How to Speak CEO (Part I) – Quantifying and Verbalizing Value

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Summary:

In How to Speak CEO, 2014 Infusionsoft Most Helpful Partner, Kim Snider, gives an in-depth presentation on the nuances of thinking, speaking and acting like a CEO. Kim shares powerful insights on the importance of quantifying and verbalizing value in order to achieve business objectives.

Time Stamped Video Notes:

• 01:05 – Introduction of Kim Snider, Founder of 10 companies, including IS Beginner and The API Guys
• 01:55 – This webinar is about more than just “selling”
• 02:00 – The webinar is about making sure you get paid for the value that you bring, with the ultimate goal being earning more money with less effort
• 02:35 – The API Guys Manifesto
• 04:07 – Clearly articulating value is absolutely paramount to growing your business and revenue
• 06:20 – A brief look into Kim Snider’s background
• 07:00 – It’s easy to get down in the weeds (stressing technical abilities, etc.), but it’s more important to quantify and verbalize the ROI for your client
• 11:40 – The Payback Period Example
• 12:35 – Burdened Cost is the in-depth analysis of labor cost, not just paid salary
• 15:00 – The math of the Payback Period
• 16:18 – Do not overlook the importance of stressing Opportunity Cost
• 17:30 – Return on Investment (ROI ) example
• 21:50 – Remember that money is a tool; give money the most efficient job available
• 22:35 – What does money cost?
• 23:14 – Risk Adjusted Return example
• 26:00 – What affects the probability of return?
• 28:21 – Where can you obtain 100% probability for your customer?—The backend
• 29:19 – Hope is a bad investment strategy
• 36:19 – The first question from the audience pertains to Burdened Cost:
  • If we’re talking with a prospective client on the back-office side of things is a $100 per hour something you’ve seen before?
• 36:43 – Kim’s answer to Question #1
• 40:24 – Bottlenecks: Identify them and eliminate them
• 41:15 – Using manufacturing to demonstrate the damaging effects of a bottleneck
• 43:05 – Emotion versus Math; the math says eliminate the bottleneck but the emotion is always to resist spending the money to get rid of it
• 44:00 – Find ways to establish the baseline numbers of a business or project
• 47:06 – At the end of the day, it’s all about talking to people; knowing how to verbalize strategically is key
  • 47:30 – Tell me more about that
  • 48:00 – It doesn’t make sense for us to spend time on this if the solution I’m going to propose costs more than it is worth to you
  • 49:12 – What would it mean if we could do “X” for you?
• 52:30 – The worst trade in the world…
  • 52:37 – Trading time for money
• 54:00 – Questions
  • 54:50 – Businesses have different issues, concerns, etcetera; have you [Kim] always found success by always saying some boilerplate phrase to demonstrate your value at the start of the conversation?
  • 57:10 – Are there any phrases that your prospects say that make you [Kim] back away?
  • 58:03 – Would you [Kim] have a ROI verses backend optimization conversation with a small-business client?
  • 59:40 – Are you [Kim] selling Infusionsoft, a solution or yourself when you speak with a prospective client?
  • 60:00 – Where can people get more information on you [Kim Snider] and The API Guys?
• 60:28 – The How to Speak CEO webinar is a “slimmed down version” of Day 1 of the Art of Campaign Building Mastery Course

5 Key Points:

1. It’s not about trading time for money; it’s about trading value for money
2. Clearly articulating value is key to finding success in business
3. Remember that money is – at its most basic level – a tool
4. Look for bottlenecks – often the CEO or founder – these are generally guaranteed ROI.
5. The worst trade in the world?—Trading time for money