The Martell Method w/ Dan Martell

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Today, I’m going to show you how to get 3x-5x as much value out of a brand new employee.

Think about it…

If every time you hired someone in your business, you got more value from them, how much of a difference would that make to your:

- Productivity?
- Budget?
- Business growth?

You already know I work closely with SaaS founders both big ($100 Million+ ARR) and small ($10k monthly), and I can tell you this:

An awesome onboarding program will make a new team member WAY more valuable! 

In fact, a friend of mine recently hired a new employee who was perfect for the job… but then the new hire left within 1 week.

Why?

There was no onboarding program to ease him into the company culture and check-in with how she was feeling.

So, what makes an onboarding program that works?

Let me show you in this weeks’ video.

From my experience and from the businesses I’ve worked with, these are the 5 key points I follow for a flawless onboarding program:

1. Orientation Session
2. Training System
3. 90 Day Goals
4. Assign a Buddy
5. Schedule 1 - 1

You know the cliché “first impressions last”?

It applies to new hires too.I truly believe that how you spend the first week with a new employee completely changes their entire commitment to your business.

Get that first impression right, nurture your new hires so they actually ‘get’ what you are trying to do and they will serve your business with more clarity.

Over to you. What’s your onboarding system like? Got any stories to share? 

I’d love to hear from you. So check out the video and drop a comment underneath!

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: The Business Playbook Templates – Easily create a business playbook to free up time, deliver consistent work and train your team - http://bit.ly/2RpvL6z

Exclusive Download: Future Living™ Framework – Play a Bigger Game and Enhance the Way You Communicate Your Vision to Everyone You Interact With - http://bit.ly/2F4KWvZ

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Sometimes you can glean insights about life from the most interesting places…

Like that time my buddy Brad learned the hard way while snow-biking in the backcountry. He was supposed to zig zag, and not go straight fast, so to avoid hitting tree stumps or river banks head on.

That missed instruction from our guide resulted in him cracking open his pelvis which required surgery.

I know. Intense right?

While a terrible outcome, I took away a HUGE company killing avoidance strategy from that incident and it’s what I want to share with you today.

Actually, this year was peppered with interesting moments like that…

Dozens of key lessons learned about squeezing the most out of life, growing my empire and becoming a better husband/father/friend….

Lessons I’ve covered in this weeks video.

Here’s how I came up with them….

After boarding more than 40 flights in 2019, I took some time last week to sit down and think of the crazy adventures I’ve been on for the past year and the most impactful moments.

Everything from rally car racing, backcountry skiing to taking a private jet across the Atlantic with pit stops in Greenland & Iceland.

These insights had a huge impact on me, my team and even helped me have a record year in business.

It was hard to choose the top lessons because I did not want this to turn into a 2-hour video ;)

So here’s what I’ve got… nine of the most powerful strategic insights from 100’s of conversations and experiences I had these past 12-months!

These were pulled from magical moments like:

1. Snow-biking for the first time
2. Disney cruise w/ 21 other family friends
3. Going to a max prison in Cali
4. Racing dirt rally cars
5. Nine events I ran for clients
6. Jumping on my buddy Jayson’s private jet for 2-weeks
7. Taking July off and squeezing in five separate vacations travelling coast to coast
8. Going from not knowing how to swim to racing in three triathlons with 4-weeks of training
9. Completing my first Tough Mudder & hiking Mt Katahdin with my family.

It exhausts me just reminiscing about them all… but it’s important for you to know WHY I keep my foot on the throttle 24/7.

Ten years ago I made the decision to start planning my life assuming I only had 5-years left to live…

It may sound dark, but hear me out.

That perspective allowed me to avoid making near-sighted decisions but also pushed me to increase the frequency and intensity of Magical Moments (something my pelvis cracking friend Brad taught me many years ago ;).

So with that, I REALLY hope to inspire you in 2020 to live a bigger life and build a bigger business.

Don’t take life for granted and always take time to reflect upon the blessings you have…

Life’s lessons exist in the space in between those moments.

See you next year! 

Much love.

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: Future Living™ Framework – Play a Bigger Game and Enhance the Way You Communicate Your Vision to Everyone You Interact With - http://bit.ly/2F4KWvZ

Exclusive Download: Precision Scorecard™ – Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth - http://bit.ly/373eFBm

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Play along.

You’re on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. (The Dan Martell SaaS edition.)

Sweat on your brow, lights on your face.

Clock ticking.

You’ve got 20 seconds to make a decision. 

Lock in the right one and your profits double. Lock in the wrong one, and it’s game over for your business.

Your fingers are crossed, hoping for a question you know the answer to…

No luck.

The next question on your screen is one you’ve never faced before. You have ZERO experience in handling this.

Something like:

- “Should you move to San Francisco?”
- “Should you bring on a business partner?"
- “Should you raise venture capital for your startup?”
- “Should you pivot your business or stay on this course?”

You’re an entrepreneur. You launched your own startup… so you are meant to be THE decision-maker, the one person capable of answering this question.

…and you’ve got no clue.

What do you do?

Stressful, right? Trust me, even the big players doing over $10 million+ ARR face big decisions they’ve never handled before, with massively high stakes.

So, of course, I have a framework for how to make those decisions when you don’t have the experience.

You’ve got to have systems for this kind of stuff, or else it can go wrong too easily. And I’m sharing the system with you in this week’s video.

It’s 5 steps, designed to give you clarity and to minimize your stress when facing huge decisions. These steps are:

Step 1: Define the Problem… (specifically and exactly.)
Step 2: Research the Solution Space
Step 3: Connect With Mentors
Step 4: Verify With Peers
Step 5: Decide and Adjust

This is one thing I love about business… it’s ever-changing.

Yes, there are frameworks, patterns, and repeatable problems, but the context for which you apply those answers keeps changing.

A successful entrepreneur is the one who learns to make decisions in the face of uncertainty.

It’s scary stuff.

But I hope this video shows you that you don’t have to lose sleep over it. 

So check it out, and keep that system in your back pocket for the next time a heavy decision catches you off guard.

Love to know your thoughts, so drop me a comment under the video. Speak soon!

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: Precision Scorecard™ – Keep Your Leadership Team Focused & Accountable To Growth - http://bit.ly/373eFBm

Exclusive Download: The Weekly Sync™ Format – Run Your Weekly Team Meetings Following This Structure Easy, Fast & Productive - http://bit.ly/2toOVB1

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Today, I’m going to show you how to generate consistent, repeatable momentum in your business.

Yeah. You read that right. 

When I was 24, I started a company called Spheric.

And it grew. Fast.

150% year over year. We were one of the fastest-growing companies in Canada when I successfully exited and sold to a US firm. I was only 28.

I owe a big part of that success story to a great book I read, called Good to Great by Jim Collins.

Prior to that book, I was addicted to being busy.

You know how it is: 

Running around like a one-man-band trying to juggle 100s of demands…

Cramming two weeks’ worth of work into one…

All because that feels like progress.

It’s addictive.

But that kind of fire-cracker energy doesn’t last. It’s super inefficient and couldn’t possibly be sustainable!

Real scalable momentum only comes when you have an Operating System for your company.

And that means – drumroll – holding the right meetings with your team.

Yes, meetings. 

If you think about it, the only tool you have to lead your team better are meetings.

But not just any meetings. You’ll need these 5 specific types of meetings that I’m going to walk you through in this week’s video.

These meetings all work together and feed into each other. Each one has a name:

1. Daily Standup: for setting your focus.
2. The Weekly Sync: to iron out problems
3. Monthly Review: for celebrating achievements.
4. Quarterly Planning: for getting perspective
5. Yearly Strategic Planning: to build your future.

Some of these meetings take just a few minutes. Others much longer. 

But together, these 5 meetings become the operating system with which you maximize efficiency, iron out problems, stay connected and build momentum.

In fact, I believe that these meetings are so crucial to a business… that if you aren’t doing them, you’re going to flounder and feel like nothing is getting done right.

I consider them non-negotiable.

Even if you’re team consist of 2 people. 

Which is why I want to share them with you. So check out the video for the best-spent 11 minutes you’ll watch this week, and leave your thoughts in a comment underneath!

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: The Weekly Sync™ Format – Run Your Weekly Team Meetings Following This Structure Easy, Fast & Productive - http://bit.ly/2toOVB1

Exclusive Download: Dream 100 – Learn How to Identify The 100 People That Will Transform Your Life (Peers, Advisors & Mentors) - http://bit.ly/2RKGLgD

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The other day I got a call from one of my coaching clients, Carl. 

He was doing about $70K in MRR, killing it. Business is booming, he’s hiring new team members…

Then BAM.

His lead salesperson quit on him.

In an instant, Carl’s problems went from “How do I scale up?” to “How do I stop my business from falling apart?”

2 steps forward. 1 step back.

Over the many years, I’ve coached 100s of business founders and there’s one thing I absolutely know with certainty:

Problems are ALWAYS right around the corner.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson… the mega-business-millionaires out there – they aren’t succeeding because they don’t have problems…

They’re succeeding because they’ve gotten really good at dealing with them.

So rather than being surprised by new struggles, what makes a business owner successful is their ability to reframe their perspective…

And get back on the horse.

I’m there to support my coaching clients, to be the person they can turn to when everything feels like it’s collapsing and help them get their business out of the funk.

But even if I don’t coach you personally, in today’s video I want to share with you 3 insights I always ask when I know someone is struggling.

Listen in to wrap your head around these perspective-shattering mind bombs:

1. Battles VS Wars: Which one are you really losing?
2. Embrace the Struggle: Opportunity wears a disguise.
3. Ask For Help

Look, I get it. “Oh 3 simple points, is it that easy?” No, it’s never that easy.

But what I really want you to understand is that the key to your success…

…is your mind.

It’s HOW you think about your problems. 

It’s HOW you face them.

And I’m pleased to say that Carl didn’t let his set-back stop his business growth. After shifting his mindset, he conquered those problems…

3 months later? He’s already doubled his MRR.

You can conquer your struggles too. So watch the video here and learn how to shift your perspective.

As always, I’d love to hear from you too. So please leave me a comment under the video!

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: Dream 100 – Learn How to Identify The 100 People That Will Transform Your Life (Peers, Advisors & Mentors) - http://bit.ly/2RKGLgD

Exclusive Download: The Rocket Demo Builder™ – Never give a boring software demo again and close up to TWICE as many deals by this time next week - http://bit.ly/34IQZ4x

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How do you find more of the right customers?

People that will eagerly buy what you’re selling, with zero complaints…? AND tell their friends about it.

What a dream!

But rather than picking 4 leaf clovers, crossing your fingers and hoping the universe delivers these ideal clients to your doorstep… 

Don’t you want a system to filter out the customers that’ll buy from the ones that won’t?

I think you’re going to love this.

See, you may be coming across potential customers all the time. 

But if you don’t KNOW anything about them, then you have no control over the fate of your business.

Some leads are FAR more valuable than others.

So how do you know where your time is best spent to get more sales?

You’ve got to Qualify Your Leads.

And rather than letting that be a matter of: “Uh, I hope this person might end up buying”…

…You need a formula that’ll be more like: “Follow these steps and you’ll KNOW this is someone that’s going to end up buying.”

I call it the Four P’s of Selling.

And I’ve learned this from the best, from my buddy Scott Sambucci at SalesQualia. 

He’s an incredible sales coach and he just knows the science of qualifying your leads.

So check out this week’s video to boost your closing rates.

Here’s a quick overview of the Four P’s and why they are essential to qualifying leads:

1. Problem: Do they know they have one?
2. Perception: Do they know how big the problem is?
3. Perspective: Do they understand how they want to solve it?
4. Proximity: Do they feel the heat?

What’s fascinating about these Four P’s is that it’s not just about digging for information:

You have the power to plant the seed of an idea in a customer’s head.

Simply by qualifying a lead, you can shift their mindset so they’ll better understand the value of your product. Turning a ‘probably not’ into a ‘yes please!’

A great salesperson (or marketer) can effortlessly hit these touchpoints, plant those seeds and discover this information all while making a customer feel comfortable. 

But great sales starts with how you think.

So watch the video, and drop me a comment underneath to let me know what you think.

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: The Rocket Demo Builder™ – Never give a boring software demo again and close up to TWICE as many deals by this time next week - http://bit.ly/34IQZ4x

Exclusive Download: 1:1 Meeting Planner™ - Quickly Outline Your Meetings With Your Direct Reports To Make Sure The Entire Team is Working on The Right Things - http://bit.ly/33j0aqX

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Does this sound familiar?

You have a high-output employee working for your company and then suddenly they lose interest and stop performing the way they used to.

Or, even worse… they quit unexpectedly. 

You never saw it coming and – BAM – the tyres blow out and your business screeches to a halt while you try to figure out what went wrong.

I’ve experienced this in my own businesses.

And I see it all the time in others too! I coach 100+ software founders doing between $1MM and $10MM in Annual Recurring Revenue and trust me:

…it happens all the time.

If you want to grow and scale your business, then inevitably you’re going to invest in your people. 

And that means it’s your responsibility to stay in touch with their thoughts, feelings, and job satisfaction. Even if that means hiring managers to do this for you, it’s still your responsibility.

How do you do that? How do you make sure that your finger is on the pulse?

Simple. 

With properly structured One-on-Ones.

Let me show you how you can turn just a couple of hours into a massive boost in your company’s productivity that lasts months, prevents failure, and cranks up morale.

In this video, I outline the keys to efficient One-on-Ones. The 5 that make the shortlist are:

1. Meeting Flow
2. Capture @Agenda
3. Skip a Level
4. Connect the Future
5. Your Performance

Literally a single conversation can increase your employee’s output tenfold. Even if it’s just because your employees know that they’ve been heard.

It’s too important to not do this.

Ben Horowitz, the cofounder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, says he has fired managers in the past for not doing their one-on-ones with employees.

And Andy Grove, the CEO of Intel, dedicated a whole chapter to one-on-ones in his book High Output Management.

If you’re not using one-on-ones properly, then I hate to say it…

But you’re not in touch with your own company.

Don’t panic. I’ve got you sorted with this week’s video. Take a few mins to check it out, and don’t forget to drop a comment to let me know what you think.

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: 1:1 Meeting Planner™ - Quickly Outline Your Meetings With Your Direct Reports To Make Sure The Entire Team is Working on The Right Things - http://bit.ly/33j0aqX

Exclusive Download: Future Living™ Framework – Play a Bigger Game and Enhance the Way You Communicate Your Vision to Everyone You Interact With - http://bit.ly/33YO0ES

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Growing up, I had to fight off a lot of negativity. 

I made some big mistakes as a kid and the consequences haunted me for a long time.

So when I tried to get ambitious or even toy with the idea of making a future, it always felt like someone was lurking around the corner, ready to tell me that I’d fail.

Deflating me like a flat basketball. 

Thud.

I used to think it was just me. But I’ve come to realize that the more ambitious you are and the brighter your light, the more negativity pours out of people around you.

All entrepreneurs struggle with this.

You’re riding a wave of inspiration and – BAM – someone tries to knock you off your dream with “What ifs”.

Finally, after years, I got some clarity about coping with negativity from my buddy Jesse.

He taught me a concept called the tugboat vs the lighthouse. And it just… clicked.

I’m sure you’re facing negativity in your life right now, and I don’t want you feeling deflated like I was. So, can I share this with you?

This week’s video is here to give you strength. Check it out: How to stay motivated when surrounded by negativity.

I’ll break it all down into 3 easy-to-read points, but you’ve got to check out the video to get the meat from the bone:

1. Compete Against Yourself
2. Claim Your Morning
3. Friendventory

By now I’m sure you’ve noticed that I like to systematize things… and to teach them too!

Exclusive Download: Fundraising Like a Pro – Learn the 3 phases of fundraising and a 7 week process for starting & closing your next round of funding - http://bit.ly/2qMtlF5

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Recently one of my coaching clients exited his SaaS company for $90MIL. That was on  $860K in monthly recurring revenues.

Literally 100X his MRR became his selling price.

In case that isn’t clear… 

He made $90 million in a single sale, walking freely into an early retirement.

There is some serious money to be made in a well-built SaaS…

When you hear stories of overnight millionaires, it’s often some tech founder who exited their company for a huge sale.

But it’s never ‘overnight’.

You have to know how to exit. And you have to optimize your business for it in advance.

You could be sitting on a goldmine messing around with picks and shovels but if you have not set up your company correctly, then your valuation is broken. The difference could be an extra zero (or more!) in valuation.

Having exited three of my own companies and coached dozens of clients through the sales of their companies too, I’ve learned a few things about what it takes to exit…

And I’ve put it all into this week’s video: How to Design Your Perfect Exit™

If you aren’t hitting these 5 points correctly, your business valuation can suffer. Here’s the skim-friendly version:

1. Know Your Numbers
2. Visualize Maturity
3. Become The Person
4. Invest Ahead
5. Drive Value

A perfect exit is different for every individual.

For you, it might be a public offering, or it might be getting acquired by a strategic, or maybe even bringing in a CEO to run your business. 

But whatever it is, if you set everything right up front, you’ll get a much better valuation. 

This means you can brush the dust from your palms and walk away from your SaaS with a small fortune in your bank account.

If you want that to be you, if you want to exit your company at any stage, then you’re not going to want to miss this week’s video. 

So take the time, check it out, and leave me a comment if you have any questions.

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: Fundraising Like a Pro – Learn the 3 phases of fundraising and a 7 week process for starting & closing your next round of funding - http://bit.ly/2qMtlF5

Exclusive Download: 4 SMS Chat Scripts – Leverage Text Messages to Efficiently Onboard New Customers, Reduce Churn and Increase Expansion Revenue - http://bit.ly/2K3s7MP

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There’s some technology out there that I’ll bet you aren’t even using in your business, and it’s a huge conversion booster!

When I tried implementing this tech, you know what happened?

It reduced my sales demo no-shows by 30%… meaning my sales velocity almost doubled!

I also used it to warm up calls before the demos.

So what is this mysterious wonder-tech? Here’s the surprise… you use it every day and it’s been around for years:

SMS. Text Messaging.

No, I wasn’t hunched over my iPhone smashing out texts until my fingers bled. I set up a fully automated system that messaged prospects at exactly the right moment.

Think about it: You spend time (and money) generating leads and getting appointments for your sales demos, but you’re still getting drop-offs, aren’t you? 

A large percentage of those leads just aren’t buying, or heck – they aren’t even showing up!

Causing you to waste precious marketing dollars getting those appointments.

So, anything you do to plug that leaky sales funnel is worth it.

But adding automated SMS to your marketing funnels sounds tricky, right? That’s why I made this video to show you how to incorporate SMS into your marketing.

Email can be ignored, so can social updates. But SMS is immediate and demands a response from the recipient. So, here’s a quick look at the 5 steps to an awesome SMS marketing funnel:

1. The Three Funnels
2. Getting The Numbers
3. Short and Sweet
4. Catch the Drop-Off
5. Automate The Flow

To prepare for this video, I worked with Chris at SalesMessage, a company that automates SMS texts for your business. 

He’s one of my coaching clients in SaaS Academy, and we designed the SMS Advantage training together.

Chris sends more than a million messages a week through his software, so he’s got some great insights into using SMS effectively in your business.

It’s all about connecting to the right triggers, when you send them, and what you say in those messages.

If you want to tighten up your conversion rates, plug the holes in your sales funnels and sell more, then check out this video!

Let me know what you think by dropping a comment underneath.

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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.

+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell

Exclusive Download: 4 SMS Chat Scripts – Leverage Text Messages to Efficiently Onboard New Customers, Reduce Churn and Increase Expansion Revenue - http://bit.ly/2K3s7MP