If you’re like me, you’ve got to be thinking about increasing your revenue stream for the short term. I mean, I have the long term under control—strategy, business model development, cost management. But nothing else works if you don’t keep the income side generating new sales. So I’ve designed a one-day agenda focused totally on sales, and I invite you to try it! Here goes~
8am: Ask five ravens for help. “Ravens” are friends who want to see you succeed. Send five emails first thing this tomorrow morning with this message—“I need to sell **** this week. What suggestions do you have? How can you help?”
8:15am: Reach out to five mavens in your network. “Mavens” are influencers. Spend 30 minutes figuring out how to get your message in front of them with a request to pass it along. Method might be via social media or more direct contact. A phone call, IM, Tweet—however you reach thought leaders.
8:45 am: Research five new prospects. Who is your target customer? How do you typically identify new customers? Spend 30 minutes on Google or Twitter finding prospective customers with whom you’ve not previously had contact.
9:45 am: Take a break! Whew—you’ve accomplished a lot and your wheels are turning!
10:00 am: Brainstorm five new approaches to your sales. Check out the deals that others are directing to you; see if their strategies might be useful to you. Read a few articles that you’ve been saving. Write at least three bullet points about how you could implement each of these methods; or, choose the best one, and write ten implementation steps.
11:00 am: Review incoming emails and return phone calls to your ravens and mavens. Reply, send thank you notes, and make a list of their suggestions and promises.
Noon: enjoy your lunch!
1:00 pm: Call a customer or two. Ask for one specific recommendation for a product or service offering that they think would be appealing to a new customer. And while you’re at it, ask for a referral!
1:30 pm: Define a new offer. Spend 45 minutes reconceiving one product or service in a whole new way. Change the service. Or modify the product. Combine a product and a service in a new way.
2:00 pm: Review your website offer. Anything you can improve? Anything you need to change based on what you’re learning today? Write it down. Make at least one deliberate change to bolster short-term sales.
2:30 pm: Break time! Give your mind a chance to process. Take a walk, clear the cobwebs.
3:00 pm: Revisit your social media strategies. Review how your blog, website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc. “presences” are designed to help grow your business. If you are not using social media, use this time to explore possibilities.
3:30 pm: Define a new delivery method. Take 30 minutes to brainstorm one new audience, platform, strategy or tactic to take your product or service to market in a new way.
4:15 pm: Review and respond to all new comments that have come your way today. Make your to-do list to follow up on the best ideas. Send thank-you emails or tweets!
4:45 pm: Please return to this blog post and share your results. We want to learn about your experiences and celebrate your progress!
5:00 pm: Enjoy your evening! Hope it’s been a fantastic day!
O.K. This was interesting! I created a stimulus package (http://www.wisewomanshining.com/Small_Business_Improvement.html) and sent it out wherever I could. No takers yet….but…
I got emails from 2 people that have been in my pipeline for a while and they set up meetings to go on to the next step. And, I got a new Guru project. Whippeee!
As well as new ideas from my customers for upcoming packages. It’s amazing what happens when you shake the tree of the universe!
Casey Dawes
Wise Woman Shining
Hi Casey,
Great to have your feedback! Glad to hear these ideas worked for you–sometimes taking action is just what we need, and it’s always great to talk to customers.