In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent sits down with Mark Crane, the founder of Evolution Risk Group and CEO of Coachd, to explore his entrepreneurial journey, dive deep into his sales strategies, and share insightful leadership lessons from his experience in building and scaling businesses. Mark is a dynamic leader who brings a wealth of knowledge to the conversation, particularly around effective lead generation, hiring for startups, and leveraging technology to enhance business operations.

Here are some key topics covered in the episode:

• Evolution Risk Group: Mark’s independent insurance brokerage, designed to disrupt traditional insurance practices by focusing on personalised service and client problem-solving. The business faced early challenges with recruitment but has since achieved steady growth.
• Coachd: A coaching business targeting mid to high-tier professionals seeking career, sales, and mindset coaching. Mark provides both one-on-one and group sessions, sharing how his coaching style empowers individuals to invest in their future success.
• Sales Strategy and Lead Generation: Mark shares his structured approach to lead generation, dedicating a minimum of 2 hours daily to calls and tracking outcomes meticulously. His goal is to have 60 meaningful conversations from every 100 calls, and he emphasises the power of persistence, follow-ups, and multi-channel engagement using LinkedIn, email, and WhatsApp.
• Recruitment and Team Building: As a startup leader, Mark explains how he shifted his recruitment focus from experience to cultural fit and attitude, partnering with specialist recruiters to find adaptable candidates willing to perform diverse tasks. He discusses the importance of using tools like Monday.com to track team efficiency and inform his hiring strategy.
• Leveraging Technology: Mark highlights the tools that drive efficiency in his businesses, from Dialpad’s call transcription and action point features to HubSpot’s CRM system, and the use of WhatsApp for nurturing prospects. These tools have been instrumental in streamlining operations and improving sales efforts.
• Personal Development: A strong advocate for self-improvement, Mark recommends The Chimp Paradox for mastering mindset and draws inspiration from sales experts like Andy Elliott and Grant Cardone. His 'no-excuses' mentality has been crucial to his success, both as a business leader and coach.

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For now, continue listening for the full story from Mark.

Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for.

 

If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here:

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[email protected]

 

Kevin's Latest Book Is Available!

Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brent explores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up.

More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/

 

Mark can be found here:

https://www.instagram.com/markcrane247/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-crane/

 

Resources:

The Diary of a CEO - https://stevenbartlett.com/doac/

The Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-chimp-paradox-the-acclaimed-mind-management-programme-to-help-you-achieve-success-confidence-and-happiness-prof-steve-peters/3814057?ean=9780091935580

Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/never-split-the-difference-negotiating-as-if-your-life-depended-on-it-chris-voss/3692653?ean=9781847941497

WhatsApp - https://web.whatsapp.com/

Dialpad - https://www.dialpad.com/uk/

HubSpot - https://www.hubspot.com/

Monday - https://monday.com/