Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Show Notes Will Bachman and Niul Burton discuss procurement and strategic sourcing. Procurement is the function of acquiring goods or services as inputs to a company's operations. Strategic sourcing is a subset of procurement that focuses on the sourcing of goods and services in order to maximize value and efficiency. Niul explained that procurement involves identifying, negotiating, contracting, and working with suppliers on an ongoing basis. He also discussed the importance of understanding the needs of the company, the market, and the supplier in order to ensure that the best deal is being offered. Finally, Niul stressed the importance of building relationships with suppliers in order to ensure successful and long-term collaborations. Functions of Procurement Procurement is the process of buying goods and services from external suppliers. Strategic sourcing is a subset of procurement that takes a big-picture perspective to maximize value from spending. Other functions within procurement include contract negotiation and purchase to pay, which is the day-to-day operational execution of requisitions, purchase orders and invoicing. Third party risk management is an evolution of procurement that includes managing risk for external suppliers, licensees, and distributors. Strategic Sourcing to Drive More Value Strategic sourcing is an evolution of the procurement function to drive more value for an organization. Historically, purchasing was simply a department that executed purchase orders. Now, strategic sourcing is focused on creating value, as more than 50% of an organization's revenue goes out to their supply base. To manage costs and drive value, procurement and the relationship with the suppliers creates a tremendous opportunity. Procurement is now also doing more supplier risk management, which is a subset of third parties. Strategic sourcing is focused on understanding the current market, developing the right supplier relationships, and creating a competitive environment to drive the best value for the company. The process typically includes conducting a market analysis, negotiating with the suppliers, and implementing a contract. Strategic Sourcing – A View on Spend Strategic sourcing is a way of taking a new view on how money is spent. It involves centralizing contracts and purchases, standardizing specifications, and creating competition in the market. A former client of Niul was a big manufacturing company which had 36 different agreements for different sites, each with different terms and conditions and pricing. Strategic sourcing enabled them to look at the situation from a bigger picture view, and negotiate a commercial relationship with the supplier which was worth $1.5 billion over five years. Some of the levers used to create more value included consolidating skews, reducing the number of vendors, and having one standardized contract. Other strategies included aggregating volume, aligning to industry specifications, creating new competition, and process improvement. Timestamps 00:01 Procurement and Strategic Sourcing 101  02:07 Exploring the Different Functions of Procurement 08:12 Leveraging Value Creation Through Process Improvement 09:25 864 different strategies that can be deployed in strategic sourcing 12:13 Assessing the Procurement Function 15:47 Category Management 30:59 The internal process 39:38 The difference between RFI RFP and RFQ Links: https://www.beroeinc.com/podcasts/niul-burton-procurement-digitalization-journey/ CONTACT INFO: Niul@NiulBurton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/niulburton/ https://niulburton.com/ Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.  

Show Notes Jessica Magoch is a jazz musician and sales expert who has put her two skills together to help others. She started her sales career when she was auditioning for college musical theater programs and realized that the best job for her would be one with flexibility - sales. She quickly excelled in the field and went on to work for a company that she helped build from zero to 100 million in revenue. After leaving that company, she started her own consulting and coaching business, where she helps women-led social enterprises learn how to sell. How to Improve Your Sales Technique Jessica explains that people who are successful in sales often have an inexplicable thing that cannot be taught. This is because they are able to connect with people emotionally, which is something that can be learned. She explains that music is the fastest way to affect someone's emotions and that using it in a sales conversation can make a difference. The conversation explores the idea that people make decisions based on emotions and then back them up with logic. The idea is from the study of emotional intelligence. The study found that information travels through the amygdala first before it hits the frontal cortex. The amygdala is where emotions happen, and it is also where gut reactions are. The study also found that the information in the logical part of the brain is very limited. The conversation then discusses how to incorporate these insights from music into sales. One way is to start with your scales, which are your sales frameworks, your sales techniques, and your processes. Another way is to bring artistry to it by looking at the dynamics of music and applying it to sales conversations. The salesperson's main role is to help the customer take action, and musicality can help with that by adding emotion and creativity to the conversation. Musicality can also help salespeople be more creative in general. Building Confidence in Business Jessica talks about the importance of performance in all aspects of life, from music to sales. The idea is that sometimes you have to access different parts of yourself in order to be successful and that this is not a bad thing. Beyonce is cited as an example of someone who has an alter ego that she calls upon when she needs to be fierce on stage. In business, it is often important to be able to sell oneself and one's ideas confidently. One way to build confidence is to develop an alter ego or character who is comfortable with selling. This can be helpful especially when cold calling, as it can be difficult to remain confident when speaking to someone who may not be interested. Outbound Sales Strategies Will Bachman and Jessica Magoch discuss the importance of outbound strategies that involve phone calls. Jessica says that cold calling is often ineffective because people feel like they are just a target on a list. Bachman and Macgoch agree that cold calling is not a pleasant experience. In order to make a cold call warmer, it is important to do 15 seconds of research on the person you are calling. This will help you to better understand them and get their attention. It is also important to ask permission before continuing the conversation and to be specific about the problems that you are solving. Timestamps 2:06: Making decisions first emotionally and back them up with logic. 7:24: How to incorporate music into sales? 11:14: How to teach creativity in sales. 15:38: How to be creative in the moment. 20:51: Eliminate the emotion from objections by eliminating the objection. 29:08: How to avoid cold-calling. 34:02: How to personalize your call? 38:06: How to get your voice to be dynamic.   Links: https://www.jpmpartners.com/   CONTACT INFO: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicamagoch/   Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Nate Kievman is the founder of Linked Strategies, a company that helps create better relationships between businesses and their ideal buyers. Link Strategies has been in business since 2010 and has evolved over the years into a full-service digital agency. Link Strategies Will Bachman is the host of Unleashed, and he and Nate discuss the services that Link Strategies offers. Link Strategies works with companies of all sizes, from one-person consulting shops to large enterprises like BlackRock and NASDAQ. The company typically works with companies that are looking to scale beyond their current referral- or network-based sales models. Nate discusses the lead generation industry, and how it is highly competitive and non-consolidated. He describes how there are many firms that claim to be able to generate leads, but in reality, most of them use spammy tactics and are not very effective. The book The Outsiders explores how companies like Salesforce have disrupted traditional businesses by using technology to their advantage. The book argues that companies that are able to use technology to their advantage will be the ones who succeed in the future. The book has had a major impact on the business world and has inspired many companies to adopt similar strategies. The book states that companies that are able to use technology to their advantage will be the ones who succeed in the future. Lead Generation Strategies They talk about how there is a low barrier to entry for anyone who wants to start a lead generation business, and how there are many firms that do this with very little experience. They also talk about how recent changes in spam detection have made it very difficult for companies to get their emails delivered, and how this has caused many companies to reevaluate their lead-generation strategies. Nate explains that the key to getting a response from a busy executive is to respect their time and give them enough information to make a decision about meeting with you. He also notes that it takes experience and knowledge to craft a compelling email that will engage the reader. Finally, he cautions that companies often fail at outbound strategies because they don't commit to the process. Cold Outbound Strategies Nate discusses how cold outbound strategies are designed to generate leads, appointments, and conversions, and how companies often fail to properly utilize them. He argues that companies should invest in their partners and salespeople in order to properly execute these strategies and maximize their potential. The conversation discuss tips for sales conversion on cold outreach meetings. They mention that it is important to think of these types of campaigns as a short, mid and long term pipeline development, and that most companies get into it as a tactical buy. They also mention that it is important to understand the nuances of all the facts in your current business, and that contracts should be for a year or more. The salespeople at Kievman's company are focused on finding out the challenges, goals, and gaps of their potential clients. They want to assess whether or not they can help solve the gap before going into their sales pitch. This is important because Kievman's company offers dynamic and customizable solutions. Timestamps: 1:51: Categories of competitors in the appointment setting and lead generation space. 3:57: The book “Predictable Revenue” 8:52: What’s happening in the world of email deliverability. 14:15: How to get into the psychology of the executive office. 20:25: When you’re sending emails out to your email accounts, who are you sending them to? 25:42: What are some of the archetypes of copy that you use? 30:18: The importance of being a growth partner and not a lead generator. 35:17: The importance of having a candid conversation with your prospects. 40:51: If you had 100 really good friends, how many of them would work with you over the course of two or three years?   Links: https://www.amazon.ca/Predictable-Revenue-Business-Practices-Salesforce-com/dp/0984380213 CONTACT INFO: https://linkedstrategies.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathankievman natek@linkedstrategies.com   Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes: Unleashed has been running for six years and has 335,000 downloads. In episode 500 of the podcast, host and creator, Will Bachman wants to share three things: the deep personal history behind the podcast, what listeners can expect going forward, and the impact it has had on him.  An Interest in Journalism Will began his publishing adventures in junior high school when he started the Henry James Herald, a photocopied newspaper he sold or gave away in the lunchroom. He  tried to start an alternate to the school newspaper in high school when he found the school paper to be a little less interesting than what he thought it could be.  Despite not having the opportunity to pursue his initial dream of starting his own newspaper in high school,  his passion for journalism continued in college when he joined the Harvard Crimson. He became a photographer and learned how to develop film and print photographs, spending around 30-40 hours a week as a photo editor. He enjoyed this experience immensely, as it gave him a sense of being in the know and being able to see his photos in print.  From College to McKinsey Will discussed his experiences in college, the Navy, and business school related to publishing. During his time in the Navy as a communications officer, he created a bulletin designed to keep the crew informed during a tactical readiness exam. In business school he created an elaborate cheat sheet for his fellow classmates to use in their exams. One day when walking into the exam room, he was thrilled to see almost 80% of the room using his cheat sheet.  And later in his career at McKinsey, he had a dream of gathering together a collection of resources, but never had the time to execute it. At McKinsey, Will had the idea of getting the whole business analyst class together every Friday morning to share tips and tricks they had learned from their projects. The Birth of the Book After being an independent consultant for four years, Will had an idea to write a book about how to thrive as an independent consultant. This was the birth of a book called Unleashed where he could share his experiences as an independent consultant. He designed a cover for the book with a dog leash and a dog jumping off the page which eventually became the logo for the show. Looking back on his life, Will realized that he’d always wanted to talk to people and then share what he’d learned, and that is the purpose of the show: to share practical lessons learned so people can apply them in their professional lives. Timestamps: 05:26 Taking cheat sheets into Business school 07:26 The birth of an idea at McKinsey 09:21 The creation of the Unleashed logo 11:06 Interviews that address a specific need 12:47 What Will has learned from the podcasts 13:27 Authors interviewed 15:10 The importance of having a podcast 18:49 David Fields episodes  

Show Notes John Livesay is the pitch whisperer - he helps people calm down and deliver a winning pitch. He believes that the best way to win more sales is to tell a story that includes your own personal story, a company story, and then turning a case study into a case story. He was approached by Anthem insurance to be their sales keynote speaker and ended up staying for their improvisation session to help people with their pitches. Ink Magazine dubbed Jordan a pitch whisperer after she gave an example of how she helped a client tell a better story. She was working with Olympus medical, who had a piece of equipment that could make surgeries go 30% faster, but they couldn't understand why more doctors weren't buying it. Jordan explained that people buy emotionally and then back it up with logic, and then she asked the client some questions. The client told a story about how their equipment had helped a doctor at Long Beach Memorial put a patient's family out of their waiting misery. The other doctor saw himself in the story and decided he wanted the equipment. The client was amazed and said they had never thought to make the patient's family a character in the story. 4 Steps to Effective Pitches John Livesay talks about his process for pitching and how he uses a four step structure to make his pitches more effective. He gives an example of how he used this process to pitch for an airport renovation project. He first paints the picture with the who, what, where, when. Then he highlights the problem and the stakes involved. Next, he provides a solution. Finally, he brings the story to life with dialogue that allows the listener to see themselves in the story. The speakers discuss the importance of focusing on the problem statement when seeking independent consultants. They tell a story about a fictitious client, James, who needs the caliber of consultant found at a big firm like McKinsey or Bain, but without the full team. James exhausts her personal network and then has trouble finding the right person. The speakers argue that this is a problem that their company, UpWork, solves. Pitching Tips for Independent Consultants In this conversation, John Livesay discusses some tips for independent consultants who are pitching their services to potential clients. He stresses the importance of selling yourself first, as people are more likely to buy into your energy than anything else. Additionally, he talks about the importance of using stories to connect with potential clients, as this will help them to see themselves in your experiences. Will Bachman and John Livesay discuss the importance of finding a mentor, and how to go about finding one that is a good fit. They advise against simply posting a request for a mentor online, and instead recommend reaching out to people you know personally or have worked with before. They also suggest stacking multiple problems to solve, in order to make the mentee more attractive to potential mentors. Cold Email Subject Lines John Livesay, a sales trainer, recommends focusing on empathy, listening, and storytelling when making cold calls or emails in order to build an emotional connection with the person you're trying to reach. This will help you earn the right to have a meeting or conversation, rather than be seen as an annoyance. The conversation discuss tips for writing cold email subject lines and John Livesay shares his tip of funneling potential contacts on LinkedIn. He believes that by staying connected with potential contacts, it won't feel like a cold email when you do reach out. Links: https://johnlivesay.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWp7P-2gv2a-nppJpXswoA https://www.amazon.ca/Successful-Pitch-Conversations-Invisible-Investable/dp/0982285353 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-successful-pitch-with-john-livesay/id982063571 https://www.joinbytext.com/ Timestamps 0:01: What is a pitch whisper? 4:18: How to find the right story to sell. 9:15: The importance of telling the best story. 11:55: How did you get into the field of consulting? 18:50: How do you find the right person? 23:34: How to open your email with a compelling pitch? 28:07: What’s a great open?  Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.  

Peter is an energy industry thought leader, and consult and international keynote speaker and co-founder of NorthBridge Energy Partners LLC, an independent consulting organization with expertise and perspective on US energy markets. Peter has worked with and advised companies as large and established as GE, Nike, and SunPower while also helping numerous start-ups navigate the challenging path to success, and he is the author of "The Energy Switch: How Companies and Customers Are Transforming the Electrical Grid and the Future of Power." You can learn more about Peter and his work at www.peterkellydetwiler.com. Key points include: 06:02: Current challenges faced by the energy system 13:25: Energy storage and the energy grid 39:02: The future of consulting for the energy industry Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Jonas is a media and entertainment executive with a passion for innovating in the on-demand content ecosystem. In 2019 he was named one of British Columbia’s 40 under 40. As a co-founder of Bumper, Jonas uses his 20+ years of experience in the on-demand content space to help podcasters grow their audiences and return on investments. Previously, as the Director of Strategy at Pacific Content, Jonas helped clients achieve success in branded podcasting. Pacific Content is an award-winning podcast agency working at the intersection of brand strategy and high-quality audio storytelling. Learn more about Jonas and his company on Bumper. Key points include: 05:54: The range of requests and services 11:23: Podcast strategies 21:17: Reviews and vanity metrics Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Todd Cherches is a visionary leader with experience as a consultant, trainer, executive coach, TEDx speaker, keynote speaker, panelist, professor, author, blogger, and thought leader in the field of leadership and visual thinking. In this episode, he talks about his patented VisuaLeadership® approach. You can learn more about Todd and his work at www.toddcherches.com or www.bigbluegumball.com. Key points include: 06:18: How to host a creative meeting to drive growth 11:43 Exercises in visual leadership 24:07: The origins of visual leadership Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Jonathan Paisner has worked with B2B Fortune 1000 companies to evolve and implement their corporate brand to adapt for the changing needs of their business. He has held leadership and senior consulting roles at DeSantis Breindel, CoreBrand (now Tenet) and Siegel & Gale, and previously, he created and ran the brand licensing division of A&E Television Networks. In this episode, he shares his expertise in brand architecture. You can reach out to Jonathan on Linkedin or through his company website BrandExperiencedGroup.com. Key points include: 02:32: Brand architecture as a window to the overall business strategy 11:51: A case example of brand building  21:06: Securing alignment between teams and departments Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Raffi Grinberg is the Executive Director of Dialog and an educator. He also created and taught the course Adulting 101 at Boston College (the most popular course in the undergraduate business school). The course covered personal finance, relationships/communication, positive psychology, and career skills. In this episode, he talks about developing this program and why it has been so successful. You can reach Raffi through Linkedin. Key points include: 05:22: Cognitive skills coaching 14:18: Growth mindset 34:32: Communication skills Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.