Friday, March 27, 2020

What was your #1 win this week?

Growth Tools

So I had an idea this morning...

1. Yes, the world is still weird and it seems we're living in an alternate universe.

2. Despite that, let's celebrate the good things that happened this week! 

I want to hear your good news. This is your chance to brag on yourself.

What was your #1 win this week?

Hit reply and share something you're proud of doing or accomplishing this week.

It can be big, small, medium and totally unrelated to work.
 

-Bryan

PS: Here is my brag for the week (non-work related). 


Bryan from Growth Tools

Sales Brief: RUTHLESSLY PRIORITIZE

Panic selling, remote meetings, growth lessons, fears to overcome and more
Trouble seeing this email?
 

I've been hearing from sales people over the past two weeks, unsure of how to proceed in this unusual climate. Mounting financial pressure and uncertainty ahead may have you in their same position.

It's time to get real—with yourself, with your coworkers, and with your customers. You don't have to have all the answers right now, nobody does, but you can be helpful. Now is not the time to roll over and give up. We're still closing deals. You should be too.

In the links in this week's Brief, I dive deeper into ways that you can not only survive, but strive, during this time.

Stay well and take care of each other.


P.S. Need help with your sales approach during this crisis? Send in your questions. I'm here for you.

 

AND NOW...YOUR WEEKLY SALES BRIEF 🔥

Here's my #3 tip for making remote work work

Ruthlessly prioritize. Begin each day with clear intent. Clarity creates productivity. The worst thing you can do is wake up and figure out which of your 57 Asana tasks you want to tackle today.

MAKING #REMOTEWORK WORK →
 

How to start every meeting during this crisis

One of the downsides to working remotely as a manager is that it's hard to gauge how each team member is doing. Right now, it's more important than ever to make sure emotional needs are met.

IT STARTS WITH ONE THING →
 

Marketing and growth lessons for uncertain times

This in-depth article from CXL looks at both the winning strategies and the critical mistakes companies made during economic hardship, and how we can apply it to our current situation.

WEATHERING THE STORM →
 

How to close deals during a pandemic

How can I keep selling to my customers without being perceived as insensitive or out of touch with current events? That's the question on every salesperson's mind right now.

BUSINESS AS USUAL? →
 

How to manage a remote team – 4 fears you MUST overcome

Will my team perform in this new environment? Will they respond quickly? How can I keep them motivated? Here's the top 4 fears sales managers are facing right now, with tips on how to conquer them.

REMOTE CONTROL →
 

Marketing during the COVID-19 crisis

In this new Startup Chat podcast episode, Steli Efti and Hiten Shah discuss their opinions on how companies should approach brand messaging and marketing during the COVID-19 crisis.

ARE YOU BEING HELPFUL? →
 

Thursday, March 26, 2020

How this single mom ditched her day job

Growth Tools

Need some encouragement in a time of crisis?

Then you don't want to miss this story, believe me.

Like many of our clients are experiencing right now, Kelsey Baldwin (founder of Paper and Oats) found herself in the middle of an unexpected crisis. Newly single and with a baby on the way, Kelsey had to figure out how to provide the kind of life she wanted for her daughter.

She decided to build an online course to share her knowledge with like-minded people. With a bit of coaching on marketing and building an online business, Kelsey outperformed even her own expectations.

Don't miss her story below:



-Bryan


Bryan from Growth Tools

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Follow this crisis attack plan

Growth Tools

"What do I do now?"

That's a question we've heard from our coaching clients since COVID-19 upended everything. When a crisis comes out of nowhere, how do you respond?

As we talked about last week - as a business owner you have two choices: create an attack plan and go on offense, or pull the covers over your head and play defense.

That's the exact decision Lisa Cressman (an ordained Episcopalian priest) was faced with when funding for her mentorship program was unexpectedly cut.

Choosing Defense would mean her program would end. To keep coaching and mentoring her clients, she'd have to come up with a plan to go on offense.

So, she chose Offense. And called us to help put together a plan.

We put together an attack plan that she could execute immediately.

Like any crisis, the situation was challenging:

  • She needed to launch her mentorship program online in less than 2 weeks
  • She had never launched anything to her small email list
  • She had to sell 16 seats @ $2,250 each to keep the program alive

😳

She didn't have time to create an elaborate email sequence. Or a 3-part pre-launch video series. Or the kind of long-form sales page you often see. Instead of focusing on what she couldn't do, we focused on what she could.

In a time of crisis, the most effective attack plan is the one you can actually implement.

So that's what we helped Lisa create. We created a plan for her launch unlike any I'd ever seen.

The Launch Plan:

We outlined a 4-week plan for Lisa to follow and then coached her through executing it step by step. Here's what it looked like:

The launch was simple - made up of just 2 kinds of emails:

1. Simple: Straightforward case studies that shared stories from Lisa's past students

2. Invitations: Live Q&A calls where Lisa simply answered questions about the program

Most people would say you can't just send case study emails. ("You need more variety!")

Or you can't do 6 live Q&A calls. ("People will stop showing up!")

Or you can't have a 4-week "open cart" window. ("You need more urgency!")

But what's designed to work for the masses isn't always going to gel with what will work for YOU and your specific situation.

Again, the most effective launch plan is the one you can actually implement, especially in a time of crisis.

So...how well did this plan work for Lisa?

The Results:

Lisa not only hit her goal of 16 sales...she exceeded it by 43%.

By the end of the launch, she had 23 sales for a total of $51,750 in revenue. And nobody was more surprised than her:

"This was the first real public launch of my mentorship program. I was scared to death," Lisa said. "But the team at Growth University put together a custom plan for me that outperformed my wildest expectations."

You won't see another attack plan that looks exactly like Lisa's. The crisis she was facing was unique to her business and her clients.

That's why every attack plan we make is unique to each client's situation. What worked for her might not work for you.

Are you "scared to death" like Lisa was? Do you need a custom plan of attack?

Look, this is an unprecedented crisis that no one saw coming.

But no matter how it's impacted your business - you still have the choice (like Lisa) to go on offense and choose to not be the victim of something you can't control.

And the good news is - we can help coach you through this crisis. We do it everyday.

That's why I'm putting together a group of 15 business owners and personally helping them create attack plans to deal with COVID-19 and add $10k+ in steady monthly revenue.

Just like Lisa, we'll get big results quickly.

How it will work:

  1. 1:1 call w/ me to kick things off
  2. A detailed audit of your situation
  3. Custom marketing (attack) plan to get past COVID-19 and thrive
  4. Voxer group with me and 15 other business owners to brainstorm together

Not only will you have an "attack plan" to get more customers but you'll get warm introductions to influencers and companies that I know personally who want to promote you to their audience. Instant leads and sales for you.

Would you like to join us?

Schedule a time with my partners-in-crime Will or Daniel and they will get you all the details.

-Bryan

PS: How is Lisa's business doing now? Check out her latest video update where she details how following our flash sale plan landed her 62 additional clients!


Bryan from Growth Tools