🦸‍♂️ When Core Values Change Everything 🪄 $225 Past Due A/R

Josh Holladay

May 27 • mindset

Yesterday I reworked my core values:

Truth.
Ownership.
Simplicity.
Compassion.
Transformation.

And everything shifted.

Here's what happened:

I sat down with my client to discuss priorities.

We had a plan.

CRM setup.
Email campaigns.

The usual stack of "important" work.

I was feeling, like: "Awesome. We have a solid trajectory. We are on to some foundational setup here."

But, as I moved through the tasks we agreed on, I started seeing patterns I couldn't ignore.

So I asked myself: What's the TRUTH here... right now... for my client?

The truth was that automations and email campaigns wouldn't matter if cash flow didn't start moving.
The truth was that the simplest path forward wasn't more setup, more research, more building. It was picking up the phone.

In other words I went from:

CRM design research, to...
What are we trying to create a CRM for anyway? To...
Let's create the email campains first, then we'll understand the context of what we are after. To...
Let's create one email campaign, get it running, then move to the next... to...
Wait, my client could use cash now, and, emails just sit in inboxes. To...
"Hey, team, we are going the wrong direction here. I'm calling an emergency meeting."

My thought here was, as I was going to create the following email follow up campaigns:

Leads
Current clients upsells
Innactive clients
Accounts Receivable
Proposals

I realized that my client doesn't have much set up and that what she could use was some quick wins.

So, my plan was to spend a few hours "rockin' the phone" and for me to call and close and collect some cash on some of her overdue accounts receivables.

Luckily, this was within my wheelhouse and within my skill set.

That's not a traditional move for someone in my role.

But truth doesn't care about traditional.

I owned it.
I told her what I was seeing.
We pivoted.

I said:

"Sales aren't happening because proposals aren't enough."
"There's not enough proposals because there aren't enough appointments."
"You're not booked with appointments because conversations aren't happening."

This client has been in business for 19 years.

Lot's of conversations to have, which means, the cash, it's out there, a lot of it.

So...after we:

Decided which category to call first (people that owed my client money)
Created a simple script
Gathered info about each service the customer owned money for
And setting up my calling environment...

I called 7 of her 9 overdue accounts.

Closed $225 on the spot for one of them.

Found additional bottlenecks along the way.

Calendar slots were not correct.
Booking appointments needed some streamlining.
Got the founder to commit to blocks of time.
Booked a follow up with a client.
Booked another call to chat with an account that has a large balance.

One afternoon.

Real money in.

Real opportunities surfaced.

Sure, the more I make my client, the more she'll be able to pay me.

That, was in the back of my mind.

But, I owned my Consultant Role yesterday... like a boss.

Truths my client didn't want to face.
Ownership based on the value she was hoping I would bring to the table, and did.
Simplicity around the smallest changes we could make that would create asymmetric results.
Compassion toward my client to tell them what THE RIGHT THING we could be doing and having those hard conversations.
Transformation occurred in her business. Every hour was a powerful shift. We transformed together as a team. I transformed as a leader.

Here's the lesson:

When your core values are clear, decisions get easier.

You stop drifting toward what's comfortable and start moving toward what's true.

You ask better questions.

What's the truth?
What's the simplest path?
Who am I really serving here?

Compassion isn't softness. Sometimes it's having the courage to tell a client, "Let's stop the plan and do what actually helps you today."

Transformation doesn't happen through perfect systems. It happens when someone is brave enough to name what's real and act on it.

If you're stuck in research mode, setup mode, planning mode, ask yourself what the truth is right now.

Then own it. Simplify it. Serve through it.

That's where the transformation lives.

I'm on my way to creating real value.

"From janitor to C-Suite value."

Now, we will be creating automations, stacking tech, and solving problems with AI based on what this client REALLY, TRULY, could benefit from the most.

Isn't that what our real job is anyway?!

—Josh

"Be Bold. Be Brilliant. Be Undeniable."

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🦸‍♂️ When Core Values Change Everything 🪄 $225 Past Due A/R