Ep. 111 – Paul Mazzola from Nivo Outdoor, Part 1

Paul Mazzola

Paul Mazzola

Great businesses are often born out of frustration. While trying to set up a camping chair on the uneven ground at a West Virginia music festival, Paul Mazzola kept sliding down the hill. Looking around, he noticed that he wasn’t alone. The idea of a self-leveling outdoor chair popped into Paul’s mind. Surely, someone had something like that in the works, right?

Today, Paul is the CEO and Founder of Nivo Outdoor, a startup that makes those exact same self-leveling chairs. He’s also a member of the Kauffman Entrepreneur-In-Residence Program. In this episode, host and business coach Tom Ryan talks with Paul about how Nivo grew from concept to company, and the lessons learned along the way. As always, Tom is joined by producer and co-host Jason Pyles. Continue reading

Calculating Your Price Points: Bringing It All Together

IMG_2329Once you find a price point that fits, it’s time to do a little test marketing. This doesn’t need to be an elaborate process. You can easily test the price simply by talking to trusted friends, colleagues and advisors. Anyone who you can trust to give you candid advice is an ideal person to bring into the discussion.

Early on, as you tried to find the right price for your product, you might have asked those same people a fairly nebulous question like “What would you pay for this product?” or “How much should I charge for my service?” The more people you ask, the wider the range of feedback you tend to get. Continue reading

Ep. 110 – The Fourth P of Sales: People, Part 2

FourPs-ImageIn this final installment of the “Four Ps of Sales” series, host and business coach Tom Ryan nails down the two remaining concepts in hiring a great sales team: Skill sets and compensation. Learn why hiring the right person with the right skills for the sales system is often the best long-term strategy, and why it makes sense to hire for your level of compensation, rather than adjust compensation to hire a specific person.

To catch up on the “Four Ps of Sales,” check out: Overview; “Process” (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3); and “Performance”; “Pay” (Part 1 and Part 2); and “People” (Part 1). Continue reading

Ep. 109 – The Fourth P of Sales: People, Part 1

FourPs-ImageSalespeople are a critical resource for almost every business. It’s important to remember, however, that individual salespeople aren’t the solution to creating a professionalized sales process. To do their jobs well, they need to be part of a larger, highly optimized system. Too often, companies assume that they just need to hire someone with sales training. That’s wrong. To see great results in sales, you need to hire the right people.

In this solo podcast, host and business coach Tom Ryan examines the final “P” in the series: People. To catch up on the “Four Ps of Sales,” check out: Overview; “Process” (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3); and “Performance”; “Pay” (Part 1 and Part 2). Continue reading

Calculating Your Price Points: Competitor Matrix & Finding What’s Missing

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/veganfeast/

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/veganfeast/

Pricing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Unless you’re in that enviable position of being a true innovator in a completely untapped market, or you have a uniquely unfair advantage when it comes to cost, your prices points will be heavily influenced by your competition. The more homework you do on your competitors, the more insight you’ll have when it comes to finding the correct price for your product or service. Continue reading

Ep. 108 – Examples of the Third P of Sales: Pay, Part 2

FourPs-ImageHow do you determine fair compensation for a sales rep? It’s a meaningful question for any company looking to expand their sales, because ultimately those sales reps will determine how much revenue you can generate. Finding that right number is a balancing act of base salary, incentives, the sales cycle and many other factors. It can be tricky to get it right.

In this episode, host and business coach Tom Ryan considers one example for creating optimized pay in a sales organization. As always, Tom is joined by co-host Jason Pyles. To catch up on the “Four Ps of Sales,” check out: Overview; “Process” (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3); and “Performance”; and “Pay” (Part 1) Continue reading

Ep. 107 – The Third P of Sales: Pay, Part 1

FourPs-Image“Sales is a secret startup weapon!” exclaims host and business coach Tom Ryan. In today’s episode, Tom explores the third major element of the “Four Ps” of sales: Pay. The first big sales question startups generally ask is: “How much should we pay for sales?” It’s a big decision, and one that deserves some careful thought, even for established companies.

In this episode, host and business coach Tom Ryan guides listeners through the fundamental concepts behind establishing the right compensation for their sales teams. As always, Tom is joined by co-host Jason Pyles. To catch up on the “Four Ps of Sales,” check out: Overview; “Process” (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3); and “Performance.” Continue reading

Calculating Your Price Points: Considering Costs

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/peasap/

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/peasap/

When it comes to determining the price for your product or service, cost is the obvious starting point. It’s only after you have your costs completely nailed down that you can really start to make serious plans for pricing. With a clear understanding of your costs, you can quickly react to changes that impact your bottom line, such increased costs for raw materials or bringing on new employees.

On a basic level, costs are easy to identify. For instance, let’s say your company is a bakery that makes organic cookies and snacks. Ingredients will be one of your most obvious costs. It’s fairly easy to work out your per-unit needs for each ingredient, and to scale that up to the bulk price your supplier will charge. Continue reading

Ep. 106 – The Second P of Sales: Performance

FourPs-ImageNow that we’re laid the groundwork for the “Four Ps of Sales” by thoroughly examining “Process,” it’s time to dive into the second P: “Performance.” Understanding the optimization of performance means having a firm grasp on your expenses, your gross revenues, and your overall revenue goals.

In this episode, host and business coach Tom Ryan guides listeners through the fundamentals of sales performance. As always, Tom is joined by co-host Jason Pyles. To catch up on the “Four Ps of Sales,” check out: Overview; “Process” (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). Continue reading

Ep. 105 – Process: The First P of Sales, Part 3

SIB-Blog-1In today’s episode, Tom wraps up the to simple questions that define the “Process” step of the “Four Ps of Sales.” Learn how sticky notes can help you determine the critical path for your sales sequence, and how to distinguish between a theoretical and realistic sales capacity.

As always, Tom is joined by co-host Jason Pyles. Click here to listen to part one, and here to listen to part two. Continue reading