Marketing

Successfully Selling Professional Services – Interview Matt Dixon (‘The Activator Advantage’)

Dirk VerburgLeave a comment

‘Eating radishes’

That is how, according to Matt Dixon, many ‘doer-sellers’ experience selling their services.

People do not become management consultants, executive coaches, accountants, lawyers, or engineers to sell. However, for those working in professional service firms or independently, selling is an integral part of their role.

At the same time, professional sales processes are changing. More and more professional services are sourced through RFPs, and buying committees are replacing traditional client relationships. This means that doer-sellers need to change their approach to sales in order to stay relevant.

Based on an extensive quantitative study of nearly three thousand partners across industries such as law, accounting, consulting, investment banking, executive search, and public relations, five distinct seller types within professional service industries were identified; however only one of them, the Activator, consistently drives growth.

In the 33rd episode of the Leadership 2.0 podcast, I interviewed Matt Dixon from DCM Insights about ‘The Activator Advantage – What Today’s Rainmakers Do Differently‘.

Continue reading →

Relationships Matter – Interview Ralph Schonenbach

Dirk VerburgLeave a comment

Ralph Schonenbach is a serial entrepreneur whose work centers around developing and nurturing relationships. www.trymeerkat.ai is his latest start-up, and in this episode of the Leadership 2.0 podcast, I talk with Ralph about this venture, as well as his book ‘Relationships matter’, which was recently published.

In our conversation, we touched on the following topics:

Continue reading →

The power of clarity in a very noisy world

Dirk VerburgLeave a comment

Three things to avoid if you want to make sure people understand you

‘This is a very noisy world, so we have to be very clear what we want them to know about us’

Steve Jobs

In 1920 Vladimir Lenin already recognized the power of controlling the printing press. A century later, in today’s social media world, the real battle ground is our everyday language.

Language is the ultimate tool to inspire people to take action. Unfortunately, we frequently squander its impact by making three mistakes:

Continue reading →

Mindf*ck: Politics, Psychology and Social Media

Dirk VerburgLeave a comment

In 2018, the Cambridge Analytica scandal shocked the world. It became clear that Cambridge Analytica had used data from tens of million Facebook users, to influence the elections in the US, and the Brexit referendum. 

Continue reading →

Deliver on the promise of your brand

Dirk VerburgLeave a comment
Deliver on the promise of your brand

‘Noblesse oblige’: if you offer branded products or services, ensure your pricing model enables you to maintain the loyalty of your clients by offering a ‘hassle-free’ after-sales experience.

In both the B2C, as well as in the B2B world, there are usually three reasons why people buy branded products and services, instead of generic ones:

1.    Unique features

2.    Exclusivity

3.    Quality

The first two aspects can usually be evaluated before the purchasing process. The third one, however, is mostly experienced only after the initial purchasing process has been completed, and therein lies the problem…

Continue reading →