NSA St. Louis Chapter

Jim Canterucci gave us a tons of nuggets (dare I say Buckeyes) that can really help us get more out of every client relationship.  For many of us who were fortunate enough to be there, our #1 takeaway was to shift our perspective from doing “one-off gigs” to becoming a “trusted advisor” for our clients and going deeper.

Here are the learning nuggets:

• Who decides what your positioning is?  The customer does.
• If you lose your positioning with the client, then you lose your job.
• We have to keep pressing those validation buttons with our client.
• You’re not their pool boy – you’re a hired expert; so act accordingly.
• Be willing to serve, but don’t be subservient.
• Jim says, “I never sell my clients, I let them sell me.” – Bring so much value that THEY sell you internally to other people.  Create evangelists.
• Do you want to be a speaker or an advisor?  It’s the difference between a one-off speech and an ongoing contract (more speeches, consulting, training, facilitating, etc.).  Not having to constantly chase new clients.
• Become a dandelion across your client’s organization – be so good, so valuable, so practical that people will willingly blow the parachute seed pods throughout the entire organization.
• Get THEM to sell you!
• Send an article to a client/prospect that you didn’t write as value add…write your name and number ON the article (not a yellow Post-It) because they’ll make photocopies
• Charge by the value of what you create, not by the number of hours you work.
• If you charge by value, you send a signal to your client that you’re not a vendor; you’re a valued partner.
• The Five Magical Marketing Words: “What we typically do is…” – gives comfort; it’s proven, low-risk.

Jim’s Levels of Interaction with Clients (he adds value at each level without being pigeon-holed or type cast at any of them)

1. Executive Leadership Circle – C-suite executives; 6 days of “retreats” and consulting throughout the year; annual renewal
2. Change Leadership Circle – next level down; people on the cusp of becoming
3. Emerging Leadership Circle – supervisor and above;
4. Personal Brilliance Circle – for the rank and file; e-learning system

How to Rock the House with Social Media (as a Speaker)

• Share good ideas, articles, blog posts, links
• Promote others
• Be nice
• Reinforces your positioning as an advisor/expert
• Great to get the word out to other people

Other juicy nuggets:

• How can you be all things to all people? Bring value to the CEO, to mid-level managers, and frontline employees.
• Essence Feedback – this is what I felt when I was there.
• People can’t really multi-task: neuro-surgeon says you can only focus on one thing at at time; younger tech-savvy folks are just better at switching back and forth
• Twitter will help spread the reach while you are speaking
• Culture comes from repetitive action
• “I listened to the conversations you were having with people online”
• “Is he the guy who works with the CEO?”
• “How did you feel about what we did?”
• Talk about your advisory positions with other clients
• Tell the stories of success, challenges, problems, cause others will want to know.
• Find the unique twist in the business consulting model that is different from everyone else.

Getting Support – Working with an Assistant (here’s how Jim divides his responsibilities with his one office assistant)

Speaker/Consultant (Jim) – Strategic Responsibilities

• Client management
• Presenting
• Writing
• Podcast
• Development
• Delivery
• Interviews
• Sales
• Marketing

Virtual Assistant (Holly) – Tactical Responsibilities

• Marketing
• Sales
• PR
• Logistics
• Scheduling
• Accounting
• Editing
• Vendor relations
• Subcontractor management – wants it off her plate
• Client contracts first draft
• Phones

Again, it was another great meeting.  We’ll see you on April 10th for how to use online strategies (Google Adwords, SEO, etc.) to skyrocket your business.

Giddy up!

Steve Hughes

President, NSA St. Louis Chapter 2010-11