It is now Autumn so let’s do some Spring cleaning!!
Sounds a bit strange, but in fact, it is Spring down under so maybe not so mad!!
I have a few connections that live there and saw a post from one saying it was the first day of Spring and it got me thinking that I ought to do some on my business, so I am going to get ruthless with my pipeline and my network, it should be quite cathartic.
No alt text provided for this image
Although I am surprised by the number of people that have said they are not ready for my LinkedIn skills but have come back when they were. In the bad old days of sales training, you were told a NO is closer to your next YES, or a NO not now. We soon learnt it was a NO go away, but now having been Sandler trained and a lot wiser, I disqualify people or let them disqualify themselves. But this was not always the case and in my first year, I added people to my pipeline who I just wouldn’t these days, so that needed a thorough spring clean. This has reduced the numbers by quite a lot and I have sent messages to others and if I don’t hear back from them, then they will be culled as well.
My next job is to go through my LinkedIn network and also trim away on the network. My LinkedIn network stretches back to 2006 and to be honest if some people are still in my network then I need to find out why if I have had no engagement from them. Unlike my pipeline, I do not use LinkedIn solely for lead generation and conversion. My network is made up of people I am happy to signpost people to as experts in their field. I also have people whom I admire but have never met, but it is only a few as I have met over 95% of my network. I also use them to help me with projects and advice.
The other thing I do is if someone connects to me either by asking or me reaching out and then does not engage for 2/3 months, despite my reaching out I will remove them. I am not a collector so if no engagement then no need for them.
I am also looking at some potential JV’s so need to move them forward so my project spreadsheet is spring cleaned. I have also looked at my networking activities and changed that as well. Some groups I will now only attend once a quarter and others less frequently. I have to be in the right room to apply and complete my networking plan and some groups do not warrant a more regular attendance.
At the end of this, I will have a far more realistic data and network rather than hoping that business will come from some of these historic sources. It will be smaller but will be far more productive.
Do you need a spring clean and reality check? I am sure you, like me, will benefit from it, so why not start today?
