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Spotlight: Philippe R. Bertrand of Amplio Strategies

@rogers
Insights - May 10, 2018

Spotlight: Philippe R. Bertrand of Amplio Strategies

This entrepreneur speaks to the importance of business technology

Philippe R. Bertrand of Amplio Strategies

Tell us about yourself and your passion for the small business community.

I’m a career entrepreneur who has created 13 companies in 20 years. My journey is atypical: my first seven companies failed. These difficulties have allowed me to understand that when you have a strong business relationship with the community, you can overcome those challenges. One of the things it did was prevent me from going bankrupt.

Today, after selling off my technology companies, I coach entrepreneurs in their growth plan. Our growth lever in Amplio Stratégies is sales, helping businesses develop a structured and efficient sales department, as the best way to grow a business is to increase sales.

What is the most rewarding part about being an entrepreneur? What keeps you passionate and driven to succeed?

What I like about being an entrepreneur is being the master of my own destiny. I set my own schedule and I decide when I want to work. I understood from the age of 15 that I would not be someone else’s employee. It was important for me to be the decision maker in my own life.

Now, with the kids, it’s taken a different turn, and I’m all the more happy to be an entrepreneur because it allows me to take a big step back with my kids. I often hear that it is difficult to balance the life of an entrepreneur with family life: it is not easy, but today, my greatest passion is to show my work to my kids and to demonstrate to them that, when you work hard and you have good ideas, you can help the people around you to get ahead and grow.

We know digital marketing can be a true key to success to developing and continuing to grow a business. For you, what are some key social media platforms or tools you suggest for small business owners?

I think the most important thing about digital platforms is the use of social media. However, they need to be selected based on the clientele (B2B or B2C); not all social media are adapted toward selling your services or products. The other thing to keep in mind is that minimal use of technology, such as customer relationship management software, becomes necessary to organize and industrialize the sales process. It is important to use technology.

"Sometimes you’re afraid of being incompetent, but beginning with a simple tracking file in Excel can be a good start toward doing great things."

What advice do you have for aspiring and prospering business owners when it comes to taking their business to the next level?

What entrepreneurs need to do to take charge of their business growth is to understand the path to customer purchase so as to reduce it. If there are seven or eight steps in the sales process of your product or service, you should make a significant effort to reduce these steps and thereby shorten your sales cycle.

You also need to know from the very first sale to a customer how to sell him or her another product or service. Subsequent sales inevitably cost much less than the first sale because there is no longer an initial acquisition cost. It is therefore essential that sales be well structured and implemented.

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Click here to RSVP to meet Philippe!

Save your seat at the FREE Dollard-des-Ormeaux Small Business Centre event, and meet Philippe R. Bertrand and other entrepreneurs in your community!

Date
Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Time
6:00pm ‑ 8:00pm

Location
Rogers Small Business Centre
Destination Mobile
3339L boul des Sources
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC H9B 1Z8

RSVP here.