Simple Tools To Help You Build A Business, Stay Off The Phone And Make More Money!
Being on the phone all day is so old-school, end that habit today!
Building my kitchenware business two things were required to run that 4.5 million dollar business. Ok, maybe three. Website, phone line and Pay Per Click ads. That's it. Throw in a newsletter for good measure and the business was soaring.
My direct sales company required just a few things as well. A phone line, a script and my lead capturing and order websites. Run together so brilliantly that each was supporting the other.
Copywriting was a real treat because all it required was a pen, pad of paper, cell phone and occasionally laptop. The laptop was used to email clients. Website used to show portfolio. But my skill was pretty much dispensed in a notebook and a pen or on a MS Word document.
Today, my company is built with the internet, a WordPress blog site, Social Media connections, email and a Skype line. Our company lines are all Skype lines, each person who is connected to the public is given a Skype line. We have an amazing track record for excellent customer service, have an extremely low return rate and run our entire company from the comfort of our own homes- all my members.
Amity and Rose, Jon and Justin, Josh and John, Tiffany and Victoria, Kim and Amy, Alan and Sandi. Each doing a specific task from live events to website work to copy to contact with customers to marketing. It's a beautiful thing.
In today's market there is no need to spend all day on the phone. As a matter of fact most people would prefer you NOT speak to them on the phone whenever possible. Email and even social media direct message are now by passing phone choices!
Recently one of my Ruby Clients, Coach Jimmy Nelson, a celebrity fitness coach on the world famous "Insanity" DVD set asked me for some help on how to manage his VERY successful home business. He's working at home while raising his new 3 month old baby boy. His wife currently works out of the home full time. This article was inspired by the things I shared with him, by the way, that are working amazingly.
One of his first challenges was that whenever a new coach begins to work with him the company he partners with has a 'training program' in place that is built to be on the phone with each new coach to 'get them started'. When he would schedule appointments to be a good team leader, he'd have to reschedule or cancel the appointments because his babydoll was teething or crying! With a babysitter available several times during the week and a real firm commitment to not let anyone else raise his baby for him, he was hitting a wall constantly with these challenges.
We went to work assessing his options. This is the best way that I know of to overcome a challenge- assess your options.
His current options were as follows-
1. Stop calling new coaches. This is not an option if he wants to keep building the income he currently has.
2. Keep scheduling appointments and hope and pray the day is fine. This isn't going to work either. Babies are as flexible as the weather most times with their needs. It could also breed resentment from 'hoping' things work out and they don't.
3. He could find other options for reaching out and connecting with the new coaches that don't require phone time at all.
4. He could create a system to put people through these options that don't require the phone so it becomes the 'normal' way to business- a way his entire team could follow.
As you can see with this process, most if not all concerns and challenges are just remedies waiting to be discovered with an assessment of options. (That's gonna be a huge take away for some of you!)
Jimmy now speaks to a new coach through Skype text chat. We're not using video or phone on Skype, just text. This keeps the conversation flowing, no tense moments with tonality in voice when baby is fussy. It has performed beautifully! Jimmy's new coaches love this method and even comment that they can see themselves doing it this way! So his end result is not only increased sales, great team building and peace of mind, but he also has a system now that his team members also want to use. That's good business!
Another client was a CEO of a large million dollar company but she had little babies at home. It was not her desire to travel to this 'party' or that 'outing' or trade show every week. She had several options but when we were chatting the only one she saw was to do or not to do all this promotional activity.
We created something I've called Skype Parties. These are parties we created together that could be done from the comfort of her home office. If she hung a dark sheet or something behind her from the ceiling with thumbtacks and did Skype Video chat will a group of people who were at one location, she could do an 'interview' appearance.
At her first 'Skype party' she was able to close $ 22,000 in sales through one 45 minute presentation. The people she met with gathered several people at their location and she was "Skyped in" from her comfy spot at home. Doing what she would normally do live ( but now in a nice dress shirt and her shorts that no one ever saw) she gave a professional appearance and a presentation that closed the room!
Let me tell you about Ruby client Angela Brooks who is a full time nurse and has been for more than 20 years. When she started her home based business the traditional party plans, calling a bunch of leads and traveling all over the place doing meetings was NOT going to fit into her already PACKED out schedule! By applying some of these simple strategies to her business, along with some of the tips we teach on our Social Media The Fun Way product she has been able to REPLACE 1/2 of her nurse's salary in under 5 months! That is a solution if I've ever seen one!
Don't buy into the idea that you have to answer the phone all day to get rich!
Don't listen to the chatter that says you can't turn business down!
Design your life and your paycheck will follow my friends.
I personally have not taken an inbound phone call in over 4 years!
If someone does speak to me by phone it was scheduled or previously planned. Even a text message communication for a few minutes is never done on the fly or when people get ideas popping into their head. This is because I know what I want my life to look like and built my business around it!
Do you have challenges that are just waiting to turn into solutions? Brain storm with a group of people you can trust, who are like minded and going in the same direction! Then….. go create the LIFE you want to live!
The inner Circle might just be that group of masterminding people you've been looking for! Check out the Inner Circle NOW!
Sandi Krakowski is a "Back To Basics Step By Step Business" expert who currently serves more than 100,000 clients in over 136 countries. Her systems help the average business owner as well as big corporations get extra-ordinary results quickly. She has a track record for her 'bringing it into action' processes that company owners find easy to implement with quick results. She has been working online successfully for the last 14 years.
Get your FREE copy of Sandi's NEW BOOK-"Read Their Mind: How To Hear What The Marketplace Wants & Build A Huge Business" to discover the secrets that will help you get to your idea clients, build amazing relationships and learn to sell anything quickly! Click here to order your copy NOW!
