Navigating the Ocean of Advice

As the CEO of Traverse Science, Stephen Fleming helps food and beverage companies leverage scientific literature for innovation, marketing, and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining the Clarity Coaching Program, he knew there were areas of his business that could run more effectively, but he lacked a strategy or tactics for doing so. In areas like pricing, proposals, and handling objections, he knew he needed to do much better, so he turned to mentors and trusted friends for advice, but as he put it, “I found it hard to navigate this ocean of advice.”

Without a coach or a community of peers to discuss ideas and provide clear guidance, he wasn’t sure where to focus his efforts or how to grow his business.

He heard about the Clarity Coaching program through the Consulting Success podcast, but he hesitated to join for a while, unsure if it would be worth the investment. As Stephen now says, “I really should have done this earlier. It was totally worth the investment.” Right away, he saw the value in having a community to share ideas with and discuss challenges, but even more so, he saw the value in having a coach to provide direct expertise and keep him accountable.

Learning Where to Focus

Some of the changes that his coach recommended were things Stephen had never thought of. For example, he says, “I used to write up proposals and send them to a client via email, but my coach impressed on me the importance of doing proposal reviews live so I could handle objections and feedback right there.” Tactics like these had a profound impact on Stephen’s business, giving him actionable steps he could take to improve his processes.

Along the way, Stephen gained a lot more confidence about the value he had to offer, and he became far more effective at communicating that value. He learned how to repackage his services around value and have upfront conversations about the problems he could solve for clients.

As a result, he says, “I was able to take something that I might normally charge $20,000 for and charge $100,000 for it.” In one instance, he sent a client a proposal that gave them three different tiers of service options at $50,000, $70,000, and $130,000. Stephen and his team were so much better at communicating value that the client responded within days that they wanted the highest-tier ($130,000) offering.

Stephen attributes this to “focusing on changing my pricing structure, the way I present it to others, the way we position ourselves, and what we do.” He has gotten a lot of great feedback in the Clarity Coaching program about every step of his business—payroll, cutting expenses, virtual assistants, outsourcing, onboarding, and so much more. And he continues to get tremendous benefits from being part of the program.

Do the Work, Reap the Rewards

Indeed, Stephen emphasizes the importance of committing to the program long term. By sticking with the program and putting in the hard work, you will always have coaches and fellow consultants to help overcome challenges and make the most of opportunities as they come along.

As Stephen concludes, “If someone is considering their commitment to this program, I would say if you’ll make the commitment and do the work long term, your results are going to be fantastic!”

A Few Words from Stephen