Episode 68 · June 25, 2023
How to stop wasting your time
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In this episode
Wildfire smoke from Canada turned the sky over New York orange for a few days, which is not a thing anybody plans for, so we shifted everything indoors and bought air purifiers and figured it out. That's roughly this whole episode. My client wants a fuller pipeline and she's also quietly worried about what happens if it works, because she doesn't think her systems could take it. So we get into why you build the process by running it, why being fourth in line is better news than it feels, and what she's really doing when she reorganizes the back end instead.
What you'll take away
- You want to throw a party, and you're fluffing the pillows. The systems, the website, the bookkeeping. It feels like progress, it's safe, you can't fail at it, and it brings nobody through the door.
- She's slightly afraid of getting the clients. Her processes aren't where she wants them, so underneath wanting a fuller pipeline is a hope that not too many turn up at once.
- You'll figure it out when they arrive. The way to build a process is to run it with real clients, then write down what worked. Not to design it first and wait.
- Nobody tells you it was the sixteenth version. Five goes at the website, four tools before the right one. Her line: I didn't wake up this morning looking like this.
- Being fourth in line is good news. They know what they're after, they're motivated to solve it, and by the time they reach you they've no appetite for ten more conversations.
In this conversation
The full transcript, in sections. Open any one to read it.
The fear underneath a full pipeline
0:02
You will be able to figure it out. You will be able to handle it, you know, and just eliminating that fear, because then we can work backwards and start to intentionally bring people, you know, get visible, bring people into your pipeline without that secret thing that's like, Oh God, what happens if I actually get them?
Welcome to the smart gets paid podcast with me. Leah niederthal, I help women land higher paying clients in their independent consulting businesses, but I've never been a salesperson. My background is in corporate marketing, and when I started my first consulting business, I learned pretty quickly that it's about 1000 times harder to sell your own stuff than it is to sell someone else's. So I taught myself how to do it, and I created the sales approach that I now share with my clients so they can feel more comfortable in the sales process. Get more of the right clients and get paid way more for every client contract. So whether your client contracts are $5,000 $100,000
or more. If you want to work with more of the clients you love, do more of the work you love, and get paid more than you ever thought you could, then you're in the right place. Let's do it together. Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to rate, review and share.
Orange skies, and things you can't plan for
1:17
Hey there, Leah here, and thanks for tuning in. I hope that wherever you're listening to this, wherever you are right now, you're having a good week, you're making some good progress in your business and taking some time for you. So I don't know if you can hear it, but I'm sort of getting over a cold right now. I mean, I've lost track of, like, how many colds I've had this year, and mostly that's because I have a four year old right who goes to preschool, but this cold came about because of the smoke that we had in New York a little while back. You probably saw this in the news about how the wildfires in Canada were causing all this smoke trouble in the US, right in the northeast, in the Midwest, even like the southern East Coast area, and we got a lot of it, you guys, it was crazy just to, like, walk out and, like, you smelled it. But also we had that orange afternoon. It felt like the sun was going down super late, because it just would stay light so long because the sun was, like, reflecting off. The smoke going outside was so weird. We, like, stayed in for just a few days and had really bad Cabin Fever, you guys, it was crazy. And so now, you know, the smoke is long gone, but I have this cold, and you know, I was thinking about that, especially as we were putting together this podcast episode. Because, okay, so, like, just take me for example. I like to plan for all the contingencies, what if this happens, and what if that happens, and what if this goes wrong, and all of that. You know, I like to plan for anything that you could anticipate, right? But like, smoke from wildfires, from Canada, like, that's just the kind of thing that you can't anticipate. I could never have anticipated that. And like, what do you do when something happens that you can't anticipate? Well, you know, you figure it out, right? You figure out what you're going to do. In our case, we shifted things around so we could work inside and the kids could play inside. We got air purifiers. We didn't have a plan for this in advance, but we just figured it out. And that's kind of along the same lines as what I'm talking with my client about today, figuring it out. So in this episode, we're talking about something that we don't often talk about in these episodes, which is the systems in our business and really how our business is organized to allow us to do the work. And that's kind of the starting point for today. The client you're going to hear me talking to in today's episode has a really common problem for a lot of women consultants, which is that the number of people who are coming to her is really inconsistent. Sometimes she gets four inquiries. Sometimes she gets no inquiries. She feels like she's kind of on a roller coaster, you know, going up and down, with no real ability to, like, take control of her client pipeline. Because what she wants to do is to be able to pack the pipeline, to know that when one client finishes, she has another one ready to go, but at the same time, she's experiencing another really common problem that I hear from the women I talk to, which is she feels like her systems aren't strong enough, or, you know, I guess, put together enough to cope with the clients that are going to come her way. In fact, she uses the word fear, which I think is really telling. She says that she fears that an influx of clients will just result in chaos. And believe me, I get it. I just mentioned I'm the sort of person who I want to figure out all the steps in advance. So. But I also know that the best way to build a process isn't to try to anticipate all the steps in advance. So my conversation with this client goes from being a conversation about getting more clients to really a conversation about overcoming the fears that consciously or maybe unconsciously stop you from making progress, and you'll hear me share with her, and now with you, my thoughts on why this might be happening and how to take control. So as a quick note, just without disclosing my client's actual business and the full scope of what she does, you are going to hear us talk about one very small part of her work, which involves wills, like creating a living will. So you're going to hear me talk about that a little bit in this conversation. So I want to send a huge thank you to my client for allowing me to share this conversation with you. Take a listen, and at the end, I'll come back and share a lesson that you can apply to your business. So you might have noticed that with the economy being as it is, things feel a little shaky. Referrals are slowing down, budgets are getting cut, and clients who you thought would say yes, are saying no or not right now. And here's the thing, in this economy, you can't run your business by waiting for referrals. Clients just aren't going to swim into your net, you have to be intentional. That's why the best way to protect your business today and for the future is to have the two systems that every consulting business needs, a marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline, and a sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. But it's not just about getting clients. It's about security and stability and making your business sustainable no matter what's happening out there, smart women are doing this right now, even in this economy, they're winning their biggest contracts, filling their pipelines, and their businesses are growing, which lets them do things like build up six months of family savings a lot sooner than they had planned, or go from having one to two months of revenue booked to having eight to 10 months of revenue booked, or getting to the place where you're able to pick and choose your clients and say no to the ones that aren't perfect. These are real results from women in the academy, because this is what we do inside the Academy. We help you build the marketing and sales systems that make your business and your revenue more stable, more secure and more sustainable. So if you've been in business for at least two years, if you made at least 120k last year, and if you want your business to feel secure no matter what's happening in the economy, join us. Apply today. It's markets, pay comm slash Academy. We get started on Monday, February 9, because you can't control the economy, but you can control what you do about it. Let's start with the first thing. First, what's up for you? What's What are you coming in with that we can help with?
They find her on Google and she has no idea how
7:54
My thing is the beginning of my pipeline, and I'm getting people finding me on Google. I don't. I don't know how. I don't know why. I don't. It's just like they're doing searches, and I come up, and I appreciate that, but I don't. I would like to, like, have some control over it so I know what's happening. But because I'm not actively doing anything, they kind of control when they come in, right? So it's like, oh, I might get three or four people, or I might get nobody. So it's just, you know, this big up and down. I'm trying to put myself out there. It's a little hard. Like I said yesterday, I'm like, an introvert, so I really would just rather, which is, kind of works well with the practice area I'm in, right? Like, I get you in the front, and then I don't have to talk to you anymore until your stuff is done. So really well. For you, it works out really well. So I'm trying to work out, I guess, packing the pipeline right, just getting people where one leaves and there's another one right behind them. I am kind of nervous about that, only because I am. I don't think I'm efficient. Like, I'm still trying to work out, like, the process, and so once they come in, I'm pretty good at, you know, we have the call. I send them the questionnaire, they fill it out. We do like that part is good. So it's getting them to that point, and then after that point, like, I've honed the middle, but the beginnings and the end, it's like, I don't have enough people coming in, and then I fear that if I got a bunch of people coming in, it would be complete chaos, because I'm not, and probably because I go through swings so I'm not, I haven't really gotten my process down really well. So it's like, oh, this is what I've been sending out, and I'll send the email and like, you know what? I can write this better. And so the next person gets a different
"If I did get a lot of clients, it would be chaos"
9:49
I just lost you for like, three seconds. You feel like your systems aren't really what we need to be to serve the clients. If you did get a lot of clients right, it would result in chaos.
Us, yeah, yeah, that might be a little psychosis. It's one of those. You know, you aren't I stress myself out unnecessarily. But I'm like, you know, the clients are okay if you don't write them back the minute they write you. But it's like, oh my god, I got three emails. I got to get them done. Like they're fine, they're relaxed,
all right, so you decked out again. You're saying that like they're okay if you don't write them back in like, the first minute, right? Yeah. Well, so the truth is that the best way we can sort of work backwards, right? Because, you know, when you think about your systems, it's, I think our tendency is to want to have it like all figured out and all worked out, right? But the best way to figure out your systems is to have just, you know, have more clients and doing the same kinds of things, right? You have a pretty you have a pretty well defined practice area, so that's really good. But and just trusting yourself that you'll figure it out, okay? Because, honestly, the best way to do it is like, Okay, I'm doing it this way. Now this is a way. I can write it down. I can give it to somebody else. I can figure out some technology that can help. Trust me. I'm so somebody who, like, wants to think about all the steps, you know, but I think there's a little bit of like, trust of yourself that comes in there that you will be able to serve the clients, right? Because if you fear your ability to do that, if you're afraid of something, then, like, humans will never go towards something that they fear. And so if, on some level, you have this fear of that like you, it will affect, it's an upper limit problem. It'll affect a lot of things, right? There's this guy on Saturday Night Live. He's like a he's become this famous comedian. He does like a Trump impression, which is hilarious. And he, I was listening to him on a podcast, and he was saying that he was doing all this, like stand up comedy and, you know, in local clubs or whatever. And he really, he did want to be big, but he was like, why can't I, like, make it right? Or, why am I not being invited to do these things or make this happen? And he started talking to a therapist, and what the therapist identified was that, in their conversations, it came out that he has a fear of flying. He's afraid of flying. And this, on some level, this fear of flying like he knew that if he got big, and when he got big, he'd have to fly a lot, right? Because you have to fly to, like gigs and and so it became this upper limit problem that really silently held him back. Right? If you've ever read the big leap, have you ever read that book? No, oh, girl, you'd like that book. Okay, it's about so so part of it on it's essentially the upper limit. Problem is this sort of silent things that that hold you back, essentially. And that's not a spoiler alert. That's like on the first page so, so anyway, trusting yourself that, like when your volume increases, you will be able to figure it out. You will be able to handle it, you know, and just eliminating that fear. All right, then we can work backwards and start to intentionally bring people, you know, get visible, bring people into your pipeline without that secret thing that's like, Oh God, what happens if I actually get that right?
The mentor who kept sending her outside her box
13:43
Yes, there was a lot of that early on. What did that turn people away? But yeah, so you typically try to, you work in, like, your own county, and if they weren't in my county, I didn't do it was like, oh, you know, we got to go to over there. Nope, sorry. I can't help you. And my mentor referred like, he kept referring people to me, and I'm like, I'm like, so this isn't an like, that's fine, like, but I don't know he was like, you'll learn it, okay. And I haven't been learning it. It hasn't been that bad, but on my own, I'm just like, Nope, there's not, there's not anybody. So if it wasn't for him making me do, I would never have even gotten into the process. Because I'm like, here's the box. You're not in the box. I'm not stepping outside the box. You got to be in the box. And he's like, Here you go. Like, it's all zoom. It's fine. Like, I had no comeback, like, okay, all right, so I'll just do it. And so that's what I'm finding, like you said, and I recognize it like you said. I was like, that's exactly what I ended up doing for the part of my process that I have now, right? I got enough people coming in and realize this doesn't work. This does work. Link this. Form. You don't have to have, like, some pretty fancy, you know, flow desk thing. People will click links, I mean. So I did that. And so now I'm getting into the Okay, I'm basically circling back in my head to doing the same thing, even though we just kind of jumped leap that first hurdle. And now I'm like, Oh, no. Like, it's the exact same thought process to get you over the first hurdle. And so I'm still it takes me months to like, you can do it. You can do it. I don't know. No, really, you could do it. So, yeah, psychosis.
I mean, I'm so glad you had that experience to show you like, yeah, you'll figure it out. You know, you're out. But trust me, I mean, I get it like I'm somebody who I have to read the manual before I do something, because I, you know, I want to know all the steps. I want to know how to do it, so I do it, right? But, you know, I think the risk for a lot of women running, you know, businesses of this size, right, or, like, this type of business is you can spend so much time, like, getting your systems perfect and all that stuff. And the truth is that that all happened silently, but in behind the scenes, and that does not get you clients, yeah?
Nobody tells you it was the sixteenth version
16:12
And nobody ever tells you that that is the thing. Like, you look at all these successful people, and they're like, Yeah, it took me a really long time to get here. And let me help you. It's like, Well, what did you So you started out, you wrote this fabulous starter email, and then all the clients start coming in. They never tell you. I went through five iterations on my website. This is a 16th version of this letter. I went through four different tools before I got like, they never tell you that part. And so I do appreciate you know, you're like, This is what we used to be called, and this is what my website used to look like, and this like doesn't work anymore, because we don't do that anymore. So now I'm doing this like, Oh, good, somebody who's actually saying I didn't wake up this morning, you know, looking like this, right?
I didn't. It took a long time to get here, and a lot of nothing is wasted. You know, nothing that you do is wasted. So you can always, you know, there'll be improvements and you'll change direction. But I think also that's another thing that I that you know, that I just want you to know, is like, let's say you do do something a certain way, right? And then you change it down the road. Nothing you have done is ever wasted, because you will either learn or you will use it, or learn right use pieces of it, so anyway, you'll figure it out. And I'm glad that your mentor made you do that. So because the way you work with folks is fairly clearly defined. Like, you have a defined engagement, right? So do you have a good sense of, like, Okay, this is going to end at a certain date. I'm going to have room for another client at this, you know, in this window. Or, like, how does
Defined timelines that clients keep extending
17:59
that don't Yes and no. So I can have, I have defined timelines, but they can be extended, right? And people kind of, you know, move in and out, and I find it difficult to get people to if they're not extremely motivated, like, once they start, they're like, I started, like, Well, that's all you've done. All you've done is start. So that kind of, you know, you got to keep pushing people. So I can say, yeah, we can be done in six weeks. But then, Oh, I haven't reviewed my stuff yet. Like, I know I can't move to the next thing.
So, yeah. I mean, so, okay, so two different types of projects, but one of them feels like at least the steps are very clearly defined whether the timeline to complete them, you know, it's a lot dependent on the client. And I was laughing while, as you were doing, we definitely, like, went through the process to do our wills and, you know, power of attorney or whatever, and I felt so good starting and it took us 18 months to finish. Yeah, I would be like, you would hate me as a client. I mean, there was a pandemic, but,
yes, it's like,
but I will say it felt so good to actually get it done. I remember when we went to the signing, you know, and I just my whole body breathed like a sigh of relief, and I was like, why do you why did it take this long, except for the pandemic, I just want
to like, yeah, it's right. Anyway, all right. And the reason why we're sort of, you know, continuing to work backwards is, I totally understand what you're saying about how people come to you feels a little haphazard, and getting three at a time or four at a time is great. But it would also be nice to have, like, a little more control over that, or, you know, a way to there's nothing in. Our world
that's like, I'm gonna do three LinkedIn posts and get three clients, right? It's like, it's not that sort of, like digital marketing transactional thing, but at least to know that you're you're planting seeds, instead of just like waiting for people to find you on Google, which, by the way, is so random, because almost nobody I work with gets clients
Fourth in line, and why that's good news
20:21
through Google. Like, nobody, really, I don't know. Like, seriously, like, the last few people, and like, Oh, I found you on Google, like you just did a search. And like, Oh, okay. The thing that bothers me is I'm not there first. So they talk to other people, and they like me, and I appreciate that. But why wouldn't I like, why wasn't I feel like speed dating? I was like, Oh, I went through four and now that I've gotten to you like, oh, oh, okay, I'm glad you like me better than those other people. But I whatever.
See, I think that's that's awesome. I think it's great because, you know, basically, they told you a couple of things. First, they they know what they're looking for. They'll know when they find it, right? They don't just want a warm body, you know, doing this work, right? Right? That they are motivated to solve the problem, that they that they're looking for somebody who like speaks to them on some level, right? All of those things are good. Oh, and you know, in terms of what we call, are you familiar with the term BATNA for negotiating? Okay, so you know, they're motivated to solve the problem, and so all those are good things. You know, by the time they get to you, they probably don't want to go to somebody else also. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, let's say you're the fourth person. Like, they're probably a little bit like, come on, you know, they're not, they're not dying to look at 10 more people, right?
Right. And this one is like, Okay, this one works. Let's do it.
So with that totally, like, if they're a little exasperated, that's, that's actually a good thing, because they're, they're ready where I shouldn't say they're, they are not dying to continue their search.
Okay, tell your ego to, like, cool it a little bit
"Tell your ego to cool it a little"
22:31
instead, just pick up on those buying signals. Well, listen the overthinker in me sees the overthinker in you, and hopefully with a little bit of permission, but also some good next steps, we'll be able to move
forward. Yeah, I think so.
Please go and make a will, then: stop fluffing the pillows
22:45
All right, so we can take this conversation in a few directions, but there's one that I really want to leave you with. But honestly, before we do that, you heard me talk about getting my will done right, like our living wills, healthcare, power of attorney, all of that. And honestly, if you don't have that for yourself, please take a moment after you listen to this and start that process and get that done. I don't know about you, but I remember hearing about Terry Schiavo when I was growing up like that was in the news. And if you're not sure who that is, Google it. Terry Schiavo. It's a heartbreaking case from like, the late 90s about a woman who ended up in a vegetative state, and her husband and her parents basically fought over whether to allow her to pass or to keep her alive, because they were not ready to let her go. It was like heartbreaking, and so for me, at that time, I was old enough for my parents to, like, sit me down and talk about the case and talk about their wills and tell me where their wills were and all of that. But I was also young enough for that to be like, a very shocking conversation to have, and it really made an impression on me. And so I know how important it is to have a will and your instructions and all of that stuff. So after this episode, take a second reach out to somebody who could help you and get that done. Thank you for coming to, I guess, Ted Talk number one in this episode. All right, so let's get back to the business part. So I wanted to pull out a lesson that you can apply to your business, and the one I think that's really most important here is this stop fluffing the pillows. So I talked to a lot of women, including the women in this episode, who want to get clients, but they're spending their time on things that don't get them closer to that they spend a lot of time on the systems in their business, really the things in the background that nobody sees until they actually get to work with you, and that won't actually get you clients and won't get you seen, and they won't help your ideal clients learn about you, and they won't get you referrals or word of mouth clients. It's almost like you know you want to throw a party, but. You spend all your time fluffing the pillows on your couch and spend no time telling people about your party. So instead of thinking about your systems or tweaking your website or setting up your QuickBooks, you know, none of which will actually help you get clients and hold on, yes, I did say your website, because your website is a very tiny corner of the internet that no one sees unless you do something to get visible and then people will go there, but they're not going to just stumble across it among the vast universe of the internet. So instead of doing those things, do the things that will get you in front of the right people and help them start to learn about you and the value you provide. Start posting on LinkedIn, start a newsletter, create a lead magnet and post that on LinkedIn, send a shoulder tap Email to start some warm conversations. And I promise that when the clients come, you will figure it out whether you have the systems all dialed in or not. And listen, I totally, totally get it. Before I had a strategy to start showing up, I would spend a lot of my time fluffing the pillows too, and that's how I know how easy it is to spend your time doing that, because fluffing the pillows, it's fun. It feels like progress. It doesn't make you feel awkward or vulnerable like putting yourself out there does? You can't fail at it, right? And if you do slip up, it's not visible. So for Type A overachievers like me and probably like you too, fluffing the pillows is safe, but it doesn't bring in new clients, and it doesn't actually build your business. It feels like a good use of your time, but it's actually a waste of time. So if you want to bring in clients, make more money and break through to the next level of your consulting business, start taking meaningful action to do that and stop fluffing the pillows. Hey, everything we're talking about in this episode is part of the system, women like you are learning in the academy. In the Academy, we help women consultants install the two systems. Every B to B consultant needs a marketing system to consistently attract the right clients and a sales system to lead a sales process to a yes and get paid more for every contract. So even if you've only gotten clients through referrals or word of mouth, in the academy, you'll learn how to attract and sign clients outside your network, how to lead a sales process with confidence, and how to get paid for your value, not your time. And there's no cold calling or cold emailing involved, no changing your services or making a course, and you won't use any pushy sales tactics. That's just not our vibe. So if you like what you've heard here, the academy may be your right next step to learn how you can get these two systems in your consulting business and make progress faster and with fewer roadblocks. Head to smart gets paid.com/academy and apply, and we can chat about next steps. All right. See you over there. Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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