Measure and quantify

Are these goals we've created as far away as they seem?

Think about just one of your "things" goals we've created over this journey...and consider what you need to do financially to get it. For the sake of our discussion, let's look at an example, so we can determine exactly how much we have to step up our earnings. A dream home...Imagine I've gone out and taken a great photo of the house my wife and I just love. It's hanging on our bathroom mirror for me to see every morning when I arise and every night before I rack out. The lakefront lot...the open floor plan, the quad staircases, the five car garage, the office with the dark mahogany woodworking. My wife would be stoked beyond belief if I brought home the keys to this place.

Ok, now let's use this goal to take a hard look at the numbers, to determine how much extra money we've got to make to have this home, to see how far we are from making this happen. Once we figure out how to break our goals down into workable numbers...and they are workable, we can apply our formula to just about everything else we wish to be, do, or have. My goal is to bring these dreams, that just seem like abstract, hazy "what ifs", much closer, because you'll see we're not that far away once you put the numbers to them. The house scenario will illustrate my point.

Look at what the house costs. Let's say it's $650,000. Compare that with our current hypothetical mortgage and take the difference. Let's say our place now costs $2,000 per month, with taxes and insurance. The difference is $4,000 per month, roughly, when you add in the extra dough on the principal, plus the increase in taxes. Now we've got a real number to work with. $4,000

Now, let's look at how I get paid for what I do. I have two main vehicles for earning money. One is as a commissioned sales rep/owner of a manufacturing company; the other is a contracting business in which we complete projects for homeowners..mainly roofing. What do I need to do to earn an extra $4,000 per month? What do you need to do to earn the $4,000?

On the rep side - my commission rate is 5% on what I sell. I'd need to sell $80,000 per month extra to be able to buy that home. On the contracting side, my average sale is $10,000, with a profit margin of 30%....$3,000 per project. So, I'd need to sell a job and a half per month to make it work. Simple right?

Let's take the equation a step further, to gain a better understanding. In order for me to sell an additional $80,000 per month, what would I need to do? Well, there's a bunch of ways to get to $80,000, but let's begin with our average customer and use that as our baseline. The average dealer direct customer is going to buy $10-$20K per month from us. We'll use the $10K for our formula. We need 8 customers buying $10K each to get us there.

We have a couple of strategies we can utilize. One, is to find 8 new dealers...guys that have never bought anything from us. We could also go to our existing dealers and figure out a way to earn a greater percentage of their business or we could dig in and help them grow their business with us organically. These are our choices.

In my experience, it's always more effective and cost effective to grow the business with the folks who are buying from you now. New customers are more difficult to get in front of. They're going to take time, for sure, and there are lots of variables in the equation that take time to uncover and understand. The dealers who've already raised their hands and said "I like you, I trust you, I'm going to buy from you", these folks are gold, because they already see the value in you and your product and organization.

That all being said, I like the concept of utilizing both strategies. Organic growth is easier, it's less expensive, less time consuming, and it works. But, new business is the lifeblood of any organization. We have to bring new faces into the mix...it's how we increase our market share and develop more quality relationships with people in our industry. So, I'm going to shoot for $30K of organic growth and $50K of new biz growth. This will make my partners happy and we'll get to know more people for future growth.

What do we need to do over the next 90 days to get those 5 new dealers on board? We simply have to work the numbers. Sales, as we all know, is a numbers game, ultimately. It's a relationship game, but we have to work the numbers in order to hit our numbers. We see x number of prospects...we pitch x number of deals...to convert y number of dealers. You know your numbers, I can't help you with that. The only thing I can offer is my numbers, so you can see a real example of what this looks like.

I usually convert 3 to 5 out of 10 dealers I speak with. I'm talking about guys who take the time to sit down and really open up about their business. If I can get them talking about what's going on and what keeps them up at night, my closing ratio goes through the roof. But, for this example, I'll use 3 of 10 as my number. So, I need to cultivate deals for 20 prospects, in order to get my 5 or 6 new guys on board.

My system for working new guys is like this...I schedule meetings with them every other week for the entire quarter, making sure I get my mug in front of them six times. Each time I'll make damn sure I'm bringing it....I'm not showing up to kick the tires and beg for business. I'm showing up with focus, intensity, and a sense of urgency to help him grow his business. I don't worry about mine. If I help him, my numbers will be there. So, for the next quarter, I'm going balls out to help these 20 guys grow and make more profit. The numbers will be there...I promise you.

The existing customer approach is no different, except the numbers change. I'll dig in with my 5 or 6 top existing dealers, who I know have the ability to buy more from us, or have the capacity to grow. I'm also going to see them every other week for the next quarter, taking the same approach. Laser focused on growing their business. No begging, no whining about the economy, no nonsense at all. I'll come in with leads that I found canvassing the night before. Imagine the response you'll get if you walk into that owner's office with three qualified leads. He'll love you forever. But, again, it's the same intense approach. They'll see you're for real and are willing to do what you say you'll do.

In total, we're actually targeting 25-30 customers in total. These are our targets for the next 90 days. We see half of them this week, the other half next week - 15 calls per week, which is the number I shoot for. If you're seeing much more than 30, it seems to me like you've got too much going on. You can't do that many people justice. Remember, we're not just looking to make sales...we're looking for great people to be our partners. We must position ourselves as one of the elite. Our actions dictate how we're positioned with our customers and prospects. High-level problem solving, laser focus on growth and profitability, with a sense of urgency to close business every single day with your new partners will allow you to shatter your numbers. Just remember to focus on your core group...we can't spread ourselves too thin.

At the same time, I'm going to work to earn that same $4K on the contracting side of my business. Why not? If I earn $8K per month extra, instead of just the $4K, that'd be just fine. How do I do this? This is much easier to figure out....

My canvassing experience has provided us with pretty reliable metrics. We know that a canvasser will generate at least one good lead per hour if they work the targeted neighborhoods we've outlined in our packet. We close at least one out of three leads we run. So, to find a job and a half per month, we need an extra 4 or 5 leads. Simple. Real damn simple. All I have to do is get the canvassers out an extra hour or so per week. That'd give us the numbers we need to earn an extra $4,000 per month that would allow me to buy my wife and kids the house of their dreams...in this scenario.

Moving forward, we all need an action plan. My plan is to make damn sure I know who my 30 targets are on the rep side. I've got six geographic segments of my sales territory with five targets in each, approximately. Develop a route plan to cover all of your targets each time you hit that segment of the market. Remember, the goal is to hit each target every other week. This really goes right back to our Simple Disciplines. We have to make our sales calls every day. In order to get them all scheduled, we have to make our phone calls - 10 per day. This will ensure we're seeing enough people and have the funnel full at all times.

The plan for my contracting biz is to have the canvassing team out working for leads 16-20 hours per week. This should result in 16 - 20 leads per week. This will give me the 5-6 jobs per week I'm shooting for this season. This sytem will shatter the $4K needed to buy that dream home.

We can't forget to remain balanced. We have to get our butts in shape...running, doing pushups, pullups, crunches. We have to keep eating clean. I've got to keep blogging and working to complete my first book. Gotta keep locking in with the wives when we walk through that door. We've got to keep studying and learning. It's all about balance. We want to be much more than just a money maker.

Hopefully, I shared enough specifics for you to apply this to your situation. You may have different goals, I'm sure your numbers are different. Doesn't matter. What matters is that it's easy and it's key to break these goals down. When we sit back and just sort of dream of having nice things, it's easy to leave it at that - a dream. If we take a minute to look at the numbers, we often see we're much closer than we think. Would it really be that difficult to generate an extra $4K per month? It's closer than we all think. We just have to stay focused on those Simple Disciplines.

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