Ash and Flo talk with Mark Wainwright about “systematizing sales” in services firms, including some insights about important features of CRM systems.
“unbillable hours” is all about selling business services through highly effective marketing. You know, the kind which gets clients through the door, competitors on edge, and the practice to respect you.
A recent LinkedIn post about how “CRM is a business process, not a software” by friend of the show, Mark Wainwright, prompted us to bring back this hit from our archive: Our conversation with Mark about consultancy sales, sales processes – and CRM software. It’s a “director’s cut” of episodes S12E2 and S12E3 (combined for your convenience)… and we hope you enjoy it!
Episode guest: Mark Wainwright, principal and owner, Wainwright Insight.
Voices by Ash and Flo.
Production by crossing the river studios
Creative and design advice by @calmar.creativ
Into, outro voiceover by @iamthedakota
Music also by @iamthedakota
Please get the shownotes to this episode on unbillable-hrs.com (1) and (2).
In this 2-part series titled Systematizing Sales, Mark Wainwright joins Ash Mohd and Florian Heinrichs on the unbillable hours podcast to explore questions like: Does your firm run a systematic sales process? And if so – do you fully understand it? Do you need a CRM system? What features are important? Which one should you buy?
Listen to the episodes above, including the *Director’s cut* that contains both episodes in one, or follow this link to the 34-minute Part 1, and also the link to the 26-minute Part 2, of the series titled Systematizing Sales. Mark, Ash, and Flo discuss many aspects of sales processes and CRM systems and provide a lot of helpful tips along the way, including why sales needs to be “process first, tools second.”
About unbillable hours – the podcast
Ash Mohd and Florian Heinrichs (Ash and Flo) have grown a bit frustrated with the not very strategic, “cost-center” role marketing plays in many service firms. And they’d like to help the function break this pigeonhole, and become both much more valuable and way more fun.
So, they’re building the unbillable hours podcast as a way to build their own skills – by exploring, thinking and chatting about what they (and others) think makes for best-in-class firm marketing. “unbillable hours” is all about selling business services through highly effective marketing. The kind which gets clients through the door, competitors on edge, and the practice to respect you, the marketing professional.
If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more…
Hosted by John Tyreman and Mark Wainwright, the Breaking BizDev podcast explores business development in professional services firms. Each episode pulls apart and highlights critical marketing and sales activities and strategies that “BD” often overlooks. Breaking BizDev works over the commonly seen yet ill-advised practices in all types of expert firms. And then provides clarity on how firms can think and act differently in their marketing and sales efforts.
If you host a podcast and wish to have Mark join you as a guest, then please send an email. Mark focuses on sales in professional services firms and help busy practitioners sell with confidence. And if you’re so inclined, your thoughts and feedback on these podcasts are always welcome.
Wainwright Insight provides fractional sales management and sales consulting to organizations who want to take control of their pipeline and build future sales leaders—but could use a little, part-time expertise. I work with professional services firms, and the experts in those firms, who need to get better at chasing and winning big deals when the stakes are high.
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