About six months ago I had what can only be described as a lightbulb moment. This moment has taken me on a journey of change in both business and other areas of my life. As a newer me emerges, I feel ready to dig deeper with my content. I want to open up and share my story with you.

Our industry is renowned for its competitive nature, it’s tough out there and many suppliers are spitting out quotes hard and fast. That was never how I did business. Sometimes it made me question if was I doing it all wrong.

My process of quoting felt ten times longer than any of my competitors. I would conduct meetings, hang out at their workplace, delving deep into their challenges and growth opportunities. It was never about just building something or working with what they already had.

I kept reminding myself that our value proposition was built around our strategic approach to exhibiting. It’s the whole reason why our clients achieve better results working with us.

I’ve always been passionate about delivering killer results (this is what I thrive on). To do this you need a defined strategy. I realised prospects and clients were receiving so much more than a quote from us… I was building their unique foundations for an exhibition that would nail their objectives.

However, going through this process with some prospects was just a waste of my time. Their supplier had been chosen long before my input, other quotes were just to keep management happy.

One morning I received a sales enquiry and suddenly it hit me… my lightbulb moment 🙂

Providing this level of value came at a high cost; too much of my time and I want to work with companies who believe in me and my process.

I decided it was time to get crazy – why don’t I start charging for this service? People do in other industries. How are we any different?

Was this our time to move further away from the pack? Is this what they call “innovation”?

As human nature would have it, the doubts very quickly kicked in. Voices kept popping up trying to drag me down. I became nervous about how I would sell this and how I could keep delivering a top-class service. (The exchange of money can do this to you).

In those first few business calls I kept having to remind myself – be confident – this is the right thing to do. The conversations started to feel more natural and when one client muttered the words, “Sounds great, when can we start?” that’s when the penny dropped. This new business model could truly work.

Fast forward a few months and the results are starting to materialise. I feel less stressed, the quality of my work continues to rise and more clients are saying the magical word – yes.

There will always be some clients that this wouldn’t appeal to. I don’t take it personally. It just means focusing my time on and sharing my expertise with the people who are more open to change.

This whole change of events has been a catalyst for personal growth. My appetite to keep learning and fine tuning my skills to benefit others has taken on a new set of running legs.

And well, that can’t be a bad thing.

Have you had your own lightbulb moment? What’s impacting on your life and how did you fix it?

Yours,  Jess