Josh Beasley

Don't wait on a brief, make sure you're being forthcoming when it comes to innovation that you can offer which brings incremental value to your client. Ensure that your client is aware of what you have coming down the roadmap ahead of time, so it can be factored into their strategic planning (immediate, short, medium and long-term). If you do this effectively, your solutions can be taken into account as your client's priorities shift. It can also help you to avoid RFPs, alleviating the threat of competition.

You can read a lot in the room, but you can read just as much on the way in, and on the way out. If just 'getting in the room' with a key account is like pulling teeth, whatever it is you're doing isn't considered important enough to warrant getting time with the right audience. The same can be said on the way out of the room, if you're failing to lockdown clear follow-up actions and are being 'ushered out,' something is amiss. Communication and engagement is everything, without it the relationship will stagnate and will eventually phase out. If you're experiencing these symptoms other than a one-off, it's time to reset and ensure you've got a good read on both the customer value prop and the opposing personalities.

I’m a big fan of Warren Buffett's 25/5 rule: 1 - Make a list of your top 25 projects / initiatives. 2 - Rank them by importance. 3 - Pick the top 5. 4 - Ignore the rest. There are a million things you can get pulled into; but focus on what’s most impactful, what’s in your remit and what’s within your control.

I’m a big fan of Warren Buffets 25/5 rule: 1 - Make a list of your top 25 projects / initiatives. 2 - Rank them by importance. 3 - Pick the top 5. 4 - Ignore the rest. There are a million things you can get pulled into; but focus on what’s most impactful, what’s in your remit and what’s within your control.