Ask an Expert by Propelo

When you think of how to describe Jake Dunlap, the words "sales guru" come to mind, but after interviewing him, that term seems too nuanced. Over the years, Jake has achieved great success in many sales positions, from execution to leadership, but over time he began to realize that office politics had no interest in him. He loved sales, tactics, processes, and customers, but realized the best way forward was to start his own business.

That's why Jake founded Skaled in 2012, a sales consulting firm focused on developing repeatable and sustainable sales models and processes. To date, the company has outperformed its competitors in many industries, including some of the biggest brands everyone knows. Although many businesses faced many challenges in 2020, many of Scaled's customers were able to achieve significant revenue goals.

Join us on today's episode as we dive into the inspiring journey of our expert guest, Royal Marty. Discover how Royal's customer-centric approach breathed new life into a struggling, long-established business. Uncover the innovation behind the cutting-edge enzyme-based biochemical product, with applications ranging from road construction to soil conditioning.

Royal opens up about the valuable lessons learned during a transformative rebranding process and shares insights into agile adaptation in the face of change. Don't miss his simplified explanation of enzymes for non-scientific minds.

After navigating a rollercoaster year of rebranding, our guest found their stride with remarkable success at tradeshows. Learn how they adapted their strategy in response to unexpected challenges, delving into the world of impactful content creation, particularly through short, high-impact videos. Explore how these adjustments compressed their sales cycle and set the stage for a bright future.

Today's Ask an Expert guest, Kathleen Quinn Votaw, underwent a dramatic turn of events in a short span – from welcoming her baby boy to receiving a cancer diagnosis, all while navigating a tumultuous work environment in 2003.

Inspired by a casual burger and beer date night and her husband's encouraging words, Kathleen embarked on a journey to revolutionize the recruitment industry. Her primary focus has always been aligning an organization's culture with the talent they seek, sometimes helping them implement internal changes for success.

Kathleen discusses her early use of channel marketing for business growth and emphasizes the importance of providing value to your network. She shares her challenging but fulfilling experience writing "Solve the People Puzzle," comparing it to a labor of love and highlighting its impact on her brand and career.

Lastly, Kathleen sheds light on the current recruitment landscape, addressing challenges faced by both employers and employees in today's uncertain times.

In this enlightening episode, join us as Nate Brown, the Chief Experience Officer at Officium Labs, delves into the often underestimated realm of customer experience (CX). With a wrestling belt award adorning his office wall as a testament to his CX prowess, Nate brings a wealth of insights to the table.

Having honed his skills on the front lines and sought guidance from CX mentors, Nate has transformed into a sought-after thought leader. Tune in to discover how to assess your own customer experience, navigate the nuances between transactional and recurring business models, and effectively engage senior leadership (hint: leaders need not be at the forefront of support).

Nate's wisdom extends to marketing too – learn why aligning marketing messages with actual customer experiences trumps embellishment. And don't miss his poignant revelation about prioritizing employee experience over CX. A personal anecdote underscores the critical role of front-line employees in shaping exceptional customer interactions.

Join Nate as he unveils the layers of CX intricacies, redefining your understanding of this pivotal business facet. 🎧🚀 

Accounting encompasses more than mere financial statements and tax preparation, as mentioned by today’s guest on Ask an Expert. Greg Crabtree serves as a partner at the accounting services firm Carr, Briggs and Ingram. He holds a reputation as an international speaker and acclaimed author, known for his work titled "Simple Numbers."

Greg's perspective centers on the idea that accounting can serve as a potent tool to aid owners and management in effectively operating businesses. It further facilitates enhancing profits and reinvestment in business operations.

From assessing labor efficiency ratios to evaluating capital profit reinvestment, there are uncomplicated yet profound ways to harness the potential of accounting for business management.

Greg has encapsulated these concepts and metrics in his publication, "Simple Numbers." He is also on the verge of unveiling his upcoming book, "Simple Numbers 2.0," delving into even more insightful methods to harness intelligent accounting techniques.

Finally, as many of you are aware, I am consistently intrigued by the strategies and content creation approaches of business owners. Regarding writing, Greg shares his approach of retreating for a weekend with a goal of producing 5,000 words, ensuring he remains on course. However, it's his philosophy of aspiring to change the world rather than focusing solely on marketing that has allowed him to achieve both objectives.

Allan Dib, author of the wildly popular book “The 1-Page Marketing Plan” comes on the show and shares a ton of useful information so get ready to take notes.  Allan’s background is in technology, but he learned a valuable lesson early on that even if you’re the best in your industry if you’re not also very good at marketing you’re going to struggle.

“A dollar from your ideal customer is much more valuable than a dollar from just any random customer even though your bank manager will tell you they’re equal, they’re not equal it’s the principle of the unequal dollar”
Allan Dib

Allan then dove head-first into marketing realizing that there had to be a better way, and the 1-Page Marketing Plan was born.  Allan and his company at Success Wise have used this to help countless businesses simplify, and more importantly, get more out of their marketing.

Today he shares specific marketing strategies from strategic targeting, improving the customer experience, and then how you turn those happy customers into referral channels.  He also shares the importance, and the technique, to developing a good team for your business.  Finally, we talk about the importance of augmenting your marketing vs. strictly automating your marketing.

Sorry folks, but… “Nobody cares about your product but you,” states David Meerman Scott. David has been studying businesses across countless

David recently co-authored the best-selling book “Fanocracy” which details why, and how, you should focus on turning your customers into fans.  Naturally, you need to have a good product or service, but if you can put the needs of your customers at the forefront, and then focus on developing an engaging experience you can start to create a tribal community.  These customers will not only end up becoming stickier to your brand for the long haul, but they will also become your best source of new referrals.

Reiko Scott, David’s daughter,  has earned a degree in neuroscience so there is tangible science that helps explains how exactly fanocracy works.  David also highlights Pelaton and Haggerty Insurance as two brands that are excelling at creating tribal fans.

We also talk about the importance of passion in your business and how you express that to your customers and the marketplace.  While leading a mastermind group at a Tony Robbins seminar, David was challenged by an attendee that said his profession as a dentist wasn’t that passionate.  A couple of questions later David had tapped into the dentist’s personal passion of skateboarding and recommended he try to infuse that into his customer experience.  It took a while to figure out how, but a couple of years later the dentist’s revenue is up 30% and his patients have become raving fans.

Finally, we talk about the science and power of proximity conversations and mirroring nuerons.  These are the part of our brain that fire, when we see someone else doing something but our mind can visualize as if it’s us doing it. 

Video is a medium that allows us to capitalize on both of these when we use a format just like this interview; casual conversations with faces close and centered on the camera.  We’ve all experienced the power of this these past few months, but mostly with our colleagues and family/friends.  David talks about how you can leveage this with your business to, and gives a visceral demonstration that highlights just how powerful it can be.

Accounting doesn’t have to suck, so Today’s Ask an Expert guest went out and improved it.  Spencer Sheinin, Founder and CEO of Shift Financial, literally wrote the book on how to simplify your financials so you can turn accounting into a powerful business lever.  We talk about his book, Entreprenumbers, and how his simplification strategy allows you to control and leverage your accounting, in fact, he gives you the 6 specific metrics you need to focus on.

We also talk about cash flow and how you can use it as fuel to grow your business.  Finally, we also talk about the Pareto Principle, and how you can use this to identify your best clients, and then how you can go get more. 

People don’t hate presentations, they hate crappy presentations according to Rich Mulholland.  Rich founded Missing Link over 20 years ago focused on helping individuals and organizations to develop and then deliver presentations that aren’t just memorable, but ones that drive action.

Rich has spoken and given presentations all around the world and has helped elevate the audience experience for tens of thousands of people.  Today he gives actionable insights from the 4 pillars of a successful presentation to the technology you should be using.

He also shares his own personal passion for board games and how he’s incorporated that passion into helping companies generate stronger engagement and bonds.  Finally, we talk about a best-in-class example of a company that has literally jumped into the content generation space before it even knew what they were doing.  They’re a great example of how focusing on how if you wait until everything is perfect then you’ll be waiting forever. 

The biggest financial winners are those that can leave their emotion at the door and capitalize on becoming countercyclical says today’s Ask an Expert David Waddell.  With over 900 clients nationwide, David’s wealth management firm Waddell & Associates take a holistic approach to growing wealth.  

David talks about the distinction between asset management and wealth management, and why the latter is a better approach to financial growth.  He also talks about what he’s seen from the market in the past few months, and more importantly what he sees in the future.  

He also talks about how too many people focus solely on the P&L.  While that’s important from day-to-day operations, he talks about how leveraging the balance sheet can have a tremendous impact on growing the business.