Tiny Business, Mighty Profits » Russ Henneberry

How To Decrease A Long Sales Cycle By Half

Russ Henneberry — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:00:13 +0000

How long is your sales cycle?

Want to learn how to decrease that sales cycle by half or more?

The sales cycle is the length of time from becoming aware that a prospect is interested in your products or services and closing that customer to a sale.

The clock usually starts ticking when a prospect first contacts your business for information, asks for a bid or proposal, or requests a sales call.

The process usually works this way for service companies like mine:

Customer makes an initial introduction via email or phone -or- you introduce yourself to the customer.
Customer wants to have a discussion about your business and your offerings
Customer asks for a bid or proposal
Customer asks to discuss the bid or proposal for clarification
Customer asks you to visit their office or wants to visit yours

At any point along 1-5 the customer may disappear or just flat out tell you — “we’re no longer interested.”

This leaves a lot of wasted effort on the table.

Use Your Marketing Content To Educate Your Market

The reason that “cold calling” is dead (or dying) is because prospects no longer need a salesperson to educate them about product and service offerings.

They use the web.

All the information the prospect needs is just a Google query and a cup of coffee away. The prospect has a problem and needs a solution to that problem.

Your prospects are online asking questions like:

What exactly is this problem and why do I have it?
Who else has this problem and what happened as a result of the problem? How did they solve it?
Are there things I could be doing to alleviate this problem myself?
What paid solutions are available for this problem?
How much will the solution cost and how long will it take this problem to be solved?
Who are the experts that could be hired to deal with this problem?
How do these experts work? Is this an hourly thing? Is it a per project thing? What is the process that experts use to fix this problem?

Your marketing content should be geared towards answering these questions. Educating your market and positioning yourself as the expert spoken about in the last bullet point above.

Answering these questions using the content available on your website will cut your sales process down considerably. Consider the last discussion you had with a prospect — weren’t the questions listed above the exact sorts of things you talked about in the pre-sale calls, visits and emails?

Use Your Marketing Content To Filter Your Market

One of the toughest lessons to learn as a tiny business owner is —– what exactly do I do? and what do I do well? (jeez that was four ‘do’s’ in a row… is that bad form?)

A successful business knows what it does well and refers the rest to a network of others.

For instance, I offer XYZ service at PDQ price point and to ABC industries. The rest I refer to others.

Much of your wasted time in the sales cycle is undoubtedly spent talking to prospects that are not a good fit for your product or service. Through your website content, you can filter these people before they consume (usually) any of your time.

If you have been building content that addresses the above questions you will not even be bothered distracted by anyone that is not a good fit for your business. They will disqualify themselves well before you ever knew they were there.

Notice that the first four parts of the five step process above (initial introductions, conversation about products/services you offer, bids/proposals, discussion of bid/proposal) can be eliminated or at least truncated by a content rich website that tells your story. Prospects will disqualify themselves if they don’t like what they see.

And disqualifying prospects is a good thing. Because the reverse is true as well.

If your web content answers the questions asked above, you will find that the initial contact you have with a prospect is just a formality. They will be 99% sure that yours is the business for the job. When you can start the sales process with the last step in the process above, you have eliminated a ton of wasted effort in your sales cycle.

What are your thoughts? How long is your sales cycle and what do you do to decrease wasted effort? What advice do you have for the rest of us?

Image courtesy of Laura Mary

Outsourcing At The McMarketing Drive Thru

Russ Henneberry — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:00:40 +0000

Drive-Thru Attendant: Welcome to McMarketing, would you like to try our new Double Pay Per Click combo meal?

Tiny Business Owner: No thanks. Give me a Social Media Marketing combo, hold the Twitter, extra Facebook.

Drive-Thru Attendant: Anything else?

Tiny Business Owner: Ummmm….. yah… do you still have SEO on your menu?

Drive-Thru Attendant: Yes.

Tiny Business Owner: Give me one of your SEO combos too — super sized. That’s all.

Drive-Thru Attendant: Your total will be $1875.00. Please pull around to to the window.

As business owners, we like to sell “packages.” It allows us to standardize processes, apply measurements like ROI, Cycle Time (time from purchase to completion of order), Work Time (amount of work time taken to complete an order), etc.

Custom jobs are difficult to standardize, bid and measure.

Very large Internet marketing firms that are offering Internet marketing packages at a low cost know that creating a canned product is the only way to sell a high enough volume of product to make a profit. Canned products also allow for very stringent measurement by managers and supervisors of the developers that execute these projects. I know because I have worked for one.

An Immutable Law of Internet Marketing

If you are going to gain more business from the Internet, either you will need to expend energy or money to get it done.

In other words, you will need to do the work or pay someone else to do it. There is no silver bullet. If you still believe there is a silver bullet, please bookmark this blog and return to it later after you have been ripped off a bunch of times by the next “Silver Bullet Internet Launch Traffic Explosion Business Fire System.”

And this energy or money will need to be spent not just once —- but consistently over a long period of time if you want to see results.

Actually, the time period you will need to expend energy into Internet marketing before seeing results is eerily similar to the amount of time it would take to add a second chin to your face from eating too much fast food. About 3-6 months.

Build or Buy? Buy.

So, we have established that it will take money or energy to win business online. Which?

As a tiny business owner, you most likely will not be able to pay the money necessary to have someone execute a custom Internet marketing strategy. There are certainly freelancers out there that will do your Internet marketing work but many of these may be prohibitively expensive as well.

So, you start looking at combo meals at McMarketing.

“Packaged” or canned Internet marketing products that are applied to every website in every industry regardless of circumstances. Packaged and canned products that are built to increase profit margins at the company you are buying from but do very little for your business.

Build or Buy? Build.

So… as we do with so many other parts of our tiny business. We go it alone.

We decide that we will build an Internet marketing strategy that is built 100% around our circumstances. We forge out into the depths of the Internet marketing information available on the Internet… and it’s scary.

We are more afraid of the high cost of custom Internet marketing and the prospect of being ripped of by McMarketing that we decide we will make the hamburgers ourselves.

And we lose here too. We flounder. We encounter a learning curve that is not just steep but also tall and full of distractions.

Build or Buy? Both.

There is an alternative. Get the best of both both by purchasing consulting and training from a professional.

Lay out the strategy. Get the training you need to make the hamburgers yourself.

Then, tighten up the purse strings and start putting in some sweat. As a tiny business owner, you know that most of the gains (if not all of the gains) that you make are because you hustled and got it done.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever hired anyone to do Internet marketing for you? What is your favorite restaurant to grab a greasy hamburger? For me, it’s got to be Dulany’s Bar and Grill on Tesson Ferry in Saint Louis. Hmmm…. i’m hungry. :)

Super Cool Tool For Making Visuals

Russ Henneberry — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:47:49 +0000

Wordle allows you to paste text into it’s simple user interface and it spits back a visual of that text.

This is a visual representation of this blog post about creating a Content Marketing Plan.

Check out the visual that it created:

Which Of These Would You Share With Your Network?

Russ Henneberry — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:11:33 +0000

Firstly, it is critical that you watch at least part of the second video to see the woman explain why it is important to drive safely while she has a poodle sitting on top of her head.

Secondly, sometimes it just takes a real life example to illustrate a point.

I have said ad nauseum on my blog, in my Meet Up group and everywhere else that anyone will listen to me — that…..

“We only share that which we find valuable with our network.”

Which of these videos below would you be more likely to share with your network:

This first video is a prime example of a business trying to apply old marketing techniques to the Internet. She thinks that the Internet is the same as her television set. Sorry honey, I only watch commercials when they are wedged between two kick-butt scenes in Lost.

This next business owner is not only a master of animal husbandry but also of creating good content for the web. Content that (if we were so inclined) we would be proud to pass around the social web.

What are your thoughts? How do you go about ensuring that you create content that gels with the social web? How many miles do you think you could drive with a dog on top of your head?

(Attention SEO Newbies) What You Need To Know About SEO

Russ Henneberry — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:01:26 +0000

So, you are wondering “What Do I Need to Know About SEO?”

This is a series of links to other posts that I have written about SEO. It was surprising to me how much I had written about the subject.

Start clicking on links and you will certainly learn something if you are a SEO newbie.

SEO and PPC are where I “cut my teeth” in Internet marketing but I have since began to distance myself from them as I discovered the wonders of Content Marketing.

Firstly, the days of using SEO as a stand alone strategy are gone. SEO needs to be a part of your overall Internet marketing but is not the end all strategy that it used to be.

That being said, it is very important to understand how the search engines work.

Here is what you need to know:

Firstly, SEO is about outranking your competition for keywords or keyword phrases. You need to understand how to use a basic Keyword Research tool like the Google Adwords tool to get started.
You need to be worried about your competition as much as you are about your own site — do some competitive research.
Get your on-page SEO taken care of:
You need to understand how to check the number of incoming links you have as well as how building inbound links can affect your website rankings.
Lastly, it’s time to take a look at how social media will eventually intersect and meld with SEO.

The 5 Tool Tiny Business Owner

Russ Henneberry — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:19:36 +0000

Well…. the Cardinals are on a losing skid and this may be one of those seasons Saint Louis baseball fans would rather forget.

We could blame Tony LaRussa, but in the end it is the players that have to show up and get it done. We just seem to be a bit short on talent this year.

Baseball scouts look for players that have all of the following five characteristics. These players become affectionately referred to as “5 tool players.”

Running Speed
Arm Strength
Hitting for Average
Hitting for Power
Fielding

These guys are natural baseball players. They are built to succeed.

It got me thinking —- what would a 5 tool Tiny Business owner have?

The 5 Tool Tiny Business Owner

Tool 1: Common Sense

You don’t need a Finance degree to run a successful tiny business. I mean seriously… when is the last time you needed to run a Dupont Analysis for your tiny biz? Yep, that’s a Wikipedia link to ‘Dupont Analysis’ — who else but Wikipedia would have an article about that snoozer topic?

What you do need is the ability to reason through situations, keep your head level and figure things out. Common sense is a difficult skill to learn and train someone on — you kinda have it or you don’t —- like running speed in baseball.

Tool 2: Courage

Your courage has certainly been tested as a Tiny Business owner. I am certain of that.

The courage to get out of your comfort zone. The courage to walk into a sales presentation that is over your head. The courage to tell a customer that they are wrong and stand your ground. The courage to pull the plug on a partnership or to pull the trigger on a new product or service.

It takes courage and a heavy dose of it.

Tool 3: Persistence

If you are a tiny business owner, you were the type of person that didn’t know when your big sister had you whooped at Monopoly. You didn’t think that being down 65-4 in your 6th grade basketball game was a big deficit.

There is no quit in you.

If something isn’t working, you try harder or you try something new.

Tool 4: Kindness

Isn’t it refreshing to know that the Internet is making kindness a key “tool” to business success. It’s true. The Internet turns your business into a crystal clear fish bowl.

And we are all tapping on the glass and staring at you.

If you aren’t a good person, we will find out. If you aren’t genuine, we will find out. And if you are kind and do good things for others — we will find that out too.

As Dr. Deb Carlin says, Kindness is good business.

Tool 5: Creativity

Marketing today takes creativity — I have been quoted as saying that you need to be your own paparazzi.

Creating articles, video, podcasts, infographics and whatever else to build attention or buzz requires a bit of creativity.

Creativity can be developed — the more you write, the better you will get. You will start to find your voice in your podcast or video posts.

Do You Need All Five Tools To Win?

Absolutely not. But it would be helpful to understand which of these are your strengths and which your weaknesses.

There are very few 5 tool baseball players. If someone hits well for power, they often can’t run well or can’t hit for average well. But running a tiny business is your profession and working on these tools will make you a major leaguer.

What about you? What tools would you include as the most important in running a tiny business? What tools should tiny business owners be working on? Will the Saint Louis Cardinals make the playoffs this year?

Pulp Fiction Style: Vincent Tells Jules About Corporate Life

Russ Henneberry — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:00:09 +0000

Vincent: You know what the funniest thing about working for a corporation is?

Jules: What?

Vincent: It’s the little differences. A lotta the same S@#% we got with our Tiny Business, they got there, but there they’re a little different.

Jules: Examples?

Vincent: Well, at Big Bucket, Inc., they actually have a supply closet. And I’m not talking about no little drawer full of staples and Scotch tape, I’m talking about a real supply closet.

Do you know what they call a – a – a day off at Big Bucket, Inc?

Jules: They don’t call it a day off?

Vincent: No man, they got a Human Resources department there. How would they know whether you were doing enough work or not?

Jules: Then what do they call it?

Vincent: They call it PTO. Paid Time Off.

Jules: PTO!

Vincent: That’s right.

Jules: What do they call it when you take off for a funeral or something?

Vincent: A funeral is a funeral, but they call it ‘Bereavement Leave’

Jules: ‘Bereavement Leave!’ Ha, ha, ha. What do they call it when you just want to spend some time with your kids?

Vincent: I dunno, I didn’t spend much time with my kids.

And here is that classic scene… excuse their French…

Analytics Addiction: An Important Weekly Internet Marketing Process

Russ Henneberry — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:58:53 +0000

People love marketing on the Internet because they say it is (and I quote)…

“more measurable.”

But —— in an act of irony only outdone by my 2 year old daughter wearing a “Daddy’s Darling” onesie while screaming and raking my face with her fingernails —— I usually find that business owners have no way to measure what is happening on their website.

Using “The Google Machine”

Google offers a free program called Google Analytics that will offer you more than you care to know about the health of your website. It is easy to install (especially if you are using WordPress) and is designed for even the most data averse business owner.

No matter how UN-analytical you are, there is one report you should look at once per week.

[I will mention here that this report is the "gateway drug" to all other reports. If you monitor this report once per week, you will soon begin to delve deeper and deeper into the statistics. And this is a good thing --- unless you become a statistics junkie. You will know that you are a statistics junkie if you are checking your Google Analytics more than once per day and are looking for a way to access it via your smart phone. ]

Traffic Sources Report

The Traffic Sources report is an important report to look at once per week.

There are only three different sources of traffic on the Internet:

1) Referring Sites

If someone links to you, you write a guest post or you place something interesting on a forum or comment section of a website —- people will click and they will register as a visitor to your website.

This type of traffic is reflected as “Referral Traffic” in your Google Analytics.

2) Direct Traffic

If someone bookmarks your site — or someone types your website address directly into their browser this is registered as direct traffic.

3) Search Engines

If someone goes to Google.com, Yahoo.com, etc and searches for ‘best yellow widget’ —– then Google/Yahoo displays your site and the person clicks —- this is search engine traffic.

The Gateway To Google Analytics Addiction

Take a look at the breakdown in the image above. Almost 3/4 (70.48%) of the traffic to this website is coming from referring sites.

Aren’t you curious?

What websites are referring all that traffic?

What keywords are people typing in when they are coming in via ‘search engine traffic?’

How long do people remain on your website when they enter via Direct Traffic vs Referral Traffic?

This is why I call this the “Gateway” report in Google Analytics. It leads to Google Analytics addiction. :)

Click to drill down on these reports and find out where the traffic is coming from. Start exploring the statistics on your website once per week.

It will do you good.

But be careful. Don’t become an Analytics junkie. The data, in and of itself, doesn’t make you any money. It is a tool.

Do you use an Analytics program? How do you keep from checking it every other hour?

What Are Your Trigger Phrases? An Exercise In Gaining Referrals

Russ Henneberry — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:08:05 +0000

Do you know them when you hear them? Of course you do.

They make your ears perk up like my 4 year old’s ears when I say the word “PANCAKES.”

They are the phrases you hear that make you say —– “That person should hire me.”

Mine are:

“I have a great idea here but I don’t know how to market it.”

“I just need someone to teach me how to use the InterTubes to market my business.”

“I need a new website, mine is really outdated.”

Who Else Is Listening For Your Trigger Phrases?

We all know that referrals are gold.

We know that you should be cultivating referrals —- but how do you do it?

Sometimes it seems easier to cultivate cherry tomatoes in the Saudi Arabian desert than to cultivate referrals.

Here is an excellent exercise in gaining referrals for your business — grab a pen and paper (or open your favorite word processor software) and write down as many of trigger phrases as possible.

Now, open up your email software and write an email that goes something like this:

Dear Mr/Mrs Referral Source,
I love you and you love me — we are a happy family. With a nick knack paddy…. wait … AHEM!

I realize that you and I have been friends for many years and have sent each other many referrals but I wanted to give you some formal information about the products and services I offer and the “trigger phrases” that you might hear that would make you realize that someone could benefit from my services.

I have included in this email a full list of my products and services along with a list of trigger phrases that I often hear when someone needs my products and services.

I am hoping that you will reciprocate by sending me a list of your “trigger phrases” and directing me to more information about your products and services.

Or something like that. Buy, you may want to omit the nick knack paddy whack stuff — unless you really know the person.

Educating Your Referral Sources

The real tragedy in tiny business is that while people may very well want to refer you, they are not able to because they don’t know exactly what you do.

What exactly do you offer?

Using content, like this blog post, an email, a video, etc to educate your referral sources about exactly WHEN and HOW to refer you can be a powerful exercise in gaining referrals.

What are your trigger phrases? How can we educate each other about when and where to refer each other? What is your favorite nursery rhyme?

The trouble with having magic hands…

Russ Henneberry — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:00:22 +0000

is that when those magic hands aren’t working, you aren’t making any money.

Yesterday, I heard someone describe a local chiropractor as having “magic hands.” Which sounds like a good thing to have when you are a chiropractor.

However, if all you have to offer is intimately tied to you —- it kind of paints you into a corner.

You don’t have a magic process.
You don’t have a magic product.
You don’t have a magic location.

You have magic hands.

Those hands can’t be sold to someone else. They are a part of you. Those hands can’t be outsourced or hired out. They are a part of you.

If you remove your hands from the picture, the business fails.

This is often the case with tiny businesses and I think it is definitely the case with the business I have built thus far. For Pete’s sake — my domain is russhenneberry.com. My business is me. It is my speaking, my writing and my personality (good or bad) that defines my business.

If you remove me from the business — it’s dead.

I need to remedy this situation. And I would like you to consider your business in this light.

Are you building something that will persist if you remove yourself from it? How can we make sure that our businesses can be sold in the future, that we can hire out or outsource work? Do you use a chiropractor? Does he/she have “magic hands?”