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Rod Aparicio

Get one tip, question, or belief-challenge that just might change the way you market, to help your customers buy. A *daily* email for b2b founders on improving your business —without the bullshit.

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What's coming

Here are a few themes that are recurring in the small/medium business I see. Which ones do you feel you resonate with? You're struggling with getting your sales to be better. The market is highly competitive. You're pushed to play on (the lowest) price. You can't say No to customers. That's losing business (and stupid). If you say No to a customer, you're losing opportunities. Your competition is poaching your customers. Your revenue goals are not where you want them, despite everything...

What do you do after 2 years of... writing daily emails? You keep writing. You revise what you thought and wrote. You do an inventory of the common subjects. You think clearer. And deciding where to focus is like a revelation. What's the YOU from 2 years ago that would benefit from the YOU from now? What would you tell them?

Seeing everywhere "Need to set strategic goals" feels a lot like an obvious thing. Just like saying "we need wet water" If goals are not strategic, what are they? 🤷

If you're thinking in terms of how to change the game —not just "get better", but to shift how things work— you need a few things. Between a force or a force multiplier*, you'd better take this last one. And one thing that multiplies the force your business is is your thinking. It's how you operate. How you approach things. How you think. To know that in a structured way, you need to articulate it. And to articulate it, you need to think with your fingers. You need to publish. You need to...

Yesterday's message was about thinking of what you think would be cool to have for you / your business 2 years from now. Now, that's a good perspective to have. However, if you think of something that would be a game-changer in 2 years from now for your business... that's a different story. Here's the thing: Thinking of something cool to have can motivate you for some time. Thinking of what a game-changer for your business, that's the one that will push you to: Think big. Make the hard...

Think of that. What do you think would be cool for you and/or your business to happen 2 years from now? And this has nothing to do with "new year's resolutions" (they're no more than good intentions that'll guilt-trip you at some point). Make a pause —for real— and stop everything you're doing now. Now, think: "What would be cool for me / my business to happen 2 years from now?" Whatever you think you can or can't, it'll happen. Small hint: has nothing to do with many things at once. :) Let...

"Don't pitch your value in the sale. That's marketing's job. Your job is to uncover the value the client is seeking. Arm yourself with questions, not claims." Blair Enns That's it for today. Make questions. The right ones. :)

Challenging your customers' belief system... that's a hard pill to swallow. If customer is king, why would you challenge them, right? Well, what if you challenge them to think different? To think big. To see things from an outside perspective. Because then, maybe they'll start seeing what new opportunities they could take. What new ways they could better serve their market. What things could be done different in their market. And you know what else? The bar is SO low, that doing that minimum...

That's when your client gives you their money and say "Thank you. The work we've done together has really moved the needle." And that's when you say "Thank you. For letting me guide and lead to make this change." It's double because both gained something. And it's about what's important for them (aka the value). Jonathan Stark has his own take on this, and Blair Enns, too here. What was the last double thank you you can recall? :)

Don't ask why. Don't ask the reasoning behind. Don't ask to justify. You won't get a real answer. All you'll get is a personal defense of a position, with a heavy load of feelings. It'll feel like an attack to the other one. Even when you have the best intentions. Start with "What" or "How" "What made you get to this decision / process / move..." "How did you come up to..." These 2 words take off the load of judgement over the question, and detach the person from the behavior. And with that,...