Found and Phoned

Who have you found and who have you phoned?

Last week, we had our November Thought Leaders Business School Immersion….

One of the ‘implementation’ strategies that we encourage straight after Immersion is a "Call 10 list," a list of 10 names that you can immediately call about your new cluster. People you can sell to or talk to about what you are working on.

I love the simplicity and the act of making a list.

1. It’s a checklist
   
   A check where the rubber meets the road. It is proof that you do know people that you could talk to about the cluster you are launching. We often say, "I know loads of people." but when it comes to making a list, we struggle. Writing this list is the difference between "I know some people." and "These are the people I know." It's about actuals and not just hypothetical.
   
   If you struggle with the ‘found' list - start the exercise again with  "Who do I know that might know some people?" It's one step removed but an excellent question in finding potential people to work with.
   
   The other wonderful 'found' strategy is to find new people - to explore industries, events, or roles. Find people who could be someone you could help.
   
   Describe the person, role, or industry that you want. Google is our friend. LinkedIn is our friend. There are wonderful outcomes in giving yourself an hour a week to find new people. Mining for new contacts is a very valuable way to spend some regular time. Take time to make genuine connections - not just fishing for anyone to sell to. Robots do that.  Robots reach and repeat. People care and connect.
   
   
2.  It’s an action.
   
   There is power in the doing… doing the list, seeing the names in front of you. Identifying potential people to sell to is the first step of the sales process.
   
   Step 1: Identify
   Step 2: Attract
   Step 3: Offer

Identify who.
Who needs the solution you are offering? 
Who has the ability to buy this product? 

Make your offer attractive.
Do the thinking for them. Make yourself easy to buy.
Package all of the information that they need to make the purchasing decision easy.

Offer them the opportunity to work with you.
Asking people for a commitment is one major part that people miss. For many of us, it's better to not know than to get told no! This stops us from asking. We are worried it will end the game. Not knowing doesn’t mean you have potential, it means you haven’t asked the right questions. It means you haven’t completed the process!

Would you like to do this? Shall we lock this in? Shall I send you an invoice? All good ways to close a sales conversation.

Once this list is complete you have completed phase one - finding people.

Phoning people is the next step.

Most of us dread ‘making calls’. Most of us enjoy the calls once we are on them. Forcing yourself to phone people is a wonderful habit to create. I love the saying that "You can't sell a secret." No one can buy you if they do not know about you!

Give people the opportunity to buy. Phone them. Share the solutions you have created. Tell them what you are working on, looking at and wondering about. Genuine connection comes when you are interested in someone's world, are in service to them and what is happening in their world. Fake "I've got a deal for you" calls are awful and not adding value to anyone!

“Do unto others as you would have them do to you" is a wonderful idea to live by. Give other people the service, opportunities, and considerations that you would want to receive. Make a call that you would want to get. Be someone who people want to speak to. Be generous, be light, be interested and interesting.

If you want to learn more about Thought Leaders Business School, join us at our next discovery session.

Lisa O'Neill
CEO