My first 3 months - starting my agency: Lessons learned
As you know I started Vital Velociti in April and in doing so, I stepped into an outbound sales role for the first time in my career.
Me, an introvert talking to people all day? Sounds like a recipe for disaster…I’m usually the one to put my head down and grow the bejeezus out of a business - which is very lock-myself-to-my-laptop kinda work. And I thrive in that environment.
Yet, what I’m finding is I like outbound sales just as much. How is that possible?Well, I think there are 3 things going on here…
- It’s my company so the ownership is a driver in and of itself
- I’m a business growth junkie. HOW I’m growing a business doesn’t matter as long as I’m turning the dials.
- I like helping people and I’m feeling that fuel.
In the interest of transparency here are some of my learnings 3 months in.
Verbal agreements are not the same as contracts in hand.
Lots more yes’ than contracts. I’m patient, we don’t need to start before the client is ready, but it’s hard to know if a yes turned into a no after the call. I’d say this is my biggest area of opportunity, learning how to close this gap.
I've turned down and been turned down for business.
Some of it I feel good about, ”not the right fit”. One project I felt guilty saying no because the client really wanted to work with us. Even in early days, I'm still selective about which projects and clients to work with… because as an empath, the negative energy from unhappy people shortens my telomeres faster than anything else I know! So I’ll take short-term guilt over getting locked into a contract with daily stress.
We're doing audits to make sure we're working on the right accounts – this allows us to look at the data and see if we can have a big impact or not. It’s not just about us… We deliver more value in the audit than the cost, so whether we decide to work together or not - we're pushing that business forward regardless.
I'm spending time on LinkedIn which I just filmed a video about where I share behind the scenes of our first campaign test:A: 10% connection rate, 0% messageB: 30% connection rate, 14% message
And some shoutouts to my village… Elite growth marketers Kevin Schrage Nate Morse Jeffery Baker Jan Roos Trish Moleschi for keeping the wheels on the bus. Paul T. Kim for 'start with the end in mind', and for introducing me to Jonathan Dunn at the Belief Agency, phenomenal team and masters at their craft. Matthew Cook Liberto for all things Napkin Inc. Greg Amrofell for bouncing big ideas and keeping me grounded. Laura Wright for the courage to sell
Grow baby grow
Need help growing your business? Message me on LinkedIn