Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

How do you set up a sales strategy as a start-up with little to no money? And what are some good ways to sell to existing customers?

I am always thinking about finding new customers, but I have sold quite a bit to a decent number of people already. I am thinking I might do better focusing on getting those people coming back. What are some good ways to sell to existing customers without being annoying.    Also – how can I do this with little to no money?

Although these are two very different questions, the answer is very similar.

One thing that I recommend to all my clients is to think with the end in mind.  Take some time to answer the following question about your target market.

• Who are your ideal clients?
•  What do they want?
• What do they need?
• Where do they live?

How do they live (what is their lifestyle, hobbies, friends, communities)?

After you have visualized your ideal client, create a clear and distinct “What I do” statement.   If you cannot articulate a clean “What I do” statement in 25 words or less, then you either do not have a narrow enough niche or you do not fully understand what you can offer your niche.

Product Funnel

Once you have a narrow enough niche or target client, you can start to create what is called a Product Funnel.  It’s a list of your products and services that leads your clients down your sales funnel.  This list of products and services provide affordable services at various prices.

Consider offering free items to attract new clients.  Once those clients are attracted and get to know you, you have Low-Priced items, then medium, high and premium priced items.  You can also bundle several products together, to create the medium and high priced items.

How to create those products with little or no money?

Now that you have the end in mind (with your clearly defined Product Funnel), start productizing everything that you do.  If you are doing and interview, record and create a podcast from it.  If you are speaking at a function, record and create presentation slides that you can later convert into an ebook.  If you are writing a series of articles, monetize that intellectual property by selling your articles or collecting them into an ebook or training package.

There are many ways to monetize and productize things that you are already doing.
If you need some assistance creating an appropriate Product Funnel or how to productize what you are already doing, please let me know.  I can help you with that.

 Conclusion:

Regardless of the situation, you can often attack the issue on multiple levels.

I go into more detail on how to create a Product Funnel in an earlier article (9/25/2015) “How can I grow my business with more services”

Product Funnels work well for non-profits as well.  I do into further detail on this situation in a follow-up article.

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and actionable ideas.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

How can I raise prices on my existing customers without losing them?

We launched our startup initially with all inclusive one-price packages for our services. As we grow, our operating costs can no longer be covered with the current prices we have set. I want to make our packages more expensive, and then offer custom pricing for customers that might not need everything we offer in our packages. Should I only raise prices to new customers, or can I raise them on my existing customers?

Raising Prices

Without fully understanding your current price structure (i.e.  is it a one-time fee, or subscription based), it’s hard to give you a definitive recommendation.  But here are some thoughts.

• Certainly offer the new pricing to the new customers. That’s a no-brainer.
• Clearly establish your new pricing and explain the reasons for the changes to your current clients. At this point, you can elect to treat each existing client differently.  But everyone, at this point, is aware of your new pricing and feature list.
• Determine if the individual client is fine with the new pricing arrangement. Don’t offer a discount until you know that the pricing is a roadblock. Why give a discount when the client is fine paying the new price.
• If you find that the pricing is an issue for the current client, offer a Loyal Client discount and/or a grandfather period (3 months or 6 months at the original rate) on an individual basis.
• If you find that pricing is still an issue, work with them to eliminate features that they are not currently using, to fit in their current budget. This keeps the value of your services high, while accommodating their budget constraints.
• If you payment plan is on a subscription base, consider implementing expiration dates on each subscription (6 month or 1 year subscriptions). When the subscription expires, you are free to revisit your pricing and feature list with this client.

Making more of this opportunity

You can also use this opportunity to increase business.

• Create a campaign around your upcoming price-hike. Explain why you need to increase your prices, and then promote a limited-time offer to get in on the original lower-price.
• Set a grandfather-price expiration date, in which new clients can lock in this rate for three, six or eight months. This “lower-price” lock-in rate would include all features but then after the grandfather-price date expires, some of the premium features become inactive.  This allows the client to keep the base-line package at the “original rate”.  To get the premium features back, the client upgrade to the new prices.
• Offer your loyal clients a Loyalty/Referral Program such that for every friend that becomes a client, the loyal client receives 3 more months at the original price.

 Conclusion:

Regardless of the situation, you can often attack the issue on multiple levels. In this example – “raising pricing” doesn’t necessarily result in “losing current customers”.  In this example, you can use a “price increase” to your advantage by incorporating customer appreciation solutions, referral programs incentives, and scoping package features to fit client’s budget.
If you need additional help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally.  It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

How do I get out of my job rut?

I am looking for some advice on how to move forward in my job.  I feel that I am stagnant.  Advancement in current program is nonexistent because of two reasons: company financial strain and flat hierarchy organization. I work as a Match-Support specialist for the Big Brother/Big Sister organization.  There is nothing between my position and the VP; therefore, there’s no place to go.
I can see a few false-assumptions right away – WHICH IS A GOOD THING!  This is a good thing, because we can fix this.

1)    Just because there isn’t a level between your job/position and the VP position, doesn’t mean that you can’t create a new position or role for yourself.

2)    Financial strain is a temporary situation.  If you make money for the company, then you resolve the financial strain.

3)    Creating a new role for yourself that increases the revenue for the company accomplishes both your growth in your position and salary.

Some steps:

1)    Clearly articulate your career goals and big picture vision for your life.  Write down your individual 360 degree mission statement.  This statement covers your professional life, your personal life, your social, family and community desires.

2)    Outline your imperatives (what you really need to create a fulfilling life).

3)    Create your Individual Develop Plan to get you there.

This sounds “good” – but how do you start to implement these steps?  How do you start?

Sample Real-World Scenario:

Well – let’s illustrate with this specific example.  The below example is a rough design.  To get a customized recommendation, please consider taking advantage of a free-consult.  This way I can learn more about your unique situation and create a custom roadmap for you.

1)    Big Picture goal and Imperatives.  Happiness was this person’s overall goal.  When he wrote down what makes him happy, he wrote down being at the beach or at the mountains; helping others reach their potential, move out of the house he grew up in and live on his own.
2)    After quickly reviewing his goals and imperatives, we created some new, more exciting activities that fit in his “Match-Support Specialist” role.

3)    We also created some Individual Development tasks that would allow him to find a more lucrative job in a more financially secured company (such as acquiring a higher level Certification in an area he is interested).

4)    This job isn’t his only avenue for income.  He is also a yoga instructor on the side (as a hobby).  By looking for additional opportunities to teach yoga at gyms, fitness clubs, YMCA, and YWCA organization, he can increase his income immediately.

Creating his new position

Since he is currently responsible for matching volunteers with boys and girls in the program, we talked about elevating his current role.  Combining his love for the beach and mountains, we discussed creating a Big Brother/Big Sister beach (or mountain) retreat.  This would be an organized event for the volunteers and children to gather and participate in various classes and hobbies like yoga, hiking, biking, sports, etc.

This would be an opportunity for him to collaborate with other departments in the organization to create a proposal for the VP.  Since he led this collaboration, he will obviously take a lead position on this project (which elevates his standing among his peers and executives).

He can then use this project to increase revenue, by approaching other businesses in the area to sponsor and host these retreats.  He has elevated his “Match-Support Specialist” position to not only volunteers to the children – BUT now to include B2B (Business to Business liaison).  This is his new position: liaison between businesses and Big Brother/Big Sister organization.

The advantage for other businesses to participate in these organized group retreats/events is exposure and marketing.  Their business is now being exposed to the volunteers of this program; volunteers that have the money and time to spend on the children of this program (which means they have money to spend on their products and services).

These retreats can also be used to increase donations as well as the impact on the children. All in all, this self-defined project increases his visibility and value to the organization.

Conclusion:

Just because there isn’t a current role defined specifically for you – doesn’t mean you can create that role specifically for you.

Just because this current company is financially strained – doesn’t mean that this company is your only income resource.

If you need additional help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally.  It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:
How do you negotiate with difficult people?
I am working on a partnership with another local business to benefit each others’ sales. While we are aligned on where we see the benefits to both of our businesses, I feel the potential partner is being difficult on some of the details. I don’t want to stop the discussions, as a partnership will definitely help both of us, but I am struggling over how to work with this person.

“A bird in the hand…” isn’t always worth “…two in the bush”. Just because this person is standing in front of you now, doesn’t mean that you should be working with this difficult person. Would you go out of your way to marry a difficult person? Starting a partnership with someone is a business marriage.
One mistake that new entrepreneurs make is to try to “close” every deal that is in front of them or to close every sale that is presented. But that’s not always the most beneficial.
If you agree with the above premise, then how do you figure out which deal to engage and which to let pass? Where do you deliberately spend your time and energy?

Things to Consider:

•  How often will you need to work with this particular person? Is he on the fringe of your business or will your success depends on this partnership?
•  If you are having difficulty with this person at the “dating” stage, how will the relationship evolve after the “newlywed stage” has passed? Like a first date, people should be putting their best foot forward. If this person is being difficult now, it is unlikely to get better later
•  Do you want to be spending your time and energy going back and forth with this person, or do you want to spend most of your time making money for your company? Do you want to have a friendly and easy relationship with your partner?
• Do you feel that this person is the only person that can fill in the business gap for you? Is this the only person that can fill this particular need?
• A high-maintenance partner or client costs more than the revenue they generate. If you can’t seem to please this person, then you simply can’t please them. Consider the ROI (return on investment) in all business transactions. Sometimes the best way to keep the client or partner happy is to recommend someone or somewhere else.

Possible Next Step
I don’t know how often you will need to work with this particular person or how close your affiliation will be. My initial reaction is to “ease off” of this specific “person” and look for another person in the same business that is a better personality fit with you (reach out to his competitors).

The great thing about this situation is that this particular opportunity has already served its intended purpose. This situation has clarified exactly what you are looking for; the exact local business you are interested in aligning with; the location that you desire; the shared benefits; and even how you want to be working with a potential partner. Now that you have clarified what you like and don’t like about this particular potential partner, you can better recognize the right partner.

Because you see this specific partner as being difficult and are having trouble with this person from the start (at the dating stage, the stage when people put their best foot forward) – you should see this as a sign to look for a better fitting partnership.
My recommendation is to not focus too much energy and attention on how to create a partnership with this “difficult partner”. Stay friendly and professional with him, but don’t push it. Agree that working with him is still a potential and agree to put this idea on the backburner for now. And when things are better aligned for both of you, feel free to reconnect. Then change your focus for awhile.

In the meantime – spend that energy and attention (that you just released) on attracting a better fitting partner in that same industry. Reach out to his competitors with the same proposal.
Conclusion:
You don’t have to marry the first person you date. Each person you interact with will give you better clarity on who you really want as a partner.
Consider the salesman quote: “SWSWSW-Next”. In this instance, this means, Some Will work, Some Won’t work; So What; just investigate the Next opportunity.

If you need additional help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Part 1

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

I am starting a new company and know I need help, but I don’t have any money to hire staff. What are some ways to get staffing without much money?

Whether you are just starting out, on the verge of growing or even downsizing – staffing on a limited budget is a common issue. You don’t have to be a new business owner to be faced with this problem. A department manager in a corporation and team leads often face the same issues.

This three-part article attempts to outline several paths you can take, either in conjunction or separately.

First Step: Set the right expectations

One of the biggest mistake that we make is to either expect too much or nothing. Take the time to outline what you are really looking for in staff.   Objectively list all the tasks that are required for success. Then categorize them based on the skill level required to accomplish at an acceptable quality and time frame.

Focus on the minimum to get to next step

Be realistic about your acceptance criteria for these tasks. Not all tasks need to be perfect. Focus on getting the minimum done to propel you to the next step. Many waste time making something perfect when the next 3 tasks could have been accomplished in the time it took to “perfect” task 1.

Even though you can do it, doesn’t mean you should be doing it

Not every task requires “the best” on it.   The best person for the job is normally the “best fit” – and not always “the best”. For example: Just because you can filter your email quickly, you may not be making the best use of your time. The time you are taking with email, could be used networking and making money. With a few simple rules, auto-responder tools, and an effective system in place, an intern or volunteer can easily streamline your inbox, while you are using your time on things that only you can do.

Doing it the right way

The common obstacle to delegation is the fear that it won’t get done right, or done the way that you would have done it. The best way to assure that it gets done the right way is to document what the right way is. If you carry your individual processes in your head, then you are sabotaging your own advancement. The first step is to document the way you want things done on paper. Once it’s on paper, you can then start to automate, streamline, optimize and train others.

4D’s

A critical tool to setting the right expectations and priorities is the 4D’s. The 4D’s stand for Delete, Delegate, Delay and Diminish.

For more information on the 4D’s – download the 4D’s worksheet <here> DOWNLOAD

Conclusion:

Re-adjusting your own expectations will go a long way to finding the right person for the job. The next article will go into detail on where to find the right people.

If you need additional help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

**Setup a chat with Laura Rose – to receive Part 2 and 3 of this article.

 Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and actionable ideas.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

How can I get organized?

A favorite client is nothing short of an organizational jedi. She has the most empty email box I have ever seen, aside from a brand new one. I am looking to inherit top tips, tricks, apps and habits to help me organize projects. I know there is Asana, etc, but email, docs, reporting all seem to demand an overhaul currently.
There are several things you can do “right now” without new tools. You just need to change how you currently handle your email. In fact – you merely need to deliberately and mindfully handle your email.
Email, like instant messages and phone calls, are not necessarily urgent or important. Unfortunately, many people constantly interrupt their attention and tasks to review and answer non-urgent and sometimes unimportant emails. There are several things you can do to not only organize your email but reduce your time spent.

Top Tips and Tricks to organize your email and projects:

1)      Take a look at your email “Message Rules”. Most emails have this feature that allows you to automatically categorize certain messages to certain folders, automatic replies, and even automatically delete them. For example, you can create rules to automatically place newsletters, certain reports, informational emails (that you regularly receive) in a separate folder for later review.
2)      Use your auto-responders regularly. You can automatically respond to client’s general questions by pointing them to your FAQ or support website. You can automatically respond to clients that you received their inquiry and will respond within 1 business day (or your SLA – Service Level Agreement timeframe).
3)      Take a look at creating different email accounts for different purposes. Not all clients or emails need the same level of response.   For example, create a info@yourdomain.com for clients seeking sales and product information. Have a separate personal email for your personal mail. Have a VIP email address for those premium clients that are paying a high price for your services. Have a general Support@yourdomain.com for free-mium clients. This way you can delegate the info@yourdomain.com to your admin or sales staff. Auto-respond your free-mium clients to your FAQ and websites. And personally handle your high-paying clients.
4)      Start incorporating certain naming and subject line conventions.   For instance, if your employees or project team were to include “Project X: Response needed by XX date”; – you can automatically prioritize and file it without having to open the email. If they included “Project Y: Informational ONLY”, your Message Rule would automatically put that in your Project Y file.
5)      Schedule blocks of time to review your email and email folders. Don’t allow your email to interrupt your more important activities. Instead, block an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, to handle your email. Since you have your auto-responders and message rules setup, your clients are already getting an immediate response and you don’t need to interrupt your attention.

Conclusion

By adopting a few naming conventions and automation tools (as well as documenting your FAQ and supporting issues), you should be able to easily reduce you time on your email box.
If you need additional help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

It seems that my boss is never happy. I cannot figure out what to do to change this. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions around how to impress a boss that is hard to please?

It is very difficult to try to make someone else happy, especially if you have not taken the time to understand his specific role and responsibilities.   Belief it or not, you boss has a similar dilemma. He needs to make his boss happy. And chances are your difficulty in making him “happy” stems from his difficulty in making his manager happy.

Therefore, if you help him make his manager “happy”, you will in turn make him happy.

How do to this?

Take the time to understand your manger’s business goals and commitments.

• Talk to your manager. Setup weekly one-on-one meetings with your manager. Create an effective but rotating agenda (changes each week).   Cover things like his department goals, his department mission/vision statement, how your role and responsibilities support his goals, your work status, your career goals, your individual development plans, etc.
• Understand his business commitments goals.   Then create SMART goals for yourself (within your particular role and responsibilities) that supports and help achieves his goals.
• Convert these SMART goals into your own PBCs or your own personal business commitment plans. You PBCs will be based on their PBCs such that when you achieve your goals… they achieve theirs.
• When you review these with your manager, they have an opportunity to modify and give you feedback. Once approved, both you and your manager will have a plan of action that accomplishes both your PBCs .
• Understand what it means to do your job well. Then focus on excelling that definition. Focus on how your role and responsibility will make the company money. Quantify your performance in regards to increased revenue, reduced costs and improved client loyalty/satisfaction/retention.
• Gain visibility outside your manager. If you manager is the only one that knows about your talent, strengths, and experience – then you are doing yourself a disservice. Volunteer your services to sibling departments; network with employees and managers of other departments; create problem-solving proposals to your 2^nd line manager; publish articles and give presentations in your area of expertise. Make yourself visible to others outside your department. Learn how your talents and skills fit in other roles and department. The more valuable you make yourself to the various departments, the more valuable you are to the company on the whole. And the more valuable you are to the company on the whole – the less important that one manager’s opinion of you will be.
• Do some window-shopping. Meet with an external recruiter to evaluate your current skills set and value to the current job market. Find out the current state of things in your industry or area of expertise. Find out what you need to do (in regards to sharpening your soft skills and technology) to increase your value to both your company and job market on the whole.

Conclusion:

Keep the end in mind. If you make yourself extremely valuable to your company and other companies, the less your single manager’s opinion will matter.

For help on how to make yourself more valuable in the workplace, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Today’s comment came from a busy professional:

How do you separate work and personal life as an entrepreneur?

I am finding it really hard to not think about my startup. There is always so much work and I am constantly thinking about my to-do list. I am not doing a good job turning it off when I am at home. Does anyone have any recommendations on how they manage this challenge?

It should be hard to turn it off – because, as an entrepreneur – you should be working on your passion and your life’s purpose. Don’t fight it — instead, set a date and time for everything that is important explicitly in your calendar. That way you know you have scheduled the time to do those imperative things. The imperative things include important family and personal life things (as well as your business things). Once you have an explicit block of time on your calendar for these things – you can more easily relax because you know you have the time to work on them.

Majority of the things on your calendar should be things that only YOU can do. Other things should be considered for delegation, outsourcing, automation, etc.  For instance, talking to your high-profile clients one-on-one is something only you can do. But you can implement a list server to auto-respond to individuals who are asking for your free products or allow them access to your appointment calendar to make a one-on-one appointment with you.

Look at Your TODO List

Review your TODO list. How many of those things can be accomplished by someone or something other than yourself? Just because it seems like a MUST DO doesn’t mean YOU must do it.

As an entrepreneur, you need to be open to other alternatives. Schedule 80% of your time on things that only you can do; and the other 20% devising alternatives. Alternatives include automating, optimizing, delegating and even deleting.

For example: You may believe you are the only one to get your message out to the masses. This is mostly true. But once you have written or audio recorded your message, someone else can transcribe it, post it, create a newsletter from it, create helpful bullet tips from it, create a video presentation from it, etc.   You don’t have to be the one doing those things.

If you need help in creating effective systems so that you can do more with less – please feel free to contact me. That is my business.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for turning big ideas into on time and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a presentation on “3 Keys to saying YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author. My background is in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and actionable ideas.

At the end of the day, I give people peace of mind.

Today’s question came from a busy entrepreneur about his marketing plan.

How do I deal with a 50% business partner who can’t hold up his promises?

Right now I own 50% of a technology startup aimed at real estate agents. I am responsible for developing and maintaining the upkeep of all the software associated with our business. The other partner is in charge of selling the product, however, he gets way too distracted with other life things such as his real estate work. Although he makes promises and tries to motivate me to keep working on our business because he will “sell the crap out of it”, I still don’t feel a solid effort on his part. Should I try to find a way to kick him out or continue to engage him to sell our product? Thanks.

Whether you are partnering on a work project or in a business – if you feel that your partner isn’t pulling their weight – then you may be part of the problem.

Business partner:

If you have not done this already – take the time to document a business plan with roles and responsibilities for each partner. The business plan should include SMART goals for each partner (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to your business, and timely/time-bound). Your business plan needs to include consequences (what happens when the SMART goals are not met or delivered).

Including SMART goals (milestones on when you both agree that the goals will be met) – you will have a better footing on whether he is making a solid effort. If/when those milestones or deadlines are not met – then you follow-through on your “consequences” –or next steps that you both agreed to upfront.

Taking the time upfront to map this out saves you a lot of anxiety in the future.

Understanding each role’s timeline

Having a better understanding the other’s role and timeline is also a good idea. Not every role has the same goals or results.

Quick Example:

Take Tom and Jerry. They are partners. Tom is the technical end, the developer. Jerry is the marketing and sales person.

Tom’s SMART goals are often associated with features, what each roll-out is required to do and the timelines for each roll-out or release. These are very specific and measurable goals. And the majority of the time, Tom is only dependent on his execution to make his goals and deliverables.

Jerry, on the other hand, will have a mixture of deliverables. Some results will totally be dependent on his execution (like marketing flyers, landing pages, calendar of events, brochures, release party, etc). But some of Jerry’s deliverables are relying on other: Customer calling back, Customers saying “YES”, customer being available for a demonstration, etc.   Because Jerry’s timeline is dependent on others, it may take Jerry longer to show results. Because Tom doesn’t see immediate results on Jerry’s work – Tom may mistakenly feel that Jerry isn’t making a solid effort.

To avoid this, Jerry needs to create SMART goals regarding his calls. He needs to setup a goal of how many client calls, client visits, networking meetings, speaking engagement and events that he will be responsible for producing each week, month and quarter. He also needs to be responsible for his lead to sales ratio formula. If he knows that for every 10 people he talks to, he makes one sale. And his sales goal for the month is 10 sales – Tom needs to talk and visit 100 potential clients that month. With those numbers, Tom needs to create his sales schedule to meeting and talk to 100 unique people a month, and follow-up with the interested clients in the same month to convert those leads into sales.

Understanding how the marketing works will release some of Jerry’s anxiety, because Jerry now understands that it will take some time to see the sales. Showing Jerry Tom’s call sheets each week will also release some of Jerry’s anxiety, because Jerry now sees that Tom is making all the calls that he needs to be making to his the leads to sales ratio by end of month.

Co-worker partner:

If you haven’t already done this, create a Personal Business Commitment (PBC) document that outlines all your responsibilities and roles. This includes SMART goals and consequences for not meeting them. This includes your expectation of your manager, your co-workers and yourself. This also includes steps to follow when things are not meeting expectations. With measurable goals – it’s easier to see if your co-worker is not meeting their commitments. Then you can follow the documented steps when people are not meeting expectations.

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.