I’m joined today by the CEO of Signorelli Consulting Group, Tony Signorelli. His consulting group focuses mainly on sales enablement and marketing, and they have been in the business since 1995. In this episode, we talk about the path that led Tony to sales and consulting, and he shares insights into creating a successful consulting firm within the corporate world. We examine the importance of taking action when securing new clients, and he shares the mistakes he’s made — that you can learn from — and the incredible importance of using your network to your advantage. Tony shares several of his secrets of success, including the ways that you can generate more revenue without adding more work hours to your day. You won’t want to miss the stories he tells in this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast. A Creative and Curious ConsultantTony has never worked as an employee for anyone else — from freelance writer and bookstore owner to organic farmer and poetry editor, his background was not exactly a linear approach to consulting. His work as a technical writer for a medical company quickly evolved into his involvement with every major product launch for the company, and it was at that point that Tony started to understand the importance of positioning himself as someone that could help companies solve their problems. Rather than approaching consulting with an extensive background of experience, he started his business with a “learn as we go” approach, and that approach has led his company to the successful place that they are in now.For Tony, the driving factor behind his work was two-fold — curiosity and creativity. Once he figured a business out, he inevitably grew bored of it and wanted to move on to the next unknown. As he realized that the questions he was facing with sales and marketing consulting were growing, rather than being solved, he knew he had found a place that he wanted to fully dive into. Even today, the problems presented by companies continue to keep Tony’s attention.He shares one specific event — the turning point at which he realized that he was solving a company’s problems without getting paid for it. Once he made that realization, the decision to fully commit to growing his sales and marketing consultancy was an easy one. As the business has developed, there have been various points when he and his team have been presented with new challenges, and from there the work continues to grow. Traversing The Value PyramidAlong his path to success, Tony realized that he needed to climb higher on the value pyramid in order to create greater value for his clients. The value hierarchy he refers to is a simple tool which demonstrates how you can charge your clients more money by systematically adding value in your business environment. The levels increase from providing your clients information and resources to giving them the tools and services they need to affect real and lasting change within their business.It can be difficult for consultants to understand how exactly to move upward from where their business is to where it needs to be in order to be more valuable. Tony shares specific steps that he took to improve his work, starting with educating himself. He read all that he could about new sales methodology and began differentiating what ideas were actually novel or distinct from all of those available. From that point, he increased his understanding of building value with businesses and he was easily able to apply the most effective knowledge in each specific situation.Bringing in new ideas such as Tony does is a key aspect of success for building trust, confidence, and loyalty with your clients. Even if those new ideas aren’t yours, you can still implement them with your clients and bring a higher level of value to their

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