I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Keep In Touch
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Recently, I heard a story that I'm still thinking about from Michael, a sales consultant. After 3 years of keeping in touch with a prospective client, the guy finally emailed him back and said, "Thanks for keeping me in mind for so long, Michael. I really appreciate it. I'm ready. Let's go!" You may be thinking, wow, that's a really long sales cycle for just one client—I sure did. But, Michael's story perfectly illustrates that:
There's a common number thrown around for how many "touches" it takes to be memorable and get someone to engage with you—it's seven over about 18+ months. But, that's not the whole story or even the real story. It often has more to do with what you sell and for how much—the higher the ticket price, the more touches you probably need. Whether you're selling to consumers or to other businesses also plays a role, as does whether you're selling products or services. It's also important to know that consistent outreach is just one factor. You also need to deliver value with each of those touches, educating around your areas of expertise or the issues or problems you solve and addressing common misconceptions that may cause your potential buyers to discount or devalue what you sell. Finally, you need to consider how engaged your prospects really are. Not all prospects are equally interested in what you're selling. Some may sign up for your mailing list before they really have a need you can address or because they want to grab what you're giving away for the price of their email address. Need some help creating a winning sales strategy and follow-up process? Schedule some time with me. |
Easily Said & Done
I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Hi Reader, Last week we had the first tornado warning in Manhattan and the second in New York City that I can recall. There was horrible air quality from the Canadian wildfires as well as torrential rains with their accompanying flood warnings the week before. Right now, Spain and France are suffering devastating wildfires and heat waves. I've written before about disaster preparedness, but I really want to drive home the need to think about and plan for the potential impact of natural or...
I promised I'd share some AI wins after bashing on it for the last couple of months, so here goes. An old client of mine runs a wine shop in Brooklyn. She's got some help but she's largely a one-woman show. She's been using Monday's AI features to help her analyze and manage her inventory and understand seasonal sales trends to purchase more smartly. She had to level up her investment and hire someone to help her set up the AI agents she needs but feels it's been money well-spent. Another one...
There are lots of thoughts spinning around in my brain at any given moment. Maybe you can relate. We're kind of living in whirlwind times where information is coming at us incessantly; it's like being caught up in a tornado. There's just no way to catch your breath and really marinate on anything for too long. So here are a few things I'm trying to give a little bit more thought and attention to these days: What impact will Pope Leo's AI encyclical have on governments, tech leaders, and...