Does the software ultimately reflect the type of organization that builds it? In this Expert Insight interview hosted by John Golden, Sam Schutte discusses building a consulting business and sales and marketing automation.
This interview discusses:
- Recruiting
- Finding Niche
Recruiting
There is a lack of good management in recruiting the right team of developers to do the project. The key to the consulting and technology organization is to deliver a quality solution to the client. Even though people have become more comfortable in using technology, technology solutions in business have become more complex. There are a variety of core competencies that require specialized approach; thus, the companies need to hire niche experts for each of those core competencies separately. For example, getting a certificate in Python or Java does not necessarily mean that you will be successful in using those tools. That is exactly where consulting companies bring value due to the knowledge of methodology, best practice, and overall management. Just like in sales, the solution is in the human resource and not in the software. A good CRM system does not mean anything if the people who are implementing it do not know how to use it. The smartest developers can easily get burned out and unproductive if not hired right. It is important to determine which aspects make an employee a good fit for the specific organization. For example, high-end developers should not be hired for maintenance work when it would be more cost-effective for the maintenance work to be outsourced.
Finding Niche
Product knowledge in industry expertise can be intimidating for customers, thus there is training to learn how to talk with customers in a way that they can understand as well. Clients do not need computer science knowledge to work with the consulting company. But people usually do know money, therefore instead of overwhelming customers with the unimportant technology terms, it is better to simply explain what is more profitable for them moneywise. The formula is to have a good offering model which will bring trust and engagement with the client. With the rise of remote environments, more companies started to implement the model in which they hire full-time employees for the company’s core competencies only. Finding a company’s niche helps the company to invest its resources in the right direction and to receive better returns. Soap company will be better off if it invests in its product research rather than in its software. However, there still must be communication between business development and software development, and there is a consulting company that serves as a translator between those two.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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