Rick Barrera on Becoming Essential To Your Clients

Rick Barrera is known as the Revenue Accelerator for the work he does with entrepreneurs, small businesses and enterprise organizations to smooth the on-ramp and make them easier to do business with. He believes that you can generate any level of revenue you choose, whenever you choose to generate it.

Rick worked with Dave Zerfoss, CEO at Husqvarna to take the company from 29 million dollars to half a billion in just over 10 years. Rick is frequently called upon to turn around troubled companies, returning them to robust profitability. He has personally started many companies including a seed company, newspaper delivery, babysitting, landscaping, photo studio, restaurant, vitamin company, sales and customer service training, concierge services, financial services, real estate, an online training company and a professional speaking firm. He is currently engaged with two M&A companies doing consolidations in two different industries. His current passion project is PartnerHere.com, an online marketplace enabling entrepreneurs to find business partners and resources...without cash. His goal is to build the world’s largest online community for entrepreneurs of every stripe. As you will soon learn, he believes that entrepreneurship is the solution to many of the issues that we face as individuals, families and as a global community.

Rick is also the Head of Faculty for the Center for Heart Led Leadership in Denver, Colorado where he works with SEAL Team leaders, world class mountain climbers, Fortune 500 CEO’s, journalists, actors and astronauts to teach We Before Me, relationship focused leadership, to the next generation of leaders. His client list numbers in the thousands and includes Abbott Labs, American Airlines, Ameriprise, AT&T, AutoCrib, AutoZone, Bayer, Black and Decker, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Caterpillar, Chevron, Cigna, Conoco, Dairy Queen, eBay, EMC, Fidelity, Ford Motor Company, Four Seasons Hotels, GE, GlaxoSmithKline, Hallmark Cards, Harley-Davidson, Hilton, Honda, Honeywell, HP, Husqvarna, IBM, Intel, Intuit, John Hancock, Johnson Controls, Kaiser, Lenovo, Les Schwab Tires, Lexus, Marriott, Merrill Lynch, Monsanto, Nissan, REMAX, Ritz-Carlton, Time Warner, Verizon, Volvo, Weyerhaeuser and Wells Fargo.

Rick is a well-known business thought leader having written 8 books on leadership, branding, customer service, sales, and personal development including two best-sellers, Non-Manipulative Selling & Overpromise and Overdeliver.

Contact Rick:

• Website
• Company Website
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Instagram

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Summary

Understanding the Customer's World

Rick Barrera emphasizes the importance of understanding the customer's world from their point of view. He shares an anecdote where he asked a team to spend three days with their customers to understand their daily operations. The team was surprised to find that their company was not the center of the customer's universe as they had assumed. They discovered a whole other process that happened overnight, reshuffling assets and projects, which they were not a part of. This experience shattered their ego and made them realize the importance of understanding the customer's processes and needs.

Aligning with the Customer's Needs

Barrera explains that sales is about problem-solving and aligning your company to meet the customer's needs. He mentions a concept called "diamond selling" as opposed to "bow tie selling." In bow tie selling, only the salespeople and the purchasing person from the customer's side interact. In diamond selling, there is a broader interaction where the CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, and operations people from both sides interact. This approach leads to a better understanding of how to partner and integrate with the customer. Barrera emphasizes that you don't need thousands of accounts to be wealthy; you need a few great relationships. The more integrated you are with your customers, the more valuable the relationship becomes.

Overcoming Resistance

Barrera also discusses overcoming resistance when suggesting new strategies to clients. He mentions that the companies he works with are usually in need of a turnaround or are high-growth companies looking to scale. These companies are often more open to trying new strategies. Barrera's approach is to understand exactly what outcomes the customer is trying to achieve and then figure out how to align the company to meet those needs.

The Importance of Interdepartmental Alignment

Barrera also touches on the importance of interdepartmental alignment within a company. He agrees with the idea that if you're not selling, you should be helping someone who is. This means that departments like engineering and marketing need to be out in the field, understanding the customer's needs firsthand. This approach leads to efficiencies, performance improvements, and most importantly, trust within the department, allowing everyone to focus on what they need to focus on. This internal alignment can lead to better customer alignment and ultimately, marketplace dominance