Four key steps for a FAST sales start in the new year!

0:16 Welcome to the Impact Sales Podcast. I'm your host, Joe Beck, and I am super excited to be with you here today for this episode. This is a topic that's near and dear to my heart and that's getting a fast start to the new sales year. Well, before we dive into that topic today, I wanted to spend just a minute talking about what's going on in the market right now. Right around the time that this episode drops, we're going to be right in the middle of the holiday season. People are taking time to rest and reflect on what the current year has been like, what's worked, what hasn't worked, the things that maybe they would have liked to have tried but didn't get a chance to, and their start need to tee up what they would like their next year to look like. So this episode today is going to be well timed for all of you that are out there planning for the new year, anticipating what you wanted to look like this episode today, listening to this episode is going to have a major impact on your success.

1:18 So don't go anywhere. We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back. Hi. This is Joe Beck with a sales activist. Are you a high ticket coach or entrepreneur selling a high ticket product or service. If you are, how would you like to triple your sales results in six months or less without spending an additional penny on advertising? That's right. If you're a coach or an entrepreneur and your sales results aren't exactly where you'd like them to be and you like to quickly figure out how you can triple them in six months or less, I'd like to talk to you. You could schedule a complimentary Impact Sales strategy session to talk about exactly how we can help you triple sales results. Guarantee. Just reach out to me by texting the word sales to the number four oh nine five oh nine seven three five five.

2:10 That's sales to four oh nine five oh nine seven three five to five. You could schedule a complimentary consultation and we'll talk all about how we can triple your sales results in six months or less. This is Joe Beck with the Sales Activist. You don't have to settle for average sales results. I'll talk to you s and we're back with the Impact Sales Podcast. I'm your host, Joe Beck, and we're going to dive right into our topic for today, which is four specific things to help you create a fast sales start to the new year. We Like I said in my intro, this is a topic that's near and dear to my heart. This is something that you know, I've been talking about with sales professionals, coaches, entrepreneurs for many, many years, and that's getting a fast start to your sales year. You know, like with anything, sometimes how you start, the faster you start, the better you can trend against your goals, the easier things become throughout the year. It's not always the case, but it can be in many cases. And you know, over a thirty four plus year sales and leadership career, I've learned a lot of different things to be able to help people get a faster start to their sales year. And it's not that you can't make things up as time goes on. It's not that you can't get caught up on your goals, your objectives and whatnot. But you never know what the future is going to bring, and I always believe that it's always in your best interest to get a faster start, get ahead of your goals or objectives,

3:43 to trend in a better place versus trying to play catch up all year. I think it's less stressful for the sales professional, the coach, the entrepreneur who's trying to sell for themselves. I think it takes pressure off of you when you get a fast start and trend better against your goals throughout the year. I think it makes it a lot more fun and easier to do things when you're on track to your goals and objectives. And I just believe that being able to position yourself to have a fast start creates a lot of excitement and momentum throughout your year. You feel energized and enthusiastic about it because you're off to a good start, just like I believe that. You know, the longer you go with a slow start, the more that that can eat at you, The harder it becomes, the more stress you feel, and sometimes the harder it is for you to accomplish what you'd like to accomplish. So you know, the topic today is four very specific things that you can do to create a fast sales start, So let's dive right in and talk about number one on the list. So number one on the list, and I think this is one that people overlook, but it's a reality, and I think it's so so important. Is you should make sure that you're prospecting and lead generation efforts are set in your calendar for the entire year. I mean block them off. Now.

5:04 I know this is more of a time management topic, but I'm going to tell you, as far as your sales success goes, it's amazing how many people don't do this one little step. They don't block off time in their calendar and make sure that they have prospecting and lead generation time built right into their schedule. If it's not in your schedule, now get into your calendar as soon as possible and block that time off. Make sure that you schedule that time throughout the year. It's not that you can't change your plan, but set it up for your entire year. Put it in the calendar, make sure it's set, make sure it's scheduled so it doesn't get overlooked. It's amazing to me how many times I talk to people after the first quarter of the year and they're off to a really, really slow start. They aren't having the sales results that they'd like to be having by that point of the year. And then we go back to look at January and they kind of just kind of phased into the new year with this lax of days ago, you know, low energy effort, meaning they get through the holidays and then it's kind of just slowly starting things up, cranking the engine going at the beginning of the year. And when you look at the calendar, they hadn't really committed to a certain amount of time to prospect and generate leads specifically in their calendar.

6:23 So number one in the list, make sure you schedule that effort in your calendar for the entire year. Block that time off. Now, again, this is a time management thing, but I'm gonna tell you it's also a sales thing. If you don't block that time off, those things probably aren't going to happen. Something else will come up, some other distractions, some other issue that you need to deal with, will distract you from making sure those things are done. So get that into your calendar. It's not that you can't change it. You can make adjustments as you go. But if you don't put it in your calendar across the whole year. Right now, at the beginning of the new year, you're gonna find that you're gonna be playing catch up because you're gonna not have it scheduled. Other things are gonna come up, hot topics, issues that need to be addressed, and as a result, you'll keep pushing off that prospecting and lead generation effort. And that includes whether you're doing that yourself or whether you're working with a company to do it. Make sure those things are set January one, the first day of the year, and that they're set for the entire year. It's not that you can't change them. You absolutely can. You can go back and change them later, but get them in your calendar first. Make sure that that's set up. That's number one on the list. So let's jump on to number two.

7:36 Numbers two through four require a little bit more description and explanation, So let's jump right into number two and number two is reconnect and refresh communication with your entire sales pipeline. Now, this is one that makes people a little nervous. They get a little uncomfortable sometimes, and I'm sorry, but you know, to to achieve great sales success sometimes you have to get a little uncomfortable. Well, in this instance, I highly recommend if you want to get a fast start to your new year, that you go back through your sales pipeline. No matter where somebody is or was in your pipeline, if they are not yet a client, if they are somebody that has pushed you off, has said no, just isn't ready. They're still being developed. No matter who they are, I recommend that you reconnect, re engage with them, and refresh communication throughout your entire pipeline. Now, this can be such a great, great step for your business that I can't emphasize enough how important this could be.

8:41 It's amazing to me how many times people lose touch with prospects, or they don't follow up in the right timelines, or something changes with that prospect and the prospect hasn't updated you. You know, you can't sit back and expect that they're going to communicate with you what's going on with them. You need to be the one that takes the reins and is proactive and communicates with them. So to start your year off, if you want to get a fast start, do a reconnect with every single person in your sales pipeline, no matter what the status was. Just reconnect with them. Find out what their plans are for the new year. Find out specifically you know if things have changed, if there's anything new that's come up since you last connected with them. It's amazing to me how many opportunities are missed simply because we don't know what we don't know. People have things changing and going on in their business all the time. Budget becomes available, decision makers change conditions within the business, change good or bad.

9:47 All of these changes can happen constantly within your business. Yet we have it in our notes to follow up in ninety days or one hundred and eighty days, and we just sit and wait for that little reminder to come up in our system telling us to reach out. We'll throw the reminders out the door and make contact with everybody in your pipeline. Do it as quick as you can. And the reason is you never know what you can jump start by way of opportunities. Sometime opportunities that you thought were lost could be reinvigorated and brought back to life. Sometimes people that you thought that weren't ready have now become ready and could be a legitimate opportunity for you right now now. Sometimes you will get somebody that'll say to you, hey, I'm not quite ready, that's okay, Just checking in with you. Wanted to make sure that you had Number one great holidays. Number two that if there's anything else that I can do to support your efforts in the new year, please reach out to me. I want to be your trusted advisor and resource. Okay, even if you aren't working with them yet, make that offer to them. Communicate to them that that is what you'd like to do for them. You want to be their trusted advisor and resource in your particular area or category.

11:05 And that is such a powerful statement because whether they work with you now or later or never, if people perceive you that way, that will be how they treat you. That will be how they interact with you. They will look at you as that trusted advisor and resource. Now, of course you're going to need to do your thing. You're going to need to do your part. You can get, deliver quality service, do great at what you do, make a huge impact on them. That's all part of it as well. But if they're not ready now, just plant that seed and say I will be ready for you whenever you're ready. I'm here. If I can be of a resource to you, please let me know. But it starts with reconnecting It starts with refreshing those communications right out of the gate to start the new year. Now why is that so important, Well, I'll tell you everybody, if they're smart about their business, everybody in the beginning of a new year, wants to get things going in a big way. They want to start in a positive way.

12:07 They want their year to get off to a good start. They want things to happen, their business to improve. It's the ideal best time for you to be talking to people. It's the ideal best time that people are going through this mindset of new year's resolutions and a fresh start and an opportunity to start over and make up for mistakes or things that didn't go the way that they thought they should have gone in the previous year. It's your opportunity to engage them that way and tap into some of that energy and enthusiasm and get them the help that they need through the product or service that you offer. And it's such a unique opportunity that the beginning of the year that you know you try to do the same thing later on. It's not quite as powerful now, maybe it has some of the same type legs to it. At the end of the year. Wanting to finish the year strong. But in the middle of the year it's not always as powerful statement. But to start a year off, it's so important to reconnect with those people and just refresh those communications that you have with them. Now, that is for the people in your sales pipeline, But who else should we be communicating with?

13:16 And that goes to number three, And this is one of my favorites. This is a big one. This is one that so many people underutilize and missed the opportunity to make the most of. And that's reconnecting with business associates and contacts that you haven't spoken to lately. Now I'm not talking about people that are already prospects. I'm talking about business associates, people that know who you are, what you do, associated vendors, other businesses, anybody that has a good sense of who you are and the type of work that you do, and reconnecting with them. Now, why is that such a powerful, powerful thing to be doing? Well?

14:00 I'm going to tell you because when you reach out to them and when you approach them the right way, and we're going to talk about what that right way is in a minute. Here, When you approach them the right way, there is a very high likelihood that it will potentially benefit your business. And let's get into that. So when you reach out to these folks that know you, understand who you are as a professional, understand your commitment to wanting to be a trusted advisor and resource to your clients, even if they aren't your client, reconnecting with them can create business for you. And let me tell you how. When you're going to reconnect with these folks, you're going to make this connection with them all about them, checking in on how they're doing, how their business is going, what their year looks like, what it looked like last year, and what they expected to look like. Now you're going to make it all about them. You're going to make it about what they're trying to accomplish, what they're looking for.

15:00 Because if you can help them find what they're looking for, you'll find that that will flow back to you. And how will it come back, Well, it'll come back to you in the form of warm and friendly introductions or referrals. Now, I like warm and friendly introductions. I find that to be less intense and less stressful for people to think about. But the fact is, if people already know you and they have a relationship with you, and then you approach them from a position of wanting to know what's going on with them and how you might be able to help them or point them in the direction of something that they need. When you're truly making it all about them and their benefit and you're having a positive impact on them, you're going to find that those people are going to be thinking along the lines of how they can benefit you. But the way you start that process is by doing something for them, by jumpstarting it and re engaging them in communication, seeing how they are being support, supportive, friend, associate, colleague, whatever it is, and helping them accomplish what they're trying to accomplish. Now, I know for some people, they may look at that in some regards as a bit of a waste of time. They may think, well, I'd rather spend my time going direct to people that may need my services. And in theory that makes sense, But the fact is it's shortsighted. And I'll tell you why. Your

16:30 easiest business to win, the business that is the easiest to win after your own clients, are warm and friendly introductions that come from people that already know you. That will, without question be the easiest business for you to win. So if you aren't spending time trying to generate warm and friendly introductions through people that you already know, you're missing the opportunity at some of the easiest businesiness that you will ever write. You're turning away an opportunity that could be there and could make that process easier. You're also losing sight of the opportunity to cultivate that as a regular system or process within your business. If every year you're generating increasing amounts of referral or warm and friendly introduction business, if every year you're getting more and more business, that way, you're going to find that you're working less hard, but you're generating more money. It becomes easier to win business. You're developing trust faster, there's a development of a relationship that's already pre existing. Because people are introducing you to somebody that they already know. It just becomes easier for you to win business. So don't think of it as a time waster. Think of it as a true investment of the right type of return inside your business. Those warm and the introductions can lead

18:01 to significant revenue and new sales opportunities when done the right way. But it starts, it absolutely starts from a giving mindset, a servant leader heart, where you're out there trying to help others accomplish what they're trying to accomplish. It may not immediately mean that you're going to get back warm and friendly introductions or business from the process, but what you're going to find out is when you start operating at that level with people, you're going to find that people recognize that it wasn't all about you, It wasn't about what you do and what you got out of it. You were trying to help them, and in turn, people will reciprocate and try to do the same things for you. It's such an important part of your fast start process that I can't emphasize it enough.

18:54 Make sure you underline it and go back and listen to this again. This, this, this is such a critical element for you. But reconnecting with those business contacts and generating warm and friendly introductions to other people. The more you do that in your business, the easier it becomes for you to generate more sales and actually more sales even faster. And that's why it's so important, especially to start off your year quickly, and that brings us to number four. This is one that I think for most people should be obvious, but I'm going to make sure that I cover it because I think this is something that sometimes people have a tendency of overlooking or being afraid of. Quite honestly, some people are afraid of this one, and that is reach out to all of your clients and ask them how you can help them accomplish their goals for this upcoming year. Now why is that so important? Well, we just talked a couple of minutes ago about positioning yourself as a trusted advisor and resource. Well, if you're a trust and advisor in resource to your clients, wouldn't it stand a reason that you should already be calling them and reaching out to them. Of course, But if you're not doing this at the beginning of the year, you're missing out on what could be additional opportunities for new business. Now what does that look like. Let's break that down real quick. It could look like what we were just talking about a minute ago. If you're talking

20:27 to a client who's already worked with you and knows what it's like to work with you and has experienced it and is happy with the work that they've done with you, and they appreciate for everything that you've brought to them. It is very likely that it could result in some warm and friendly introductions to people that they know. And if you're not asking your clients for warm and friendly introductions right now, you're missing the boat. Now, before we move on to the second part of the benefit that you get from that, I want to make sure I cover one thing because for a lot lot of people, this holds them back from doing this. And if this is you, I don't mean to strike as close to the nerve as I'm going to, but I'm going to be direct about it. Some people are definitely afraid of reaching out to their existing clients for fear that their client is going to, within that context of communication, cancel their service or discontinue and not continue to work with them because maybe it was an afterthought that they were still working with them, or they were on a subscription or whatever it was. There is a certain percentage of people that are afraid of speaking to their own clients because they're afraid that it may lead to that client discontinuing service. And if this is you, I want you to hear loud and clear that you need to get past that. You need to understand that the benefits far outweigh the risks. If you are in a position where your business is potentially going to be in jeopardy because a couple of people cancel when you've reached out to

21:58 them to offer more vau val, that you may have bigger problems than your sales if effort. But I want to make sure you understand that you have to put aside the fear, reach out to those clients, connect with them, you know, just get to know them again, re engage them at the beginning of the year, and see how you can help them accomplish again what they want to accomplish. Now, what you want to accomplish, what they want to accomplish, Ask them here how their year ended last year, and then ask them what they'd like to accomplish in the new year. And then if there's a way of you helping them get there, pointing them in the right direction, being a resource, you know, absolutely you want to do that for them. Now, why is that so important, as I said a minute ago, because the likelihood of them turning around and potentially offering a warm and friendly introduction, especially when you ask, is very very high. Now, there is a second benefit and why it all ties back to you getting a fast start to the new year.

23:01 There's a second benefit when you reach out to your existing clients, and that benefit is this by reconnecting with them, perhaps their circumstances have changed, perhaps there's an additional need for your products or services. Just asking them is there something that you could do to help could create another revenue opportunity for you, another contract, another piece of business, a new sale. And this happens all the time and people don't recognize it, but sometimes situations change and wherever they are, there is an additional opportunity to sell that client again, whether it's another product or service, or extending an existing relationship or expanding it, whatever that may be.

23:45 But there's a huge opportunity for you, as a coach, consultant, or an entrepreneur to go back to those existing clients and asking them what their goals look like for the year and how you can help them accomplish it. Because there's a chance itition to warm and friendly introductions that they may say, you know, I was just thinking about this, we need your help with something and that help could result in a new sale for you. So I want to make sure that you are laser focused on these four areas. And if you're not doing this now, write these things back down, go back and listen to the recording of this again. Make sure that you do these four things. Number one at the top of the list, make sure you're prospecting and lead generation efforts are set in your calendar for the year, not for the week, not for the month, not for the quarter. Set it for the year. Put it in the calendar. Make sure it's done. You can always go back and change it later.

24:45 Trust me when I tell you, though. If you set it, it'll always be there and it'll get done. If you don't put it in your calendar, time either will be managed by you or time will manage you. So you need to make sure you block that time off. That's number one. Number two, you need to reconnect and refresh communication with your sales pipeline. Anybody who's not yet a client but is close that's in that process. Reconnect with them in the beginning of the year and see what you can do to jumpstart that process. Where are they, what's going on? Just reconnect with them, keep that communication going. They want to fast start to the year, just like you do, and it could be an opportunity for you to win that business. Number three, reconnect with business associates and contacts that you have if you haven't spoken to them lately, because it's a great opportunity for you to create warm and friendly introductions. Now the key to that, don't just reach out to them asking for warm and friendly introductions. Reach out to them with a giving heart, finding out what they want to accomplish, what they need.

25:50 Make it all about them, and the opportunity for those warm and friendly introductions is much greater. It will come back your way. Just go to them for make it about them, help them in a place that they need, help, put them in that frame of mind, and you'll find that they'll go out of their way to reward you with warm and friendly introductions when you ask. And finally, number four, just like I said a few minutes ago, reach out to all of your clients. Now I mean all of them, not just some of them. That's just a couple of them. That's just the ones that you really really like talking to, even the difficult clients, if you have them, reach out to all of them, because I'm going to tell you reaching out to them can create a lot more opportunities than it could potentially lose you.

26:35 Reach out, make it about them, find out about what their goals are for the year, and help them accomplish them if you can. So those are your four great tips to start your year off in a big way get a fast start to the new year. Make sure you go back and listen to this. If you haven't subscribed to our podcast, make sure you subscribe on your podcast channel of choice. The Impact Sales podcast is committed to bringing quality, actionable content that you can put forth in the effort to generate new business. This is Joe Beck with the Sales Activist. We'd like to wrap up every episode by saying this sell better and impact the world.

27:19 We'll talk to you. So, Hi, this is Joe Beck with a Sales Activist. Are you a high ticket coach or an entrepreneur selling a high ticket product or service. If you are, how would you like to triple your sales results in six months or less without spending an additional penny on advertising. That's right. If you're a coach or an entrepreneur and your sales results aren't exactly where you'd like them to be, and you like to quickly figure out how you can triple them in six months or less. I'd like to talk to you. You can schedule a complimentary impact sales strategy session to talk about exactly how we can help you triple those sales results. Guarantee.

28:01 Just reach out to me by texting the word sales to the number four O nine five oh nine seven three five five. That's sales to four oh nine five oh nine seven three five five. You could schedule a complimentary consultation and we'll talk all about how we can triple your sales results in six months or less. This is Joe Beck with the Sales Activist. You don't have to settle for average sales results. I'll talk to you se