Martin Williamson is a Business Doctors advisor who helps SME business owners with strategy and planning, business improvement, and value building. He previously served as a senior manager at PwC and as a freelance advisor for over twenty years. He has worked with everything from solopreneurs to large corporate enterprises, advising them on running and selling their businesses, constructing and negotiating acquisition deals, and company restructuring.
Business Challenges
Martin sought a platform to complement his services and better work with his desired target market of SME business owners. This technological tool also needed to work harmoniously with the Business Doctors methodology.
Martin’s primary concern was creating an effective sales and marketing funnel to help increase recurring revenue in his practice. He needed tools to activate his existing prospects and convert them into clients. To do this, he required a platform that provided exceptional thought leadership and captivating marketing material that he could use to win prospects over.
In addition, Martin was looking to help owners self-diagnose which areas of the business needed improvement to build a more valuable and sustainable company. In explaining this, Martin said, “I need a system to emphasize what specific areas of the business will build value.”
Why The Value Builder System™?
The existing partnership between Business Doctors UK and The Value Builder System™ made it easy to adopt as a solution, providing Martin an integrated toolset from day one.
He first leveraged the out-of-the-box sales and marketing collateral provided by The Value Builder System™, specifically its robust presentation templates. He was drawn to the Freedom Workshop, a flagship presentation that was custom branded and adapted to the Business Doctors UK methodology. Martin was able to further modify the presentation to his style and audience. In doing so, he uncovered an immense financial opportunity through the Freedom Workshop. He found a way to establish an additional recurring revenue stream in his practice by repeatedly delivering this workshop to new groups of business owners.
It begins with a marketing email to his list of prospects inviting them to the workshop a few weeks later. In the email, Martin also asks them to complete the Value Builder Questionnaire. This survey analyzes the current value of their business and gives them their current Value Builder Score out of 100. Explaining the next part of the sequence, Martin said, “A week before the workshop, I send another email thanking them for registering and reminding them to get their Value Builder Score. The day before the workshop, I send another email reminding them to get their Value Builder Score.” By giving prospects three reminders, over half of the workshop attendees complete the questionnaire.
After the workshop concludes, Martin provides anyone who completed the questionnaire with their Value Builder Score summary sheet and a Business Doctors Free Health Check. Cleverly, Martin does not provide them with the accompanying full-length Value Builder Report—an in-depth, 28-page summary that breaks down their score. Instead, he uses the report as content for his first in-depth paid assessment if the prospect moves forward. This tactic has proven to be extremely successful. Recalling one example, Martin said, “With the material from the Freedom Workshop and their Value Builder Score summary sheet, one prospect simply said, ‘Sign me up!’”
On average, Martin gets ten workshop attendees, half of whom complete the questionnaire; one to two of those will yield a paid assessment. And finally, 30% of paid assessments will then convert into a retainer client who pays a monthly fee. With this repeatable sequence, he has added an additional revenue stream to his firm. Martin was able to launch this program just six months after partnering with The Value Builder System™ and its turnkey platform.
Martin also leverages the Value Builder Questionnaire a second time, ten months later, to retain his existing business. Having two datasets, he can benchmark where an owner started, celebrate their improvements, and identify other problem areas they can tackle together. This encourages business owners to re-up for additional years of Martin’s services.
Martin also uses The Value Builder System™ in conversations with business owners to win their trust. He leverages The Value Builder System’s™ 8 Key Drivers of Company Value, the foundational set of concepts that helps owners see their business through the lens of an acquirer. By leading with high-level concepts rather than specifics, owners are more likely to open up. In explaining this approach, Martin said, “Rather than talking about coaching, processes, or systems, I talk about concepts. This helps them to think about what they don’t know. All of a sudden, you see lightbulbs turn on.”
Results
Martin has successfully created a sales and marketing engine using the Freedom Workshop. He’s also found a way to weave in the Value Builder Questionnaire to strengthen relationships and win new clients. Leveraging the 8 Key Drivers of Company Value, Martin helps owners view their business from a different perspective and identify what areas of the company to address next.
With a highly effective sales and marketing strategy, Martin hopes to further increase recurring revenue by securing 20 small business clients. Describing his passion, Martin said, “I get an immense amount of satisfaction watching small businesses grow into medium-sized businesses.” With a proven process and a roadmap for success, he is confident he will reach this goal.
Click HERE to find out how Martin helped a copywriting agency owner productive her service and increase recurring revenue.
