Right FIT Newsletter #135: Persistence, Predictable leads, and Webinars

GREG’S RIGHT FIT NEWSLETTER #135
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Quick notes to help you get more sales and marketing done in less time. . . next week.

In this issue:

– Techniques for FIT
– Being Human
– Random Stuff

Techniques for FIT
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• Being persistent is hard, but getting started is harder. We talk about activities like it’s easy to start but hard to finish, but my experience is that it’s harder to start. Next week, take a new first step.
• Humans are terrible at predicting the future. Set a direction and stay alert, but don’t get too far down the road in your head before you take action. Get curious and take a step.
• What story would you tell me about your past week? We’re the sum of the stories we tell ourselves, which is amazing. If the anecdotes you tell yourself are less than inspiring, change them. You’re not a statue.
• Early next week, check in with your biggest fan. The person that is behind you no matter what. It’s always good to hear that you’re a genius and the world is lucky you’re around.

 

Being Human – Sure it works, but. . .
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“There are two rules for success: (1) Never tell them everything you know.”  – R.H.L.

At the beginning of the year I did something I haven’t done before. I stood outside myself and designed a marketing/sales campaign for my business. It’s funny because, like the old adage about the cobbler’s kids having no shoes, when you’re busy providing a service for others, it’s easy to let work on yourself slide.

I started planning in December, made sure I had the right funding in place in January, and started in earnest on February 1. I put tracking in place, scaled my approach to account for either success or failure, and went to work.

Like most marketing campaigns, it starts slow and the work is easy. The calls, the follow ups, the appointments, and the proposals. Then new business comes in. By the end of March I uncover enough opportunities to meet my projected revenue and get a solid ROI from the effort. 10 months ahead of schedule.

By April, I’m falling behind on my activity. By May it’s over. I have stopped executing on what is objectively, a great marketing campaign. The story I tell myself starts with, “sure it works, but. . .” and ends with [excuse, excuse, excuse].

As I enter August, I mentally revisit an idea I shared with a client about the goal of predictable, profitable lead generation.

The point of the graphic is that if you produce predictable leads but they are unprofitable, it leaves your reps disconnected and unmotivated. Sure they can count on having people to call, but the quality of the leads is such that the reps pre-judge them before engaging. On the other hand, if the leads aren’t predictable but are incredibly profitable, the reps get distracted waiting for the next one to show up. What I propose is that if you have either one of those scenarios, split prospecting and closing into two roles to boost results.

Or invest more in developing predictable, profitable leads.

In my case, I know I’d rather have predictable lead flow first, then sort through to find the profitable ones. What I found was profitable, but not sustainable because I lost interest in the process. A very normal, human response, but critical to success.

And the kids still have no shoes.

Good stuff.

 

Random Stuff
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Talking to myself

I’ve just completed a short series of client webinars around the main topic of my book. If you’ve never done one, it’s like living in a box for an hour. I’ve been using my home office which requires me to angle my PC, which holds my camera, in such a way that my dog or ugly wall hangings don’t show. I’ve taped a little tiny cutout of a friend’s headshot up next to the camera to remind myself to look into the camera when talking. I have a fancy microphone that makes my voice sound deeper and has a pop filter to keep the levels from spiking when I, well, pop, I guess. In case it’s dark I have a light I can hook up to take down the harsh glow of the computer screen. I’m trying to tell you that I’m set up, ready to roll.

At the end of episode 3, which consisted of me talking to the host, making points and responding to his questions, the webcast was opened to questions. At the top of the software we use, you can see the number of people in attendance and a little score called “attentiveness.” I try not to react to it when the attendees go from 27 to 16, or vice versa, but it’s hard not to get distracted. “Oops! What did I just say?”

Like the two previous episodes, there are no questions coming from the attendees. It’s depressing, but I tell myself that maybe I’m a crystal clear communicator. That’s when the little red dot on the Q&A lights up. A text question from “Anonymous.” Excellent. I lean in, repeat the question, take a breath, and start. I look directly at the little picture next to the green light of the webcam and give an earnest, insightful, human response. Totally in the moment. Almost speaking in tongues, where I’m just the conduit tossing out years and years of amazing knowledge. I think to myself, man, this is great.

The host pipes in, “Greg, I can see you talking but your sound cut out. Can you check your mic and say that again?”

 

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