Episode 147: Building a Sustainable Sales Engine for Your Consultancy, with Alan Morton
Jun 14, 2024
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Alan Morton, MD of SBR Consulting, shares insights on building a scalable sales engine, diversifying client relationships, embracing sales culture, and leveraging CRM for consultancy growth. Learn about strategies for effective client interactions, curiosity-driven conversations, and metrics tracking to optimize sales outcomes.
Avoid over-dependence on one client for business sustainability.
Promote a culture where everyone values and participates in sales.
Utilize curiosity-driven questions to turn casual conversations into sales opportunities.
Deep dives
Understanding the Consultancy Growth Network's Mission
The Consultancy Growth Network is a community of boutique consulting leaders connecting experienced growth experts with founders seeking success. Members access a range of resources, events, and an active community to enhance their firms.
Insights on Effective Marketing and Sales Strategies
Alan Morton from SBR Consulting discusses effective marketing strategies and converting leads into sales. The interview covers creating a strategy for sales, developing systematic approaches for winning business, and improving sales performance through training and structural changes.
Democratizing Sales and Building Trust
The conversation delves into democratizing sales by demystifying and embracing the importance of cultivating trust in sales interactions. The emphasis is on creating a strategy that fosters mutual exchange of value and building strong, beneficial relationships with clients.
Measuring Sales Performance and Implementing CRM
Measurement of sales performance is crucial for predictive analytics and process optimization. Tracking metrics like pipeline health, stage-to-stage conversions, and activity measures leads to better visibility and control over revenue outcomes. Implementing a CRM system, whether through basic tools like spreadsheets or comprehensive platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot, facilitates data-driven decision-making and optimization of the sales process.
The Importance of Building Strong Customer Relationships with CRM
Building strong customer relationships through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is emphasized as a key foundation for effective sales. CRM serves as a tool to gain customer insights and identify untapped value pools beneficial to both the client and the business. Emphasizing the significance of having a structured CRM system, the discussion highlights that regardless of the system's cost, effective utilization and data input are crucial for successful outcomes.
Evolving Sales Strategies Through Methodologies Like Quiz
The podcast delves into evolving sales strategies through methodologies like Quiz, emphasizing a systematic approach in sales processes. The methodology Quiz, which stands for Question, Understand, Influence, Solidify, provides a structured framework for successful sales meetings. It stresses the importance of focusing on the client by asking insightful questions, influencing decision-making, and gaining commitment progressively throughout the sales process. Additionally, the discussion underscores the value of codifying successful strategies to replicate and drive growth within organizations.
Is your firm relying on the same handful of ‘rainmakers’ to bring in business?
The latest episode of Climb in Consulting looks at the practical steps consultancies need to take to build a scalable sales engine that fuels growth and removes risk.
Nick was joined by Alan Morton, Managing Director of SBR Consulting, a specialist global consultancy that focuses on growth and revenue acceleration.
On the day SBR Consulting hit its 1000th client milestone, Alan shared his insights on:
- The dangers of client concentration: Discover how to avoid over-dependence on one key client or contact.
- Demystifying (and democratising) sales: Remove the stigma around sales and create a culture where everyone embraces it as a way to add value and build trust.
- The power of "coffee conversations": Turn casual chats into opportunities by using curiosity-driven questions to uncover challenges and potential solutions.
- Moving beyond a hope-based strategy: Develop a systematic approach to winning business through active listening and asking the right questions.
- Metrics that matter: Learn the key sales pipeline metrics you should be tracking to gain predictability and optimise your sales process.
- Building a coaching culture: Discover how data-driven insights can be used to identify development needs and fuel a strong coaching culture within your consultancy.
- CRM done right: Avoid the "garbage in, garbage out" trap and learn how to leverage a CRM system to gain valuable insights and improve your sales effectiveness.
This episode is packed with practical takeaways that will help you transform your consultancy from a reactive business to a proactive growth machine.
We hope you enjoy the show!
Reach out to Alan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanmorton/
Learn more about SBR Consulting: https://sbrconsulting.com
Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show:
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Screw It, Let’s Do It by Sir Richard Branson
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