Recently I took some time away from work to recover from a surgical procedure.
I learned that consistent marketing and networking are essential in business. I knew this already, of course, but I really saw the results of slowing down or stopping while I was ‘off’.
My pipeline didn’t dry up, but many of the relationships I had take the time to nurture started to slow down. When you are out of sight, you definitely start to become out of mind. Quickly.
So how did I get 5 new clients last month?
Yes, you read that right. I just did my networking statistics for the month and I got 5 new clients.
Here’s exactly how I did it:
1. Networking Plan. Once I decided that I had to get out and do some networking to light those fires again, I chose 14 events in the coming month that I might like to go to – some locally and some virtually – and I booked them into my calendar. I knew I might not get to all of them, but I knew that would get to as many as I could. I made a goal to do so. (I ended up attending 10 of the 14 events).
2. Connection Plan. I made a list of all of the people that I wanted to reach out to either as potential clients or potential partners, and I made a decision to get into touch with all of them over the course of the next month. (I was able to connect with all of them).
3. Set Specific Goals. I set a goal for each event that I was going to attend, and made sure that I could accomplish whatever my goal was (no terribly stretching involved). Usually my plan it is to make 2 solid connections at an event, or advance 2 relationships significantly, something like that. (At a few of last month’s events I did not reach my goals, but at others I exceeded them. Note to self for future event planning!).
4. Plan Your Follow Up. Then I decided what my follow up would be for each person I met at the networking events, or for the people I was connecting with as partners. (I made a master list of who I met and what I needed to do to follow up with them. I now have a follow up sheet that I can easily reference.)
How did I fare?
Pretty well, I’d say!
I made solid connections with 38 people in my travels and efforts, and I got 5 new clients, and 11 partner connections (either new or renewed). I also referred 2 VAs to clients, and I have 18 new ‘real’ connections in my pipeline.
Note: I have also had 67 people opt in for my Getting Started as a VA ebook online but those people are not included in my physical connections numbers for the month because I haven’t reached out to them directly (yet!).
So these stats are my ‘direct effort’ numbers.
Those are decent numbers, but it’s because I was very focused on what I was doing. I knew what I wanted to accomplish with each place I went to (live or virtual).
This is why I teach this as a business building strategy – because it works. I connected with 20 people who wanted to know more about becoming a VA. I got 10 of them on the phone, and 5 of them were ready to become clients.
Building your business is just about knowing your message, knowing your audience, and then doing the work: finding the connections, making the calls or reaching out to invite people to have a call with you.
And then comes the easy part. Talking to them about how you can help them, and getting them excited for the possibilities of how their business and life will be better by working with you!
Conversion numbers are your friend in business. My conversion rate was 25% (which is actually pretty low but many of the people I speak with are asking about what the VA industry is like, so they are not all ready to buy, like your VA clients would be!). But I can still make my conversion rate work for me.
With my 25% conversion this month, I got 5 clients from having 10 conversations from 20 connections. So if I make 60 connections, then I should get 30 conversations which will result in 15 clients. The numbers don’t lie. The habits only become better the more you practice them.
My strategy this month will be to improve my conversion rate instead so I don’t have to find so many connections, but the bottom line is that this math simply works.
If you want some help getting 5 new clients for your business, it’s time to cut to the chase and figure out how you can get there. Book your complimentary ‘Cut to the Chase’ call with me here: www.yourvamentor.com/15-min.
I look forward to chatting with you!