue reading
One of the most common scenarios that consultancy firms experience is what I call the sales roller coaster. That is where the firm goes from being busy with client delivery work for a while, maybe a month or two, and then goes through a subsequent period of having not enough work and needing to find new clients or projects. The main reason this occ…
…
continue reading
For most consultancy firms, client acquisition is not a systemtic process. Typically, we get clients through referrals and maybe networking, which ends up being a referral process too. Unless we have our marketing systems perfectly dialled in, we cannot expect our client acquisition to be consistent or predictable. When this is the case, we have no…
…
continue reading
I believe there is actually a lot of confusion about the importance of branding and what branding actually is for many owners of consultancy firms. In this episode, I reveal my take on what branding really is and how we can waste a lot of time and money when we get this wrong. In my experience, many consultants go about branding the wrong way, in a…
…
continue reading
Many consultants make the mistake of hurrying an potential client towards the sale, without realizing that this process violates the normal buying journey that all potential clients take. Our approach to selling is more like seeing the selling process as an event that happens around the sales meeting, instead of a journey that the client can take w…
…
continue reading
Many consultancy firms are great at satisfying demand for their services, but not so great at creating demand for their services. Most consultants start out in business for themselves and develop a team around them because they are good at what they do. They already demonstrate a level of authority in their field, especially when they can receive r…
…
continue reading
In this episode of The Accepted Authority Podcast, I discuss the difference between a consultancy practice and a consultancy business. I see most of the consultancy firms that I come across being run as a consultancy practice, which tend to end up being complex operations lacking consistency and predictability around the outcomes they are striving …
…
continue reading
As we come to the end of 2023, I'm hearing thought from many consultants about how glad they are the 2023 is nearly over, but that they are worried about how the challenging economic environment might affect them in the new year. What appears to be uppermost in their thoughts is how the external environment will impact them. What my concern is howe…
…
continue reading
Many consultants display and obvious need for speed when it comes to selling their consulting services. However, this need for speed is counter productive to results. Your need for speed in selling your consultancy services undermines your authority, which ultimately undermines your sales effectiveness and your financial results. In this episode, I…
…
continue reading
Marketing your consulting services as a consultant or owner of a consulting firm is often a challenge to conduct effectively. By effectively, I mean that your investment in marketing actually delivers new clients rather than just getting exposure on social media or being seen by your market but not getting results. The marketing efforts I see from …
…
continue reading
Many owners of consultancy firms struggle to differentiate their consulting practice from their competitors and often have to compete against them to present proposals. Often in these situations, the cheapest quote wins. This is not a situation you want to be in. The challenge around lack of differentiation basically comes down a failure to do the …
…
continue reading
What does it take as an owner of a consultancy practice to be regarded as the accepted authority in your field? Does it need someone to appoint you to that position? Of course that's not how it happens. Does it need us to claim that position? Well, yes and no. We can't just claim to be the authority and then go on doing what we've always done and j…
…
continue reading
Many consultancy firms suffer from inconsistent workloads which are the result of inconsistent lead flow. Inconsistent lead flow comes about because of the manual labour involved in the way most consultants attend to the activities required to generate new leads. What if you could reduce the time and effort required to create lead flow? In this epi…
…
continue reading
Selling consultancy services comes with a specific set of problems that relate to the levels of trust and belief that is established with your potential client. The typical lead that comes from a referral has led us into some habits in the sales meeting that don't help us with a marketing generated lead. Unless we have thought about the challenges …
…
continue reading
When it comes to selling your consulting services at a sales meeting, what is the stance you adopt? If your stance is to try to win the sale every time, perhaps you actually undermine your authority. Your attitude towards the sale and your demeanour in the sales meeting, will greatly affect the level of authority you portray, which will either enha…
…
continue reading
Most consultants are very good at communicating who they are and what they do, but most potential clients aren't interested in that, until they know it's relevant. Being able to frame the answer to the question, "What do you do?" in terms of an offer, is much more engaging, much more relevant to the right prospect and much more effective in extendi…
…
continue reading
When you are ready to scale your consultancy practice you need to be able to generate new business beyond the reliance on referrals that come organically from doing great work with clients, or through networking. You can't scale a business until you have consistency and predictability around client acquisition. This is the time when having a market…
…
continue reading
When selling consultancy services, often there is a challenge because your potential clients don't know what they don't know. They sometimes don't recognize they have a problem, because what they are dealing with is the norm for them. They don't know how things could be better, even if they don't particularly like their current situation. An assess…
…
continue reading
What does it really take to create authority and be seen as the accepted authority in your market? Some people say you need to write a book. But how many authorities do you know who have written a book, but still have hundreds of copies sitting in their garage or cellar. They have never been best sellers, but they are still authorities in their mar…
…
continue reading
In selling our consulting services, which is more important, trust or value. We know that what our clients buy from us is our value. Then why is it that when we try to sell on value, we are often challenged by sales resistance and scepticism? Most of us try to establish trust in our marketing. But so often, the way we go about it does little to enh…
…
continue reading
Marketing consulting services is typically a challenge for owners of consulting firms and there are a number of critical mistakes that typically undermine the success of marketing campaigns. In this episode, I expose the top three marketing mistakes that kill the chances of success in marketing and identify the underlying faulty beliefs many have t…
…
continue reading
In many consulting firms, marketing is an activity that is often delegated to a junior person, or someone whose job it is to publish content to increase the visibility of the firm. In this episode, I expose the futility of that approach and reveal from my personal experience, how I was able to overcome my own ineptitude around marketing and ultimat…
…
continue reading
As consultants looking for new clients, it's important to establish a level of authority when someone comes across us, whether we have initiated the contact or if they have stumbled upon some of our content. Without that authority, we can easily undermine our efforts that have earned their attention and perhaps even gained their interest. However, …
…
continue reading
Many consultants use content such as articles, video training, ebooks, webinars, etc to educate potential clients and attract them to their services. However, most such content merely provides information to the consumer, without them taking the action that the producer of the content wants, e.g. booking a sales meeting. In this episode, I reveal a…
…
continue reading
The Accepted Authority podcast talks about how to position yourself and your firm as the authority, but that begs the question, "Who are you the authority for?" In this episode, I highlight the need for focusing on your premium clients to be seen as the authority for them. Instead of attracting a mixed bag of clients of different types and profiles…
…
continue reading
What is the right focus for marketing your consultancy services or consulting firm? Many people would choose getting more leads as the aim of their marketing. But is that really the best focus? In this episode, I discuss the results of a poll I conducted on LinkedIn to identify the current marketing focus for consulting firms. The results that came…
…
continue reading
Selling consultancy services is often a complex process that many consultants are poorly prepared for. Many lack the understanding of what is required in order to gain an agreement from a prospective client to proceed with providing the solution. From my experience, I have identified that in order to make a sale, you must first establish 5 mini agr…
…
continue reading
Most consultants are not born sales people, in fact, they are not fully engaged in a sales function in their roles much at all. Many struggle with selling and would love to know how to avoid questions and endings to sales meetings like: Send me your proposal Can I speak to some of your past clients? We don't have this in our budget Let me think abo…
…
continue reading
This week LinkedIn introduced a new feature. They have introduced an AI function into the content creation/ post creation process. In this podcast episode, I discuss the value of using this feature and how to use if effectively to enhance your ability to be seen as the accepted authority.Greg Roworth
…
continue reading
Most marketing for consultancy firms falls short of systematically attracting new premium clients consistently and predictably, because it fails to answer the critical questions that are in the minds of the clients. Most marketing, particularly what we see on consultancy firm websites is flawed and makes some significant mistakes that render the ma…
…
continue reading
In today's episode, I draw some parallels between two current events: the Tour de France bike race and the current recessionary economy that many are experiencing are are being warned about. The Tour de France is really a series of events which have many parallels in business. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard. But only one rider emerges aft…
…
continue reading
Many consultancy firms suffer from a lack of differentiation from their competitors, which leads to them being considered as a commodity in their market. This situation creates stress in the sales process where they often have to present a proposal and sharpen their pencil on pricing to win a new client. The remedy to this scenario is to be seen as…
…
continue reading
In this episode, I discuss the way many consultants are treated like servants in their relationships with clients. However, that is due to poor positioning and leads to the client being able to dictate the terms of the engagement and often, being able to demand cheaper pricing than you may normally charge. Positioning your firm as the saviour, not …
…
continue reading
There is a lot said about branding for your consultancy practice, so that buyers can be made aware that you exist when they need you. You want top-of-mind awareness so that when they have a need, they will come to you. And that’s a good thing. Brand awareness is great when our clients have a need for what we do. We hope all the brand awareness acti…
…
continue reading
Most consultants and consultancy firms tend to wait for their clients to come to them, either from referrals, or sometimes from inbound marketing. But in my experience, waiting for clients to come to you is too slow and does not give you enough control over the process of client acquisition for you to grow your business predictably or sustainably. …
…
continue reading
Often in the early days of growing your consultancy firm, any client seems like a good client. We have financial pressures that need to be met and the only way to do that is to generate more revenue from new clients. So, it seems that any client we can engage will be a big help. However, after a while, that choice to accept any client can prove to …
…
continue reading
Lead Magnets are often used as the ‘1st attractor’ for potential clients. They are popular because in addition to attracting your audience’s attention, when used correctly, they simultaneously educate your potential clients on why they should engage with you. But it’s that ‘when used correctly’ that is the stumbling block. Many lead magnets are cre…
…
continue reading
While many consultants are, of course, very talented in their chosen area of expertise, it’s also very common for them to struggle with their sales processes. It’s not something we typically engage in consistently like professional salespeople do and very few professional services consultants describe themselves as natural sales people, or find sal…
…
continue reading
This week I’m looking at how marketing to business has changed in a post-pandemic world. Mckinsey & co have released a feature article looking at how business to business marketing and consulting has changed in the 3 years since the pandemic hit. What has changed in those 3 years? What changes have become part of our new normal, and what has fallen…
…
continue reading
Being the authority in your field is about far more than just proclaiming yourself the authority. Because while nothing stops you from standing up and saying ‘Yep, I’m the authority, I know what I’m talking about, you need to come and see me’, that doesn’t have any effect until your client base believe you. So what makes the difference between clai…
…
continue reading
This week we’re exploring the question ‘What does being the Accepted Authority look like?’ What are the hallmarks a business needs to demonstrate to be designated as the Accepted Authority by its target market? And conversely, what are the signs that a business isn’t yet there? We cover off the 3 key elements that you require to be the Accepted Aut…
…
continue reading
1
42 - The Two Biggest Mistakes Consultants Make Using White Papers/E-books In Their Marketing
18:17
Many professional services consultants use whitepapers or eBooks as part of their marketing / attraction strategy, but not many do it well. Because the whitepapers / eBooks they create focus too much on the ‘how’ and not enough on the ‘why’. In other words, they’re not transformational. In this week’s episode we uncover the strategy behind the succ…
…
continue reading
We’ve talked a lot about being the authority in your sales process. Today we delve deeper into one of the techniques you can use to become the authority – positioning yourself as the Saviour, not the Servant. Servants do what they are told – Saviours have the authority to direct their clients. In a sales conversation, that distinction makes all the…
…
continue reading
Where does submitting a proposal fit into your sales strategy? For many Professional Services Consultants, the answer to this question is ‘When the client asks for one’. And while that might sound like a good response, it’s also damaging to your authority positioning. Responding to a proposal on the client’s request weakens your authority position …
…
continue reading
This week we’re discussing the use of online events as part of your marketing strategy, including the key elements you need to consider to make the planning, promotion, delivery and follow-up of our event as successful as possible.Andy Marmont and Greg Roworth
…
continue reading
