The Portfolio Partnership

Deals That Pollute Your Sales Pipeline

by Ian Smith | Nov 20, 2012 | Sales Tips

It looks like a deal, it talks like a deal but it never seems to close. It lingers around. So what’s the harm? It might close one day! Here is the problem with deals that constantly linger: They pollute your pipeline. They flatter to deceive. They waste a...

Why Owners Need To Reconcile Personal & Business Life

by Ian Smith | Nov 18, 2012 | Building Business Value, Exiting your business, Maximize exit proceeds, Strategy

You see we are told in articles, blogs, seminars and books to strike a balance between our personal life and our business life. We are told to not to let work take over our lives. Google allowing staff to work on pet projects for 20% of the time is an example of...

Sales Professionals Are Choosing The Wrong Finishing Line

by Ian Smith | Nov 17, 2012 | Selling

The analogy with sport involving a finishing line is a fine one. The problem is that most sales professionals think the finishing line is the winning of a Purchase Order. Wrong. The finishing line is a happy, on-boarded customer who is delighted with the improved...

Sales & The Finishing Line

by Ian Smith | Nov 16, 2012 | Selling

The analogy with sport involving a finishing line is a fine one. The problem is that most sales professionals think the finishing line is the winning of a Purchase Order. Wrong. The finishing line is a happy, on-boarded customer who is delighted with the improved...

Managing Your Direct Reports

by Ian Smith | Nov 15, 2012 | Management

Sometimes it pays to keep things really simple. Keeping people focused on the right stuff, keeping people continually effective and motivated is never easy. However I’m observing 3 basic problems with leadership styles as I dive deep into the operational...

Customer Development – The Tourist v The Resident

by Ian Smith | Nov 14, 2012 | Sales - Farming

Are your sales team tourists or residents? A tourist rarely has time to map out all the streets, investigate their favorite Thai restaurants, get to know local people, build relationships with the natives. A resident on the other hand puts down roots. Builds...

What Does An Entrepreneur Look Like?

by Ian Smith | Nov 13, 2012 | start ups

Great piece in the WSJ Report yesterday based on Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation research. Characteristics of an entrepreneur: Average and median age 40. 95.1% have bachelor’s degrees or higher. 47% have advanced degrees. Less than 1% came from extremely poor...

Acquisitions & HubSpot (the Pre IPO Company)

by Ian Smith | Nov 12, 2012 | Acquisitions

As a company prepares for an IPO it needs to review its key processes to ensure fitness for purpose. I rarely see Acquisitions as part of the processes reviewed and yet they are one of the key tools to help scale the post IPO business. So if I was HubSpot I’d take...

Grit & Michael Jordan

by Ian Smith | Nov 11, 2012 | Execution Tips

It’s a popular quote but in these times we need to remember that grit and determination through failure can achieve greatness: ” Our willingness to fail gives us the ability and opportunity to succeed where others may fear to tread. I’ve missed more...

Positioning is Your Most Urgent Issue

by Ian Smith | Nov 10, 2012 | Positioning drives growth

You will never drive sales at the maximum velocity until you define who you are. You will never attract the best candidates until you define who you are. You will fail to write compelling marketing content until you define who you are. I could go on but you get the...