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Change is inevitable, and small business owners must constantly adapt to stay ahead of their competition. While traditional consultants may offer valuable insights and recommendations, they often lack the hands-on commitment to implement these changes effectively. A consultant will write a report and presentation to advise management of required changes and then count on management to deploy the advice effectively. More than a report or playbook is usually needed to drive tangible results.
Enter the concept of a fractional executive. This innovative solution provides small businesses the strategic guidance and support they need to grow and evolve. In this blog post, we’ll explore the role of a fractional executive, discuss their benefits, and share tips for finding the right fit for your business.
A fractional executive is a seasoned professional who offers expertise and leadership on a part-time or project basis. These individuals often have extensive experience in their respective fields and can fill critical gaps in a company’s leadership team. From acting as a temporary CEO to guiding sales or financial strategies, fractional executives provide services tailored to your business’s unique needs.
The critical difference between a fractional executive and a traditional consultant lies in their level of commitment. While consultants often deliver a one-time report or set of recommendations, fractional executives are actively involved in the day-to-day operations of your business. They work closely with your team to implement changes, monitor progress, and adjust strategies as needed, ensuring that your business thrives in the long term.
Consultants can create beautiful reports using modern tools like Chat GPT. While a report generated by Chat GPT can provide valuable insights and recommendations for a business, it is crucial to recognize that such a report alone is insufficient to drive meaningful changes. To successfully implement and manage the recommended changes, businesses require a more hands-on and personalized approach that addresses their unique challenges and opportunities. A report can serve as an excellent starting point, but companies must invest in dedicated human expertise to ensure that the proposed changes are effectively integrated into their operations.
A Chat GPT report may be insufficient for driving change because it cannot fully account for the intricacies and nuances of each business. While AI-generated reports can be well-researched and informative, they may need a more profound understanding of company culture, team dynamics, and specific market conditions necessary to develop tailored strategies. On the other hand, a human expert can work closely with stakeholders, employees, and customers to gain a comprehensive understanding of the business’s unique needs and challenges, allowing them to develop and implement more effective change initiatives.
Additionally, change management requires ongoing support and guidance, which a Chat GPT report or an absentee consultant cannot provide. Implementing changes often involves overcoming obstacles, refining strategies, and addressing unforeseen issues that arise during the process. A human expert, such as a fractional executive, can provide the necessary support and adaptability to navigate these challenges and ensure the success of the change initiatives. By working closely with the business daily, they can monitor progress, identify areas for improvement, and make real-time adjustments to keep the change process on track.
Continue reading →Kevin and Sean continue to discuss the importance of staying relevant to customers and prospects.
In the first part of the podcast, Sean interviews Megan O’Hara of EasyIT about the challenges of reaching customers in the digital age, where everyone is bombarded with emails and messages. They discuss the importance of being authentic, providing value, and standing out from the competition. They also emphasize the need for salespeople to adapt to changing technology and stay up to date with new tools and platforms. They touch upon topics such as personal branding, content creation, and the role of social media in sales. Megan does this by sending out her video series called Mondays with Megan, and she goes into detail about how this helps her grow her business.
In the second part of the podcast, Kevin and Sean praise sales professional Megan for her effective approach to engaging with prospects and customers. They highlight the value of her short, actionable tips and tricks, which immediately benefit to her listeners. They also discuss the importance of constantly learning and improving, regardless of age or experience. They end the podcast by emphasizing the three things that every salesperson sells: their product, company, and themselves.
Overall, the podcast provides valuable insights and tips for sales professionals on how to stay relevant, provide value, and engage with customers in the digital age. It emphasizes the importance of authenticity, personal branding, and continuous learning and improvement. The podcast also highlights the potential impact of short, actionable content in driving customer engagement and business growth.
Small businesses often find themselves at a disadvantage when competing with larger, well-established companies. However, they can still succeed. It requires them to think creatively and strategically and to develop unique approaches to win customers over.
One approach small businesses can take is implementing the Fragment Sales Strategy. This approach is advantageous when small companies find themselves in David vs. Goliath-type sales campaigns, going up against larger competitors with more resources, references, and success stories.
Salespeople can increase their chances of success by focusing on specific areas where they can create value for the customer and differentiate themselves from the competition. The Fragment Sales Strategy is a methodology that breaks down the opportunity into smaller, more manageable pieces. This helps salespeople stay organized, identify key decision-makers, and manage essential milestones in the sales process.
Essentially, with a Fragment Strategy, salespeople are trying to change the opportunity to a smaller portion of the customer’s goals where they can be successful and convince the prospect to look at other needs in a future opportunity. A Fragment Strategy is essential if you want the prospect to adopt multiple “best-in-class” products, but the small business only offers a few of the “best-in-class” capabilities.
Understanding the goals of the customer is also crucial when implementing the Fragment Sales Strategy. Salespeople need to understand what the customer is trying to achieve and what challenges they face in reaching their goals. By focusing on specific goals and offering solutions that address those challenges, salespeople can increase the likelihood of a successful sale.
Small businesses can use five basic sales strategies to win more sales. These include Frontal, Flanking, Fragment, Defend, and Develop Strategies. The Frontal Strategy involves going head-to-head with the competition and trying to win over customers based on the product’s merits. Unfortunately, a salesperson for a small business can quickly lose with this strategy when competing against a larger competitor with more resources and, in theory, more successful implementations.
The Flanking Strategy is useful for a small business salesperson because it shifts the focus of the customer’s buying criteria to new or different issues that favor your solution. It means you are not playing by the rules. You are taking a completely different approach than your competitors expect. The challenge with a flanking strategy is that you need to understand the dynamics of the prospect completely. You must understand both personal and organizational needs. It can only be used in opportunities where the salesperson has an influential inside advisor (a Coach). Ultimately, the strategy needs a strong Champion. The strategy also requires you to have multiple value propositions that are relatively unique to your offering, which may not be available to the small business B2B salesperson.
The Defend Strategy focuses on keeping existing customers happy and preventing them from defecting to the competition. Of course, this strategy depends on the current relationship with the customer. It is only applicable if the prospect already has a business relationship with the small business.
Finally, the Develop Strategy involves identifying opportunities and developing products or services that meet customer needs. While this strategy allows the building of intense relationships, it can also be the most extended sales cycle, putting a small business at significant risk if the prospect doesn’t move forward after a long development process.
Small businesses implementing the Fragment Sales Strategy should focus on understanding their customers’ goals, identifying pain points, and offering solutions to those challenges. By breaking down the sales process into smaller, more manageable pieces, salespeople can focus on areas where they can create value for the customer and differentiate themselves from the competition.
Some questions that a salesperson might ask the prospect could be:
The salesperson should tailor the above questions to the information the salesperson already knows about the prospect’s business. However, every salesperson should understand these high-level questions and try to align their product to them.
Small businesses can compete against larger, well-established companies by developing unique approaches and implementing effective strategies like the Fragment Sales Strategy. By understanding the goals of the customer and breaking down the sales process into smaller, more manageable pieces, salespeople can increase their chances of success and win more sales.
Published: Tue, 03/14/23
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We are coming down on the end of the year and are now on the 8th video in my series of how to start the New Year strong so that you achieve more revenue next year.
In this eighth video in the series, I encourage you to return to the deals you lost.
It’s never a pleasant experience to lose a deal, but sometimes it’s inevitable. If you take the time to properly and strategically follow up on lost deals, however, you may be able to turn things around for yourself. Following up after losing a sale can yield numerous benefits for salespeople and their managers – from increasing revenue to developing relationships with new customers. This video discusses how following up on lost deals can benefit your business.
If you’re a salesperson, chances are you think about “lost deals” quite often. It can be incredibly frustrating to invest time and energy into a potential customer only for them to have opted out at the end of the day! So why did the prospect reject our offer? Be completely honest with yourself (even if you aren’t honest with your management). Can you go back and save it?
You can check out all of the 12 tips as soon as they are published here.
The New Year is almost here. If you are in Sales, life is easier if you get out of the gate with incredibly strong revenue. One of the best ways to do that is to plan ahead for the activities that will influence your revenue production.
We have all heard of the 12 days of Christmas. This post is part of my series of 12 posts on how to strongly start the new year and drive revenue for your company and you.
You can check out all of the 12 tips as soon as they are published here.