Sales improvement strategists, Stephen and Lindsay Gill of MentureME are on a mission to end business struggle and help business owners boost revenues and improve profitability on a consistent basis in order to succeed.
I sat down recently with Stephen to learn more about their mission.
Zaza Giroday: Let’s dive right in! Who do you help?
Stephen Gill: We help small to mid-size business owners who are interested in improving their revenues and profits by selling more of their services faster with less resistance. These business owners desire a structured and supportive approach to growing their company, and they also place a high value and importance on having professional help to achieve their success.
Zaza Giroday: Why is it important for you to cater to them?
Stephen Gill: We believe we can help end business struggle. Many business owners have a real value to bring to the marketplace but unfortunately, their current methods and processes of marketing are under-performing, and they need to implement effective business growth systems. Our goal is to maximize sales results with minimum effort and cost. Most business owners lack having something good to say and don’t clearly communicate their value and compelling offerings to the marketplace. Unfortunately, most don’t sell the end results they offer in a way that is enticing for their prospects. They also fail to sell their unique value offering often and loud across multiple distribution channels.
Zaza Giroday: What are the 2 or 3 problems that you see for them? Why should they be interested in listening to you?
Stephen Gill: The most common problem that we’ve found is a poor targeting of highly profitable customers. The second problem is not having a distinct competitive advantage. Most business owners don’t clearly communicate the ultimate value they offer and their messaging doesn’t speak directly to solving the needs, pains, and desires of their ideal target market. Once the business owner clearly understands why prospects should do business with them instead of their competitors, they will be able to create their unique selling proposition. Another issue these business owners face is the lack of sufficient investment to invest in business growth systems to fuel their sales on a consistent basis.
Zaza Giroday: How aware are your clients of these different issues when they meet you?
Stephen Gill: They are not actually. However, what they are fully aware of are the results of those issues such as difficulties in converting prospects to customers. They are aware of their poor cash flow as they compete mostly on price, and they look like all of their competitors.
Zaza Giroday: Are there any misconceptions about the service that you provide?
Stephen Gill: Yes. The biggest one is that it’s too expensive. The business owner must not think of this as an expense but instead look at it as an investment in their company in order to successfully grow. As long as the business is operating with integrity and their products/services offers superior value and quality, our company offers a unique service that delivers results. If your company qualifies, we will work with you on a profit-sharing basis to create long-term, continuous, revenue improvements and receive compensation only after you’ve profited from the money our efforts produce for you.
The other misconception is that our services are only for poor performers. Building a business is a team sport and as in any sport, it requires consistent tweaking and improvement in performance to win games against competitors. When you get comfortable with where you are, that’s when your competitors are looking to steal the win from you because you have let your guard down.
Zaza Giroday: The problem with business owners is that they often have to be a Jack of all trades, and they don’t always want to recognize the fact that they need help.
Stephen Gill: Exactly. That’s a side effect of being a business owner. That is the mindset of “I can do it all myself.” Unfortunately, the mindset that helps them to start turns out to be their Achilles’ heel when it comes to actually growing their business.
Zaza Giroday: It must take a bit of education on your part to address this issue.
Stephen Gill: Absolutely. One of the biggest obstacles for the clients we work with is recognizing that they need help, and that running a business does not have to be an island endeavor. You don’t have to do it all yourself. As a matter of fact, you’ll do more with a team.
Zaza Giroday: It’s interesting how we entrepreneurs will hire an accountant to help us out with accounting. But when it comes to your type of services like you said, there will be mindset issues standing in the way.
Stephen Gill: The problem with our industry compared to, as you mentioned, accountants, is the tangibility of the concepts and strategies we speak about. When a business owner goes to an accountant, they talk numbers and numbers don’t lie. It’s a universal language. Unfortunately, with marketing services, coaching, and consulting services, when you tell a client something such as, “You need to have a competitive advantage,” they have no idea what a competitive advantage looks like.