You find yourself overwhelmed, confused, stuck. Not surprisingly the on, off lockdowns can make you feel this way.
The reality is that from time to time everybody gets stuck in business. That moment when everything becomes fuzzy, nothing is clear anymore. You’re too easily distracted and you know you need to re-focus. You have spent too many days being busy, going nowhere. I’ve been there. We all have.
If I get stuck, I always retire to a comfortable chair and turn on some classical music. Music with lyrics is too distracting. The quiet hub of a favourite coffee shop also works but not possible right now.
I grab a journal or a sheet of paper and I follow a format to remind myself how I need to get back on track. These are the headlines to help me get unstuck.
Audience
Who is my audience, what am I saying to them and how am I saying it? Has my message become tired, dull, too wishy-washy. Is what I say more about me than it is about my client? Have I overlooked their fears, their problems? Are these issues real? How do I know? Have I asked the questions, ‘how do you see the next six month’s panning out?’ or ‘what’s keeping you up at night?’
Engagement
What is my audience saying to me? Am I really listening or just waiting to sell? Do I actively ‘seek first to understand?’
Seek first to understand, then to be understood
[7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey]
Do I ask enough questions?
How does my audience ‘win’ when they engage or buy from me?
Why should the audience care?
It’s also important to reflect on how you are engaging at scale. Email, phone, video perhaps!
Maybe, if I’m honest, I’ve stopped doing any of this. Engagement I mean. Rapport, relationship building, doing the little things that make a difference. Creating a story around you and your clients.
Sales Process
Sales must be a win-win. Have I identified the real ‘pain points’ of the client and are my sales communication skills good enough? Have I been putting off asking for the sale for fear of rejection?
‘Collecting a decision from a client’ is simply a scorecard. You get to know where you are on the journey. If you are not where you had hoped you can soon get back on track.
Failing to stay in touch with your customers. Have you left out the people most likely to lead you to get back on track?
All the clients, the people you’ve dealt with in the past? They’ve been generous enough to engage with you. You’ve built a good relationship with many of them. Many of them can be tagged as past clients or customers. How have you stayed in touch? It’s not too late.
Is the relationship with past clients/customers strong enough that you can reach out and re-engage? How are you going to do this? What are you going to say? How are you going to say it? At a basic level, ‘How are you doing? How do you see the next six month’s panning out? How can I help?
So, if you’ve read so far, let me ask you a question. How ARE you doing? How do you see the next six months panning out for you?
How can I help?
Paul Clegg – connect
My ideal client is overwhelmed, confused, and stuck. They’re worried that the level of business they’re generating isn’t enough and they need help getting unstuck.
“After we’ve worked together, they have clarity. They understand exactly where they are leaving money on the table and how to fix it.
They have increased their repeat business from existing clients. In addition, they’re able to spend more time in front of new clients who are keen to do business, instead of wasting their time with the people who’re not.”