The reason I hated my roof restoring business was the dread of knowing tomorrow I’ve got to get up and knock on enough doors to speak to 50 people about roof restorations. I knew if I did that I would be able to eat, if not then I would starve.
Making a sale meant I ate this week. It didn’t mean a steady stream of future income.
Cold calling either on the phone or in person is gruelling, soul-destroying work. It crippled me emotionally – but I pushed through and did it anyway. If you can do it for 30 years then power to you. Every time I knocked on a stranger’s door I felt sick.
Before I even dialled the phone to make a cold call I had to mentally brace myself before I even pressed the buttons. Then I felt that same sick/sinking feeling when I heard the first ring.
Force the nausea down… Oh wait, remember to smile…
“Shit! Somebody is home” (or answered the phone). And you are ‘on.’ One down 49 to go. Drudgery come on down.
It was never as bad once you actually got to talk to someone, but all the same the torture I put myself through before every phone call or knock made me think it might be time to find a better way.
When I was making calls I was the system. I needed to own the system.
I found my way to create systems – direct response marketing and being able to write sales copy that actually sells.
I may have meandered a long way off course here but let me bring you back.
Without sophisticated systems and relying solely on grunt work, your business will never achieve stability. Predictable, reliable on-going sales. You are doomed to perpetual grunt work and always on the hunt for the next score.
There are two ways to create that reliability. The first is to create a lead-generating, lead nurturing and conversion process. Think of it as an assembly line for your new customers with each lead coming to maturity over time – getting in touch with you when they are ready. I build these for my consulting clients, Newsletter Marketing Systems grows largely on auto pilot because of these exact systems.
The second is to assemble a client retention system that locks your clients in for life, so that they buy everything they need off of you, complete with sales systems to market your other products and services to your clients.
The first step to having this asset is putting the retention systems in place to make sure that your clients are yours and not going to leave you for the next shiny thing. A list of loyal customers is the most valuable asset your business can ever have! And the fastest way to get and maintain customer loyalty is still the printed newsletter.