Pricing your services is always tricky because there are so many different models you can use. Plus, you’ve got to consider your expertise, experience, and the current market situation. So, it’s only reasonable that there will be times when you have clients that challenge your pricing.

Today we’re going to work through what to do and say when a client tells you you’re too expensive. 

A very common initial reaction to this kind of remark is to back down - to really start to doubt yourself with regard to your fees & hourly rates. And what this will do is have you immediately consider reducing your price. 

Or in other words - reducing your worth.

Why does that happen?

It’s the people-pleasing trigger or part of us that gets pulled. We always want to have satisfied & happy clients, or we want to get that new client across the line (aka get more cash flowing into the business). 

But, I’m here to tell you that you need to silence that initial inner voice. Stop discrediting & downgradin...

How many times has a client asked you to do something and it’s prompted an automatic YES from you? 

And then you end up readjusting your calendar and wondering where in the world to put the extra work you’ve just agreed to.

I think it’s happened to all of us, but today, I’d like to dive deeper into what this sort of behaviour leads to and how it can be prevented.

The first example that comes to mind is the time leading up to Christmas (but it could be any other holiday or your annual leave for that matter). Before we take that break from work, all projects must come to a close. We all have it planned out, don’t we?

And you probably already know that it is at those exact times, a client or two will come to you with an urgent request. There’s this one extra thing that they need done before the break. You accept their request and add this to your workload (although it’s already full) because it’s your client and you want to leave a good impression.

The results of just blindly saying ...

Dreaming of growing your business and achieving those goals you set for yourself in your business plan?

And getting to that point where clients will come looking for you because you are their go-to problem solver?

I think we all fall into this category. 

But what makes businesses actually successful and stand out here is being smart and going about this process wisely.

And if there’s one thing that can really hold your business back, it’s NOT being clear on your ideal client.

This can have an immense impact on the scalability & the success of your business.

So, why is this so important?

It’s because it’s got such a domino effect on the main drivers necessary for a business to thrive.

Let’s imagine that at the moment, you’re not sure who or what your ideal client is and that you’re taking on work from many different clients that all have different needs and wants. One client asks that you do something in a particular way, and the other prefers a completely different approach … you get my point....

How many times have you heard that strategy is important? 

I bet a heap of times!

And even though you know it’s important, it’s the first thing to get neglected or let go of when you get busy.

It’s easy to get caught up with all the day-to-day activities - dealing with challenges, resolving problems, providing for your clients, etc.

And at some point, you bring your head up from being stuck in the weeds and putting out fires all day long and you realise that you are going in an unknown direction, or not the direction you were hoping for.

This is where I need to remind you that one of the essentials for business success is revisiting your strategy on a regular basis.

So what does that look like? First, you allocate some time every month or quarter to review your strategy. And then, each time you have that strategy review slot, you need to ask yourself several simple questions.

Let’s dive into those now. 

Q1: What is my long-term business vision?

So this is where you ask yoursel...

There’s something about starting a new year that gets every business owner or team member excited. Because we see it as a new chapter with a whole host of opportunities to grow and improve.

However, before you dive headfirst into the new year - it’s super important to reflect on what the past year has brought, and how each of those things has affected your business and you as a person.

Let’s not kid ourselves, being unhappy with how certain things played out in your business last year, or what kind of clients you were dealing with, or frustrating projects you were working on can take its toll on our motivation and performance as we build into the new year. 

I don’t want that for you this year. I want you to start the new year fresh and excited – with the frustrations of last year learnt from and left behind. 

So, let’s do this together now. Go on… take out a pen and paper, or open a doc if you’re the techy type, and create a list of things that have marked the past year for you. Ma...

There is one word that I can't stand - HUSTLE......

It seems to have become a massive buzz word in the world of leaders, business owners and entrepreneurs.

I firmly believe that if you set your team and your business up smartly and you have the right systems and processes in place - then you don't need to hustle. Your team is performing well, your clients love you and the work you do for them and your project pipeline is full.

But today I'm going to break my rule and talk about one area that does require an amount of hustle....

...and that is in the follow up!!

Most people think that a potential client will either love them or hate them after one coffee meeting. They think they'll either get work out of them straight away or it wasn’t meant to be.

But that’s absolute nonsense.

If you're a stats person (which most engineers are!) then the latest stats are that a new client will need on average 8 touch points from you before they will make a purchasing decision with you. 

Now for...

There is the perception that business development and finding and connecting with your ideal future clients is really hard at the moment.

Most leaders and business owners in our industry are used to the old way of doing things in this space.

You know... register for an event, get a copy of the attendees list, find the names of the potential future clients you would like to 'bump' in to, attend the event, only talk to half the people you wanted to because you got distracted talking with colleagues or friends or people you already know, hand out a bunch of business cards and come away from the event feeling kind of good about yourself but actually knowing that you didn’t really make the most of that opportunity and didn’t really make any solid progress on developing new relationships.

Sound familiar?

What if I told you there was an easier way in general to find, connect with and then build meaningful relationships with your ideal future clients?

The answer is online. The answer is u...

Well here we go - we're into the run into Christmas! What a year!

What I notice at this time of the year is that leaders and business owners start to get complacent and take their foot off the pedal.

It’s been a hard and full on year - I know. But if you want to finish this year strong AND set the start of your 2023 up right - then you have to keep going.

This is where consistency matters.

It’s the little things you do every day that really matter and allow you to build momentum - and momentum generates results!

Watch and listen for those little voices in your head that tell you things like:

• “It's been a hard year - just take the rest of the year slowly.”
• “Don't worry about following up that client / proposal / opportunity - leave it until the new year.”
• “I can't be bothered having that hard conversation with a team member or client - I'm tired and don't want the angst.”

Use your calendar to your advantage here. This way you are physically creating the time and the space i...

So many engineering leaders and business owners groan when you talk to them about winning work.

"It's really hard"

"It takes a lot of effort and most of the time doesn't pay off"

"Most of the potential customers I talk to already have their preferred engineer and they are just going to give the work to them regardless of what I say or do"....

...and this is absolutely true if you're approaching BD and winning work like everyone else - unfocused networking, boozy lunches, fighting for work based on being the cheapest etc. etc.

Today I want to talk to you about a strategy that has been absolutely amazing for my clients: Authority marketing.

Authority marketing is where you are actively and consciously positioning yourself, your team and your business as a thought leader and a market leader in your chosen field.

You are constantly producing articles, marketing material, content for LinkedIn and other platforms as well as your email database where you are talking about your specific...

Today I want to explore with you a super interesting concept that I’ve been playing around with in my own life and in my own business.

It’s called the 80 / 20 rule for getting ‘stuff’ done.

This concept is all about being conscious, being intentional and accessing the appropriate energy and emotions within yourself to get done what you need to get done.

Let me explain.

You see most of us go about our days and our weeks not been hugely intentional with the energy, the state and the emotions that we’re in in order to get things done. Most of us stay in fairly comfortable emotions and a fairly comfortable state of being, acting, operating and behaving. We like being this way because it’s familiar to us.

And most of us, if we really analyse the energy and the emotions that we operate out of every day - it’s one of being nice to others, it’s one of been quite laid-back, it’s one of not wanting to do things that rock the boat and being fairly calm and considered.

And to be honest - I’m...