SMB Nation & Technology Trusted Business Advisors

Wow. Just recovering after a great weekend at SMB Nation East in my NJ backyard. I was very happy to see lots of old friends and colleagues but even happier to meet so many great new people. A truly awesome event all around.

There was a ton of great information flying around all weekend and I am very proud to have been part of it as both a speaker and with helping out as the Business Speak Chair.

Even most of the tech sessions and vendors were on board with the overarching theme of acting as a trusted business advisor to your clients and potential clients. To be honest, this is how any all-around solid service and solutions business is run. But in the technology world, most businesses end up concentrating too much on the technology portion.

Well, that just won't work anymore. As the owner of your technology solutions business you need to be the one pushing the fact that you are providing business solutions that use technology. It's that simple.

Everyone is trying to position themselves to come out on top when the economic upswing hits. That means even the tech people inside of your clients' businesses are thinking more like business people because they have no choice but to understand what makes things tick.

So what's the quick and dirty about being a trusted business advisor? Build relationships, ask questions and listen to the answers (more listening than talking) then formulate your answers based on business oriented solutions to solve the problem. Keep the geek speak to a minimum unless asked to give those details. This is how you provide value and take price out of the picture.

Be ready to point your clients and potential clients in the right direction to solve problems your business can't internally solve. This is your chance to be their hero so have additional revenue streams waiting in the wings with joint venture partners.

Please, please understand and heed my warnings that your clients and potential clients want to do business with a real business and most will do their due diligence to make sure you fit that mold. Talking the business talk is step 1. Internally running your operations like a real business is step 2 and just as important as it gives you stability and proves it to your clients.

This is one of the main themes I spoke about at SMB Nation and I was very happy to see a good turnout for that particular session. Even happier that it seemed to be very well received. Those business get it. And hopefully they are right now doing an internal check on how they can improve and solidify their operations.

If you were at SMB Nation but unable to attend the "Business will win, Businesses run like a job will lose" session, please make sure you download my slide decks. Contact me if you were not at SMB Nation and I'd be happy to arrange a summary discussion of what I spoke on. It's truly an important subject.

So keep in mind the title of that session because true businesses will come out on top and businesses that are glorified jobs will get the short end of the stick. Being a trusted business advisor is a big part of this so jump on it now.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach