Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Made in the UK for HR consultants worldwide. You're listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Hello, James here and welcome to this week's podcast episode. Lots of consultants I know need more recurring revenue. And in this week's main event, I'm going to give you a three step action plan you should follow to generate it. And in today's thought of the week, going to give you a loving nudge to do that thing you've been wanting to do for ages. So let's jump straight.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: In this week's main event.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: I speak to a lot of HR consultants and when I jump on the phone with them and ask what they need to work on most, creating more recurring revenue is probably the top answer that I hear. And that's why in this podcast episode I'm going to explain what your action plan should look like. And, and there are three steps. So step one is to create packages that actually generate recurring revenue. Step two is to sell those packages to as many of your existing clients as you can. And step three is sell those packages to as many new clients as you can. Okay, so let's jump straight in and talk about step one. So when consultants tell me that they need more recurring revenue, the first thing I do is ask if they have subscription based packages. They say no. I then don't say anything for a while and let there be a bit of an awkward silence then to let that settle in. So if you need more recurring revenue, you need packages that create recurring revenue. And it is really as simple as that. So how have consultants tried to create subscription based revenue in their businesses before? Well, they've tried to cram everything a client could possibly need from them into one package. And it's never really worked. It doesn't work for you to do it in this way because it's literally impossible to manage. And I hear the same concerns, such as I don't want to offer unlimited support. What if they asked this? What if they needed this? This could take hour or a day. How would I protect myself from being abused by clients? How would I make sure that I'm being profitable? And how do I move away from offering a certain amount of hours in each package? Well, I was having this exact chat with one of my clients in early 2024. We were discussing her packages and we were going through all of the concerns and questions that she had. And I realized that what we were trying to do was impossible. As an industry, we've been trying to cram everything a client could possibly need into one package. And it wasn't going to work, nor actually was it the right thing to do.
So I said to my client that before we can even start to think about packaging up her services, we must first figure out a way to break HR down as a service first. And we discussed lots of different ways to do this and we decided that doing it via HR roles was the best. And that's when I created the HR Service Pyramid which is now a registered framework for HR consultants to use.
So think of a pyramid for a second. At the bottom we have HR Admin and compliance. So this could include HR software starters and levers and all of the general admin and compliance stuff, even pay role in there as well. On the next level you have HR Advisory which is there to answer the low level questions that business owners have. So think of this as your first line support or advisory helpline. You then have HR management which is day to day operations. You then have HR Director which is the strategic thinking stuff. And then you have HR specialists which will include more specialist projects like change management, investigations, grievances, even recruitment. There are lots of ways to use the HR Service pyramid, but I want you to think about using it to organize your different services in the eyes of your clients, not how you might necessarily deliver the work. An example of this is recruitment. So in the eyes of your clients, this sits at the top of your pyramid as a specialist service. But how you deliver this internally may span all of the different levels because there's lots of admin work involved in recruitment, but it's not necessarily part of the HR admin level. Does that make sense? So with that in mind, put yourself in the shoes of your clients and think about how your services might be organized via the HR Service pyramid. So now that you've arranged your services via the HR Service pyramid, you now need to think about how to package them up. And there are four different revenue types that you can tap into as a HR consultant. So passive, subscription time based and one off. Each revenue type belongs to a different level of the HR Service pyramid. So admin, if you're focusing on HR software is perfectly suited to passive income because you can just resell HR software and other softwares like that and take a small profit. But as soon as you add in any sort of management, then this will become subscription based advisory. HR advisory is definitely the level that is. Subscription based. Management may be subscription based, but most likely time based. Or you might like to do a retainer of hours here.
Directory is time based, maybe one off work too. And specialist is also time based and One off too. So, using the HR Service Pyramid, we can see that you should package up HR Admin and HR Advisory into your subscription based packages. And to help you do this, I've created the how to Package up and sell HR to make more recurring revenue training program. In just 40 minutes watching time, I'll explain exactly how to create these packages and answer every single question that you're likely to have.
This course includes all of the HR Service Pyramid resources and training, templated admin and advisory level subscription based packages that have been field tested and approved by my successful clients, and a templated promotional deck to help you sell these new packages to your new and existing clients. You can literally copy and paste these packages and start making recurring revenue today if you wanted to. So to learn more about this training course, please Visit my website, thehrmarketingguy.com and go to the Get Ready to Grow tab at the top and have a good look.
Okay, so once you've created packages to generate recurring revenue, you now need to sell them. And that brings us nicely onto step two, and that's to sell those packages to as many of your existing clients as you can. Selling to people that have an existing relationship with you is far easier than trying to sell stuff to people who have never worked with you before. And that's why I suggest doing this first. Now, I know that this can make you feel a bit uncomfortable, but all you need to do is is have a check in with your clients you're currently working with and have worked with in the past to see how they're going on and if there's an opportunity to help them. Whether that's a project or by selling these new subscription based packages to them, then great. To help you do this, there's three ideas that I'd like to run past you. So my first idea is to create a profit matrix. Now, the Profit matrix is a management tool to help you see at a glance what services your clients have bought and what opportunities there are to upsell to them. Now, it's a very, very powerful tool and it's basically a big table. You can do this in Excel or on a whiteboard or whatever. On one axis are all of your clients and on another axis are all of the services you provide. You then highlight which clients are buying which services, and it's just a really lovely, beautiful way to see what clients are and aren't buying from you at a really easy glance.
The second awesome idea I have is that there should be someone in your consultancy responsible for doing the account Management role. Now I'm saying that with little bunny fingers. Okay? So in the marketing agency world, when it comes to looking after clients, there would be an account manager and a project manager. And I think this is the same in most industries, to be honest. So the account manager is the person that looks after the account, so they're in charge of retention, upselling and profitability. And then the project manager is the person that actually does the work. And then the account manager and project manager work closely together to ensure work is done on time with within margin and the client is happy. So you guys are really good on the project management side of things, but I think there needs to be someone that has the time in order to step back and look at the bigger picture.
So for startups, independent consultants and smaller consultancies, you as the business leader will probably be the best person to take on this role. And it's actually quite an enjoyable role. But for larger consultancies, you may decide to get one of your staff to do this. As an account manager, it's your job to look at each account to make sure that they're happy to contact the business owner on a regular basis to discuss what their goals are, are, and to suggest other ways to help.
So what is a great way for the account manager person to chat with business owners on a regular basis? Well, now you've come to my third and final awesome idea, and that's by having regular strategic review meetings with clients. You can call these meetings whatever you want, but they should be wrapped up as part of the service you provide. That's a really important thing that they're wrapped up as part of the service because business owners are more likely to take you up on that. And the more that you speak with them, the more likely you are to sell more things to them in the future.
And these, these sort of meetings should be completed on at least a quarterly basis. And the agenda of this meeting is simple and is arranged by three questions. So what's going well, what's not going so well? And what opportunities or problems are there that we can help you with? And you'll be amazed at the great conversations you'll have with your clients by asking these three simple questions. Okay, so now you've created opportunities for yourself to sell your new subscription based packages to your existing clients. Your third step is to sell your new packages to new clients.
And this requires a very focused funnel. So the first thing you need to do is find a company segment to target that has the right number of employees. You then need to Feed your funnel with these type of business owners. So you basically need to connect with them on LinkedIn and do a bunch of other things to get them to opt into your email marketing list. Then you can nurture those leads until they're ready to buy. And that's where the HR marketing box content comes in. And then finally you can convert those nurtured leads into happy clients. Sounds simple, right? Well, the strategy of it actually is. So you grow multiple audiences like your LinkedIn connections and email list. You build a relationship with them over time and then you convert them into happy clients. However, there are lots of details that make your funnel a success or a big fat flop. And that's why I created the Prepare to Grow Mastermind. So it's a 10 week mastermind to help you build the business behind your consultancy and put the essential foundations in place. You need to start going out to new business owners and asking them to start working with you.
[00:10:05] Speaker C: You.
[00:10:05] Speaker B: And I am absolutely loving delivering this mastermind. So much so that I've decided to start a new cohort in September. So if you'd like to learn more about this mastermind, please visit my website and book a call in with me to make sure it's right for you. Okay, so that brings us to the end of this week's podcast episode. If you need more recurring revenue, then one, create packages that actually generate recurring revenue. That's really important.
Two, sell those packages to your existing relationships. This is the biggest and fastest opportunity you have to increase recurring revenue. And then three, create a very, very focused funnel to sell those packages to new clients in the future.
If you need any help with anything I've discussed today, please feel welcome to book in a free discovery call and let's have a chat.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: James, Thought of the Week.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: In today's Thought of the Week, I'm going to inspire you to do that thing you've been thinking about for ages.
I was speaking to a client the other day and he's been wanting to create a package that offers management training to his clients. They've all been asking for it. He knows they all need it, but life is just getting in the way and he hasn't got round to it yet. So you probably feel the same way about lots of different things, whether that's going to the gym or creating a new package that could create thousands of pounds or dollars in revenue for you. So if you're dragging your heels, let this be a loving nudge. Block out an hour in your diary and just get it started. You might not get it finished, you might not get anywhere close. But if you know it's worth doing, then just make a start. And that's the best first step that you could possibly take. So if you're feeling stuck and you need some loving direction or some motivation, then I'm always here to chat.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: You've been listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast, helping you to get new clients and create a life you love.
