2bobs - With David C. Baker And Blair Enns

Blair recommends five things firms need to be effective at qualifying new business opportunities in order to prevent the over-allocation of resources against early-stage buyers.   Links Slapping Down Your Childlike Glee Mastering the Value Conversation Models Everywhere Critical Questions Your New Business Person Should Be Able to Answer How and When to Talk About Your Firm   Read the episode notes and transcript at http://2bobs.com/podcast/the-agency-gatekeeper

David thinks creative firms can learn something from sex workers about how to run their business. Read the transcript and episode notes at http://2bobs.com/podcast/prostitutes-and-scope-creep

David is not an economist so he doesn’t have any idea if an economic downturn is imminent, but the signs aren’t great. If you decide that a downturn is around the corner, what would you do right now? Read the transcript and episode notes at http://2bobs.com/podcast/how-would-you-prepare-for-a-downturn

Blair had fun on a week of sales calls and came up with four reasons why he thinks most people can learn to have fun selling like he did. Read the episode notes and transcript at http://2bobs.com/podcast/selling-should-be-fun-or-you-arent-doing-it-right   Links “Are We Having Fun Yet?” “This Should Be Fun” “Coaches Corner: Now This Is Fun”

Blair and David go into detail about what a model is for a creative firm and how they can be useful in closing new business and improving profitability. Read the transcript and episode notes at http://2bobs.com/podcast/models-everywhere

David and Blair follow up their previous discussion about how marketing firms have evolved, going deeper into how different service categories and positioning might look in the near future. Read this episode's transcript and get links to what was discussed at http://2bobs.com/podcast/how-categories-andpositioning-options-might-change

Creative or marketing firms look a lot different today than they did 20 years ago. What happened to the ad agencies and design firms? And what trends are Blair and David seeing as businesses and technology continue to evolve? Read the transcript and listen to more episodes at http://2bobs.com/podcast/the-evolution-of-a-marketing-firm

David keeps getting asked: “what multiple are you seeing these days?” As if there’s some simple, magic answer that’ll lead to a company’s value. EBITDA is a great tool…but an incomplete one.   Read the transcript and episode notes at http://2bobs.com/podcast/shortcomings-of-the-ebitda-multiplier

When someone makes Prospect Theory generalizations—saying that buyers either over-weight gains or over-weight losses—Blair wants us to remember that both are true at different times during the sales process, and we need to adjust accordingly at the right times to close the sale. Read the transcript and episode notes at http://2bobs.com/podcast/the-emotional-journey-of-buying-and-selling

Inspired by some observations of what sometimes happens to people on the journey from vendor to expert, Blair sees some newbie Win Without Pitching devotees going too far–power tripping. Read the episode notes and transcript at http://2bobs.com/podcast/hard-lines-soft-lines

Does your list of service offerings look like a Cheesecake Factory menu? David identifies five hallmarks of poor service design along with five principles of effective service offering design. Read the transcript and episode notes at http://2bobs.com/podcast/designing-your-service-offerings

In a follow-up to the popular “Secrets Behind the Killer Proposal” episode, David unloads everything firms can do to make sure their website is locked and loaded for winning over new clients (wink wink).

David has seven reasons for removing all barriers on his website for readers and prospects to access what he writes - but admits that it may not be for everyone. Read the show notes and transcript at http://2bobs.com/podcast/why-all-my-content-is-ungated

Blair details each buyer type (Convenience, Relationship, Price, Value, and Poker Player), and demonstrates how your proposal should do the negotiating work for you regardless of which type of buyer you’re selling to. Read the show notes and transcript at http://2bobs.com/podcast/selling-to-different-buyer-types

Blair discusses what they mean by having a process, how to develop it, what to avoid, and how your process at its highest level can be turned into valuable IP. Get the episode notes and transcript at http://2bobs.com/podcast/the-power-of-process

Would you fire yourself based on the firm's results? Fortunately, David cannot fire you. Unfortunately, David cannot fire you.

Blair and David try not to give their best stuff away on this free podcast but they can’t hold back any longer. It’s time to unleash onto the world Blair's killer proposal, which should raise your closing ratio by 62-67%.

Every firm will face the possibility of a client concentration challenge, and every client should probably say “yes” to that opportunity in spite of the warnings going off in their heads.

Blair identifies six variables that can change the trajectory of the sale conversation with your prospective client.

The most-read New York Times story of 2021 was about the dominant emotion many of us felt. Blair and David just hit record for this episode, without any plan for this conversation about the pandemic and how they feel about the new year.