If you want to increase your sales and increase your freedom together, there are many things you must be doing and many tools to do them. Two of the “800 Pound Gorillas” needed, as Steve calls them, are Basecamp and Pipeline Deals.

Let’s dive into Pipeline Deals and I’ll tell you 3 reasons you won’t want to run your business without it.

Reason #1: Be the King or Queen of Follow Up

The King (or Queen) of follow up, wins. Period. Out of those jobs that are not closed on the spot, the one who ASKS to follow up and then DOES follow up, wins.

When Steve was doing all the sales for Burnett 1-800-PAINTING, I would sometimes ride along with him, bringing my mobile office with me, so I could continue to work. We’d be driving along going to one estimate after another and there would be silence.

It took me a while of interrupting his thoughts before I realized, this is not “let’s hang out and catch up because it’s quiet now”.

NO! Steve was deep in thought to every sales call he had made and was about to make, which leads he needed to follow up with, which client needed to be called, etc. etc..

I’d sit there in the passenger seat, amazed at this wonderful man God has blessed me with and watch him go through his list on his app, which quickly, easily, and immediately told him each lead, the estimate given, the date and time of call back set up, and he would think, call, think, drive, call, and so on, closing more and more sales as I listened in. It was magical!

Well, not real magic, because there is a formula and it’s called FOLLOW UP.

First, you close all jobs on the spot that you can. The others, you ask if you may follow up at a specific time and date. Then, you keep your word. Rinse and repeat. Magical, isn’t it?!

You’ve taken the pressure off your client and yourself. How? Everybody is BUSY. Your client no longer needs to remember to call the painting company back – you are going to do that! This takes the pressure off of you, because your self talk just went from,

“Oh, no I have to call this customer back and I’m not sure if I will be interrupting them and this is a good or bad time for them and maybe that will influence his/her attitude and desire to book any painting work right now!

and changed it to,

“I’m committed to my word and am doing everyone a favor. The client is looking for my call and I am looking forward to closing this sale!”

Does that change how you approach the phone call? Absolutely!

This is a habit we are consistently building stronger and stronger in our DYB Community.   TAKE A PEAK HERE

Try tracking your self talk sometime. You’ll be amazed what you tell yourself that is hindering your growth and potential! Commit to positive self talk. But I digress…

You are still going to ask if now is a good time to talk; then, you remind them, “Hi, Mr. Green in the Library with the Candlestick. Is now a good time for you? Great. I was just calling as promised to follow up on the proposal I left with you to see I may have the job, please.”

Done. You either sold the job or you learned a lesson.

There is no failure in following up. Only success and learning. Go. Do.

Reason #2: Use the 80/20 Rule

Eighty percent of your sales comes from 20% of your leads. What if you knew which 20% to focus on and grow? Would that dramatically increase your sales and revenue? Absolutely!

One of the best features of Pipeline Deals is the pie chart it shows of your closed business per lead source. Whether you want to see that in dollar amount or percentage, knowing which lead source awards you more business, is priceless.

When Steve and I were running the painting company, Steve started giving 2 hour long classes on how to use your iPhone/iPad/iPod at the Venice Library. I would come along and sometimes bring the kids to help. (Even Samuel has known how to use an iPad since he was two!) We were six months in and ready to stop taking 2 Saturdays away from our family.

Then we started using Pipeline Deals to track our closed business per lead source.

Without knowing what percentage each lead source gives, we were about to “shoot ourselves in the foot” by cutting off the iClass.

We found the iClass, as we called it, was not only bringing in over 20% of leads, but we were closing them at close to 83%!

We were getting known in the community and good will for us was flowing! We started doing them every Saturday and bringing the kids more often to make it a family volunteer event!

Know your numbers. Know your top 10 closed business per lead source. See it visually in Pipeline Deals with a couple clicks of a button. Go. Do.

Reason #3: Little Things Matter

I love to surprise people and I love to make new friends. Each new client for the painting company, as well as for our new company, becomes my friend and someone I look forward to speaking with. When answering the phone in our businesses, I loved to be able to see who was calling and greet them with a warm-I’m-so-glad-you-called way. How?

Let’s see.

…ring, ring… I look at my phone. Ed ___ is calling per caller ID on my phone. I pick up. “Hello, Ed! How are you today?!”

Let’s compare that with what we typically hear when calling a company.

…ring, ring…ring, ring…ring, ring…ring, ring…ring, ring…ring, ring…”XYZ Company (heavy sigh from apathetic/stressed out employee) How can I help you?”

How was I able to know who the client was? Because Pipeline Deals syncs with Google Contacts and any time a new lead is entered into Pipeline Deals, you can choose to have it create a new contact in Google Contacts. Because Google Contacts is on my phone, I know exactly who is calling – even if I didn’t enter them as a new contact myself!

Small thing? Yes. Big surprise and big good will towards our company from customer? YES!

More little things that matter in big ways that Pipeline Deals does: attach your estimate to the deal in Pipeline Deals, email the customer, set up reminders to follow up, make a note about each conversation so you and any estimator are always in the loop, and it’s mobile friendly.

It is SO important, how your leads and clients are being handled on the phone. How do you know when your office personnel is doing an amazing job? You’ll hear about it. If you’re not hearing from your clients regularly -without asking-commenting to you how they love to speak to so and so, what a pleasure they are, and how blessed you are to have them, you’ll want to talk to your office staff.

Anyone who has contact with YOUR treasured leads/clients, needs to know that their number one priority is to be a “Forward To It” consultant. A what? This title means that anyone who calls in to your company will look FORWARD to working with you because this person has set the tone for the entire project.

It’s your office’s job to make every lead and client look FORWARD to a remarkable EXPERIENCE with your entire company. Yes, there are other tasks and many projects, but this takes the cake. This is priority.

Let them know how important they are to you and how they have the privilege of setting the tone from the get-go. Help them see the excitement in their role and how important they are to you and the success of everyone in the company.

Phew!! So many AMAZING features to help you increase your sales, your freedom, and of course Double Your Business ( DYB ) !!

Ready? Go. Do.

P.S. Are you as prepared as our DYB Café members are for this winter? You can be:  TAKE A PEAK HERE