This spring, I started an experiment. I had come across this video clip of Oreoluwa Sorunmu saying, "Money just finds its way to me. I think money recognizes me, money is comfortable around me, and money likes me. So money feels when it needs someone to talk to, it will choose me in the crowd and it will come and sit next to me. Whether it comes in the form of whatever, but it will choose me." That quote messed me up. None of what she said was true for me. Money made me anxious; it made me itchy. I have spreadsheets, budgets, and financial plans to help me not worry about money. But even with all that, I’ve been up in the middle of the night worried about money. If it is … [Read more...]
4 ways to reassure nervous buyers.
On Tuesday, we talked about how the biggest killer of B2B deals is fear of looking stupid. If your buyer isn’t 100% confident in your solution, that fear will make them hesitate and unlikely to hire you to fix the problem you uncovered. What can we do in our sales process to help buyers to get over that hump? 1. Drag the monster out from under the bed. In the first meeting, I want to talk about why the prospect is reaching out to us now. Is something happening internally (e.g., The CEO has a bee in her bonnet, or they’re launching a new product), or externally we have a trade show, or new competition has cropped up) driving their urgency? If so, get that out on the table right … [Read more...]
Why do clients do nothing (even when they tell you they need your help)?
When we are talking to a potential client, the most likely outcome is that they will do nothing. I bet if you went back through your CRM and looked at the deals that didn’t close, 75% of those prospects didn’t hire anyone to help them with their problem. This is heartbreaking – you did all the hard work and got no deal. You found someone with a problem that you could help solve. You qualified that prospect; they have a real problem with a high cost, urgency, and an outcome you can help them achieve. You built trust, developed options, created a proposal, and still…nothing. Why? They don’t want to look foolish. The worst outcome for a B2B buyer is that they hire the … [Read more...]
What we practice grows stronger
“We’ve been conditioned to spend an enormous amount of time rehearsing what could go wrong and what has gone wrong.” Chris Dorris On Tuesday, we discussed how we frequently imagine and rehearse negative outcomes of significant events. When I’ve got a big proposal presentation or performance review scheduled, I often go over it in my head, and the outcomes I’m rehearsing are the ones I want to avoid, not the ones I want to experience! But this doesn’t just happen on client calls. How many times a day do I say, “Wow, Brad, that was stupid!” or “I’ve never been good at this conversation with my wife; this is going to be a disaster.” or “Why do I keep making that mistake.” Or a hundred … [Read more...]
Practice makes perfect
I got a call from a client. “I’ve got an appointment tomorrow to talk to a prospect about the biggest deal I’ve ever closed!” “Congratulations!” What are you thinking about as you go into that call?” “I’m terrified that they are going to say no. I really think they will cut the price, and I’m going to have to say yes, and then I’ll over-deliver and won’t make any money!” I understand getting nervous before a big call; it’s normal. When things are important to you, when you care about the outcome, our bodies react with sweating palms, rapid heartbeat, or cotton mouth. Those are normal bodily responses. But your brain doesn’t have to follow your body! When we feel fear, … [Read more...]
Why time off makes you MORE productive.
In the US, we have this concept of earning vacation time. Your HR system accrues so much vacation time for every pay period. It does that for accounting reasons. I’m not saying that’s “wrong” – it’s just a misunderstanding of time-off. When we work hard, we deplete ourselves. That’s why, no matter how engaged you are in meaningful and fulfilling work, you’re tired at the end of a long day or week. When you run a growing agency, you get paid for your creative problem-solving. No one comes to you with routine, straightforward problems. They come to you to solve the big, hairy ones that don’t have a clear right answer, and your ability to do that work well takes a lot of energy. … [Read more...]
I feel guilty about taking time off.
When I ask my clients, “Why are you working on vacation?” They tell me that they feel guilty if they don’t. Their staff is hard at work, they don’t want to let clients down, and there’s just so much to do I have to keep going. I'll let you in on a little secret…your team loves it when you get away on vacation and really rest. They want you to come back relaxed and rested. They are not pining for the overstressed, uptight version of you. They can’t wait for the creative, easy-going version of you. What about your clients? Sure, sometimes there are time-critical deliverables that they’ll complain about. But they also appreciate the creativity and open-mindedness that you can … [Read more...]
There’s a time to work and a time to rest
Sorry I missed talking with you all last week. It’s not that I didn’t have things to share with you; I’ve got some good stuff brewing. Neither is it that I don’t care about you or prioritize this conversation. I was simply taking some time off to have fun! I could have scrambled around the week before to pull something together (I tried doing that, but my brain wouldn’t cooperate) or tried to scribble something down in between meetings last week. But multitasking is never good, and I was pretty sure I’d be left creating lousy conversations with you and lose out on the fun and relaxation that was available to me last week. Make your time off restful. A lot of folks are … [Read more...]
When you hunt ghosts, you get ghosted!
Thanks for all the replies I got to this week’s emails – it’s easy to see that we are all experiencing similar challenges! One reply to Thursday’s email about eliminating business development follow-up was worth noting. It said, Most people, me included, lie to themselves about why things don’t work out in biz dev… self-blame, not worthy, not good enough… feeding insecurity in self-serving ways. In reality, we aren’t trained to see that the sale wasn’t happening, EVER!Becoming aware of that behavior and breaking that habit is like breaking your own arm. Not all activity is good activity. When we chase after ghosts, leads that are not ready to buy, or opportunities for which we … [Read more...]
Eliminate business development follow-up
An agency owner asked me this question recently. I reviewed the pricing options with my client last week, but I haven’t heard back from them. How long do I wait before I send a follow-up email? The short answer is, you’ve driven into a cul-de-sac; there’s no good way out but to go back to the beginning. When we’re selling creative services, it works best for the sales process and the subsequent project for you to maintain a peer position in the relationship. Follow-up, where I’m chasing the client, undermines that by placing me in a position of need. (I need your business more than you need my services.) So, starting from the beginning, here’s how you make sure you never end up … [Read more...]
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