Your new business homework  for this week

Today I want to give you a new business task for this week. I'm recording this in December 2022, and as we come to the close the year, it's natural that people have started thinking about the new business strategy for 2023.

But actually, this podcast is relevant, this content is relevant no matter what time of the year you hearing this, because, of course, the best time to start. lead generation strategy is now if you haven't already.

So I strongly recommend you do this task, what I want you to do is listen to through this very short episode once and then listen again, with LinkedIn open and keep hitting pause as you do these tasks that I'm going to walk you through.

Background to what we're going to do: I want you to export your LinkedIn contacts into an Excel spreadsheet and spend 10 minutes doing reviewing them.

And why do I want you to do this? Well, the thing is, we know LinkedIn is really useful. But normally, we're connected with so many people, especially if you're following the tactics that I recommend within win clients consistently to grow your lead generation , then you find you're connected with a lot of people. And it's really hard to stay on top of what everybody is doing.

Getting everybody into a spreadsheet and spending 10 minutes reviewing them, really helps us to sharpen the mind, and avoid all the noise that we find on LinkedIn.

In that spreadsheet we are looking to see if they've moved into any new roles, since you last spoke to them, and reviewing them through the lens of might they now be ideal prospects for your agency. You've got to think along the lines of: is the company that they're working for an ideal prospective client for your agency? It might not be that they're in the right role. But of course, having a shoo in through your connection through any relationship that you might have, there is a really great way to get linked up more directly with the person who's the decision maker for a service like your own.

Why is this important? Well, too many people come to me when they need new business now. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I can't just magically turn on a tap. I do fill the top of your sales cycle with the support that I offer, and guide you through how to nurture those prospects. What I can't do is convert people in your list into clients at the flick of a switch because you desperately need cash flow.

So, so many of the and you'll have heard me say this before, but so many of my clients tell me that they wish they had started implementing lead gen a year in advance or more. And there's a reason for that it takes that long for people start percolating through the know like and trust process.

And so how does it relate back to what we're doing today? Well, of course, the easiest way to win new business is from people who already know like and trust you and that's the whole point of this export.

Here’s how to do the export:

1. Click the ME icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.

2. Select SETTINGS & PRIVACY from the dropdown.

4. Click DATA PRIVACY on the left rail.

5. Under the HOW LINKEDIN USES YOUR DATA section, click CHANGE next to GET A COPY OF YOUR DATA.

6. Select WANT SOMETHING IN PARTICULAR? SELECT THE DATA FILES YOU’RE MOST INTERESTED IN.

7. Select CONNECTIONS.

8. Click REQUEST ARCHIVE.

9. Enter your password and click DONE.

10. You'll receive an email to your Primary Email address which will include a link where you can download your list of connections.

if my directions  haven't worked, go into Google and search, "download my LinkedIn contacts to a spreadsheet", and use the most appropriate link that comes from result that comes from LinkedIn themselves.

Open it and go through the contacts. Think back to where you they will last working when you last spoke to them, whether the current company is an appropriate fit, and highlight them by people you want to prioritise speaking with. So you might highlight people most important to to reconnect with in green, and then amber and red accordingly, depending on whether you are considering getting back in contact with them, or is definitely not the right time to get in contact with them.

Of course, this is operating completely separately to everything else that you will be doing in terms of new business within your company. So you got to do a little bit of cross referencing. But if you're the person in charge of that, you'll know if there's any overlap there. Obviously, you have an idea of who your current clients are, when you're eliminate some of those contacts based on that.

When I encourage people to do this, normally, people are reluctant, no one really likes a spreadsheet. But normally, it results in at least five people they know they need to follow up with. And hopefully at least one of those develops into an opportunity that might convert in the near future.

Which is why this is always my first point of call when a client comes to me and says we need new business now. I don't point them to Win Clients Consistently, because that's something we'll need when they're a bit further down the line and have enough money in the bank account to keep the lights switched on and everyone paid.

So if you are at all concerned about your upcoming new business pipeline, then this is something I recommend you do now. And also repeat on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on how frequently people use move within your industry.

Typically, when I'm working with branded packaging design firm within the FMCG space, they'll find that their decision makers, normally Marketing Director Client side, change on an 18 month to 36 month basis. So repeating this every maximum three months will always generate fresh opportunities to connect with people.

And of course, if you're reaching out to people, when they've recently moved, they're more likely to be changing the incumbent service providers, the agencies that they use the new company, and that's because they want to look like they've affected change really quickly. And that is when it's ideal to be reaching out to them striking while the iron is hot, so to speak. So, only fortuitous, if you know they've moved recently, and that's the advantage of doing this on a regular basis.

Let me know how you get on by sending me a video message on this page, or an email [email protected]