Two IS a Company

Yesterday I kind of realized that my NY creative guy became an official employee. I pay his Social Security taxes, due to a requirement from one of my new clients. Wow! How did that happen? Well, it is kind of cool. Officially, we are a company now.

Dictionary.com defines company as “a group of persons,” meaning more than one. It would seem that a one person company really means a self-employed person, but more than one would truly be a company. See Pam Slim’s Escape from Cubicle Nation on this.

My friend Doug forwarded me a hilarious David Maister article on what not to do in a consultative relationship. Since most of us are in professional services, it seemed like a worthwhile thing to pass on. It’s called “How Clients Choose,” and is written from the perspective of the buyer. Here is a passage:

“Don’t start telling me how you can solve my problems until I have acknowledged that there’s a problem or an opportunity here. Simply asserting to me that I have problems or opportunities isn’t enough. If you say it, I can and will doubt you. If I say it, it’s true.”

Heard from two out of my last three bosses yesterday. They were really thrilled and supportive. One of them, I credit with teaching me how to market to and for clients intelligently as opposed to a foolish cowboy with his guns slung on his hips. Such people often leave prospects “Unforgiven.”

Victor taught me question based selling, and also to really focus on the other person. It was great to hear from these guys.