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!

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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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?

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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".

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.

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.

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?

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?".

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.

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.

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.

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…..