Please tell us a little bit about your business — what is your company all about?
I currently serve as Chief Sales Officer for mPulse, a digital engagement company specializing in healthcare. Additionally, I am a Professional Speaker, Coach, and Author, with my main topic being the development of better leaders.
Tell us briefly about your background and how you started your company.
I am a transformational executive with over 30 years of experience driving growth in healthcare and technology. As Chief Sales Officer at mPulse and former President of HealthTrio, I tripled revenue and grew client acquisition by 150%. My leadership spans $100M+ P&Ls, M&A, and award-winning teams.
Author of The Six Pillars of Effective Leadership, I believe leaders are developed—not born. My framework—Integrity, Focus, Empathy, Compassion, Humor, and Stability—has shaped leaders across startups and Fortune 500 companies. A dynamic keynote speaker, I share real-world strategies for building high-performance teams and leading change.
What are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
1. Operate with an unwavering focus on Integrity and Transparency
2. Lead with Empathy and Compassion
3. Ensure your focus and vision are properly aligned
What are your plans for the future, and how do you plan to grow this company?
I’m on a dual path; as a Chief Sales Officer, we’re a company with approximately $200M in revenue, and we plan to rapidly grow it to $1B, which we believe can be achieved through organic growth and targeted acquisitions within 3-4 years.
On the Author’s front, the next step, in addition to speaking, is to launch a coaching program delivered in either live group or one-on-one sessions. After developing the live coaching program, we will create a self-paced version of the program, with less structure, for those not looking for an intense timeline and transformation.
How did the pandemic impact your business, and do you feel like you have completely exited
the other side?
It didn’t. We transitioned to a remote organization rapidly and also tripled our revenue, client base, and employee count during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
I build trust first and foremost. Buyers today can’t afford to make a mistake when purchasing expensive technology solutions. As such, jobs are lost today when people make purchasing decisions that fail to result in process improvements, efficiency gains, reduced operating costs, and other benefits. By building trust first, we become their trusted advisor and guide them on a journey that shows them what success will look like for them.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from
them?
I didn’t start the business, but three leadership pitfalls for new leaders (and I’ve done all three) are:
• When meeting with your team for the first time, you should speak 20% of the time and lis-ten 80%.
• Active listening. I once had a manager who held my weekly 1:1 during lunch on Fridays. He would read the Wall Street Journal in front of him, while I looked at the paper and provided him with updates. That is NOT active listening.
• Measure everything.
Tell us a little bit about your marketing process; what has been the most successful form of
marketing for you?
We engage in a variety of marketing and sales processes and activities. We estimate that marketing-related activities (such as events) should produce 20% of our leads, while direct outreach from the Sales or SDR function should produce 80% of our leads.
For direct outreach, we use a combination of short and long drip campaigns to open doors and gain insights. We have found that over 60% of our sales today come from drip campaigns initiated 9-18 months prior to when we became top of mind. When the buyers needed our products, they recalled the impression we made, and they reached out to us and no one else.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
How to continue my leadership journey. It’s never-ending.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
I would have invested more time upfront in truly learning everything involved with writing a book, launching a speaking and coaching business, and thinking it couldn’t be that hard.
What are the top 3 online tools and resources you use to grow your company?
I’m all about efficiency; I use Marky to pre-produce a month of social media content in about ½ an hour and have it scheduled for the entire month. I also use Seona for SEO tracking and blog posting. Lastly, I would mention my CRM (Pipedrive) and Prezi, which can take my outline of a presentation and produce a full-blown, animated PowerPoint presentation.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
Book: Extreme Ownership
Podcast: Tim Stating The Obvious, host Tim Stanton
What is your favorite quote?
I have a few favorite quotes; probably the one I use often is, “The Secret to Success is never to Let Down and never to Let Up.”
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
Don’t give up, regardless of what people tell you. When I said to a few people I was writing a book, the response was lukewarm at best. The reality is that many people start to write a book and never finish it. I not only finished, but I also published, and I have sold just over 1,000 copies.
What is your definition of success?
Success is loving what you do and the lives you impact.
How do you personally overcome fear?
When my 34-year-old son was only 3 or 4 years old, we went to Destin, Florida. He and his older brother wanted to go out in a kayak. My wife laughed as I don’t do water or boats, especially ones without motors. After hounding me for what seemed like an hour, he stood in front of me with his hands on his hips and said, “Dad, when are you going to confront your fears?”. It felt like 200,000 faces were looking for my reaction and next move. I stood up, didn’t say a word, and went and rented the kayak. Needless to say, I had to do all the rowing. So, how do I overcome fear? I take it head-on, as best stated by my then three or 4-year-old son.
How can readers get in touch with you?
People can reach me via phone, text, email, or my website:
Phone/Text/WhatsApp: +1 (972) 838-0060
Email: jim@jimcarlough.com
Website: https://www.jimcarlough.com
