What business owner doesn’t want to avoid the roller coaster ride of feast or famine when it comes to having quality leads? Yet it can seem so hard to avoid. Solving this problem feels like the elusive Holy Grail.
It used to seem very mysterious to me too, but no longer. I learned something from my garden this year that directly impacts creating a steady stream of prospects. Here’s what that is.
I’ve been gardening for a number of years now, but I always experienced the plant, wait, harvest all at once, left with nothing approach to agriculture. In the spring I would plant starter plants, usually all at the same time. I’d wait for them to grow, deal with having more zucchini, tomatoes, etc. than we knew what to do with all at once, and… then as fast as it came, it was all gone. Nothing left. Used up and wanting for more.
It puzzled me to understand how the “real farmers” got such a steady and ongoing stream of crop for the duration of a particular vegetables growing season. The answer? Continuous sowing of seeds.
What the pros do (and what I attempted to do better this year) is to plant and then at regular 2 week intervals plant some more. Farmers repeat this for the duration of the growing season. As a result, they have a nicely tiered version of a harvest with a steady supply. There isn’t just one big tremendous peak followed by a crashing nothingness. Sure there is some variation, but nothing dramatic.
Continuous planting is also the answer to the business owner’s dilemma. We often talk about taking action in terms of building relationships, marketing, and sales as “planting seeds”. The problem for most people, though, is that they don’t plant these seeds as consistently, frequently, and deliberately as they could. It becomes hit or miss because they are busy with client work, aren’t sure what to do (so they do nothing), or use a haphazard approach. As a result, at any given moment they may or may not have (enough) clients or leads. So then when the famine hits, they go frantic planting seeds because of a desperate need for cash flow and then the cycle starts all over again.
If our farmers took this approach we would likely starve because they planted the wrong vegetables for the climate, at the wrong time, didn’t bother to put the seeds in the ground once they purchased them, or didn’t tend to the seeds along the way. If you are honest it about it, as business owners, if we don’t do what the farmers do, we could starve too!
Now is the time to take a look at what you are doing in your business to see if you’re poised for a continuous harvest of leads or only random bites. Then based on what you see, take new, inspired, and consistent action for better results.
Not sure where to start? What actions to take? The Business Health Worksheet will help you diagnose, focus, and prioritize so you can have regular, satisfying harvests in your business! Check it out here: https://www.thepaulagcompany.com/your-healthy-business
Love the analogy Paula, continuous planting and nurturing is absolutely required–and often, you need to plant more than you think. The sales cycle can be looonngg.