All sales come from conversations.
Every sale occurs inside a conversation; all the time I spend outside of a conversation is wasted time (unless I’m setting up a conversation).
Steve Chandler
No one has ever crawled through my computer and tried to hire me.
No one has ever replied to a social post by saying, “Send me an invoice!”
100% of my signed contracts came in a conversation.
If you want more sales, create more conversations
Whatever marketing, outreach, advertising, or anything else you are doing to try to generate leads should focus on creating conversations with people who can hire you.
Let me apply this to a few tactics I’ve heard folks talk about recently.
- “I’ve got a list of ideal prospects that I want to cold email.” What could you send them that would make them want to talk to you on the phone? (Hint: It’s not your capabilities deck.) What would make you want to get on the phone with someone who sent you a cold email? (Hint: That person better have something I need or want.)
- “I’m running LinkedIn Ads for a webinar series…” OK, a webinar can be the beginning of a conversation. What will you say or do during the webinar to make people want to book a call with you afterward? (And none of that goofy, “Book a call to learn the secret,” baloney. You’re not selling timeshares!)
- “I’m starting a podcast with ideal clients as my guests.” Now, we’re having conversations with ideal clients! How would you interview in a way that the guest would want to keep talking after you turn off the recording?
But let’s look further…
How often do you get an email from a past client with a “quick question?”
If instead of replying with a “quick answer,” you replied by saying, “Great question, call me when you have a minute. I want to ask a few follow-up questions before I answer.” You just created a conversation!
Instead of posting your “thought leadership” on LinkedIn or shooting a video for Insta, could you find some ideal clients and see what they are talking about? What could you leave as a comment or send as a DM that would make them want to talk more?
One more thing…
This also applies to situations where you are going back to prospects who didn’t close. Instead of sending, “Hey, just checking in on your needs for our services.” (Sounds desperate and boring.) How could you send something that would be of interest to them? Something that would make them want to get on the phone with you?
Do you have a method of creating conversations that works for you? I’d love to hear about it! Hit reply and tell me yours.
(See what I did there? A reply to a mass email is the start to a conversation.)
