Lets Talk Business Strategies
Experience in developing effective business strategies. As well as running a successful small business, Alan has been an active member on three consecutive senior management teams & boards, delivering real growth strategies and staff engagement.
1. What are your top 3 lead generation strategies?
In order, my top three strategies are as follows –
Lumpy Mail:
The attention that you get from being different is worth the effort and there are some truly exceptional examples of this from our community, from KitKats (Thank you Stuart Mason) to broken watches. One of my clients recently received a padlocked Perspex box stuffed with sweeties, and a ransom note for access to the key if they agreed to a meeting, she took the follow-up call from a catering supplies company and is now a client.
It’s the follow-up call that really matters, all the lumpy mail does is create a memory trigger “Oh, you’re the guy that sent me a KitKat” Effective follow-up calls using our scripts work, we get through to the DMs 24% of the time.
Client Referrals:
Don’t be afraid to ask your clients if they can introduce you to like-minded business owners that are looking to grow their business.
I have signed every referral received from a client apart from 1, but I have still not given up on that one.
Networking:
I am pretty sure this is straight from Ian Christelow’s marketing masterclass.
I arrive at the event with 20 business cards and 20 pre-written and stamped postcards
Work the room spending only limited time with each contact.
- Ask what they do
- Ask what challenges they are facing
- THEN stay quiet until they ask what it is you do
- My script is usually along the lines of
“Thank you for asking, I actually help local business owners work through very similar challenges to the ones you just mentioned, I also help them make more money, work less hours in the business and engage high performing teams. To be honest it’s much more than we could cover in just 5 minutes, lets exchange cards and we can meet up afterwards for a 1:1.
I would love to find out more about what you do, and I can show you how I work with business owners just like yourself.”
- Move on until you have exchanged a maximum of 20 cards
- Write the addresses on the postcards and get them in the post same day (I have a BDM for this)
- Then follow up the postcards with a phone call to get dates in the diary.
Follow up meetings booked on the back of the postcard is currently running at 61%
2. What would you do differently if you had your time again?
I would get out in my local business community more, leverage my local contacts, and create PR opportunities.
Like a lot of coaches, I have never been comfortable cold calling, it’s not my strength, so investing in a BDM earlier than I did.
And finally, using the tools we are given more effectively. It’s important that you believe in yourself, so using the “I Am” statements, IVVM and Dream Builder tools, would have helped develop my personal self believe earlier.
3. What do you consider to be your biggest mistake and what did you learn from it?
My biggest most costly mistake was not testing and measuring my marketing as effectively as I should have.
I spent £7,000 on a LinkedIn strategy that delivered only 1 lead and ran a series on 5 seminars at £300 an event, which delivered no clients.
Knowing my numbers and making quick decisions would have saved me £1000’s
The learning is simple, we now track everything, and constantly review our results. We fine-tune our campaigns, our follow up scripts and touch points as well as our objection handling.
If one of our strategies is not providing ROI we stop it or change it quickly.
4. What is your top tip for success in ActionCOACH?
Your time is so precious, so make sure you’re coaching, and if you’re not coaching you’re selling and if you’re not selling you’re marketing…
Everything else is a distraction or an excuse.
We have the best coaching system on the planet at our fingertips, so believe in it, and believe in yourself.
Next Steps
If you would like to know more about the ActionCOACH opportunity and you:
- Get a buzz from helping others succeed
- Love learning and developing yourself
- Have enjoyed success in your career or sport…
