Half of our clients are what I call "solo flyers". These are independent entrepreneurs and selling professionals who are literally on their own. No one else is there to tell them what to do. There isn't a multi-million dollar budget in place to support their business development efforts. They are brave men and women who get up each and every day to carve out their own living.
So how do the ones that seem to do pretty well at it financially succeed? They live by the following 10 rules, in this order, day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month:
1. Get real clear on the financial targets. Ask yourself:
How much do I really want to earn?
How much do I really need to spend on the business? (See below.)
How much do I really need to have fun for myself?
How much money is left?
Is that the number I have to keep in the bank so I can sleep at night?
2. Do only what you love.
The rest, delegate to partners, employees and competitors.
3. Ensure that there is a market demand for what you love to do.
4. Do it with the people that you love,
or at least like doing business with. Ask yourself:
Where are they?
Who are they?
Where do they hang out?
How do they buy?
Who do they take recommendations from?
How much money do they spend?
Is there enough of them?
5. Position yourself as a narrowly focused "expert".
Ask yourself:
What do we do differently from our competitors that people actually find value in?
How do we do things differently from our competitors that people actually find value in?
What do I know that our competitors do not and our clients see value in?
6. Ensure that you can deliver it
for the amount of money that they will spend. Ask yourself:
Can we deliver the solution for the price that the client wants us to and still make a hefty profit?
If the answer is "No", move on to another thing that you love. Repeat Steps 1 through 5.
7. Write professionally edited articles
and get them published in trade and other magazines read by your clients and professionals in your "referral circle". Ask yourself:
Which successful organizations do I need to join where I will be recognized by my peers and provide referral business for my clients?
What documentation does my "referral circle" and clients like to read?
Who do I need to contact to submit my professionally edited copy to?
8. Hire a PR Consultant.
Brian Scudamore, owner of 1-800-Got-Junk hired his first Public Relations consultant six years ago. Now he has 8 fulltime PR consultants who's job is to "sell" his company to the media. They have so much stuff going on they have to have 8 people sharing their story to the media all over the world. No "trees falling in the forest with no one around to hear them" going on around there. They are based in quiet little seaside Vancouver and Brian and his crew were featured on Oprah!
9. Continue to build your database.
Consider using Salesforce.com. You can retrieve all of your info from your blackberry. Ask yourself:
What are the names of people in my geographic area that I like to work with? (Get them from their business card, the newspaper, the internet.)
Who belongs to the organizations that can refer my company?
Whom should I make an appointment to meet with?
Keep in consistent contact with these people. Send out a quarterly e-newsletter or printed copy of the latest article published with a story of your latest success.
10. Get in front of people.
Book at least 5 business development appointments a week with "influencers" who can introduce their clients to your firm. One of our "solo-flyer" friends said it best: Once she's in front of a client she has a 97% closing ratio. She is in the interior design business. Her influencers are architects, contractors, clients-to-be, magazine editors, furniture/appliance retailers, kitchen designers and tv producers.
You have a gift that needs to be shared. By interacting with people who share your passion, your heart is fuelled with the energy to go on and create more beautiful solutions each and every day.
Pauline O'Malley is the Founder & President of TheRevenueBuilder. She has over 30 years' experience in sales, marketing, and management in the manufacturing, insurance, education, financial, and technology sectors. Passionate about building and keeping relationships, Pauline is the Founding Chair of the nationally acclaimed student mentorship program Leaders of Tomorrow LOT, for which she received the Vancouver Board of Trade's Chairman's Award in 2000.
She was appointed expert panelist to the Royal Bank of Canada's ViaSource Program in 1999, and has been nominated for the BC Quality Assurance Award for Leadership Excellence. For years she has served on the board of Sales & Marketing Executives International SMEI Vancouver affiliate and is an expert advisor on The Executive Committee TEC-Canada CEO Roundtable.
