Kevin’s Rule Number 3

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Hey Kevin Pritchett here

Kevin’s Rule Number 3
‘Only Deal With People Who Want To Deal With You.  If They DON’T, The Reasons Don’t Matter

Now just stop and think about this rule for a moment…..
Makes incredibly good sense doesn’t it?  Too many times business owners fret over ‘the one that got away’ or ‘why didn’t he/she sign the deal?”

Now for sure, honest critique and evaluation of your sales processes are absolutely important in correcting problems and seeing where you could do better.

The Reasons They Say’No’ Don’t Matter…Seriously!!

Through bitter experience I have learned that the customer that doesn’t choose me, for whatever reason, by definition is NOT the RIGHT customer for my business…I hope you get this!!

Unfortunately, most business owners don’t.  They  dwell on the failure to gain that WRONG customer  much more and with much more energy than they think about ways to attract the RIGHT customer…I hope you get this too!!

The RIGHT Customer

The RIGHT customer is the person who

  1. Has a problem/need they are ready to solve NOW
  2. Appreciates that you have the solution they seek
  3. Is ready, willing and able to move forward with you NOW.

If for whatever reason someone is NOT every one of those 3 points above that prospect is NOT the right customer for you and the reasons why they are not are not in your control and shouldn’t be of concern to you.

This Is Where Most Mess Up….

Your big mistake is worrying about why Fred didn’t sign your contract .  FORGET WHY FRED DIDN’T DO BUSINESS…

Instead, continue to follow up with that FREEDA, preferably in an automated fashion, that allows you to stay  in front of that prospect or ‘top of mind’ until they ARE ready, willing and able to do business with you NOW.   This is where most business owners mess up…they don’t follow up the right way.

There’s A Right Way And  Wrong Way To Follow Up

And why don’t you follow up…it sucks that’s why.  Let me clarify a bit…. It sucks because  in many cases you’ve been brainwashed into believing ‘effective follow up’ consists of:

–badgering the prospect on the phone,
–leaving endless voicemails and texts, and now facebook
messages….all in the vain attempt to break through…
–sending expensive and useless direct(JUNK) mail

Listen Up And Listen Good….
If someone doesn’t want to deal with you, all the phone calls and texts and facebook messages in the world won’t change that!!!

Instead:
–Discover who you your target market is
–Discover what they desperately want/problem they have
–Offer to solve it
–Stay in front of them (using automated follow up and
appointment setting tools) with your targeted solution to their
searing pain…and over time the ones who want to do business
with you will.

Stop Worrying About The Ones Who Say No

Take-home message, STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHY SOMEONE WON’T DO BUSINESS WITH YOU AND START FINDING THE ONES WHO WILL.

In future posts I’ll show you how to make a FORTUNE from the ones who say ‘No’ (without spending one second worrying about why they said ‘No’..how bout that!!!)

Remember…..
“Things don’t get better with neglect…..”

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Founder-Founders/CEO Business Collective (FBOC)
JPI Ventures LLC-Private Equity
Managing Director

P.S. Starting next week, on the ( CLICK HERE TO JOIN FBOC Linkedin Group, I’m beginning my much anticipated series entitled:
How To Create Tax Free Income For Life…

Or you can leave your email in the box to the right to start receiving the series….

How To Create A Business Plan That Gets You Money

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Hey Kevin Pritchett here:

Forget All The Crap You’ve Been Taught…Seriously!

As the Managing Director of a Private Equity Fund and as a business attorney who has represented high net worth business owners and gets pitches and business plans presented to me  for over 30 years…..

I can tell you there’s a bunch of crap floating around about how to REALLY raise money using business plans, pitches and such.

The truth is:

–the format of the business plan/pitch is NOT the critical issue

–the ‘credentials or firm’ of the person/entity does NOT make as much difference as people would have you believe…

-Here’s what DOES matter a TON

The 4 ‘No B.S’ Business Plan Components

1.How Much Money Do You Want?
I can’t tell you how many times people approach my Venture Capital firm or my law firm wanting to ‘pitch’ their plan…but they NEVER make clear how much money they want!!

You must make clear up front early how much funding you’re seeking and…DON’T MAKE ME ASK YOU HOW MUCH MONEY YOU WANT…or worse..don’t have me ask you and you don’t know or you say ‘it depends…WRONG WRONG WRONG.

2.  How Much Money Are You Going To Give Me?
“What’s In It For Me‘ applies to venture fund sponsors like it does for ALL human beings…you MUST tell me how much money you are promising in exchange for the investment..again…upfront…early.  Don’t make me guess or wonder what my return will be…a kiss of death to any pitch…’ask me how I know..and how many pitches I toss in the trashcan?!!

3.  When Am I Going To Get Paid?
After your ‘better mousetrap’ is completed and you ‘rock the world’ how soon are you going to pay me? As an potential investor, I must know upfront and as early as possible how soon I’m gonna get paid.  It can be short or long as fits the investment program,…but it MUST be clearly stated and as early as possible in your presentation. Get the themes here….

4.  How Likely Is It That You Will Pay Me What And When You’ve Promised?
This is the section where you put your operators profiles, spreadsheets and operational guidelines, market niche, intellectual property uniqueness, other barriers to entry for competitors, sales forecasts yada, yada, yada.

Bottom line here though, after all the song and dance,  you MUST convince me that everything you promised me (or most of it at least LOL) is logical and is likely to occur. Proof trumps puff and the more sales examples to act as your ‘proof of concept’ the better.

Ideally you can show a track record of sales successes or performance successes that then can be ramped up by the investment you’re seeking.  Alternatively, its the ‘kiss of death’ when someone asks me for money for something that hasn’t been tested with sales…think Mark Cuban’s questions on Shark Tank..”how much have you sold?”

Granted there are some early stage applications where the proposed plan is groundbreaking, never been done before…mostly in the tech space.  That’s fine but you STILL must connect all the dots and show how your proposed product fills a void, solves a pressing problem with a huge market, etc.

Even with first impression, first in space applications…proof trumps puff!!

The Bottom Line
So the form of your business plan software, your damn logo, your ‘Steve Jobe-seque- ‘Apple-like’ cool-ass presentation style matters far, far less than your business proposal containing substantive components containing the information above.

Hope this helps…it sure is the TRUTH!!

“Remember..Things Don’t Get Better With Neglect…..

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Founder-Founders/CEO Business Collective
www.KevinPLaw.com
JPI Ventures LLC
www.JPIVentures.com

Do ‘Business Texts’ Irritate You?

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Ok…I REALLY should be writing today about Business Owner tax free income strategies (given its the day after business tax filing deadline…) but I’ve got another ‘stone in my shoe’ to share first.  Let me ask you a question…

DO BUSINESS TEXTS IRRITATE YOU?

They irritate me and let me tell you why…..
For YEARS I never understood the whole point of texts..just pick up the phone and call me already!!!

Then EVERYBODY started texting as the standard way to communicate with me…so much so that it seems NOBODY answers the phone now!!!

The thing that irritates me about texts (and why the promoters of texting are pushing it so) is because texts are IMMEDIATE.

By that I mean, we all immediately read a text and presumably immediately act on it….unlike email now that can sit for hours and sometimes days without opening and response.

But here’s why texting in the business area irritates me ( if you’re a regular reader of my feed, you’ll notice how a BUNCH of stuff irritates me…I digress!!)

JUST BECAUSE YOU TEXT ME DOESN’T AUTOMATICALLY MEAN I’M REQUIRED TO RESPOND TO YOU!!

Isn’t the pace of our business world fast enough?
In MY world of working with Founders and CEOs and their business succession, tax planning, income planning and estate planning issues… I MUST have a clear, thorough audit trail of communication…and text snippets just don’t cut it.

But more to my own personal point I don’t care for a perfect stranger or even a business client expecting me to stop EVERYTHING I’m doing at whatever time of the day or night and respond to him or her…not going to happen!!

So here’s my ‘take home’ message for you business types…

text your wife, significant other, child or buddy to let them know you’re home safe, on your way, thinking of them,…..

But for your business associations….

PICK UP THE PHONE!!

Remember…
“Things don’t get better with neglect…..”

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Founder The Founders/CEO Business Owners Collective (FBOC)

P.S.  I’m starting a series on TAX FREE Income Planning for the members of my Founders/CEOs group.  To receive the series CLICK HERE.

 

These 3 Things NEVER Lie!

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The 3 Things  That NEVER Lie…

  1.  The Scale
  2. Your Mirror
  3. Your Bank Account

The Scale
You eat Doritos, donuts and Frappachinos all day every day but just can’t figure out why you can’t lose weight….RIIIIGHT!!

Guys, suck in their guts and ladies well, I don’t even want to start to describe what YOU do…smaller sizes, tight jeans…you know what you do!!!

But the great truth teller is the scale.  You either carry more weight than you should or you don’t…and the scale tells the truth!!

The Mirror
You all know the famous question..
“Do these pants make my butt look big?”
A bachelor will say…YEP
A married guy will lie…and say ‘oh no dear.”

Guys will stand sideways, and try to hide the protruding gut…
But here again, the great truth teller is the mirror..look and see what REALLY is.

Your Bank Account
Now before you all go ‘PC’ and rant on about how money is NOT the measure of all things and such…I’m NOT repeat NOT saying money is the measure of all things.

But  for BUSINESS OWNERS, the bank account ABSOLUTELY IS a measuring stick to how you’re doing in your business.

You can have all the fancy- pants branding, and social media presence and web site opt in and Search Engine Optimization prowess you want…..but at the end of the day if you don’t have more money in your business and personal bank account than you did the week, month and year before…SOMETHING’S WRONG AND NEEDS TO BE FIXED.

Why I’m Ranting About This Right Now

And why am I ranting on about this right now??
I just completed my 2017 tax returns for all my businesses (they’re due March 15 sports fans!!!) and the monthly and yearly income and expense compilations are EXTREMELY REVEALING.

I see EXACTLY where I failed and where I need work.  It should NOT have come as a surprise but it did…because I was in denial about certain projects and businesses  However. the the numbers on my balance sheet and the money NOT in my bank account for those businesses doesn’t lie.

Tell yourself the truth…always.  It is WAY easier in the long run!!

“Remember…things don’t get better with neglect.”

Kevin Pritchett
Founder-Founders/CEO Business Owner Collective FBOC
P.S.  If you want to join the sharpest CEOs and business owners  in a no holds barred community..CLICK HERE

Character Matters…In Business And In Life..A Lot!!

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Ok right at the outset some of you won’t like what I’m about to say.  But quite frankly I don’t really care…because its too important not to say….

    Character matters in business and in life…
it matters a lot!!

Day after day we’re bombarded with stories of …

–unscrupulous business practices
–unscrupulous political practices
-unscrupulous personal practices

“It Feels Like Life Itself Is Unraveling”

A colleague said something to me a while ago that has haunted me for months.   She was describing the general malaise she was feeling in her business and life and she described it as if

“life was unraveling…that nobody and nothing had any meaning anymore.”

Think on it…if none and nothing can be relied upon to be telling the truth, or to deliver value or to care about anyone other than gratifying themselves in the moment…..I guess life REALLY IS unraveling.

The  ‘Moral Bankruptcy’ of President of The United States

It’s ‘over the top’ bad when the President of the United States is being investigated or all manner of alleged misconduct including not one but SEVERAL encounters with prostitutes.

And what’s most mind boggling about the Presidential escapades is that the base of followers who support him ARE NOT PHASED ONE BIT!!!

The explanation is that ‘as long as the President supports the policies WE WANT, he can do whatever.”

Here’s The Part That Will Piss You Off…..

We can’t afford as a nation, a society to be so self serving and self concerned that we turn a blind eye to moral defective character….IT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT ACCEPTABLE.

So…the ‘take home’ message for business owners….

CHARACTER DOES MATTER….
for Every client
for Every customer
for Every vendor
for Every employee

For if what we do as business owners does not support the general improvement of our customers/clients/employees and ultimately society….we are doing fundamental injustice to the society and ultimately ourselves…and furthering the unraveling of the social and moral fabric of our society.

Now…I said it!!!

Tell me what YOU think!!

“Remember….things don’t get better with neglect.”

Kevin Pritchett
Law Office of Kevin Pritchett
Founder-The Founder/CEO Business Collective

P.S. I’m DEAD SERIOUS about wanting your feedback on this post…don’t be apathetic…SPEAK UP!! Post your comments below.