Saturday, October 31, 2009

Getting Rid of Contacts

No, it's not meant to be an attention-grabbing headline; it's what I'm doing today.

My shift in marketing away from small businesses to large corporations (see The 1-6-10 Rule ) requires that I eliminate the really useless contacts from my list of about 300.

This morning around 6 a.m., way too early to start phoning, I printed off a daily work sheet , fired up my contacts list, noted that I had 223 records and started examining contacts in stalest-record-first sequence. That is, which record has not been modified for the longest time; which contact has NOT received my attention?

I quickly deleted 6 of the 8 stalest records, took me about 3 minutes.

Let's face it, here is someone (well, 6 someones actually), who I've never met, never done business with, have no real idea of who they are or what they do, or any adjustment of knowledge since they first got dropped into my contact list ten years ago.

For ten years I've sent them a Christmas card, but not bothered to find out anything about them.

I suspect strongly that if I picked up the phone today and said "Let's meet for coffee" the response ought to be "I don't know you; you presume to send me a card once a year, and expect me now to be all-friendly with you? I can't be bothered".

I feel that strongly, because that's how I feel about Norbert who sends me a chatty card once a year, but has never suggested we meet for coffee next time I'm downtown.

By deleting the names I'm reducing my waste of effort in sending a postcard or even interrupting their workday ("It's that brush salesman again …").

If ever I felt the urge to business with their firm, it would probably be because they had popped up as a "new prospect", in which case I'd be making a fresh approach to the CEO of the company, or else I'd be armed with some real benefits that surfaced as a result of my sleuthing.

It feels good to rid the world of this wasted effort, and to focus on my prime prospects.

Long may they prosper!

Friday, October 30, 2009

The Cold-Calling Hook

This is just too amazingly easy!

I have spent an hour cold-calling companies, by first calling the CEO and in under one minute – as I promise them – get the name of someone else at the company. I call THAT person and say "I was just chatting with {your CEO's name here} and she suggested I get in touch with you. Do you have a minute?"

The phrase "shooting fish in a barrel" comes to mind.

Thus emboldened I embark on my 9 follow-up calls scheduled for today. One harried executive replies "It's our quarter-end, not a good time; try to reach me mid next week" and I thank him and hang up.

I record that text in the memo field and set the follow-up date for next week.

He has given me a hook when next I call: "You asked me to call you once your quarter-end was complete. Is this a good time?".

If he remembers saying that, he pretty well has to acknowledge my call.

If he does not remember that, his options are to acknowledge my call or call me a liar, and since he doesn't know me, he is unlikely to do the latter.


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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Spot The Difference

Can you spot the difference?

  • It is raining, so I'm not going anywhere. Give me a call when you have a minute. 416-621-9348
  • It is raining, so I'm not going anywhere. Give me a call when you have a minute.

Which email is more likely to get you to pick up the phone and call me?

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Strategy Vs. Tactics – Part 2

If you are still struggling with the difference between strategy and tactics, try this analogy:
Strategy is where I want to be, and when. My strategy is to be on top of THAT mountain at dawn tomorrow (to watch the sunrise).
Tactics are how I achieve my goal: I will swim across THIS river and drive THAT vehicle to the top of the mountain.
My Business Strategy is to have 200 new (major) prospects by the end of the year.
My Business Tactics include a disciplined approach to building relationships, and if I'm going to do the work required, I'll have to spend less time writing and more time researching firms and telephoning contacts!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Hand-Written Note

I love installations where someone drags me off to their cubicle asking for help – in formatting a word-processing document that will ultimately be faxed to the recipient.
In the first place, faxing is graphic, so I never worry about using extra paragraph marks for vertical spacing (as I worry if I am emailing a document)
But the ultimate guffaw comes when I see the content: "Let's do lunch".
Here is a mid-level manager struggling for 60 minutes or more with a cranky word-processor for a lunch invitation.
· PICK UP THE PHONE!
Today my situation is reversed.
I've been telephoning an executive for three weeks, different times during the day, and just not getting through.
So I still draft the message (paper and pencil), but rather than compose an email, it's out with the expensive beige Magna Carter Parchment Paper (A million dollars for 100 sheets at your local stationery store) and a neat hand-written job.
Ditto the envelopes.
· Hand-written.
Hand-written return address in the top-left corner.
And one of my personal postage stamps.
Let's see if this message gets through!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Things Are Getting Out of Hand

In a quiet moment during last night's free seminar I realized that while my 1-6-10 method was generating prospects and leads, I was spiraling out of control with the data I had harvested.
In particular I had data in too many places.
I made a simple list:
(1) I have a database of client data; it currently holds 300 contacts. I am shedding deadwood (that's the "6" in 1-6-10) and adding prospects at the rate of one per day (that's the "1" in 1-6-10). The data base is a simple flat-file with Company, Name, Title, Address and so on. It contains date fields such as date-last-modified (I can detect stale records) and date-follow-up (I can use the table as a tickler file).
(2) I use a 1987 DOS program ToDo (written by Art Hill) which makes it easy to see what's to be done today, and permits easy roll-over of dates by day, week, month and so on.
(3) For each prospect or client I maintain a folder on my hard drive with a Diary.doc in which I record the journey to sales.
(4) I maintain notes on paper, for two reasons: I like to sit with a hard-copy dossier on a company and study it. (2) I make penciled notes during phone calls.
My problem is that data gets recorded in four separate places and no matter where I look, there's something missing.
· I have resolved that I will make a single efficiency each week.
That means that each week I have to come up with a new idea for trimming flab.
This week my "trim" is to use the little ToDo list solely for birthdays and other anniversaries. That's probably a personal type of use anyway.
When I have issued an email to Global Conglobulations saying I'll phone them next week, I must use my client database ((1) above) and set the follow-up day field to reflect the event.
Thus each day should see me work through the client database in ascending follow-up sequence until I have cleared all entries that require follow up.
Next week, who knows? Perhaps I'll add a field to the database form that allows me to establish a hyperlink to the Diary.doc, then from the form I can quickly pull up the diary. The diary is really a Microsoft Word document form of a memo field, held separately from the database table.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

The 15-Second Method to Win Rapport

So there you are, face to face with a candidate for a sale, or at the very least, a short window of opportunity to win a prospect, and you need to get them with you.
· Establishing rapport can be easier than you think.
It's largely a matter of changing the face-to-face (literally!) view that occurs when you meet someone to a face-by-face view.
A Domestic Example
With a lady-friend in a diner, I often prefer to sit side-by-side on a bench seat so that we have the same view of the diner and get to chat about the things we see in common.
The face-to-face seating arrangement means that she sees the parking lot and I see the kitchen.
A Networking Event Example
For the first 15 seconds of your face-to-face at a networking event, work hard, intensely (but don't show it!) to match your voice tone and gestures to your new-found acquaintance.
· If they speak softly, speak softly.
· If they use their hands to talk, use your hands.
· If they hold the coffee cup in their left hand, do thou likewise.
Their eyes/brain will pick up on these subtle clues and accept you as a like-minded person.
· They sprinkle their conversation with a little Je Ne Sais Quoi?
Well! Toi Aussi!

Friday, October 23, 2009

The International Market Place

I learned last night that I am running an international business.
I didn't know that.
I thought my Toronto, Canada-based business was, well, a local business.
Turns out that all I need is a client just across the border in Buffalo, New York State, and I'm international.
Well!
I do have a client in New Jersey, of all places, and that's much further than Buffalo, so I can say "I have International clients".
That was easy.
A boost for my ego, and something to write on my web page!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Do Something Better Today

No matter where you stand right now, no matter how bleak the dawn, you can make one small step today towards bettering your situation.
Do SOMETHING better today, do it better than you did it yesterday.
It doesn't really matter what you choose to do better, you'll feel better (about your situation) and you'll BE better.
· Weight getting you down?
Today, climb a single flight of stairs. Make a point of including one flight in your daily schedule. Next week move to 2 flights.
· Lack of cash getting you down?
Today, forgo the donut, or the coffee. Or take a snack to eat mid-day instead of spending $10 in the food court.
· Skill-set poor?
Set off on a journey to mastery of the computer. My free Windows Tips correspondence course is a good start, but any self-help stepping course is better than sitting staring at the computer. Learn Alt-Tab today, Ctrl-A tomorrow …
· Need a business coach and can't afford one?
Start chatting to people your style at networking meetings. Arrange to buddy-up with one person with whom you seem to have rapport, and don't fret about equality in the relationship. One of you is going to give more than the other, I promise you. It's the way the world is. Live with it.
· But do something.
For the world spins on its axis every 24 hours, and the dawn brings a changed world.
Every day.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Your Problems Change. Why Not Change Your Skill-Set?

You are out there doing whatever-you-do to change the world.
· Every man-and-his-dog is out there too.
There are more of them than there are of you.
· So the world is changing faster than you are.
In particular, the nature of problems coming at you is changing. Technology changes. The rules change.
My accountant (who has been mentoring small business owners since about 1845!) has to keep abreast of each tiny bit of fiscal legislation that seeps out of Ottawa. If he ever lets down his guard, we will all end up paying taxes, and that's a no-no in his eyes.
If re-training is not a part of your monthly schedule, you WILL be left behind.
Now when I say "Training" your eyes roll back and you think of either (1) $250/day to go on a Microsoft Excel course downtown or (b) $1,500 a day for three days to go on one of those Paul Tobey workshops.
· Think instead "learning something".
At least book yourself into a free seminar once a month. Three hours in the evening. Once a month. Twice is better. (send me an email and in my reply you'll see a list of the next few freebies I'll be attending!)
Visit (better yet, JOIN!) a professional group that showcases a presentation each month.
Read half a dozen marketing blogs daily (send me an email) and implement ONE small suggestion each day.
· But do something.
For the world spins on its axis every 24 hours, and the dawn brings a changed world.
· Every day.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

An Easy Way to Achieve Your Objectives

Write them down!
If you have a daily plan established (please see "The 1-6-10 Rule", print it out at the start of each day (or better yet, at the end of the previous day!).
If things are starting to get you down, make "Opening the Mail (bills, etc.) the only task you HAVE to get done today. Not because you owe them money (although that's a good reason) but because it is dragging you down and sapping your enthusiasm.
Write on a small card "Process Mail".
At the end of the day, take the card to bed and examine it.
Did you achieve your objective? Did you open all the mail, draft the letter, file the papers?
If so, sleep well.
If not, ask yourself WHY you didn't open the mail etc. determine the stumbling block, and make THAT your top-priority for tomorrow, and go to sleep feeling good about THAT!
The key here is to WRITE IT DOWN (yes, I'm shouting this at you!).
Write it down so that you have a solid tangible record of what you expected to achieve.
Measuring what happened is the vital link between saying you'll do something, and making sure that the next time it really gets done.
Try it and see!

Monday, October 19, 2009

A Plan for Business

My accountant taught me this several years ago:
Business: Is the exchange of two pieces of paper, one of which MUST be a cheque.
And, of course, by cheque he meant a cheque, a deposit on a project, or the final payment on completion of a project.
But the definition also applies to public transit (you receive a paper transfer), buying a tub of iced-cream at the supermarket (they give you a receipt) and so on.
When I am swapping paper with a prospect, I'm not doing business with them.
So if Business is the exchange of two pieces of paper, one of which MUST be a cheque, then a Business Plan must be …?
A plan to do business.
A roadmap marking out how to get from wherever you are to the point where the prospect gives you a cheque.
A documented series of steps that follow in a logical manner, one leading to the other, where the final step is "Thank the Client for the cheque".

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Really? A Cold-Call Script that Works

(Please see also 10 Cold Call Scripts that Work for YOU)
Here is the background:
I have used my prospecting tools to obtain a prospect Medworxx.
The Canada News Wire story gives me many names, foremost the President and CEO and his direct line.
While I'd be happy to chat at length with him on this first and unsolicited call, it is unlikely that he has nothing better to do with his time.
I am using the "Canada News Wire" story about Medworxx to get his attention.
My script is 80 words long; 60 words are unique. The script is loaded with content:
Mr. Matlow?
My name is Chris Greaves
I read the Medworxx story on Canada News Wire in August, and I wonder if you could spare me literally one minute?
Thank You.
You might be able to help me out.
I'd like to find out who I might talk with at Medworxx to discuss the ideas I have implemented for the production of documents in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals industry?

I have recorded the script and it runs 22 seconds, including pauses.
You can see a pause before the "Thank You"; the script assumes that he will agree to one minute, and my goal is to be off the phone within 60 seconds.
That leaves 38 seconds to negotiate the name and phone number or email address of someone at Medworxx.
If I can get in-and-out in 60 seconds, I can place the second call, another cold-call, prefaced with the CEO's name:
Ms Somebody?
My name is Chris Greaves
I was just chatting with Dan Matlow and he suggested I give you a call to discuss the ideas I have implemented for the production of documents in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals industry?

At this point, I assume that "chatting with The President" will get his attention, and my goal on this call is to get him to ask about my services and to agree to a single follow-up email with information of value to Medworxx.
One of my chief assets on making unsolicited telephone calls is my accent, a mixture of Lancashire UK, Western Australian, and Canadian. You can hear the first script by clicking here.
Contact Me and let me know how you got on. I'd love to hear your side of the story.
In fact, why not put me on your list of people-to-call? I'd love to see how you make cold calls.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Did You Just Lose Me?

Was it you who sent me an email a day or two after the networking meeting/seminar?
I know that I exchanged cards with the guy sitting to my left after chatting with him for five minutes. I gave him my card and he gave me his.
I noticed that he wasn't taking notes, so I emailed him a copy of my notes (After the Networking Meeting) and he was kind enough to reply by email and thank me. He is, to me, a valuable contact into a major bank.
Two other people asked me for a card. We didn't exchange names. You might have been one of them.
If you were you sent me an email with a one-page PDF brochure telling me what you do and suggesting I purchase your services.
But I don't know you.
So I deleted the email.
Sorry.
No I'm not.
I'm trying to eliminate from my current contact list all those businesses to whom I send a Christmas card but who never call me. I know to be patient, but seven years?
My new contact list is based solely on people, not businesses, with whom I have engaged in a real conversation – not a soulless cold-call. I've met them at meetings and chatted for five or ten. They call me occasionally, or respond thankfully when I send them an email.
We stay in touch.
But I'm through trying to bond with a PDF file.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Who Ya Gonna Call?

You need to make a pitch to the guy who REALLY counts.
Let's call him "Rick". You have his number, email address, title, and a 4-page dossier gleaned from the company web site.
A call that starts "Rick, you don't know me but …." is going to be dead in the water before you inhale your first breath.
Don't even bother.
Look again.

Somewhere amongst that mass of names is a close-fit. Someone in a similar role, at a similar level and you don't know, but perhaps they meet in the dining-room each day, or have to attend the same bi-weekly meetings.
Look for a good fit.
Let's call him Gerry.
Then call THEM instead.
I promise you, Gerry will tell you "You should speak to Rick", and give you the same name, number, email that you ferreted out an hour ago.
Now call Rick.
A call that starts "Rick, I was chatting with Gerry and he said to call you about … " is going to skim across the water like Donald Campbell.
Contact Me and let me know that you got the business, OK?

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Look Again!

My theory is that I should be able to run some of these articles, or other essays, in a local newspaper.
So having picked up a copy of the Mississauga News, I flipped through it and to my dismay found that they already had THREE columnists.
There is no way that I can displace a stable of three experienced columnists, so I re-folded the newspaper and (I am ashamed to report) have been using it as a mat for my coffee pot for a week. A Second Use For Everything.
This morning I picked it up and for reasons unknown to me (but I pass this on to you and suggest you make it a part of your conscious behavior), I skimmed through it again.
My eye was caught by the words "SPECIAL SECTION" on the top corner of about two-thirds of the paper.
That's right! Those three "columnists" represented only three one-off articles.
Next week's paper probably won't have a SPECIAL SECTION, so the market may well be wide open for me.
I'll phone as soon as I've finished typing this up.
I am reminded of Winston Churchill's "never" admonition:
· "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense".
Funnily enough, it's what one of my mentors says, too (Cheryl Scoffield of Executive Sales Support).
But see also "Who Ya Gonna Call?".

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

10 Cold Call Scripts that Work for YOU

You can search the web for scripts, print them out, edit them, use them, and you'll still feel awkward and robotic.
I know. I've been there myself.
But I gradually lifted myself out of the pit of despair by a simple mechanical device, and I'm going to share that with you now.
Step 1
Search the web and locate a half-a-dozen pages of script.
This link will get you started.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=cold+call+script&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Step 2
Read the pages (there's good advice on them) and paste the scripts into a word-processing document.
Number each script, just as I have numbered the steps on this page.
Step 3

Build a table with one more column than you have scripts. Ten scripts? Eleven columns!
Step 4
Into the left hand column paste the 40 or so contacts you want to cold-call today.
Across the top of the remaining columns paste the script numbers; one through ten in this example.
Step 5
Just before you pick up the phone to make the first call, choose a script based on whatever knowledge you have – how you feel right now, the type of company you think you're calling, whether you'll be speaking with a male or female, and so on.
Mark with an "X" the cell to the right of the contact name and below the selected script. This identifies what you are about to do.
Step 6
Pull out that script sheet and make the call.
Sure it will be mechanical; these first few calls will be awkward, but it will get better, I promise.
Step 7
At the end of the call, when the phone is re-cradled, ask yourself how you feel about that call.
If you feel it went well, if you achieved your objective and received permission to send an email (or "set up a meeting" or …..), then CIRCLE that "X" to show that, in that particular case, the script worked for YOU.
Step 8
Carry on with the remaining calls, "X" for the selected script, CIRCLE for the successful selected scripts.
Step 9
When the calls are made, which scripts had the most success?
Which scripts did you not even bother to try? Try them tomorrow. Don't eliminate them until you've tried them
Step 10
Discard the scripts that were tried at last THREE times and failed to achieve your objective. Those scripts are not suited to you and your business.
Replace the discarded scripts with new scripts from your web search.
Step 11
In no time at all you'll have a battery of scripts that work for YOU.
Contact Me and let me know how you got on. I'd love to hear your side of the story.
In fact, why not put me on your list of people-to-call? I'd love to see how you make cold calls.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Your Web Site (HERE)

Print this page out on paper.
Pick up a pencil.
Complete the following sentences.
· The goal of my site is to
· This time next week my site will
· The people who will reach my site are
· When they reach my site I want them to
· If they send me an email I will
· If they call me by telephone I will
· I will have to update my site every
· My test for my site showing up in search engines is
· My dollar budget is not more than
· My time budget, in hours per week, is
· I fully understand that I can not have everything at
You and I both are indebted to Seth Godin.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Aiming for Viral

Wednesday, September 16, 2009
I made the decision this morning.

I feel that the fastest way to get my name on people's lips is to "go viral" in the vernacular.
Of all the things I do, of all the things I teach, of all the things I own, of all the things I know, what ONE THING satisfies
  1. General appeal
  2. Universal appeal
  3. Be targeted towards a small professional segment business.
The answer is "Indxr".

Now you don't have a clue what Indxr is, so here is the one-sentence profile:
Indxr is a one-click index-creation tool for Microsoft Word documents.
You can read more here and here.

  • I have my 3,000+ emails and phone numbers gleaned from 13,000 press releases.
  • I have a simple database table with organization, name, title, phone, email, web page, to which I have added a FLAG field and a Date Last Issued field.
  • I have a little macro that will flag the first 20 candidates with a "Q"uery flag.
  • I have a little macro that will test the flags and email an html email for those records flagged with a "Y"es flag.
  • I have the html message ready to go.
All I need now is permission.

I'll filter out the communication companies in batches of 10, call the representative and seek permission to send a one-time email describing the Indxr.

No wait! There's more!
Julia Wooster of http://www.primeadminsolutions.com/ came up with the names of a few groups to which she belongs, groups who would leap at the chance.

I told Julia that since my web page www.ChrisGreaves.com was on every GUI form as a clickable link, she could host the package on her web pages and drive traffic to her web pages or to her networking group's pages as a return favor.

What do I care?

As long as people download it, share the link or even email the ZIP file to their colleagues, ultimately the question on everyone's lips will be "What else does this guy do?'
I should record a training video and post it on YouTube.
I should mention it in interviews, on my blogs, on my business card, in my email signature.
I need a short snappy script for the telephone call.
What is holding me back, apart from that?

Saturday, October 10, 2009


And the rest, as they say, is herstory!
www.Indxr.ca
http://indxr.ca/testimonials.htm
http://www.virtualassistantforums.com/software/great-tool-authors-writers-who-create-indexes-13666
http://www.primeadminsolutions.com/Blog/tabid/123/Default.aspx
etc. etc. etc.

Friday, October 9, 2009

How Cheeky Do You Want Me to Be?

Brainwave!
My name is Chris Greaves.
Well, Christopher Greaves if you want to be fancy, but "Chris" works for me.
My web site is ChrisGreaves.com.
Well, http://www.chrisgreaves.com/ if you want to be fancy, but I only speak with people who know to put www in front.
Or who know that you can just type "ChrisGreaves.com" directly into the browsers box.
I am registered with a great many web sites, forums, blogs, newspapers, and until this morning I always used my name as a user name, thus "cgreaves", "chrisgreaves", or "cprgreaves" and so on.
· This morning I thought "Why not use my web site as my name?".
Better visibility; you still know my name, and I'm probably the same Chris Greaves as pops up elsewhere.
But now you also can figure out how to visit my web site!
http://empoweryou.ca/2009/09/16/backing-up-your-data/#comments
Expect to see a great many more comments on blogs as of today…..

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The 1-6-10 Rule

Here's my method for knuckling down and making sure those calls get made (They are not Cold Calls, they are Introductory Calls).
My objectives are to make 1 new prospect per day, retain 6 contacts, issue 10 emails.
1 Prospect
· (1) I locate the prime candidate in the one to four news releases harvested by Weather Vain from Canada News Wire.
· (2) I build a dossier on that company
· (3) I telephone them to obtain 2 emails
· (4) I build the letter
· (5) I send the letter
· (6) I make a follow-up telephone call
· (7) I record the result.
Now I don't do all that in one day.
On Monday I'll do steps (1) and (2).
On Tuesday I'll do step (3) for the company I located last Friday.
On Wednesday I'll be doing step (5) for the company I located last Thursday
And so on. With each prospect there is a time to work on that prospect, and a time to let it lie. For another example, I ALWAYS leave the draft letter overnight and re-read it the next day.
It is important to introduce a new prospect into the pipeline EACH DAY and to keep the pipeline moving.
6 Contacts
· (1) I locate the "stalest" contact in my Contacts database.
· (2) I phone and chat or leave a voice-mail asking them to call me back.
· (3) I record the result
Each day I'll perform that sequence for the 6 stalest contacts, where THE stalest contact is the one whose record has the lowest date-last-modified value. That is, it's been the longest time since I spoke with them.
I am asking them to call me back because I am in a process of removing dead-wood contacts from my list – prospects with who I've had no significant conversation – to make room for better prospects.
If they don't call me back within 2 weeks, I delete them from the database.
10 eMails
· (1) I locate 10 potential email contacts from my MASS database culled from Canada News Wire.
· (2) I locate their web page
· (3) I load their web page to the email database
· (4) I phone them with an offer
· (5) I send them an email
· (6) I record the result.
Each day I'll touch 10 potential users of Indxr and try to get them to try it.
A positive result means they are added to my list as new contacts, of better quality than those I have identified as dead wood.
A positive result also means they are candidates for a future emailing about other products and services.
The Daily Quota
This won't work unless I apply myself rigorously to the process.

Here is the one-page form I print out and maintain in my 3-ring binder marketing diary.
By the end of the day, the 2nd and 3rd tables should be filled in completely.
By the end of a fortnight, the top table should be filled in completely.
Stragglers (more recent than a fortnight) will see the top table in various stages of completion.
Logging the Time
If like me you use a time-logging device (BillT is my choice) then assign a generic code for prospecting and a specific code for each of Prospect, Contact and Emails, thus "PROSPECTP", "PROSPECTC" AND "PROSPECTE".
Now you can keep track of the hours you spend prospecting 'PROSPECT" and the time on each separate task.
You have budgeted your time, so you can see how well you are going.
When to Call?
Obviously you can research the web name and so on out-of-hours.
Many telephone calls can be made outside of regular business hours if you feel that a voice-mail will suffice, but CAUTION: Small businesses run out of a home office will NOT appreciate a call when you can't sleep at 3 a.m., and some corporate types will forward their office number to their mobile phone so that they can annoy the rest of us while we are reading on the bus. They won't appreciate a 3 a.m. call either!
Voice-Mail Script
A standard script, with optional variations, will help you to leave a professional message when your contact can not or does not pick up their phone.
Don't spend more than five minutes on a script.
Build it like any business letter, with a Goal. Name and phone as the first two and last two words. Speak slowly and crisply – don't make them rewind!
Monitor your voice with a digital recording device; my voice tends to creep to a higher octave with anxiety, so I work to tone it down.
Make notes on your script "("I wish I'd [not] said that"!) and refine it as you go.
· Pay especial attention to every voice mail you receive.
Which ones fire YOU up? Since you are looking for contacts who (are) like you, the same style will probably fire them up too!
Steal ruthlessly!
For the results, please read The 1-6-10 Rule – How Did it Work?

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Budgeting Time

I attended a seminar this morning on The Business Plan; a segment included the regular sales Forecast and Financial Statements (Income Statement, Balance Sheet etc) suitable for a restaurant or flower-shop. I'm a consultant, so I don't do that sort of thing.
.... so in my late-afternoon tea-break I decided to do what I'd decided not to do:
Play around with a spreadsheet.
Bit of a waste of time for me to do the forecast sheets on page 5 and the statements on page 7 & 8. I certainly don't need the practice in Excel (grin!). And besides, I don't do "sales" like a restaurant or flower shop.
But they say that "Time Is Money", and if that is so, I ought to be able to do a fair facsimile with my time.
Time is all I have.
I have three objectives for each day in my marketing efforts:
· () Phone 6 contacts from my contacts data base ("Just keeping in touch")
· () Identify and research 1 new prospect (via Canada News Wire and my Prospecting Tools all the way to the initial emailed letter of introduction)
· () Identify 20 qualified targets for a mass email letter, no recipient more frequently than once per two months)
The rest of each day is my own.
I know how many working days there are in each month
Phone Calls
I figure that I can make one phone call every 5 minutes initially.
Starting today I'll be whittling down my contact list, discovering business that no loner exist ("Delete"!). Some calls will take one minute; some might become a 15-minute chat, but 5 minutes seems a good starting point.
As the days/months go by, the calls will become longer, because I'll have got rid of the dead wood and will have more currency in my contacts.
The accompanying spreadsheet shows me spending 5 minutes per call initially, rising to not more than 15 minutes as the months go by.
Please see row 9.
New Prospects
Each day I cull (automatically!) one new prospect from Canada News Wire.
Today it will take me an hour to trawl through the web, LinkedIn and other sources to amass a dossier, an hour to assemble novel pages describing my ideas, an hour to draft the letter and an hour to revise and proof-read it with my mentor.
Say 4 hours in all.
As the months go by I should get better at this and the time per prospect should drop to two hours tops. Besides which, much of my basic documentation will be re-usable.
Please see row 10.
Mass eMails
My same automated task gleans email contacts from Canada News Wire and I can issue targeted emails to qualified recipients.
I figure that initially, including development of the package that updates and uses my database, I'll spend an hour a day on this, but down the road it will drop to fifteen minutes.
Please see row 11.
Monthly Forecast
The monthly totals are found in rows 13 through 16.
Annual Forecast
I develop my annual forecast by taking the twenty-fourth month, multiplying it by 12 (months), and then loading it by 10% each successive year.
Why 10%?
The seminar leader used that figure.
Besides, as I move into a higher fee spectrum, my prospects will be larger companies and I'll need to spend more time, perhaps running out to buy glossy paper.
Income Statement
I am granted 24 hours per day is all; I sleep, eat, play with the cat …
My most optimistic work day is 10 hours, for all that I get up at 4:00 a.m. and go to bed at 9:30 p.m, I travel to meetings, wash the dishes, meet Bill for coffee, and so on.
I have therefore (see row 28) 200 hours available to me each month.
And so (see row 30) I have 90 hours a month left over for travel to and attend seminars, purchase supplies, meet contacts for coffee, and so on.
As the months go by and I get better at the daily grind, I have more time available for activities other than phone, prospect and emails, and after a year, things settle down to a steady and predictable pace.
My annual statements (rows 33-35) are based on the same fixed number of working hours available to me (12 months of 200 hours each month); a 10% loading (as my clients require more service time for bigger contracts), and a consequent reduction in time available for other activities.
Will It Compute?
How accurate will this be?
I have a little billing tool based on a Notepad file with a .LOG header that records my start and stop time for each task.
I ought to be able to compare my actual time spent phone/prospect and email against my scheduled and predicted loads.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Why I Put Everything on My Web Site

I decided six months ago to put everything I write on my web site.
Why?
Because to me it made no sense to write something of value and have it spinning at 7200 rpm on the hard drive on my computer.
If it is of value to me, (and why else would I write it up?) it is probably of value to someone else.
Heck, it MUST be of value to at least one of the 7 billion other people on the planet.
So what do I write?
Obviously I record diaries of my daily business experience (you are reading one now!) .
I don't write a personal diary ("Met Bill for ice-cream").
I write technical papers on any new task I perform. If I am asked to look into "List Numbering in Microsoft Word", I record my findings because I'll probably be asked to report for another client, or at least, I'll stumble across a prospect with that problem and can capitalize on my previous work.
Resurrecting "lost data" from Fred's hard drive likewise was an exercise in which I developed a step-by-step procedure for copying files across NOT using Windows Explorer, which proved to be useless.
I live an active life; I am curious about everything, from the mechanisms of Mitochondrial DNA to the photons that arrive from thousands of light years away. From a scale model of our planetary system set up in the gymnasium of the local church to the Red Wrigglers that eat my garbage.
If you are interested in Mitochondrial DNA, or the photons that arrive from thousands of light years away, or a scale model of our planetary system, or Red Wrigglers that eat garbage, I want to chat with you.
My web pages are the outpouring of my mind. One of those pages will serve as a note to someone:
Talk to Me!

Monday, October 5, 2009

It's Not About More Money

(I am aware that this is possibly the 300th blog entry of this title.)
I spoke today with a successful consultant who isn't particularly interested in Getting More Business.
"I have enough", he says; "I'm semi-retired". And I'm glad for him.
I still feel that a bit of effort can make him feel even better.
That little extra effort in Prospecting, Marketing, Sales or what-ever can give you more than money; it can give you a choice.
I may be making enough money to pay the rent, buy the groceries, and set aside a sum for retirement.
I make that money from specific clients who buy my services.
Of all my clients, by definition one must be "the worst". And by definition one must be "the best".
With a bit more effort I could swap the worst client for a different client, one who would be significantly better than the second-worst client.
Of course, now that I've got rid of the worst client and replaced them with a client significantly better (and hence more fun), my second-worst client has slipped to the bottom and is now "the worst".
I'll always have a "worst" client, (and I'll always have a "best" client.
But with a little bit of extra effort I can improve the quality of my clients, and hence can improve the fun in my life, without having to feel I'm busting my gut to Make More Money.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

10% is Missing!

I'm convinced it must be true for every one of us.
Speaking with Jim White of JSW & Associates this afternoon, I casually dropped a question "What is your biggest problem?". I am a problem solver, so it is a natural question to ask.
Jim's answer set me to thinking. He paused then said "Getting Started" (or words to that effect.
I have the same problem, but I'd call it "a gap".
Cheryl is good at what she does, but she could use a bit of help in automating the work. The prospect (sorry!) of an automated prospecting services would fill a gap in her business.
We all, every one of us, seem to be good at almost all of the process from prospecting, cold-calling through the sales call, closing the sale, starting the project and delivering the acceptance test.
But somewhere along the chain of events will be a link which we would describe as "our weakest link" or "my gap" or 'my biggest problem".
Think about it. By definition it must be so.
Our real problem, then, is making a positive identification of that link, and setting about strengthening it.
P.S. There's a nice end to the story – Jim and I both need to do more networking, so he's taking me as a guest to one of his networking meeting tomorrow morning, and I'm taking him as a guest to one of my networking meetings later in the month!

Friday, October 2, 2009

The Two Levels of Networking

If you are looking to expand your business by number-of-contacts, you have two distinct sets of networking groups.
The first you know – the Association of Like-Minded Consultants, the Society of Trainers Looking for Opportunities, and the Guild of Under-Employed Technical Writers.
The second is new to you; was new to me until a short while ago:
The Bankers Association of Toronto; The Tight-Knit-Group of Investment Counselors, and the Clique of Pharmaceutical VPs.
To join the first set
… you merely show up at the monthly event, tell them that you are a visitor at the first meeting, and you get in for free.
Next month you pay a $25 one-time fee.
If you decide to join, it is $125 a year and $10 per night.
Bring lots of business cards and be prepared to stand up and make a 60-second elevator speech.
To join the second set
… you need a really well-cut suit, you need to play golf or have a boat (or at least know someone who has a boat), and you need to be invited.
Bring only a few business cards because it’s not a shotgun approach to business, it's really about basking in the safety and security of The Club.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Putting a Human Face on LinkedIn

I am gradually gaining an understanding of LinkedIn. I joined but two weeks ago and am somewhat leery of becoming a member of a vast amorphous group with little in common with most of them.
This morning I received my third "Invitation to Join My Group", this time from another close friend and associate. I called her and expressed my fears, while confirming our friendship and association.
I now think that joining Cathy Nesbitt's LinkedIn group is the equivalent of giving her one of my business cards and asking her to pin it on the front of her shirt, along with the 31 other business cards.
When Cathy meets someone (for coffee, for work, at church, on the subway etc), my business card is visible, so if that person happens to need a Grey water system , or jam made, or a computer programmed, they have an opportunity to point to my business card and ask Cathy about me, or even just to note my name and phone and call me later.
I still live in a village of about 200 people – about the maximum that any human brain can accommodate.
I still have 200 names I could call up as acquaintances, or better, but one of those better-or-better names is now carrying around my business card on display.