About Us
Founded in Calgary in 2006, we are a sales and marketing coaching and consulting firm focused on startups and growth-oriented businesses.
A key differentiator for us is we offer coaching and Fractional CMO/CCO (Chief Marketing/Commercialization Officer) services for companies without an executive in the role.
I work to keep people focused on customers, account development, profitable sales, earnings growth, LTV, actionable feedback and risk management.
We work remotely with companies from all over, but our local service areas are Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton and companies located along the C&E Trail.
How We Got Started
We started Accrue because we found business owners were getting sold on promotional tactics rather than receiving meaningful direction. Many need help determining how to grow their business and control their marketing investment risk. We felt we could bring the equivalent of fiduciary duty to business development.
The products and services we offer
Recommendations Received (65)
"Have used his service several times, and have been pleased with the results."
"Good service"
Products & Services
BEING Profitable is a roadmap and guidebook to the business development process. The book is for startup founders and small business owners who do ...
The guide is meant for people with little to no experience with marketing and for those who’d like their marketing to work better.
If you’re con...
If you’re thinking about hiring a salesperson or looking to generate sales leads from the internet, this eBook is for you. The eBook contrasts the ...
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Recommendations Given (54)
"Client Insight does an excellent job of digging into what customer's think and then consolidating..."
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"Client Insight does an excellent job of digging into what customer's think and then consolidating the feedback into both internal reports and an in-depth summary on their website and on other review platforms. They have quite a unique offering and are worth taking a close look at."
"Moon and the crew at On Air are very creative, do high-quality work, offer great service, at a..."
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"Moon and the crew at On Air are very creative, do high-quality work, offer great service, at a decent price. I highly recommend them for taking your phone system to another level of performance."
Recent Activity
As with most things, the answer is "It depends." It depends on many things. Does the role require a degree or a Doctorate? If what you want to do requires a particular level of education, then Yes! you need it. Think of a medical doctor or a structural engineer. If you want to be a successful...
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As with most things, the answer is "It depends." It depends on many things. Does the role require a degree or a Doctorate? If what you want to do requires a particular level of education, then Yes! you need it. Think of a medical doctor or a structural engineer. If you want to be a successful musician the answer is maybe. Maybe you need to go to Julliard to work with the symphony or maybe you just need talent, hard work, some luck and a good agent to be a recording artist/performer. Maybe you want to be a small business owner. The answer is a definite maybe because it depends on the type of business you own. I have a degree and a diploma and I always wanted to get a PhD. so I could be Dr. Watson like on Sherlock Holmes. But as a small business owner, I can't justify the time and expense for something my clients could care less about. I would need to do it, just because I wanted to. I personally look at a degree more as a badge that states you have learned how to learn. After that, the question is what have you done to apply the knowledge? Or more importantly, what are you learning now, that has you excited? If a person is not an active learner, that would be a red flag for me in any role, regardless of their peak level of education.
Obviously, you want your doctor to be certified and your tax expert to know the law. But there are so many fields that change so fast, there is no way your degree is going to be relevant 2 years after graduating. I always thought the point of getting a degree was to teach you how to learn, to...
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Obviously, you want your doctor to be certified and your tax expert to know the law. But there are so many fields that change so fast, there is no way your degree is going to be relevant 2 years after graduating. I always thought the point of getting a degree was to teach you how to learn, to synthesize data and then communicate findings effectively. Most of the learning in University happens by reading books, papers and journals. The only thing the school is doing in many cases is setting the curriculum and testing your recall on the subject matter. Who is doing the learning? The individual. If someone is a dedicated self-learner, what the heck is the difference? As long as they obtained a degree or two at some point, it shows they learned how to learn. I would then look to their experience, skills and reputation over some degree from years ago. Again, this is a discipline dependent argument, where industry certification is not required.
Going just on visual appeal I would say, Crest. But neither logo is particularly meaningful or impactful out of context. Both will work from a square aspect ratio perspective as a social icon. How legible are they at 25x25 pixels and 16x16 pixels the smallest an icon needs to work? What...
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Going just on visual appeal I would say, Crest. But neither logo is particularly meaningful or impactful out of context. Both will work from a square aspect ratio perspective as a social icon. How legible are they at 25x25 pixels and 16x16 pixels the smallest an icon needs to work? What positioning line goes with it? What is the overall colour palette it needs to work within? What typography will it need to go with? Does it represent your company in any meaningful way? How does it look next to your direct competitor's logos? Before you commit to any design, you need to see it in context. Does it still work in the most likely scenarios? You'll be stuck with your logo for some time. Don't skip steps or you'll be kicking yourself in no time and reprinting a bunch of stuff.
I don't think long-term you can get away without having a good website. As others have said no website is better than a poor one. However, in the short-term, yes you can and likely should do other things first. You can build an online presence with dozens of local search directories, social...
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I don't think long-term you can get away without having a good website. As others have said no website is better than a poor one. However, in the short-term, yes you can and likely should do other things first. You can build an online presence with dozens of local search directories, social media profiles, a blog or a series of sales landing pages. What's more important is that you get your keyword research, competitive analysis, brand, positioning, identity, target marketing, sales planning, offer value ladder, promotional plan and content created before you build a website. Why? Because your website is the sum total of all of these things and more, pulled together in a relevant and useful way. Websites are a means to facilitate a prospective or current client's needs in a way that is profitable for you, that generates sales leads. A basic brochure site is just about useless. In most cases, you would be better off waiting until you are ready to create something useful.
I developed a free eBook on this topic earlier this year called So You Need A Website. If you're considering a website. It will explain the many options you have available to you. John Watson Your Partner In Business Development
I think
Barbara Shenson has a great answer below. I would add to it and say you need to be clear on your goals and your sales economics. How much is a sale worth or put another way, what can you afford to spend on your average sale? Are you selling direct to consumers or selling through...
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I think
Barbara Shenson has a great answer below. I would add to it and say you need to be clear on your goals and your sales economics. How much is a sale worth or put another way, what can you afford to spend on your average sale? Are you selling direct to consumers or selling through distribution to coffee shops, restaurants and stores? Your promotional efforts should be dictated by your economics, your capacity and your target sales channels, not by the latest marketing fad.
I love helping business owners go from unclear on purpose and direction to clarity on purpose and direction. It is very inspiring when the gears mesh together for people and they start ploughing forward with a sense of clarity and purpose.
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I love helping business owners go from unclear on purpose and direction to clarity on purpose and direction. It is very inspiring when the gears mesh together for people and they start ploughing forward with a sense of clarity and purpose.
In my experience, it is who you are being (the purposeful, self-directed, motivated and dedicated person who is accountable and who listens and communicates effectively) that inspires others and who earns followers. I don't think having followers makes you a leader. You can have followers for...
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In my experience, it is who you are being (the purposeful, self-directed, motivated and dedicated person who is accountable and who listens and communicates effectively) that inspires others and who earns followers. I don't think having followers makes you a leader. You can have followers for a lot of reasons besides leadership qualities. You can be a loudmouth angry demagog who is a skilled con man and have followers. Celebrities have followers not because they are leaders, but because people are envious of their lives. I assert that you are a leader when you start leading yourself and working actively to align your thoughts, behaviours and speech with your values and your purpose. Once you gain some mastery over yourself, you'll gain the respect of people who share your values. Some of them will be inspired to follow your example or want to be part of your team as you strive to live into your goals. In simple terms, leadership begins with personal accountability and character and grows once you become clear on your purpose and you develop some people skills.
Learn How To Listen - was the advice. Read L.E.T in more specific terms. (leadership effectiveness training) Fortunately, I knew enough to accept the advice and I spent more than 20 years actively developing the skill in different contexts. This advice has led to more personal growth...
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Learn How To Listen - was the advice. Read L.E.T in more specific terms. (leadership effectiveness training) Fortunately, I knew enough to accept the advice and I spent more than 20 years actively developing the skill in different contexts. This advice has led to more personal growth opportunities and proactive problem solving than any other advice I've received. It is a skill you use every single day at work, at home, with friends and more. Learning to active listen is a lot more involved than it sounds. It occurs at several different levels. I hope you take up the calling and learn to listen as well.
We always start with a hire local objective. However, we've experienced several situations where there were no local providers or where a client's financial situation mandated an overseas alternative. I think like anything you can't generalize something as good or bad. You need to apply your...
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We always start with a hire local objective. However, we've experienced several situations where there were no local providers or where a client's financial situation mandated an overseas alternative. I think like anything you can't generalize something as good or bad. You need to apply your values to each situation and try to do what is best. Dealing with overseas providers is not always about lower costs. Sometimes they have unique capabilities and products not available here. I have found that the money you might save using overseas providers is offset by the added due diligence and communication and quality control required. These extras add 35-50% of the savings back into projects. We've largely had good results with overseas providers in the few times we've used them. You need to go into it with realistic expectations and a good process.
