Big Wins, Anxiety and Lessons from the Week
Morning and Happy Saturday!
Been a great week. Let’s dive in:
At Echelix I was able to:
- get my first MSA signed
- start the process of another MSA with another client
- put together a proposal for a manufacturing client who’s interested in an “AI maintenance assistant” to help them reduce maintenance costs and reduce the probability of outages. We’ll likely use Fabric, Copilot Studio and Azure AI Foundry, which will make Microsoft very happy (expect $3-7k/mo Azure spend increase initially).
- in partnership with a SMC AE & Cloud/AI specialist, garner interest from 7 organizations to do an AI workshop (ie the step before creating pipeline)
While helping build an organization in its infancy is tough, you start to realize that, everyone, including the orgs you were at before, are just figuring it out as they go. So, in my opinion, it makes sense to go somewhere where you enjoy who you work with and you have a high level of confidence you’re going to deliver an exceptional client experience. That way, when you sell, you know that repeat business is nearly guaranteed.
I want to highlight that there’s so much demand out there from clients but it just feels like IT consulting orgs are too caught up with internal crap. The amount of internal process, chats, paperwork etc just takes time and energy away from doing what’s most important: talking to partners and clients. I am witnessing the effects of NOT having to waste time on useless process over here and it’s really refreshing. Keep this in mind as you are considering career changes.
Quick nugget that I thought was interesting when talking to a MS rep yesterday: MSFT doesn’t have many people who are familiar with Azure AI Foundry (a bit shocking to me TBH).
Why does this matter?
That means that if your organization can dive in and specialize in this technology, you could get tapped in EASILY by Microsoft for client opportunities – and opportunities that are using Azure AI Foundry are going to be strategic.
Strategic usually means dollars.
Onto Barron Tech (i.e. my Microsoft consulting business) - yes it’s kind of a lame name but I formed the LLC many years back and maybe I’ll create a dba or something:
- I lost my first deal to a client that ultimately I think is making the wrong organizational decisions (i.e. not hiring enough US sales reps). That sucked but wasn’t a complete shock TBH.
- Signed a $2,700/mo client to help them build our their Co-Sell motion in a different solution area and provide sales leadership
- Signed another client for $4,800/mo to help them build out their Co-Sell motion, grow their brand on LinkedIn and provide sales leadership
- I have another proposal out for $6,000/mo for a more comprehensive set of services for another interesting client who knows they need to lean in on the Microsoft channel.
Watching the Stripe notification come in for #1 above was a great feeling…not because of the dollar amount necessarily but because market demand is validating what I thought would provide value.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though – just a week ago, I was feeling anxious about whether any of these deals were going to close or not. I still firmly believed there was value in what I had to offer, I just wasn’t sure if I was communicating it properly and the harsh reality of realizing that literally nobody outside of my previous employer (aside from MSFT) knows that I can help orgs create pipeline and sell. I can say it all I want, but they just don’t know and when they don’t know, they don’t trust you and there’s apprehension.
It was a feeling of: “I know I can provide significant value, but how do I get clients to realize that?”
I walked away from significant commission checks at my previous employer, so closing that gap this week (< 2 months after leaving my last job) has been really relieving.
I want to really highlight that most organizations are not using LinkedIn to its full potential.
Becoming visible there through your own writing, along with engaging with your ICPs content is such a powerful way to stay top of mind with your prospects.
A comment, a like or profile view serves as another touchpoint in the sales process.
Before Echelix, I didn’t have time to dedicate myself to learning the craft of LinkedIn and Sales Nav - now I’m becoming a student of the platform and the game there.
It’s wildly overlooked and there’s so much to gain.
I hope you’ve had a great week and would love to get your thoughts on any of the topics above - I read every reply!
-Matt Barron