As entrepreneurs, we want to serve people with our skills and passions. We have an offer to share, and that is exciting.
So experimenting with ways to reach our audience and find new people to serve, and ways to serve them, seems a natural fit for our businesses.
At first.
Then, we find out how tedious marketing is, how frustrating it is to book sales calls that are ultimately ineffective, how time consuming it is to build proposal after proposal for potential clients that ultimately don’t buy …
As Parentpreneurs, wouldn’t we rather have more of that time for our children and spend less of that time on tasks that ultimately will not convert to revenue? Our bottom line makes the difference at the end of the day, deciding whether or not we can stick in business.
There’s a couple issues here:
The messages we are using to attract these sales conversations in the first place create confusion. Without a clear, specific call to action and next step for customers, they might be intrigued by what you have to say but then lose interest in the process. Like a first date that ends without a kiss – doesn’t that just leave you wondering … what the?
Second, a willingness to customize to serve clients. We have a conversation with someone we know we can help, and we instantly give ourselves permission to modify our approach in a project to meet their needs. To serve. To land the sale. Whatever the motivation – it happens.
I know, I’ve been there. I used to create custom proposals for every. Single. Sales conversation. Every one! How exhausting. How many of those were just a waste of time? A LOT.
The solution? Clarity. It’s time to peel back the curtain and define that foundation in our businesses. What is our North Star? What is the main way we can serve?
The truth is, everyone with the exact problem you are solving will benefit from a consistent approach to your solution, based on your expertise. Which means one way to talk about your business, specific conversations to have during sales calls and one simple proposal to describe your offer. Your program.
This is a lot easier for you, as a busy entrepreneur, to deliver – and a heck of a lot easier for potential clients to understand. When they see you show up consistently with your message and offer, they start to understand what you are all about and you build that trust required in a positive transaction to serve.
So, the question: What is holding you back from defining that clear foundation for your business?
