If you are in a client acquisition business, then you are familiar with reaching out to leads to offer your services. This morning, I finally sent some outreach emails. What’s fascinating about these emails is that they have been on my to-do list for several weeks. Thankfully, I did not want to report once again that I did not complete this outreach on my peer accountability call this afternoon. The power of accountability motivated me get out of my own way and send the emails. 

Once I crossed the final name off my list, I thought why did I make that such a monumental task? The process took less than an hour to complete, yet I have invested hours of thinking about this task over the last few weeks. I’ve over thought the language to use in the email template, who fits my ideal client and who doesn’t and what happens if someone says yes or no. My thoughts were jumping way too far ahead in the sales process. I lost sight of the process that has worked for me over and over again and got too caught up in the end result. 

KB’s Sales Process 

Step 1 – reach out to lead to set a meeting 

Step 2 – during the meeting ask insightful questions to build a relationship, seek to understand the lead’s situation and move lead to a prospect  

Step 3 – present recommendations on how I can help prospect achieve his or her goals 

Step 4 – ask the prospect to become a client       

With this most recent outreach, I wanted to promote a new service. I got so caught up with the end result of this new service, that I kept myself from starting step 1. I learned two valuable lessons this morning.

1. Don’t jump ahead to step 4 before step 1. Focus on one step at a time. 
2. Trust my process!

I coach a lot of small business owners and individuals building a clientele. Lead generation and outreach tend to create the most hesitation and anxiety for my clients. I hope that my learnings to focus on one step at a time, inspire someone to make one more phone call today or send that outreach email. We are all one outreach away from our most impactful conversation.

Don’t let the fear and anxiety of step four keep you from initiating step one!