entrepreneurship struggles Archives

29 Mar 2017

Sticky Post By Matt Hottle Posted in Engagement Selling System, Hallux Training, Sales, Training With No Comments Permalink

Why We Created Our New Sales Training Program

Sticky Post By Matt Hottle On March 29, 2017 With No Comments

I’ve seen it time after time—small business owners who aren’t happy with their sales team or their results. They call me with a single goal in mind—help me hire better salespeople.

That’s rarely the solution. If you aren’t training your current team, you haven’t set them up for success. Adding more untrained bodies will only subtract from your bottom line, demotivate your existing salespeople, and increase competition for the same meager sales. Firing and replacing your underperforming salespeople doesn’t address the problems in your program, like poor sales management, a lack of performance measurement, poorly designed incentive structures, and misalignment between sales and marketing.

I’ve been looking for sales training to recommend to these clients, but the few programs we’ve found are woefully out of date for the current marketplace, and none address entrepreneurial businesses.

That’s why we’ve launched our new sales training program. It’s called the Engagement Selling System, and it directly addresses the chronic struggle entrepreneurs face building and growing successful sales teams. Entrepreneurs’ business development is different in almost every way from large corporations, but no one has designed an approach specifically with them in mind.

For entrepreneurs, cash flow is a continuous stressor as revenue peaks and valleys are part of the business landscape—29% of businesses fail due to a lack of positive cash flow. All businesses need revenue to survive, and they need to increase that revenue every year to grow without taking on debt or selling equity.

According to trainingmag.com, training is largely deprioritized by SMBs. The average amount spent on training per individual in small- to medium-sized companies has been as low as $554—or less than .02% of their annual operating budget.

When companies spend $5,000 or more for things like a great website, but spend virtually nothing on improving the capabilities of the people responsible for generating their revenue lifeblood, the writing’s on the wall.

We designed ESS to improve conversion rates and create sales professionals who are prepared to outperform their competitors. It’s not enough to have a great sales system, it has to be easy to use and applicable across the wide variety of circumstances salespeople face. The goal of our sales training program is to move the needle by giving your team an approach they can apply immediately and affordably.

Learn more and register.

23 Jan 2017

Sticky Post By Matt Hottle Posted in Entrepreneurship Permalink

Entrepreneurs Should Know the Difference Between Can’t and Won’t

Sticky Post By Matt Hottle On January 23, 2017

Retro style image of a rustic wooden sign in an autumn park with the words Courage - Fear offering a choice of reaction and attitude with arrows pointing in opposite directions in a conceptual image.

Fear, skepticism and stubbornness are necessary for entrepreneurs. These things keep you between the ditches and make sure the company you’re driving stays on all four wheels. Questioning the wisdom of each action and assuming the worst possible outcome are things we obsess about and spend sleepless nights contemplating.

“…the terrible and the terrific spring from the same source, and that what grants life its beauty and magic is not the absence of terror and tumult but the grace and elegance with which we navigate the gauntlet.” – Maria Popova

When considering solutions, two words tend to come up repeatedly—can’t and won’t.

Can’t is when you are physically, spiritually, operationally, or structurally unable to do something—you don’t have the option to do it.

You can’t fly, see through walls, or run as fast as a car without mechanical advantages (or Kryptonian genes).

Won’t means there is a decision being made. The decider has some optionality. They can choose to do something or not.

I could go run a marathon but I won’t because it seems really hard, and I get winded going to the refrigerator.

As entrepreneurs find themselves making important decisions, won’t is often misrepresented as can’t.

Can’t is easy to say. Can’t is easy to justify and explain. Can’t ends the conversation. Can’t means you will likely take fewer risks, endure fewer setbacks and in the process, find justification in that risk-mitigating approach.

Won’t can be painful. Won’t is much harder to admit. Won’t is the honest answer most of the time. As entrepreneurs, we sometimes live in won’t but call it can’t.

Won’t limits risk like can’t, but there is far more sincerity and self-awareness in won’t. We had the choice and decided we wouldn’t do it. We considered the opportunity and decided not to do it even though we could.

Won’t can be the right answer but we don’t like categorizing it that way. We are more comfortable telling ourselves and others it can’t be done. Won’t begs for debate and further consideration and we should be more willing to engage in that discussion.

08 Jun 2015

Sticky Post By Matt Hottle Posted in Entrepreneurship, Redhawk With No Comments Permalink

Paychecks are for Pansies

Sticky Post By Matt Hottle On June 8, 2015 With No Comments

I recently received an email from a former colleague who I respect very much—praising me for being brave enough to leave my job and start Redhawk Consulting. It was very nice to get that recognition from someone like Jeff who struck out on his own about 8 months before I did. Reading that note made me think about the last 6 months and how the enterprise has progressed.

Running your own business is tough and there are a lot of sleepless nights and pains in the pit of your stomach as you sweat every detail, every client and every dollar. About three months into this journey, I needed a battle cry—something internal and not necessarily shared on any website, business card or marketing collateral.

“Paychecks are for pansies.”

Granted, that is the PG version of what I actually say to myself but I want to demonstrate some decorum. In my firm, there is very limited recurring revenue. We get paid when we work directly for a client.

After spending 15 years with some kind of guaranteed income, it was up to me to generate 100% of the revenue. With a wife and two young kids, I was not just making a decision for me but for the people that mean everything to me.

As a competitive person, I’m very much inspired by those who endeavor to struggle, grind and win. In those moments when you are being tested and you could easily second guess your decision to go it alone, it is important to have a battle cry—whatever that is.

Recently, I added two more consultants to the firm and they are both personifications of this mantra. Josh started his own law firm because he wasn’t going to grow as fast he was capable of working for other partners. Paul was underutilized and his skill sets are too valuable to keep hidden deep in the bowels of an accounting department. Both have joined Redhawk and have accepted, with some degree of personalization, paychecks are for pansies.

This isn’t to posit that anyone who receives a paycheck is actually a pansy. This is for me. It’s how I push myself to put forth the best effort when no one is looking and anytime I have a fleeting moment of “holy crap, what did I do?”

I believe to truly grow, you need challenges- you need to struggle. To build meaningful wealth and success, you do it for yourself or you are left hoping someone else does it for you.

Push. Strive. Struggle. Win.