The Company
Surge & Grow
OUR PROCESS
Wherever you are,
we help you grow. Profitably.
Explore The Afflictions
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Surge and Grow is a
flexible program

designed to take CEO's and their teams from a "Founders Mentality" to accelerated growth mindset. By combining one on one mentoring from our experienced practitioners and prestigious university faculty with peer learning insights from other CEO's and c-suite teams, we help executives develop a personal step-by-step action plan to SURGE through individual challenges.

Every participant leaves with custom roadmap for growth, based on their industry, numbers and challenges. The program culminates with developing a personal step-by-step action plan to surge through your unique challenges. 

Results & Outcomes
First year our clients responded with

At Scale Smarter™ Partners, our mission is to provide founders the tools, support, and expertise to transition from founder to CEO and scale their business. Through in-person workshops, one-on-one consulting, live webinars and classroom programs, we can help create and fine tune strategic direction for business leaders navigating new growth stages.

OVERVIEW
Afflictions

Afflictions exist at a personal level and at a business level. Everyone has their own affliction(s) subconsciously eroding success at every stage of the Purchase Funnel.

10 Afflictions
Over Explainer
Complexity Vs. Simplicity

• Passionate and inspired about what they do

• Communications will meander across several topics

• Lots of storytelling and anecdotal experiences

Win:  Prospects who are drawn to your passion. 

Lose: Prospects who can’t figure out the conclusion they should draw or who fear you may be disorganized.

Copy Catter
Commodity Vs. Category of One

• Look at key competitors to determine how to present themselves

• Attempt to incorporate their own distinctions, but still mostly blend in as similar

• Evidence suggests they are like everybody else

Win:  Prospects who are having a problem with their current provider 

Lose: Prospects because they see little that tells them to work with you vs. someone else

Feature Lister
Weeds Vs. Vision

• Presents lengthy feature lists attempting to win Prospects by overwhelming them with evidence of the benefits of buying their offering

• Fails to inspire a vision of how the prospect’s life will be improved… the before and after picture

• Creates risks that features may not all be delivered or can co-exist effectively

Win: Prospects who tend to be more technical and fact-focused.

Lose: Prospects who feel overwhelmed or who are looking for more emotional inspiration.

Tactician
Tactic Chasing Vs. Strategy Driven

• Chases the next tactic hoping this will be the one to take off

• Tactics are one-offs and often are not fully baked before launching

• Forgets the previous tactic as the new shiny opportunity surfaces

Win:  Prospects who are drawn to the tactic.

Lose: Prospects because the tactic is not fully integrated into a deeper purpose for the business and lack of commitment comes through to prospects.

Day Jobber
Doing Vs. Building

• Will do today what they did yesterday, which will be what they will do tomorrow

• Likes doing what they do more than selling what they do

• Are often unclear or uncomfortable stating their value proposition when asked

Win:  Prospects who are drawn to the reliability of the Day Jobber and their offering.

Lose: Prospects who never become aware of their offering or who receive a weak pitch when requested.

Pillar Pitcher
Elevator Pitch Vs. Emotional Resonance

• Will rely on 2-3 “shiny apples” (the pillars) to pitch their offering

• Pillars may not be adequately distinctive, can fall into generic marketing speak

• Overlook risk elements they failed to address (buyers buy the basket of apples)

Win:  Prospects who like the clarity of the proposition.

Lose: Prospects who recognize risk elements or who find the pillars to be generic.

Glorifier
Over Selling Vs. Connecting

• Overstates their case through the overuse of grand adjectives or self-importance

• May cause buyers to feel the Glorifier is lying to them

• Creates an “after picture” that is misaligned with how the buyer feels about their life

Win:  Prospects who are drawn to the vision being created.

Lose: Prospects who feel they are being oversold and deceived.

Defender
Protective Vs. Empowering

• Defends their choices and misses opportunities to improve.  

• May blame the customer for “not getting it”

• Errors too far in the direction of defending choices and staying in the problem vs. improving and being in the solution

Win:  Prospects who are drawn to your conviction.

Lose: Prospects, and potentially employees, who feel the Defender values his or her needs over theirs.

Interrogator
Cross-Examining Vs. Connecting

• Asks too many questions too early in their pitch

• Values questions over a clear and consistent value proposition

• Mistakes questioning for being client-centric

Win:  Prospects who accept being fully questioned early in the sales process.

Lose: Prospects who are irritated by presumptive questioning.

Schmoozer
Social Vs. Business Norms

• Has a large network of friends that blend business and social engagement

• Can value network and connections over conversions and margin

• May require incremental technical, prospecting, or closing support

Win:  Prospects who like more socially oriented selling.

Lose: Prospects who don’t want to be sold socially. Organizations may not be designed to support the Schmoozer.