TDW #049: How To Get Off The Sales & Fulfillment Rollercoaster (for good)

Issue At-A-Glance:

• Quote: your next 24 hours
• Tweet: stop thinking just create
• Thought: get paid for what you know
• Surprise: help Maui

Read Time: 4 minutes

Different Quote

Where a finite-minded player makes products they think they can sell to people, the infinite-minded player makes products that people want to buy. The former is primarily focused on how the sale of those products benefits the company; the latter is primarily focused on how the products benefit those who buy them.

via Simon Sinek

Different TweetLeads are like money: the more you chase it, the faster it runs away.

It's the toughest thing, sometimes.

Business owners need leads to survive and grow their business. It's like oxygen.

But the savvy business owner knows, even though leads are needed, the best way to attract leads is by acting is if you don't need leads.

It's counterintuitive, for sure.

But people can sense desperation.

And no one wants to work with a desperate person.

For more thoughts like this, follow me on Twitter here >>

Different Thought

How To Get Off The Sales & Fulfillment Rollercoaster (for good)

Let’s talk about the sales/fulfillment rollercoaster that’s holding you hostage to your business.

It looks like this:

Your revenue is low.

You shift into sales mode, chasing down clients and focusing 90% of your time on marketing.

Your roster fills up, and you’re suddenly drowning in fulfillment work.

You stop selling.

Your revenue dips.

Rinse and repeat.

This rollercoaster is dangerous for a few reasons.

First, you’re always one or two bad months away from bankruptcy.

And that means you’re not running a business.

You’re hitched to a liability.

Second, you’re never able to step into the CEO role (and get out of the overworked technician role), because you’re always hyperfocused on sales or fulfillment.

You’re in desperation mode, almost constantly...

...and you don’t know how to stabilize their business for long enough to create sustainable operations—team-building, pipeline automation, etc.

Bottom line:

The business that was supposed to give you FREEDOM is keeping you perpetually stuck and stressed.

Look, I’ve been there.

And it’s not fun.

So let’s talk about how to get OFF the rollercoaster, for good.

The process is simple. Really simple.

But the implementation isn’t.

It takes discipline.

It takes long-range vision.

It takes decisiveness.

All successful CEOs possess these three qualities…

...but many online business owners haven’t invested the resources or energy to develop them.

Anyway, let’s get to it.

If you want to get off the sales/fulfillment rollercoaster for good, you’ll need to take these three steps:

1.) Make a BIG move to protect or create a cash stockpile.

You can’t stabilize without financial leverage. And if you don’t have that leverage right now, you need to create it.

That might look like:

• liquidating an asset
• trimming your team to slash payroll
• selling a high-leverage, high-ticket offer
• roll existing clients into low-maintenance retainers

The goal is to create a short-term influx of cash, in as leveraged a way as possible.

There are some nuances to this that I can’t cover in a single email. But I help client-based business owners make these types of decisions all the time. So, if you need some outside insight, reach out.

Okay, now that you’ve created a cash buffer, it’s time to stabilize the core of your business.

2.) Operationalize your offer fulfillment.

If you want more revenue, you need more clients. But if you ALSO want more freedom, you need to find a way to serve more clients without investing more of your time.

So, that requires you to do three things:

A.) Trim the fat.

Streamline your offer by minimizing deliverables, shortening time frames, and reducing customization.

Basically: how can you create maximum client results more quickly and more simply?

B.) Identify the biggest levers.

Maximize your involvement in fulfillment by identifying the two or three segments of the project that MOST require your “touch” and MOST impact client results.

Basically: where does your involvement make or break the process?

C.) Outsource the rest.

The remaining segments of your offer belong in someone else’s hands. Record your processes, create empowering decision-making frameworks (this is crucial), and get support.

You’ll be surprised by how building the RIGHT team, with the RIGHT roles, creates better client results…

...and ridiculous levels of freedom for you.

3.) Stabilize your sales system.

Where do your best clients come from? Instead of trying to “reinvent the wheel,” scale that exact process by creatively leveraging paid traffic to duplicate your ideal customer journey.

Most business owners shouldn’t be running their own ads. It’s not the best use of their time, and it requires daily attention and continual education to stay on top of the changing platforms.

However, most business owners ALSO shouldn’t hire an agency. It costs a lot to hire an agency that knows what they’re doing...and that extra overhead doesn’t make financial sense for most sub-7-figure businesses.

So, what’s the answer? I call it a “marketing makeover” and it’s essentially cutting the marketing fat and realigning your resources for the folks who pay you the most, the easiest. Done.

…

I’ve done all of this inside my own business (and inside dozens of other businesses).

This exact process is what’s given me the freedom to:

• schedule 4-day work weeks
• spend 80% of my work days on writing, reading, and product creation
• go on vacation without opening my computer
• scale my businesses WITHOUT working overtime, ever

If you’re ready to make your business a vehicle for massive revenue AND freedom, I’m here for you.

I want to know:

1. how can I help you?
2. what do you need?
3. where are you stuck right now?

Different Surprise

This is Butter Caitlin Clark.

If you don't live in Iowa, this phenomenon may strike you as a bit...odd. We venerate our state's heroes by casting them in a life-sized statue of butter.

I took this picture myself, otherwise I may not have believed it's real. But lemme tell ya: it's real and it's spectacular.

To Caitlin's right is the world-famous Butter Cow (not pictured). And to her left is a Butter Kurt Warner (also, graciously, not picture).

Anyways—no matter where you're reading, from every nook and cranny of the globe, you've now participated in one of my state's most revered traditions.

Don't say I never gave ya nothin!

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