Blair is in the spotlight discussing some bad practices driven by assumptions he's seen his clients make over the past couple decades, a few of which are new to David. 10. Branding and Full Service Advertising are Specializations 9. The More You Have to Sell the More Likely a Sale 8. An Increase in Meetings Leads to an Increase in Sales 7. The Written Proposal is a Necessary Step in the Sales Process 6. Build Personal Relationships to Build Sales 5. Presentation Skills Training Leads to Improved...
Sep 11, 2019•35 min•Ep. 68
Blair interviews David about six employee archetypes which can end up being big hiring mistakes for creative firms.
Aug 28, 2019•32 min•Ep. 67
Blair has another podcast therapy session about “good clients vs. bad clients,” as David tries to help him see procurement people as actual human beings who sometimes are just overwhelmed.
Aug 14, 2019•35 min•Ep. 66
Blair has an aversion to the topic of personal branding, so David offers examples of why, when, and how the personal brands he’s seen principals develop can be either helpful or harmful for their firms. LINKS “Launch Your Career as a Podcast Guest” by David C. Baker Episode 1 of Dexter Guff is Smarter Than You : “You Don’t Exist Without a Personal Brand” The Visible Expert® by Hinge Marketing “Personal Branding for Creative Professionals” course by Dorie Clark...
Jul 31, 2019•34 min•Ep. 65
Blair and David explore the differences they see between consultants and agencies in an effort to understand how the landscape is changing and what creative firms can do to beat consultants at their own game. Links The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight to Impact + Wealth by David C. Baker Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life by Rory Sutherland...
Jul 17, 2019•35 min•Ep. 64
David admits to making a mistake, as Blair finishes his discussion from a couple episodes back on the eighth pricing model, which he claims “is the highest expression of entrepreneurship there is.” Links 2Bobs episode 61 - “Different Pricing Models” Prohibition Gin and Toolbox Design Cup & Leaf “Unbundling the Corporation” by John Hagel III and Marc Singer for the Harvard Business Review The Futur and Chris Do of Blind™ Conscious Minds...
Jul 03, 2019•34 min•Ep. 63
David and Blair address the obsession that many principals have with the size of firms, and the advantages of being either big or small.
Jun 19, 2019•33 min•Ep. 62
Blair is struck by how creative businesses have trouble applying their creativity to their revenue models, so he and David discuss some of the best ways firms can get paid. LINKS Subscribed: Why the Subscription Model Will Be Your Company's Future - and What to Do About It by Tien Tzuo The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue by Robbie Kellman Baxter The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry by John ...
Jun 05, 2019•35 min•Ep. 61
David and Blair each share their own perspectives on how chasing comfort has kept them and their clients making the right decisions in both management and sales situations. LINKS 2Bobs Episode 2: Say What You Think The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation by Matthew Dixon
May 22, 2019•28 min•Ep. 60
Blair wants creative firms to quit viewing in-house resources as the enemy and demonstrates how the arrangements between the two can be mutually beneficial. LINKS 2Bobs Episode 2: Say What You Think 2Bobs Episode 57: There are NOT Seven Reasons Why Clients Hire You
May 08, 2019•30 min•Ep. 59
David and Blair each share a list of things that they wish agency principals would do more of to take their firms to the next level of success. Links "The Problem of Standards" by David Maister 2001
Apr 24, 2019•22 min•Ep. 58
Blair and David work on clarifying things by coming up with only six reasons why businesses hire creative firms.
Apr 10, 2019•30 min•Ep. 57
Blair and David share the places they find good ideas that they turn into content, the best of which end up being incorporated into their services. Read the transcript ➝
Mar 27, 2019•32 min•Ep. 56
David finds Blair's thoughts fascinating on how far agencies should service or pursue clients geographically, and whether or not the location of a firm should be a factor.
Mar 13, 2019•30 min•Ep. 55
David gives Blair four practical reasons for sales people to hand off new business to the account person before the deal is closed instead of after.
Feb 27, 2019•23 min•Ep. 54
David gets into Blair's head to get his 10 basic negotiating tips that he has worked with clients on over the years. LINKS “10 Negotiating Tips” (with 5 bonus tips) “Selling in One Lesson,” 2Bobs episode 49 Buying Less for Less: How to avoid the Marketing Procurement dilemma , by Gerry Preece Negotiating with Backbone: Eight Sales Strategies to Defend Your Price and Value , by Reed K. Holden TRANSCRIPT DAVID C. BAKER: Blair, today we are going to talk about 10 really interesting ways you can get...
Feb 13, 2019•35 min•Ep. 53
After having discussed positioning in multiple previous episodes, David puts together in this one episode the seven most common mistakes firms make when positioning themselves.
Jan 30, 2019•34 min•Ep. 52
David asks Blair about using "after action reviews" following sales calls, and the two key questions that should be asked as a part of that debriefing process. LINKS Episode #15 - The Best Learning Method Ever Devised: After Action Reviews, from The Soul of Enterprise Podcast with Ron Baker and Ed Kless TRANSCRIPT DAVID C. BAKER: Blair, today we are going to talk about debriefing after a new business call. Not after just a business call, but a new business call, right? So how did this topic come...
Jan 16, 2019•30 min•Ep. 51
Blair asks David to make some predictions about the new year, and then they discuss some ways that businesses can prepare for and react to (God forbid) an economic downturn. TRANSCRIPT BLAIR ENNS: David, predict the future. Coming year, the year ahead ... It doesn't matter when people are listening to this or when we've recorded it, but in the year ahead is it going to be a year of abundance or is it batten the hatches, we've got trouble? DAVID C. BAKER: I think it'll probably be right in the mi...
Jan 02, 2019•34 min•Ep. 50
Blair describes to David how he was able to distill his Win Without Pitching approach into a simple formula: P=db/D Power = desirability / Desire Links Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics by Henry Hazlitt Economics in One Lesson Wikipedia page Henry Hazlitt Wikipedia page The Win Without Pitching Manifesto by Blair Enns Transcript DAVID C. BAKER: Blair, We are going to talk about selling in one lesson. BLAIR ENNS: I know why you're laughing. DAVID: ...
Dec 19, 2018•35 min•Ep. 49
After touching on the topic of risk in many other episodes of this podcast, David and Blair finally take a full episode to discuss at length the role of risk in entrepreneurship. LINKS "Confessions of a Recovering Consultant" by Blair Enns Hyman P. Minsky Archive Twitter exchange with Jonathan Stark on risk Strategic Coach program with Dan Sullivan "A Mission With No Exit" by Blair Enns Peter Drucker TRANSCRIPT BLAIR ENNS: David, what's the riskiest thing you've ever done? DAVID BAKER: I've alwa...
Dec 05, 2018•31 min•Ep. 48
Blair gets David to admit that he was kind of wrong about open book management being just a fad when he originally wrote about it almost two decades ago, and David offers ways that it can actually benefit both employees and clients when used appropriately. Links Financial Management of a Marketing Firm by David C. Baker TRANSCRIPT BLAIR ENNS: David, today we're going to talk about open book management. How does that sound to you? DAVID C. BAKER: Sounds like you think you're in charge. Why don't ...
Nov 21, 2018•24 min•Ep. 47
Blair and David analyze and then look beyond the requests for reassurance potential clients make during the late stage of a sale to address their underlying motivations. LINKS “Transtheoretical Model” (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983; Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992) TRANSCRIPT DAVID C. BAKER: Blair, today I want to ask you about something that I've heard you talk about for many years and it's this notion of alternative forms of reassurance. BLAIR ENNS: Yeah. DAVID: We used to do th...
Nov 07, 2018•30 min•Ep. 46
David disagrees with Blair (sort of) on his model for growing existing accounts in the post-AOR era, and then offers his list of 6 ideas on the topic. Links The Peter principle The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson Tony Mikes Transcript DAVID C. BAKER: Today Blair, we are coming to you live from the ReCourses Woodworking Shop, where so far I have done no woodworking, but a whole lot of podcast recording. Maybe I need to take my saws up to my office or something, but I can wander...
Oct 24, 2018•32 min•Ep. 45
Blair remembers what it was like when he was an account person himself, and David shares five ways firms can treat their account people better. LINKS “How to Drive Your Employees Bat Sh*t Crazy” 2Bobs episode TRANSCRIPT BLAIR ENNS: David, we're talking today about how to disrespect people. This is your topic idea. DAVID C. BAKER: Yeah, I get so many requests from people that want help with this, and they naturally ask me. Right? BLAIR: Yeah. Of course they do. DAVID: "Who'd be really an expert a...
Oct 10, 2018•29 min
Blair offers seven mindsets that any seller of expertise needs to master so that they can behave like the expert in the sales cycle. Links "The Jedi Mindset" by Blair Enns McClelland's Human Motivation Theory, also known as Three Needs Theory, Acquired Needs Theory, Motivational Needs Theory, and Learned Needs Theory Transcript DAVID C. BAKER: Good morning, Blair. You are in London. I'm in Nashville. BLAIR ENNS: Yeah, it's my afternoon, and it's your seven AM. DAVID: And don't tell me you've got...
Sep 26, 2018•33 min
LINKS "The Great Convergence Is Upon Us" by Blair Enns "CRM: The Train Coming At You" by Blair Enns AltGroup.net website "Eight Gauges on Your Agency Dashboard" by David C. Baker The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William Thorndike "Rising From the Ashes: A New Agency Model" by Blair Enns TRANSCRIPTION DAVID C. BAKER: Blair today we're going to start over. Both you and I are going to start over. We're going to pretend to start over anyw...
Sep 12, 2018•35 min
Blair gives David some homework to identify patterns in the principals of creative practices who are successful and have that "je ne sais quoi." LINKS 2Bobs Episode 28 - "Positioning Cheats" Start With Why by Simon Sinek "Top 10 Podcasts Agency Owners Listen To" by Daniel de la Cruz Crucial Conversations - Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler TRANSCRIPT DAVID C. BAKER: Blair today, we are going to catch up with the rest of the wo...
Aug 29, 2018•33 min
Blair interviews David on what each of the three levels of success in running a creative firm looks like. Links 2Bobs Episode 39 - "Replacing Presentations With Conversations" The Win Without Pitching Manifesto , by Blair Enns The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight to Impact + Wealth , by David C. Baker Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You , by John Warrillow Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour , by Blair Enns 2...
Aug 15, 2018•34 min
David re-reads the 2nd chapter of Blair’s first book , leading to a discussion about how sales people have to choose between either presenting to clients or being present to them. TRANSCRIPT DAVID C. BAKER: Blair, we are going to talk today about replacing presentations with conversations. BLAIR ENNS: The second proclamation. DAVID: Yeah, it's actually the second chapter in your book, which I'm holding right now in my grimy little hands. The book, it's black with red, looks like foil to make it ...
Aug 01, 2018•29 min
