If you missed it, be sure to check out Part 1.

Stay home. I live in a good three-mile zone, how about you?

The pandemic started in March, and by now we are used to a reduced social calendar, condensed errand running and diminished networking opportunities. We are keeping our activities in our own back yards. To me it seems like I am running in the same circles as the folks in my neighborhood. It is physical distancing, not social distancing.

Extroverts like me are starving for conversation. So strike one up, even if you are six feet apart. Do you see the same folks every morning when you are walking your dogs, going for a run, hiking up a mountain or biking down the street? If you are nervous, you can say, “How ya doin?” Or be bold and say, “Still working from home?” You can even try the standard pick-me-up line: “Watched anything good on Netflix?” These are all great entry points to start a conversation and learn more about what they do, where they work and who would be a good point of contact. No rush. This could take seven or eight weeks before you learn anything.

I witnessed a huge business deal occur when one biker stopped to recognize a fellow biker in distress. “Jared, is that you?” “Yes Travis, so sorry I have not gotten back to you, but yes, the deal is a go…”

At the grocery store? This is uncharted territory. Even with a mask, you could say, “I am not used to working from home and really do not know my neighborhood; I am craving Italian, where is your favorite place to eat in the hood? Got a favorite dry cleaner? Where do you get your dog groomed? CVS or Walgreens, which do you like better?” Who knows where these types of conversation may lead? I met a favorite client at the airport waiting for a plane, and another cause I did love those shoes and another while debating Dove bars vs Haagen Daz bars in the freezer section.

I witnessed a huge business deal occur when one biker stopped to recognize a fellow biker in distress.

Your instinct will guide you on who to talk to. Your people will send you a signal—hiking boots, handbag, hair color, you will know when to comment. You will feel an irresistible attraction.

Ask their name and send a LinkedIn message: “Great meeting you at the artichoke section of the grocery store. I would love to connect with you.” Think of this as a personal rolodex; you will be able to put a name with a face.

The days of CVENT sending you 20 RFPs a day from a site sourcer are on pause. Even seasoned meeting professionals have begun huge learning curves. Hotels and resorts have reengineered sales teams to the point where a planner no longer has a history or relationship with anyone at the venue.

Making these random connections to add to your network will help keep your pipeline dripping.   

Once, twice, three times I love you. But really it is 7 before I know your name.

Diligently you have loaded in your data suspect list. Looking for that gold, you start dialing and smiling, leaving messages and following up with an e-mail. Got over you fear of cold calling? Perhaps you took the sales lead nurturing class and wrote the best e-mail, loaded it in your CRM and sent out an e-blast. So excited you took the risk and took action. Hopefully you put a trace to follow-up with the suspect. You are confident the phone will ring off the hook and your e-mail inbox will be filled with messages.

Then you wait and wait and wait and nothing. Don’t worry, no one else is hearing a bell ringing either.

Don’t think of it as cold calling, think of it as match making. Just say, “Hi, I am just calling to introduce myself and my venue; we have 200 guest rooms and 5,000 square feet of meeting space. Is that a fit for something you are working on for the future? Can I send you some information? When should I follow-up?” I rarely leave a message the first or second round.

I like to wait two weeks and reach out again; maybe this time my message will be heard or seen. Repetition in communication is a tool. Effective frequency is a term used to define the number of times a person needs to hear an advertising message before responding to it. The most famous is probably the “Rule of 7,” which suggests consumers need to hear a message seven times before they will consider taking action. Studies on the mere-exposure effect have found that the effect reaches a maximum at between 10 and 20 exposures.

Don’t think of it as cold calling, think of it as match making.

Do you have that much focus and staying power? Many people struggle because they don’t have a long-term focus. This is not a buyers’ market, this is not a sellers’ market, this is a co-create and design way of doing business market. Reach out and see who is working on what.

Start building the bridge to tomorrow revenue. Be persistent and consistent, and determined. If you started with a list of 100 and made 10 calls a day you could have the whole list contacted in two weeks. Which would be exactly time to start at the beginning again. It will take you four months to work the list reaching out to each prospect seven times. Imagine what you will learn on the way—new contact, new meetings and events and a new feeling of success. If you start in Q1, imagine what your Q3 will look like.

The best salespeople know when a sale is not to be made. Don’t be afraid to say in a voicemail or e-mail, “I have tried reaching out to you because I know our venue would be great for your meeting. If I do not hear back from you in two weeks, then I will close you out as not a fit.”

Then start filling the pipeline with suspects again.

Are you a solo entrepreneur and wondering what a Sales Team is?

Are you a unique boutique business in the hospitality industry?  A solopreneur is an entrepreneur who performs all duties related to their business alone. Has business flowed to you by word of mouth? Have you just always managed to be in the right places at the right time?  

Solopreneurs start their businesses to offer a specific niche offering and are focused on building a steady customer base to keep their business profitable. These times call for different pathways for business.

Are the terms “sales lead generation,” “sales call” and “sales blitz” a foreign language to you? Have you noticed your pipeline has slowed to a drip? The phone is no longer ringing, the website is not being visited, e-mails are not coming in like before?

Where did all your referral sources go? How do you get them back?

Solopreneur had the right start. They made a few calls, met a few needs and viola, business began to slowly flow in.

Then the shift in the business environment. Furloughs, retirement, reengineering, redeployed—your business referral sources gone. The 10, 15 or 20 years your business spent having happy clients just a great memory.

I still maintain there is gold in the phone. Fear of cold calling has you paralyzed? Think of it as warm calling and referral gratitude. “My name is Amber, I am the principal in the Angle Concierge. In the past I have worked with Justin; who has taken over his job responsibilities?”

Here is another thought: Make a list of the companies that have referred you in the past.  This is the time to invest a few dollars. Create a swag bag with a few goodies that are logoed and branded. No pens, no coffee mugs, no mousepads. Remember, nothing is metal anymore, so magnets are tricky. Maybe a few emery boards, Chapstick, computer camera covers, keyring lights or whistles. There is a lot you can do.

You are going to create your own COVID Sales Blitz. Place the items in a gift bag that is logoed. Create a brochure and off you go, maybe 10 drops a day. Wear your mask and say, “I just wanted to leave these for Jordan. OMG, she is no longer here, who has taken her place?” Then grab all the business cards you can. From here you can create an Excel spreadsheet and social media campaign.

Or you can outsource this. It is like waving a magic wand, and all your problems are gone.

Photo by Maxim Ilyahov on Unsplash