“I get these little pockets of time where I should be doing lead gen & biz dev, but I’m not sure what I should be doing.”
You might think I’m talking about one of my amazing clients, but I’m not.
I’m talking about every client. Literally every business owner, every entrepreneur I talk to.
And it’s no wonder, right? Because when you run your own business, you’re juggling selling with everything else in the business. And you have to prioritize.
What comes first in priority? What you HAVE to do and LIKE to do: doing the work.
What comes next? What you WANT to do and NEED to do: working on the business.
Followed a long way down by…
What you NEED to do but DISLIKE: doing lead gen & business development.
That leaves little room for meaningful time and effort getting new clients.
But even when you only have short gaps of time, there’s a lot you can get done to build your pipeline, move potential clients to close, and put yourself out there.
So here’s a quick guide on how to squeeze in lead gen tasks …
If you only have 10 minutes:
- Check your sales pipeline and reach out to anyone who could be moved closer to close, or anyone who hasn’t heard from you in a while*
- Follow up with any potential client who has an outstanding proposal
- If you have proposals to write, look at your calendar and block off time to write them
- Pick one person you haven’t talked to in a while, reach out and invite them to a conversation*
If you only have 30 minutes:
- Pick two people you haven’t talked to in a while, reach out and invite them to a conversation*
- Pick two people you’ve reached out to recently and follow up if they didn’t respond*
- Write a quick social media post that relates to your business and share it on your social channels
If you only have 1 hour:
- Pull together a list of 20 people who are your ideal client and could benefit from your work, including finding emails for each person (look in your CRM, contacts, Linkedin connections, etc.)
- Draft and send an outreach email to those people in your list above*
- Write a proposal (it shouldn’t take you more than 1-1.5 hours)
- Write a blog post, publish it, and share it on social media
- Take that blog post you just wrote and send it out in your newsletter
There you go! Now you have no excuse not to do biz dev or lead gen, even if you don’t have a lot of time. 🙂
What can YOU accomplish this week in these short timespans? Head to the Smart Gets Paid community and let me know!
To your success,
Leah
* Want my email templates with exactly what to say to these folks? You get them in my sales coaching program SIGNED.
P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways I can help you.
1. Join the Smart Gets Paid Group and connect with women entrepreneurs who are learning how to get clients too. This is my new Facebook community where ambitious women like you learn how to get the clients they want, without feeling salesy. Click here to join.
2. Learn how to get new clients without feeling “salesy,” in 10 weeks
If getting new clients is always on your to-do list, but you’re not sure where to start, I can help. You’ll learn step-by-step how to get the clients you want, without feeling salesy. And you’ll get the coaching you need to put learning into practice in your business. Interested? Just email me with “Clients” in the subject line and I’ll get you the details.
3. Work with me privately
If you’d like to work directly with me to learn how to sell, get paid more, and get the clients you really want, just send me a message and put “Private” in the subject line. Tell me a little about your business and what you’re struggling with when it comes to selling, and I’ll get you all the details.
