dwagner

About Doug Wagner

Doug Wagner is an entrepreneur, President and Co-founder of Sunwapta Solutions. Sunwapta's mission is to help businesses transform from surviving to thriving, sustainable growth. From strategy to implementation, this means marketing, sales, managing your brand and delivering consistent value. Get more clients and keep them.
22 Dec 2017

A Year of Reflections and Shining a Light on 2018

By |2017-12-22T21:13:37-07:00December 22nd, 2017|Categories: Business Strategy, Marketing, Sales, Software Development|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A Year of Reflections and Shining a Light on 2018

Reflecting back over the last year, we’ve seen a number of local businesses close their doors and countless more struggle. It hasn’t been an easy year for us either.

Through tough times come some of the most valuable business lessons. The biggest one is to avoid facing tough times whenever you can. In my opinion, it is far better to be struggling with growth challenges.

Part of being in business for 17 years is making […]

28 Nov 2017

Prospecting Is the Heart of Your Closing Problems

By |2017-11-28T15:57:49-07:00November 28th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Sales|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Prospecting is the Heart of Closing Problems - Man on Phone

Last month you had a healthy looking pipeline. So healthy you stopped actively prospecting and had to focus on meeting prospects, analyzing needs, and moving people through the funnel.

Now you are working on three to five hot prospects that just won’t close.

They were super excited at first. Now your leads won’t return your calls and emails go unanswered. You’ve even tried contacting other people in the organization to figure […]

18 Oct 2017

80/20 David and Goliath: The Power of Ideal Clients

By |2017-10-18T17:15:20-06:00October 18th, 2017|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

80-20 David Goliath - Power of Ideal Clients

Your prospects naturally compare your business to what they perceive as your competition. If you want to get leads and acquire customers efficiently, you have to choose your market and ideal clients carefully.

It turns out how we feel about our achievements is relative to how we measure ourselves. How we perform in the future, is impacted by how we relate to the results of the measurement.

Harvard or MIT

If you graduate at the top […]

18 Sep 2017

How to Avoid Setting Your New Salesperson Up For Failure

By |2017-09-19T12:25:35-06:00September 18th, 2017|Categories: Marketing, Oilfield Pulse, Sales, Working on the Business|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Elephant in the Room - Setting Up New Salesperson for Failure

As you grow your business and hire a new salesperson, you are likely leaving money on the table. Are you making one or more of these mistakes and setting your team up for failure?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve met several people who were hired to work […]

28 Jul 2017

Bicycles – How to Create Business Skills for Life

By |2017-07-28T20:38:13-06:00July 28th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Non-Profits and Community|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Bicycle Shop Students - Creating Business Skills

Arsheen Dhalla has been busy doing remarkable work in Zanzibar through the Daraja Foundation. Daraja means bridge in Swahili. During one of her infrequent visits to Calgary, I had the pleasure to sit down with her and listen to her story. There are many stories to tell. For the third video in the series, we decided to focus on business skills and the bicycle empowerment center.

The first time Arsheen traveled to Zanzibar in this volunteer capacity, her work primarily focused on an orphanage and a local […]

25 Jul 2017

Does Your Business Deserve the Marketing Results You Want?

By |2017-07-26T20:06:46-06:00July 25th, 2017|Categories: Branding, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Oilfield Pulse|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Bags Over Head - Business Deserves Marketing Results

Are you holding both the business and your marketing team accountable for marketing results? Wise business leaders understand that effective marketing amplifies the message the company is already putting out – the two must be in sync.

Know What You Control

Three things that you control determine your perceived position in the market include your

  • Business strategy and how well you execute on it,
  • Company culture and the people who make that culture, and
  • Business processes and […]
11 Jul 2017

5 Powerful Moments on the Path to Get More Clients

By |2017-07-12T16:20:31-06:00July 11th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Go-Giver Coach, HubSpot Agency Partner, Marketing, Sales|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Phoenix Rising From Fire - Path to Get More Clients

Most small businesses start with someone who has an innovative idea, or at least the desire to build a business around what they do. In most cases, these entrepreneurs fall into sales out of necessity. You either figure out how to get more clients, or you fail.

Our story started this way. Early successes led us to underestimate the power of mastering marketing and sales, both the skills and the […]

15 Jun 2017

Be Interesting – How to Win Leads at Trade Shows

By |2017-06-16T19:08:29-06:00June 15th, 2017|Categories: Branding, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Reporter - Be Interesting Win Leads At Trade Shows

Most businesses seem to hit trade shows as if they are a necessary evil for lead generation. They do what is needed, but don’t try to stand out. At a time when budgets are tight and trade show attendance is dropping, is this approach wise?

As I was walking through the Global Petroleum Show here in Calgary on Tuesday, I was struck by a few insights.

Fitting In – The  80/20 Rule

The […]

9 Jun 2017

5 Ways to Win Survivor Alberta – Business Edition

By |2017-06-27T14:23:25-06:00June 9th, 2017|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Mindset and Motivation, Oilfield Pulse|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Win Survivor Alberta - Business Edition - Whitewater Rafting

The key to being the ultimate survivor in business in an extremely competitive landscape is to have a strategic plan. These five components will help you thrive.

Before I stopped watching television, I used to watch Survivor. One of my favourite scenes was an episode where Rupert stole shoes and other items from the other tribe, and then they used the pirated loot to trade for more useful – and untraceable – […]

26 May 2017

Sharing a Cultural Experience – Amina’s Business Start-Up

By |2017-05-26T18:49:46-06:00May 26th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Non-Profits and Community|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

People Outside of the Global Bridges Cultural and Wellness Center

Arsheen Dhalla has been busy doing remarkable work in Zanzibar through the Daraja Foundation. Daraja means bridge in Swahili. During one of her infrequent visits to Calgary, I had the pleasure to sit down with her and listen to her story. There are many stories to tell. For the second video in the series, we decided to focus on Amina’s business story.

The first time Arsheen traveled to Zanzibar in this capacity, her […]