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Most Entrepreneurs Are Dreamers
Too many entrepreneurs jump into business without having a lick of process. They’re usually suffering from a little too much “hero worship.” By that, I mean they see something their mentors are doing like using a certain platform or technique and they want to copy it.
They’re making these choices based on wanting to follow someone else’s successful model regardless of whether or not it’s going to be a good idea for them.They’re building a foundation for their business on sand, not rock. I call this “process, before login.”
Michael Gerber in the E-Myth divided entrepreneurs into dreamers, managers, and technicians, and most entrepreneurs are dreamers. They end up collecting tools instead of processes and they don’t make much progress in growing their business. Ontraport, Infusionsoft, Hubspot, any of them can work in theory. What’s more important is what you are actually trying to accomplish with them. Bringing in automation technology doesn’t answer the question of how do you engage with your customers, and what you offer them. It allows you to create your funnels, but they can’t tell you what your funnels should look like.
Most people never think this through!
I want to bring us back to the beginning and to consider “What’s your process?” What do you need to have happen? If we can answer that question we can begin figuring out our “how to get it done.”
I broke down my process into what I call the ABCDE Loop. It’s a never ending loop of what I need to happen in the next step of my customer relationships.
The A in the loop is the initial discovery of your business. You’re attracting visitors to your website or place of business. Then you’re attracting them to provide you with their information.
However, ultimately we don’t need more visitors. We need more prospects. We need more sales. We need more referrals. It’s an infinite loop.
As you’re attracting customers toward you, you begin interacting and forming a bond with them. You do this with consistent, relevant, and multimedia follow up. This is the B in our loop.
This means you’re sending them the content that they expect to hear from you. In other words, on message and on brand.
Point C is the sale. It’s the conversion from prospect to paying customer. Most beginners think this is where the sales cycle ends, relationship complete. In fact it’s actually where the true relationship begins.Point D is all about your delivery. The delivery of the product and delivery of the overall customer experience. The real question is “do you overdeliver?” If you sell a $100 product and I receive $100 worth of value, I’m happy, but it’s lukewarm. Now if I buy a $100 product and receive $200 of value then I’m ecstatic
This is how we get to E. Endearment. Now your customer is a fan for life. They’re telling the whole world about you and all of a sudden you’re back to A. Attracting.
This loop applies all over your business. It’s operating in the macro as well as the micro. You have to consider how does this loop apply in different scenarios. No matter the medium this process is operating.
Complexity Counts
Remember now within each of these steps there are substeps and complexity. I think this is a huge secret. Most of your competitors won’t pay attention to all the finer details within the customer interaction. This is what sets you apart and elevates you in the mind of your prospect. This means answering their objections before they even come up, so by the time you’re talking to them on the phone they’re already 50-90% closed.
Action Steps
- Map out your step A, what are you doing to attract customers to your business? Lead magnets, headlines, booth display etc.
- Use their contact information to provide them with consistent, relevant multimedia messages that are on brand.
- Make the sale and over deliver on the value you’re providing.
- Create an experience that endears your customer to you so they’ll want to tell their friends and peers about you.
- Pay attention to the nuance and complexity within this loop and create marketing automation solutions that execute on each step in the ABCDE Loop.
Result You Will Achieve
Automated processes at each step in your customer journey that makes closing your client easier.
This article is based on an EHQ interview with the mentor.