The Challenges of RFP's

Beyond Referrals has been engaged to write an article for a national Canadian business magazine on the challenges of using an RFP process to select a professional services firm. We'll explore alternatives to the RFP process as well as some mandatory criteria to make them more meaningful, and reasonable, if they must be used. Watch for more information about a publication date later this fall.

KPI's Anyone?

In the summer of 2005 I presented a paper titled Key Performance Indicators of Sales Success In A Professional Services Firm to the World Congress on Total Quality Management. A new book by Jason Burby and Shane Atchison does a nice job of explaining the relationship between KPI's and your web site data.

If you've wondered what web stats to measure - and why - I suggest you take a look at our KPI article and then get a copy of Actionable Web Analytics: Using Data to Make Smart Business Decisions at Amazon.

Enjoy the reading.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Golf Course...

Beyond Referals e-newsletter subscribers might recall that the June 2007 issue dealt with selling even while you're doing other things (Volume 4.4 Selling While You're Golfing). As it turns out the University of Manitoba was just beginning to plan an event espousing the virtues of golf as a marketing tool, when they received a copy of our newsletter.

The result is an invite from the university for us to sit on a panel of speakers discussing golf as a marketing tool, followed by a round of golf at Niakwa Country Club here in Winnipeg with MBA students and alumni.

The date is Monday September 24th, 2007 and more information will follow as the date gets closer in case you care to join us.

Should You Be A Consultant?

At the end of a recent one day seminar I walked over to one of the participants who wasn't looking very happy. I asked her what was on her mind and she said "I realized today that I don't want to be a consultant". This person was a very profitable consultant and had made a lot of money, but her "practice" was basically a one-client affair that had lasted many years and was now ending. She had no new clients in sight, and it was obvious she would be struggling to continue the practice - at least in the short term. What she was really saying to me was that she didn't want to be a sales person. She loved to consult, but the client aquisition process was not something she was ever interested in doing.

Very few successful small practices are run by people like this. And people like this lady seldom make partner in larger firms. To succeed in the long term as a consultant you need to be able to aquire new clients on a predictable, and consistent basis. Too often, this is overlooked by individuals considering a shift into consulting.

Are you ready to sell your services?