“I’m too busy serving clients to get out there and sell.” or... “I’m too busy trying to onboard clients quickly.”
We hear both of these commonly - basically, that a business owner is too busy to change.
Having seen both sides of the fence, it sometimes feels like we’re watching someone press on the gas pedal to get out of a snowed-in parking spot, and they’re yelling out the window, “I’m too busy to shovel!”
In our entrepreneur programs, we hear this a lot from our members. They have a desire to put themselves in control of their sales results. They have a desire to be the type of person who can consistently grow a pipeline by $1MM to $2MM or more in the next 6-12 months.
Do they identify themselves a salesperson? No. They’re business owners, subject matter experts, entrepreneurs, and account executives rolled into one. They’re the budding startup founders who want to make a big move.
A process our groups are using has proven itself to be very helpful in terms of producing two results we’re looking for:
-More clients who fit the ideal client profile.
-A repeatable, time-efficient method to continue growing their top-line revenue.
Here’s the process.
1. Target - You’ve heard this before. You need a revenue target, and/or a certain number of clients to aim for. And yes, it’s critical that you write this down and commit to getting it done!
2. Timeline - People hesitate giving themselves a deadline for their target because, frankly, it’s a bit intimidating. “What if I don’t make it?” Look - we have felt (and still feel) that fear. The key here though is to take a page from Susan Jeffers and Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway! Commit to a timeline for you to hit that target!
3. Actions - What are you willing to do today to get that result, to hit that target? Better yet, what are you going to do today - not tomorrow, not 3 months from now - to produce that result? (If you’re not sure on what the right actions are, let us know and we’ll write an article on that too!)
4. Metrics - A lot of business owners fall victim to getting to the end of the year, and the results they hoped would happen simply didn’t. It’s easy to blame yourself for this, but frankly that doesn’t do you any good. The reason this happens is they didn’t have metrics to watch every week that would let them know whether or not they were on the right track. Don’t make that mistake. Ask yourself, “If I’m willing to take X action this week, How will I know it’s done? AND How will I know it was effective to hit the target?”
What do you think? Do you agree with our perspective? Do you have additional ideas to help people get more clients without falling behind on other commitments?
Please share in the comments below, and pass along to others if you found this valuable.