After reading and responding to a recent forum post, I am reminded of a story for you solo practitioners. Being in business has its advantages but there are also times when tribulations occur.

Over the years I am frequently asked for “Free Advice” on a myriad of sales, marketing and business development solutions. Individuals I met either at social events or networking meet me an instantly desire free consultative advice. Here are a few questions practitioners need consider:

Do you barter with your cardiologist over fees for heart surgery?

Do you ask free legal advice for a litigation matter?

Does “taste” food at a five star restaurant?

Why then is consulting or any other service considered free? I have a very good web developer (WebEditor.com) who charges me for taking the time to speak with him on search engine matters. Why not, he has intellectual value that assists me!

Solo practitioners are not in the charity business. If you own a physician or legal practice, or you are an entrepreneur- never provide services free. Consider you value, conviction, passion, time and most importantly the bottom line. Do not succumb others depreciation. Entrepreneurship is about passion and revenue- no free lunches.

©Drew J. Stevens Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on Sales Marketing & Business Development Solutions . Drew is the author of the successful sales process book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Acceleration. To discover how Dr. Drew can assist your organization visit his marketing and sales website.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 1st, 2010 at 2:44 am and is filed under Business Development Solutions, Drew Stevens PhD, Sales Training, Uncategorized, sales help, sales skills, sales strategy, sales techniques, selling skills, selling techniques, selling tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.