The Professional Services Pursuit

Author, keynote speaker, and Managing Director of Mirren Business Development, Brent Hodgins, joins us on the show to discuss the resilience of agencies and the major growth shifts happening in the industry right now; including:The lasting impact of the Pandemic on the Industry:Historic levels of growthNavigating the changing market conditions The positive shift to organic growthOvercoming the new biz addictionBetter allocating resources for goodUnderstanding qualification in the RFP process…favorite or fillerClient-side marketing vs Marketing AgenciesDNA difference / overcoming the disconnect Balancing business impact and creativityElevating the RFP brief to differentiateTo learn more about Mirren go to www.mirren.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Schoen, CEO and President of BTM Global, sat down with us to discuss some of the downfalls of the business requisition process and dealing with procurement, as well as the most overlooked aspect of the implementation process once the business has been won, change management and adoption. Topics included in this discussion are:The ups and downs of the RFP processThe role of procurement for strategic enterprisePlatform and in-strategy services acquisitionsProperly gauging the commitment of new clientsEnterprise software acquisitionsChange Management and adoptionHow to prevent low adoption ratesWhen to begin the change management stage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brent sits down with the Co-founder and Executive VP of Strategy at Hero Digital, Owen Frivold. Owen shares what it takes to successfully productize services to better utilize your talent and differentiate where it really matters. Owen expands by discussing the importance of:Setting a North Star vision that aligns with your value systemThe benefits of productizing your agencies services to serve clients and employees betterDefining the foundational elements in your toolboxReinvesting in the people that helped guide your successAdapting in unforeseen situations Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joining Matt on this episode is Randy Mysliviec, the President and CEO of RTM Consulting and Managing Director of the Resource Management Institute (RMI). They explore top trends and how organizations can improve their utilization based on the data gathered for the RMI Research Report, including:Training to a standardAllowing your resources to grow and develop without negative influencesBetter increasing utilization in your organizationThe Just-in-Time Resourcing ProcessGetting on the 20-80 StandardThe future with automation solutionsHow automating helped during a global pandemic Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Head of Operations at ORM, Andrew “Bear” Forsyth, calls in from the UK to talk to Brent about his journey into operations and his approach to technology, data and change management in a modern agency, including:Bear’s journey from a resource manager at the Olympics to his current roleHis love/hate relationship with spreadsheets and the need for a more reliable solutionSolving the problem of siloed, incomplete dataThe need for automation and how he approaches implementation of new tools The different metrics Bear uses to measure successSelling people on change Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Senior Consulting Executive, Author and Founder/President of TechVentive, Brian Sommer, joins Matt Finch on the podcast. Brian has published over 600 articles on the technology space during his career and came on the show to share a countdown of the top 5 biggest IT trends that are shaping the Professional Services industry today, including:The value of legitimate Net Promoter ScoresThe “Age of the Global Service Firm”Why proprietary and standalone internal systems hinder scalability“The End of the Bespoke Era”How advanced technology changes service processes and outcomes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brent sits down with former Neustar Sr. Director of Product Marketing (now VP of Product Marketing at Infosum) and podcast host, Devon DeBlasio.  They take a deep dive into marketing, privacy, and the need for more data science unicorns to bring a human factor to data and automation! The conversation includes:Neustar and Devon’s previous role within the organizationPrivacy within marketingThe big focus on consumer privacy by the government and news organizationsConsumer expectations of advertisersThe importance of transparency to create a better customer experienceHow Neustar approaches identity resolution, and the focus on the householdSolving for the decline of the cookieFinding and retaining really specific talentCheck out NeustarListen to more of Devon on his podcasts No Hype and You’re On Mute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Ragsdale, Distinguished Researcher and VP of Technology Ecosystems at TSIA, joins Matt once again to talk about the key elements every Professional Services Organization should be focusing on moving into the new year. The conversation includes:“Go Live” numbers and automation of the “Quote to Cash” cycleThe shift from financial charters to driving customer adoptionThe new concept of customer success in cloud technologyProgress on agencies adopting an end-to-end customer experience strategyThe ongoing event of onboardingChief Customer OfficersThe need to look at your technology and resource budgetsIf you would like to explore this topic more, head over to the Mavenlink blog for a whole host of articles about client satisfaction.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brent welcomes founder of Ignition Consulting Group, author, presenter, and “brand doctor for brand doctors”, Tim Williams to discuss his unique perspective on focused business strategies and transformative revenue models. The conversation includes:What it means to be “focused”Having a clear positioning/prospecting strategy and the 4 questions to determine your differentiation The problem of “unprofitable growth” and how it affects firms of all sizesDeveloping a pricing strategy and the importance of shifting from a bottom-up cost basis to pricing the value of expertiseThe issue with the hourly rate structure and the reason for the talent drain in agenciesCreating a diversified pricing portfolioFor more great information on this subject check out Tim’s books or visit the Ignition Consulting Group website:Positioning for ProfessionalsTake a Stand for your Brand Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Special guest host and industry insider, John Ragsdale from TSIA sits down with Michael Speranza. It was announced on Wednesday that Michael will be the new CEO of the company formed by the Mavenlink and Kimble merger. In this special episode we explore Michael’s background and answer key questions regarding the merger and the competitive advantage that it will create in the industry. The conversation includes:Michael’s interesting technology background and the career path that lead him to this roleWhat the merger means for ongoing and future product development plansThe day 1 advantage and significant growth opportunity that this merger will facilitate How this helps expedite global business solutions and great customer experiences  Michael’s top priorities and his positive feelings on the future of how the merger will impact customers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.