Claim OwnershipIntentional Success with Tom Stimson
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Are you looking to take your live events production business to the next level? Do you want to learn from industry experts and gain insights into the latest business trends and strategies?
Welcome to the Intentional Success Podcast, where we provide you with the tools and resources you need to help your business grow and scale… on purpose.
Hosted by industry veteran Tom Stimson, each episode answers unpacks the best practices and secrets to achieving intentional success. From marketing and sales to operations and finance, we cover a wide range of topics to help you overcome the challenges and obstacles that come with owning, running, and working in a live events production business.
Tune in to the Intentional Success Podcast for valuable insights and practical advice that can help take your business to the next level. Don't miss an episode – subscribe today!
Learn more at trstimson.com
Welcome to the Intentional Success Podcast, where we provide you with the tools and resources you need to help your business grow and scale… on purpose.
Hosted by industry veteran Tom Stimson, each episode answers unpacks the best practices and secrets to achieving intentional success. From marketing and sales to operations and finance, we cover a wide range of topics to help you overcome the challenges and obstacles that come with owning, running, and working in a live events production business.
Tune in to the Intentional Success Podcast for valuable insights and practical advice that can help take your business to the next level. Don't miss an episode – subscribe today!
Learn more at trstimson.com
241 Episodes
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You can't fix everything in your business. And honestly, you shouldn't try. But the effort to be scalable will fix more problems, more quickly, than any other practice I've ever taught. Scalable companies have half the employees of non-scalable ones, and those employees are twice as good. Listen to this week's episode and learn the three tenets of scalability, why project managers are bad math, and how to stop throwing bodies at bottlenecks. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
Right now, as you listen this, do you know what your final revenue will be? Do you know your profit for the year? If you don't, that's because you don't have a budget. https://www.trstimson.com/end-of-year-numbers/
Your rental pricing model isn't honest. Five-day jobs charged as two days. Two salespeople are quoting completely different numbers on the same project. Discounts that exist because "the client asked." This isn't a strategy. It's making it up as you go and hoping customers don't notice. Listen to this week's episode and learn how to build consistent pricing, create one negotiating point instead of five, and stop confusing your customers into distrusting you. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
When sales loses confidence, you stop winning jobs. You start selling on price. You hire cheaper people. Finding the right people to work in your business and on your events is your most important task. The rest is easy by comparison. https://www.trstimson.com/why-av-companies-keep-running-out-of-people/
November is panic season. Owners look at next year's calendar, see nothing confirmed, and start making desperate calls about filling their pipeline in 90 days. Marketing won't dig you out of a hole. But it will keep you from falling back into one. Listen to this week's episode and learn the five conversion points that build a pipeline you can count on, and why getting prospects across your threshold doubles your close rate. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
You walk onto a show site with a crew you've never worked with, and within ten minutes, you know exactly how the day is going to go. In this week's Monday Morning Drive, I recall my days as a college stagehand, where we routinely outperformed professional venue crews. Here's how. https://www.trstimson.com/five-rules-that-shaved-two-hours-off-every-load-in/
CRM feels like busywork when you're waiting on RFPs. Enter a lead, update a status, log a call. For what? But your projects now span months before you have anything to quote. Your rental management system was never built to track any of that. CRM is where your sales life actually happens. Listen to this week's episode and learn 10 data points that will make your CRM useful for everyone, how to forecast 12–18 months out, and why you should stop calling jobs you didn't win losses. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
The industry I love no longer makes sense. The language we use, the way we price, the way we think about what we do… it's all built on a foundation that crumbled years ago. We just haven't noticed. We're too comfortable with how we've always done it. What most of you do isn't rental, and it's not even close. https://www.trstimson.com/the-language-of-self-destruction/
There's a non-zero chance 2026 could devastate your business. There's also a chance it could be your best year ever. Why don't you know which one? Too many owners are smoking hopium, expecting things to "just work out." That's not a forecast. That's a fantasy. Listen to this week's episode and learn how I spotted trouble six months before 9/11, the three numbers that reveal your business's future, and how to stop hoping and start knowing. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
Last week, I explained the difference between clients and customers: Clients bring you all their work; customers make you earn it every time. This week, let's talk about the mechanics. How do we actually price and sell to each? Get your notepad out. https://www.trstimson.com/your-best-customer-doesnt-deserve-a-discount/
The road goes on forever, as the song says. I always figured I'd do this work until I couldn't anymore. But I've had time to think, and I've learned a lot along the way. In 2026, Jumpstart is retiring, Club is staying, and I'm making room for the life I've been putting off. Listen to this week's episode to hear what's changing, what's not, and why the last clients I take in my career might include you. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
You need to understand the difference between a customer and a client and never treat one like the other. I was working with a large organization making the transition to being more client-focused. Business development was doing its job, bringing in opportunities. Then came a chance to add a major university to their portfolio through a small event. They walked away from it because they felt they were too busy. I came unglued on them. https://www.trstimson.com/customer-vs-client/
Have you ever said to a customer, "That's not what we agreed to"? If your customer is asking or demanding to alter the agreement — or remembering things incorrectly — it's your job to say so. https://www.trstimson.com/stop-letting-clients-control-your-projects/
Twenty years ago, I walked into a new client's office and found dead fish floating in a neglected tank and cubicles stuffed with trash bags. That's the power of a threshold. It's the moment someone steps into your space and decides whether you're legit. Listen to this week's episode and learn how to find your dead fish, get prospects across your threshold, and turn first impressions into your biggest competitive advantage. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
Proposals should be routine in your business. You write them all the time because customers don't buy AV services over the phone. They need documentation. The problem? Most proposals are terrible. https://www.trstimson.com/proposal-template/
New year, same pricing habits? Still sending proposals without deadlines and itemizing every line like it's 2005? Your competitors have moved on. Your customers have seen the difference. In this episode, I'm covering what you should already be doing in 2026 and what you need to start trying. Packages that sell shows instead of gear. Cost-plus pricing that simplifies negotiation. Good-until dates that kill dead deals. Listen now and make this the year you stop making excuses. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
If an increasing number of buyers are revealing that they don't really understand what they need for their event or what you do, then listen to this week's Monday Morning Drive. https://www.trstimson.com/your-sales-team-is-speaking-the-wrong-language/
What's changing our industry? More women in leadership. A younger workforce that rejects hero culture and relationship selling. And a balance philosophy that keeps your best people off the show site so they can sell and plan the next project. These changes aren't coming. They're here. And the companies embracing them are winning faster than those clinging to old-school thinking. Listen to this week's episode and find out which trends will carry you into 2026 and which habits might hold you back. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
I get calls every day from folks who want to talk about marketing. It was the number one topic in 2025. So, we chat. You tell me your plans. Then, I ask about your email list. https://www.trstimson.com/stop-culling-your-email-list/
As we head into 2026 with steady economic growth ahead, some companies will thrive while others quietly sink, propped up by subsidies they don't even know they're riding on. Your biggest challenge isn't the economy. It's whether your business will float when everyone else starts rising. Listen to this week's episode and learn why throwing labor at problems is a death spiral, how to win the talent war by hiring fewer people who are twice as good, and why pricing strategy matters more than revenue growth. Visit trstimson.com for more resources. Follow Tom on LinkedIn
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