Proven Ways To Break Free From A Sales Or Marketing Slump
ing To You Again
market your MSP during COVID-19 shutdowns . I waived my regular fee for doing these sessions and capitalized on the lead
generation they provided me .
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Run the ‘ 9-Word Email ’ to unconverted leads . An unconverted lead is a prospect that showed interest to some degree — from mild ( opting in to your website but not booking an appointment ) to HOT ( going all the way to the proposal but not converting to a client ). One tried-and-true campaign is to send a short , to-thepoint email ( we call it the 9-Word Email — thank you , Dean Jackson ). The subject line is ONLY their first name , NOTHING else ( this is important ). In the email , it says , “ Are you still looking for << a new ' blank '>>?” with your signature . NOTHING else . In the << >>, put whatever it was they were talking to you about or showed interest in . Short and to the point . You will get a response — trust me on this .
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Consider a lower-priced , stripped-down offering to go after the ‘ low end ’ of the market . Many businesses make the decision to sell only to larger companies with 50-plus employees . That ’ s a perfectly acceptable strategy — BUT , if sales are lagging , you might swim downstream to go after the larger pool of smaller clients . That ’ s not to say your offering should be priced so low that you don ’ t make any money . That ’ s not what I ’ m suggesting . Strip out some of the more expensive services down to a “ good ” core offering . Maybe monitoring and basic maintenance with all support calls as a billable event . Small businesses ( less than 20 employees ) are the majority , so you ’ ll
have a bigger pool of clients to go to .
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Ask your vendors for MDF ( marketing development funds ). Many will provide it if you ask . If not money , often they can provide swag of some kind or “ door prizes ” for events or gifts to give existing clients and prospects as a bonus for buying , booking an appointment , attending a webinar , etc .
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Hire a sales rep . If you ’ re not recruiting 24 / 7 / 365 for good salespeople , you ’ re not serious about growth . Frankly , if you ’ re not recruiting for ALL positions 24 / 7 / 365 , you ’ re setting yourself up to fail . Great people don ’ t come around all that often , so if you ONLY start looking when you ’ re desperate , you ’ ll end up settling for whatever you can “ absorb ” from the market at that time . Keep in mind you don ’ t have to hire all the people who apply , nor do you have to meet with them . I filter 95 % of the resumes I get based on the resume , background , and experience ( or lack of experience ). But keep a line in the water at all times so when the right candidate presents themselves , you get a shot at hiring them .
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Diligently plug all the holes in your in-bound lead generation bucket . Many businesses have more holes than they have bucket , with no lead capture forms on their websites , no one answering the phones live , no name capture of inbound leads into a CRM system , and no follow-up . If you ’ re swimming in opportunity and money , you can survive with money slipping out of your hands ( although I ’ m certainly never okay with this , no matter how well I ’ m doing ). But when opportunity dries up , it ’ s critical that you fix the giant , gaping holes in your lead capture and follow-up .
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Rerun a campaign you used in the past that worked . Sounds crazy , but often businesses run a campaign that worked really , really well but then fail to run it again . I ’ m sure there ’ s something in your history you did that could be repeating again now .
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Turn off the news and turn ON productive , positive content . Tigers starve last in the jungle because tigers hunt . Sales slumps and tough periods come from time to time , but they STAY because of the attitude of the sales rep or entrepreneur who slips into complacency . There ’ s ALWAYS something you can do to improve your situation , to make a sale and to get leads , sales , and money flowing again — but that won ’ t happen if you ’ re in a funk . Turn off the news . Get off the sewer of social media and start watching , reading , and listening to quality information that will inspire you and instruct you . Yes , you might have to modify your approach but NEVER modify your goals or ambition . n
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