Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional Ep. 511. David Newman, Author of Do It! Selling
Show Notes:
David Newman is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), marketing expert, speaker, and founder of Do It! Marketing. In this episode, Will Bachman and David discuss his new book, Do It Selling. The book is organized with 77 instant action ideas that can be used to land better clients, bigger deals, and higher fees. The book is divided into micro chapters which focus on topics such as understanding the sales process, creating an ideal customer profile, building relationships with potential clients, using content to create credibility, and closing more sales. Additionally, the book includes many stories, case studies, and advice from David's own experiences. The goal of the book is to help independent consultants learn how to market and sell their services effectively.
David talks about the fact that many consultants and professional services firm principals love the work but not the sales aspect. David explains that one needs to upgrade their sales brain to be successful in sales. The idea is to replace the words ‘selling’ and ‘sales’ with invitations to conversations and reframe the idea of selling to connecting.
Lead Generation and Client Communication Ninja Tricks
He encourages people to change how they view sales to be less focused on chasing and persuading, and more focused on the qualifying, sorting, and filtering business rather than chasing and persuading. He encourages a shift from taking an inferior vendor stance trying to persuade the client of your value to that of a casting director for whom the clients are auditioning. He moves on to the idea of targeting the clients you want and launching intentional and specific relationships to open doors rather than “taking what comes.” This puts the seller back in control of their lead generation and prospecting, and allows them to be more proactive and hold better conversations. The crux of this approach is to lead the client to want what you do.
David talks about the current approach to cold calling and prospecting when generating leads, and how the approach should be more about serving before selling and helping before pitching. He suggests making an “active 20” list and gives tips on how to reach out to and warm up those contacts and avoid your proposal landing in a black hole. David offers tips on how to connect with clients through being where they play, write where they read, and be where they attend. He talks about checking into trigger events in the industry you are targeting such as upsizing, downsizing, mergers and acquisitions etc. This entails doing thorough research on the client and understanding the clients’ situation to ensure your communication relates to their current situation.
How to Reach Out to Cool Contacts
Will and David discuss tactics for reaching out to cool contacts. David suggests apologizing for the lack of communication and to follow with a direct and authentic request to catch up on where they are and where they are going – but not to sell. He also offers a few ninja tricks on how to encourage a follow up conversation. The goal should always be to build a rapport with the customer or client, and to show that your company cares about their needs by demonstrating thoughtfulness, relevance, and value. David offers examples of each to clarify these three points and how this approach works for reaching out to past, present, and future clients to ensure you are perceived as a trusted advisor.
Revenue Acceleration and Business Growth
David divides his clients into three buckets: Zero to Hero (consultants who have just left a corporate role), Hero to Superhero (those who have gained experience in their industry and are looking to take their consulting to the next level) and Superhero to Intergalactic (those who have a lot of experience and are looking to take their consulting to a much higher level).
For those in the zero to hero stage, he helps them with lead generation, prospecting, sales, and sales processes. Those in the hero to superhero stage are looking to double or triple their current business and need to make changes to do so. Finally, those in the superhero to intergalactic stage are looking to scale their business to reach the million dollar mark. David focuses on helping them with scaling strategies, such as hiring a team, licensing, and digital programs, to help them become the CEO of their business. David discusses how consultants can reach the 500k plus plus level, by building infrastructure and focusing on revenue multipliers.
He explains that businesses need to make money even when the consultant takes time off or goes on holiday, and emphasizes the importance of setting up systems that can make this happen.
Recommended CRM System
Will Bachman and David Newman discuss the advantages of using a CRM system over just a spreadsheet for tracking conversations and action items. David recommends One Page CRM, as it has powerful features on the back end and is simple to use on the front end. He also recommends grabbing free resources from his website, doitmarketing.com, such as the companion tools to his book, the 500k Consulting Gameplan session, and the Do It Marketing Manifesto. David’s company offers a few different ways to work with clients, either through one-on-one discussions, mentoring programs, or group sessions and includes daily coaching, live events, online communities, sales labs and sales gyms. He is open to chatting with people who contact him at his email, David@doitmarketing.com.
Timestamps
03:44 Professional Services Firm Growth and Sales Mindset
08:48 Tips for Generating Initial Conversations in Sales Prospecting
16:33 Reaching Out to Cool Contacts
20:34 Catching Up with Past Clients: Revitalizing Old Projects and Teams
23:07 Follow-Up Strategies for Unresponsive Prospects
29:03 "Strategies for Direct Prospecting: An Email Example"
36:04 Revenue Acceleration Strategies for Consultants and Executives
38:13 Revenue Multipliers and Technology Recommendations
39:25 CRM Systems and Consulting Services
45:24 Content to Solve, Not Content to Learn
Links:
www.doitselling.com - to get the book bonuses
www.doitsellingbook.com - to buy the book
www.doitmarketing.com/manifesto - free 37-page guide
www.doitmarketing.com/webinar - free on-demand training for consultants
CONTACT INFO:
Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.