Hiring | The Barefoot Spirit

5 Ways to Grow and Build Trust

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 18:34:21 +0000

First published on Entrepreneur.com on 11/12/2017

From your creditors to your employees, good business relationships are built on trust. Can the people who depend on you, confidently rely on you to treat them fairly? Once you have proven your dependability, they will make allowances for you and extend their level cooperation. This is essential to your business success.

How much will you save on loan interest with extended credit, easier terms and complementary warehousing? How much will you save on hiring and training by reducing turnover, engaging your people and having them go the extra mile for you? How much will you save on advertising with cooperative distributers, loyal consumers and customers who become advocates? The sooner you demonstrate your trustworthiness, the sooner you’ll receive these benefits and more!

To read the complete article, please visit Entrepreneur.com

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Startups Must Hire Employees with the Entrepreneurial Mentality

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 19 May 2016 17:00:08 +0000

Hiring people who are paid, whether or not they produce, has been the death of many startups. In the early days of growing your business with limited time, resources, and funds, you don’t want to hear, “I was there, pay me!” Paying for attendance, instead of performance, will quickly drain your budget and cause you to miss precious opportunities. You simply don’t have the luxury to pay people for attendance alone, even if you wanted to.

When you are looking to hire new employees, look for folks who are self-starters and problem solvers. Look for people who have worked on a project with a team, preferably as the team leader. Even better, look for experience operating a small business. In other words, look to hire people who think like an entrepreneur. These are the ones who have the mindset to think and act beyond their assigned duties and look at the whole picture.

One of the biggest challenges your startup faces is a clear definition of the jobs that are required to make it run successfully. When you start out, you simply don’t know what is required of you and your fledgling company to satisfy the needs of your clients. You find out as you go along. Likewise, your employees must be flexible and look for every opportunity to contribute, whether or not it is in their job description.

Just like a tennis player with knees bent, ready to spring into action in whatever direction required to return the ball, no matter where the ball comes from, your startup team has to be flexible and prepared to get the job done. They must also be looking for the ball! You can’t afford to have folks who don’t think sales is their responsibility. They have to have a financial interest in sales in order to understand the most important word to any startup, “urgency!” They have to know that somehow their income and job security is based on that next sale – and do all they can to make it happen, and keep it happening!

To reinforce this idea, you as the owner must be ready to take a smaller slice of a larger pie. You must be willing to share in the upside and offer quarterly bonuses based on sales, growth, and profitability. If you must pay guarantees or base salaries to salespeople, make it an advance on commissions. Do whatever you can to send the message that their income, security, bonuses, and benefits all come from sales.

When you hire entrepreneurial thinkers you have employees who are willing to bet their income on your success, folks who believe in what you are doing, and believe they can be instrumental at some level in making it happen. To support this idea, you must present them with a comprehensive orientation period, thorough training, and access to continued learning resources. Show them how they can best contribute to the needs and ultimate success of your company by investing their skills with the knowledge that they will benefit when the company grows and becomes more profitable.

Wouldn’t you rather have “investors” than “employees” anyway? Think of what it will do for your startup company culture! Think teamwork, focus, and commitment. Think of how it will reduce your need to supervise and micro-manage your people, allowing you the time and attention to focus on more pressing matters. We like to say, “In a startup there is no room for passengers. If you’re not steering, rowing, or bailing, you are swimming because you are no longer on board!”

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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7 Ways to Spot Entrepreneurial DNA -Part 1

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 23:30:21 +0000

Today there is a loud buzz about the entrepreneurial spirit, the entrepreneurial culture, and even the entrepreneurial DNA. Corporations realize that in order to stay relevant, engage and empower their people, and create a positive and innovative culture they must learn to spot entrepreneurial DNA in their job candidates. This topic is so interesting and involved that we have divided it into two parts.

We have a friend who runs the school of entrepreneurship at a major university. She says that, surprisingly, large corporations are now very interested her grads. Why? The answer is because entrepreneurial grads are more self-reliant and creative compared to grads who do not possess these business acuities. Most importantly, they have their eyes on the money and they understand that the money comes from the customer. You have to remember that entrepreneurship students are not pursuing a degree in entrepreneurship to show it to an employer. In fact they often have no intention of taking a job, but they sincerely want to learn what they need to know to be successful in their own enterprise. They are, by their choice of study, self-reliant.

But if you want to hire someone with entrepreneurial DNA, what do you look for?

Here’s the short list:

1. Performance Pay. Ask them if they want to get paid on attendance (salary), or are they willing to bet a portion their compensation on their own performance. Entrepreneurs don’t have any income unless they are constantly satisfying their customers. Seek out someone who knows they can add significant value to your bottom line. Look for self-confidence and self-reliance. Entrepreneurs are always looking for ways to increase income, profits and growth. They bet their income on themselves because they know their performance will mitigate the risks they are taking and abundantly reward them. So, make sure your company has some kind of profit sharing plan if you want to entice someone with entrepreneurial DNA to work for you.

2. Body Language. Watch how they move. Ask them to get a file from the next office. Do they lumber out aimlessly, take too long, shuffle back slowly, flop down in their chair, and lean on their elbows? Is their posture like a question mark? Or do they move with hustle, determination and purpose? When people sit erect and lean slightly forward, that indicates their engagement and interest. Entrepreneurs exude confidence and it shows in their posture and their body language. They have prepared themselves by learning about your company, and display confidence when they are interviewed and scrutinized by strangers like you. These “tells” are important to recognize because they are physical evidence of your candidate’s attitude and self-esteem.

3. Mistakes. Ask them to describe the biggest mistake they ever made professionally, and more importantly, what they did about it. Listen for whether they fixed it fast and quickly went on with their project, or ultimately blamed others and were “victimized.” Note if they took responsibility. Successful entrepreneurs know that blame is disempowering, while doing what can be done to prevent reoccurrence is staying in control. Learn if they analyzed what happened and modified signs, labels, contracts, job descriptions, policies, or procedures to prevent it from happening again. Entrepreneurs can’t afford to make the same mistake twice. They build their successes on the backs of their mistakes.

Next time we will discuss how you can spot candidates who exhibit resourcefulness, preparedness, teamwork and organization, all essential ingredients of the entrepreneurial DNA.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Integrity Trumps Everything

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 18:30:50 +0000

We can’t have a cop on every corner or a regulator in every office. At some point we must rely on the people we hire, do business with, and buy products or services from. When we cannot depend on on these people, we look to terminate the relationship and search for alternatives. It’s only human nature. We need a stable, dependable platform that we can rely upon to build any relationship.

Aspiring entrepreneurs often ask us what the most important factor is in building a successful business. They ask, “How can I keep and grow my customer base? Is it cornering a narrow niche where you’re the only game in town? Is it providing outstanding value for money? Is it a slick package and a compelling slogan? Is it a cute and memorable logo?”

It’s certainly all those things, but one factor stands out above all else. It is the deal breaker when it’s missing and the glue that bonds customers to your company when it’s demonstrated. It’s doing what you say or imply you are going to do, and what you are expected to do. It’s meeting deadlines, covering bases, and looking out for your customer. It living up to your warranties and solving customer problems with your product or service. It’s called integrity.

And what happens when you make a mistake that hurts your customer? You immediately admit to it and make amends. You show them how you learned from the mistake and what steps you have taken to prevent its reoccurrence. We often say, “People don’t remember how you do when things go smoothly but how you do when times are tough!”

Yes, it can be costly to live up to your promises. Once we had to write a check for $5,000 to a major supermarket because we made a mistake on a back label that was scanning through its cash registers at half the price than it should have. The buyer was unaware of the mistake and what it was costing him. He was surprised that we brought it to his attention and instantly made it right. He was reassured when we showed him how it happened and how it would never happen again. At that point, he knew he could trust us. Soon after, he expanded our line in all his stores.

We’ve learned that normal inadequacies, weaknesses, and imperfections are more easily forgiven when we are reliable. It is the most highly valued attribute in business. Sometimes our quotes to clients were too low, but we honored those quotes at a loss to us. Why? Because we said we would and our customer expected it. Our word is our bond.

Through this we learned the importance of understanding our customers’ expectations and all the hidden costs that will be expected of us, and took all this into account before we made our quotes.

The same thing goes with employment. If your boss finds you to be dependable and reliable, he or she will be more likely to tolerate a slower learning curve or the occasional foul-up. When we hire people the first thing we look for is integrity. We know we can generally teach them the skills they lack – if we can trust them.

When we hire a service or buy a product we look for the same quality. We know there are going to be mishaps but we want to know how a business has treated their customers in the past. What does their customer service look like? Do they honor their guarantees? Do they deliver on time? Are they reliable?

When building a relationship, integrity trumps everything!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Hire a Person with a Sense of Urgency

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 02:01:38 +0000

We have a friend in Chicago who uses a self-styled word to define the quick moves a person uses to accomplish the task at hand. He calls it “hustlative.” It stuck with us as a great descriptor for this critical attribute. It can be the difference between success and failure, especially in a start up. It can save the bottom line with the proverbial “stitch in time.”

We used to interview people to try to get a feel for where they stood on the “hustlativity” scale. Beyond their skill set, personality, or even intelligence, their ability to move quickly on a project with a sense of urgency was critical to our grossly under-capitalized and growing business.

We had to hustle, and everybody we hired had to as well. When we got a write-up in a trade journal, or won a gold medal in a wine competition, we had a print version of the announcement up on the shelf in the stores the very next day! If our salesperson got a last minute appointment with Mr. Big at 10 o’clock the next morning, our accounting people had a report in his hands before day’s end.

When we had a deadline, everyone would pitch in. Our team was aware the major advantage that our company had over the big, sluggish corporations was – we had hustle. We were lighter, faster, and able to adjust quickly to take advantage of sudden changes in the market place.

When we heard of a distributor who lost a big brand in our price point, we went to them the same day with a proposal to put our product in everywhere the brand they lost had been. Hustle meant money to us, and we built a national award-winning brand in spite of the size of our staff, the size of our competitors, and the size of our budget. Hustlative counts.

Here are three ways we used to try to determine how hustlative our job applicants were:

1. Get Water. During the interview we would ask them to go out and get us some waters. We would watch how they got up, opened the door, left the room, how long they were gone, and how they moved on their return. Were they deliberate, determined and focused, or were they unstable, slow and just shuffling along?

2. Grab a File. Later, we would ask them to get a report on the other side of the room. We could see how they executed a simple physical task, and how long it took them.

3. Take a Walk. After the interview, we would invite them to take a walk with us around a nearby lake. We would take mental notes of their cadence, posture, and balance. We walked rather quickly, and observed if they could keep up.

Their body language shouted volumes. Our experience told us that their approach to the job, with all its challenges and deadlines, would not be much different than how they used their body to perform simple physical tasks.

Looking for, finding and capitalizing on opportunities that suddenly present themselves, and approaching them with a sense of urgency, all took a great deal of hustle. We were successful because we worked as a team, and each of us was hustlative!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Landing the Perfect Job Applicant Requires Seasoned Piloting Skills

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:56:57 +0000

When we owned Barefoot Cellars and were recognized for our success, we had our excellent staff to thank. So, it is not surprising that people ask us how we found such good people. Probably the most stressful part of hiring is, as Forrest Gump’s mom said, “You never know what you’re going to get!” Hiring anxiety is well founded.

Suddenly you are faced with the loss of productivity caused by the vacancy and the urgency to get a suitable replacement. The advertising and vetting process can last weeks. There’s also the knowledge that whomever you hire will operate at 50% capacity for some unknown period of time, and so will the person who trains them. Then there’s the fear that the new hire might not work out at all – and the process will start all over again.

Is there a way to mitigate some of this cost in time, nerves, and dollars? After years of struggling with this critical challenge, we finally honed in on a successful hiring process.

Typically, we would start by running an ad, posting a job on the web, or using the services of a human resources agency. The first responses were usually a plethora of well-polished and professionally composed resumes, accompanied by glowing cover letters. The red light went on right there, because we weren’t seeing how the person presents himself. And, in any company that sells something, it’s essential to know.

Here, then, is our secret to (more) success in that hair- pulling hiring process: The 7 Steps to Hire by Wire:

1. Standard Take Off. After you have advertised and received your first batch of resumes, begin the standard vetting process. Identify the shortlist of candidates from their listed skill set, experience, and cover letter.

2. Set the Course. Check the references of the top candidates and settle on the prospects you would like to interview by phone.

3. Cruising Altitude. Call up the top candidates and give a short, standard phone interview. Ask the crucial questions.

4. CHANGE COURSE! Explain to them that the position they are interviewing for is not stand-alone, but is one of a team player. Tell them who your customers are, the products or services you provide, how your company makes money, and why this job is essential to the process.

5. Request Permission to Land. Ask them to, on one page only, summarize what you have said, how they are qualified to help the company achieve its goals, and ask them to email it to you by 5PM the following day. This gives them an opportunity to show you that they understand the job, have good comprehension and retention skills, can organize and communicate in writing, and can meet deadlines.

6. Control Tower. You will be amazed at what comes in! During a recent job interview process, we found few applicants wrote in complete, succinct sentences, comprehended what was said, stayed to one page, and met the deadline. And every applicant was a college grad with a well-written resume!

7. Cleared for Landing. Now you can clearly see who you should bring in for an in-person interview. You can learn a ton about an applicant using this email-me-back method.

This may not apply to every job, but we’ve found it provides us with qualified candidates, and saves us time and money. Put into practice, these 7 steps will help you navigate through the glare of the shining resumes. Using the phone and email prevents you from flying blind, and allows you to hire by wire.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Successful Hiring takes Preparation, Permission and Patience

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 22:50:59 +0000

No matter what business you think you are in, you wind up in the personnel management business. Your first hires will require a great deal of your time and energy with no guarantees. Your way may conflict with their previous way of doing things.

For the most part, great employees are not found, they’re made. In order to delegate and allow your company to grow, you really have no choice.

All this takes time, energy, preparation and lots of patience, but by working together in concert, you can see wonders.

1. Good Seed. Start with people who demonstrate a high degree of integrity, take responsibility for their own behavior and have a history of long-term commitment. They should be willing to learn and extrapolate conceptual ideas and apply them to new situations. A good way to test this is to give the applicant a verbal run down of the job, the company’s challenges and your expectations for the position. Then, have them send you a one-page summary on a deadline. This will tell you volumes.

2. Good Ground. Make sure their job is clearly defined in writing and explains how your products and services produce the income to pay their salary, bonus and benefits. We used to give our people a “Money Map”. It started with the consumer and worked its way back through distribution, production, and all the payables to finally get to their check. This gave them respect for how and where the money came from – the customer, of course.

3. Care. You must inspect what you expect, especially in the first year. Once you are convinced you have “good seed” it’s worth your while to regularly spend time with them answering questions and mentoring. Listen to what’s behind their questions to discover what they really need to excel in their new position.

4. Light and Space. Give them permission to make mistakes. That’s what allows them to develop into the independent decision makers you need to confidently delegate. To “make those mistakes right,” have them write down what needs to be done to prevent those mistakes in the future. Have them make new polices, procedures, checklists, sign-offs, or whatever, but they have to document everything. Consider rewriting their job description to fit their real skill set.

5. Nutrients. Give them the training they need, in person and in writing. If a document doesn’t exist, have them write it. Create a mini manual for every job with the growing list of frequently asked questions and as many charts and graphs as are necessary to depict processes, relationships and decisions. Provide outside training with conferences, or field time with sales or production staff. The more they understand your total operation, the faster they will become invaluable.

6. Time. How much time you give them before they “get it” really depends on the position, their ability to learn, and how much faith you have in them personally. Some folks take longer but “get it” at a core level. Others may learn a specific process quickly, but miss the big picture. So it’s a judgment call based on your assessment of their progress and conceptual understandings, and the preparation, time and energy you have put in.

Even if you do these essentials, there’s no guarantee of success, but you will be much more likely to succeed. To grow those new hires into fruitful producers it takes preparation, permission and patience.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Grow Your Business Faster by Sharing the Wealth

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:19:46 +0000

Henry Ford used to say he’d rather have 1% of what a hundred others made working for him, than 100% of what he made by himself. Some business owners want to have it all, but in the process, cut off the very folks they need to get what they want.

Our business colleagues have chastised us for “overpaying” our sales people. They’d say, “Aren’t you afraid they will make more than you?” Actually, we had several sales people who made more than we did.

When we looked at the efficiencies of scale, the value of stability, and the increase in sales, we knew we were doing the right thing. So, why should you apply this winning philosophy to your business?

1. Reduce Your Turnover. Turnover is the largest hidden cost in business. It can take up to six months to find and train a new person. There is no guarantee that this new person will work out, either. You may have to start all over again with someone new. This can go on for quite a while until you get the right person.

Now you have someone who will be under-producing until he or she is fully trained. You also lose the time of the new hire’s trainer, who now has two jobs to do. Both jobs suffer. And the relationships built by the person who left could either be dropped or taken away by the departing employee. These must be re-built.

Remember, top performers who get a “piece of the action” are generally loyal and truly concerned about the welfare of your business.

2. Attract the Go-Getters. People who know they are excellent at their jobs want to work for a company that compensates them based on their performance. People who are less productive can’t afford to work for a company that has performance-based compensation plans.

When your job candidates ask where your profit centers are and how that flows into their paychecks, you should realize you are talking to a go-getter. Keep your performance metrics well thought out and achievable.

Rewarding for growth over same month last year is a good start. Averaging last year’s prior and subsequent months with the same month will smooth out most anomalies. Renegotiate profit-sharing bonuses annually.

3. It’s Free! If you know the profit of your business now, and you know your rate of growth for the past few years, any increase in that rate of growth attributable to your people’s performance is “found money.” When you cut an employee in for a piece of your increased profit, he is motivated to produce even more. It really costs you nothing. Just make sure the payment is tied into profitability, and not based solely on “growth.”

You are paying too much for labor when you pay for “attendance” alone. It’s their production you really want, because that is where your profits come from.

Why settle for 100% of a smaller pie when you can have more pie by taking a smaller piece of the larger pie others helped you get. When it comes to growing your business fast, it pays to share the wealth.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Discover Your Strengths and Weaknesses Before You Start Your Business

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:21:00 +0000

The right business for you is a combination of opportunity, preparation and resources. It’s more of a discovery than a choice. You will not have the world of all possibilities to choose from, but if you analyze your strengths and weaknesses, you can identify the opportunities that are plausible.

The key to success is to understand what you have an abundance of and what you need more of. We all have a tendency to think we can do more that we actually can. This is why we recommend working with a third party who knows you very well. It will be harder to make claims knowing you are being held accountable.

Have your friend ask you these basic questions to better understand your capacities:

1. Time: How much time are you able to commit to your new venture? Do you have or plan to have children? Are you accustomed to taking vacations and long weekends? Do you have commitments to others, annual family reunions, or a significant other who wants your company on trips? How many days can you commit to working in a year? How many hours a day? Do you have regular appointments, kids to pick up, chores to accomplish and so on?

2. Money: Start-ups eat money. Even though your goal is to attain cash flow quickly, you still should know what your limitations are. What are your savings? What are your credit card limits? What is your credit status? Can you raise private capital? Will your family help? Can you get a loan? Can you trade goods and services in lieu of having to buy them? How long will it take your new business to pay its bills, and can you or others bridge that gap? Now, multiply your anticipated needs by two or more!

3. Skill Set: Education is not just the kind you get in school; it’s also the experience you have attained during your career. What do you excel at? How do you handle stress? Can you do what you do well and delegate the rest to others? Are you experienced at hiring and training? Most businesses come down to personnel management and some form of distribution management. Can you take advice? Are you willing to take a smaller piece of a bigger pie?

4. Connections: Who you know is often more important than what you know. List anyone connected with the business you are considering. Who, from your past, can help you? Take a close look at your contacts, past jobs, and friends.

5. Location: Where are you living now? Are you willing to move? How much and how often are you willing to travel? Some start-ups require a lot of travel. Certain mercantile and service businesses nail you down to one location permanently. Are your ready for that?

Once you can look your friend in the eye and honestly answer these questions, compare them to the opportunities you are considering. Thoroughly research each opportunity to identify what is required initially and in the long run, using your honest evaluation in each of the areas above.

Even if you discover the opportunity is not right for you, going though this process can help you understand the difference between what you want and what you need.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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B2B or Not to Be? That is the Question!

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:13:01 +0000

We often hear, “Oh, we’re B2B (business-to-business), so we don’t have to worry about customers at the general public level.” The fact is, you do.

It is an erroneous assumption that B2B is somehow insulated from the source of most income, the general public. If your client goes out of business, your B2B loses that account, and you lose an income source. Of course you need to worry!

The more your company understands and assists your clients to sustain and grow their customer base, the better your chances of keeping that revenue. Don’t be the last one to find out your client is in trouble. Be proactive and help them stay healthy so you too will benefit from their success.

Here are some ways your B2B can help your client or customer:

1. Take an interest in how they make their income, including its source. Is it another business that sells to another business that eventually sells to the public? How many layers exist before reaching the end-user? Do they sell direct to the public?

2. Take an interest in their industry, including the trends that are on the rise or decline. Are your customers experiencing rapid growth, or having difficulty maintaining their market or price points? The answers to these questions can give you a big hint about how you can possibly help them.

3. Show them how to buy your products or services to best match their current needs. When they are in a growth cycle, provide them with discounted quantity purchases. When they are struggling, provide them with longer terms. By being sensitive to their needs beyond your product or service, you help them and your company succeed.

4. Provide them with information and objective feedback. Show them that you care and act like an engaged team member. Your input will be respected since they know you have an interest in their success. You may have some insight that only an outsider could have, or you may see something in the market that they may have missed.

5. Keep your eyes peeled for talent. You may have more contacts than they do, thus, you may be aware of hiring opportunities they may not know about. Find out what they are looking for and pass the word. Strong companies and strong clients are made up of strong people. It’s their most valuable resource.

6. Call for a meeting in person, if possible. Ask about their business challenges, growth, and customers. Let them know you care about their business and are interested in helping them succeed. A face-to-face will reveal lots of information that an email or phone call can never achieve. And it helps build an invaluable personal relationship.

When you think about it, there are many ways you can help your client remain viable beyond what you are selling. You will win their loyalty and increase their purchase orders by being a real team player.

No business is truly isolated and insulated from their client’s customers. As these last few years have painfully demonstrated, we are all interdependent. The more you know about your customers, the more you can help and the more your B2B will continue to be.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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