The 4 P’s: Your Framework For Massive Profitability!

Revenue growth & scalability in your business isn’t just something that just happens — it requires a commitment to generating revenue that starts at the top and is reinforced through your organization. As a company leader, a way to embrace this model for profitability is by something we call the 4 P’s. 

Everyone at MyOutDesk focuses on the 4 P’s — it’s a part of our corporate culture, and it should be part of yours as well! We first started using it back in 2011, and not only did we double that goal using the 4 P’s, but we also ended up helping thousands of virtual assistants find jobs with growing businesses across the country!

So what exactly are “the 4 P’s”? We’re talking about Prospecting, Presenting, Persistent Follow-Up, and Potential Referrals

An Overview Of The 4 P’s

Prospecting

Everyone understands what prospecting is, but not everyone understands how to measure it or how it drives revenue. At its most effective, prospecting isn’t just going out to get new business from people you don’t know. The reality is that you should be spending more time communicating with your existing clients to either encourage them buy more from you or earn referrals from them.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to simply call the clients currently in your sphere and say hello. What stops you from doing that? If you aren’t already prospecting this way, it is probably because you don’t want to sound like a sleazy salesperson and/or you wouldn’t know what to say. You want people to like you. That is something many salespeople fear. The truth is that there are very simple ways to get through that resistance to prospecting existing clients. You can ask them what they accomplished in the past year, and what their goals are for the coming year. It doesn’t have to be a weird conversation along the lines of, “I’m calling to see if you want to buy more insurance,” or “Call me if you want to buy a stock.” It can simply be connecting to see if you can help them accomplish their hopes and dreams.

You can also touch base with something as simple as forwarding an article about something you know they are interested in. It shows them that you care about them and would like to be their partner in what they want to achieve in the world. That is one of the most important things you can do to drive more referrals. If you are not generating 70% of your business from referrals, I believe you have some work to do. That will require you to prospect not just every day, but in the right way to get you to that 70% so you can create a saleable business.

Another area you should be prospecting from is potential or high probability clients. The best time to get a new client is when the client’s life has shifted in some way. If you are an insurance broker, for example, who offers home, auto, and life insurance, you should be looking for clients who have just bought a new home, bought a new car, or had a kid. If you are a real estate broker, the life shifts you might be looking for are kids beginning school, divorces, or deaths. If you are an investment advisor, you might be looking for people with job changes. Whatever the case, you should be targeting the demographic that is most likely to need what you are selling.

One of the things MyOutDesk does well is that our sales team, which includes virtual professionals, is a group full of prospecting powerhouses. They work the phones day in and day out, having four hours of conversation each day. Our sales team is just as effective closing cold leads as they are with warm leads because they focus entirely on clients’ outcomes.

Presenting

If I were to ask you what presenting involves, what would you say? Your answer would probably be something like, “I start by telling them about my product or service, point out why they should choose me and not someone else, and tell them how customers think my company is stellar in its niche.” And there is nothing wrong with that. But what I want you to remember is that presenting should also involve focusing on what is in it for them, the client. What is their best outcome? We often ask our clients, “If you could have one win out of this call, what would it be? If you could walk away with one thing of value, what is it?” In other words, we determine what would be a win for them.

We train our virtual professionals to focus on this. In fact, one of our core values is a servant heart. We want to serve our clients and vendors we are in business with. Our perspective is that when you add value to people, it will be reciprocated. As Zig Ziglar said, “Help enough people get what they want, and you will eventually get what you want.” Focus your presentation on the end-users make sure they are your focus and help them with their dreams and goals.

Persistent Follow-Up

Persistent follow-up really matters, and this is something our virtual professionals excel at. If someone isn’t moving forward with your product, you need to find out why. The other day, my wife and I were talking about my girls moving into one of our second-story bedrooms. I thought bunk beds might be a good solution for them, but my wife wasn’t sure that they would be big enough to handle that yet.

I did a quick Google search for bunk beds to see if that was the case, and naturally within minutes, Facebook had ads for bunk beds in my feed. It’s amazing how that works, isn’t it? Facebook knows what is going on in our world. Even though we aren’t quite ready for bunk beds yet, as long as that ad campaign continues in my feed, I will probably click through to look at them — because guess what? Next year I will be ready to buy bunk beds. It is the same with following up; if a potential client is not ready to buy yet, establish a date when they might be. Next Christmas time, for example, might be a good time to get me thinking about bunk beds again.

This is massively important for our salespeople because we have instilled the notion in them that 90% of the time, there is no way to know why someone isn’t buying unless you ask.

Potential Referrals

The last of the 4 P’s is the potential referral. I don’t like to lose, so if I find that a person just isn’t ready to move forward with me (or even if they do move forward) I like to say, “Hey, I hope you found value in our conversation today. Who are the two or three people you like and admire who would enjoy a conversation just like the one you and I just had?” I am ready to write people’s names down, and often ask for a personal email introduction to warm things up. For any business owner aiming for a 70% referral rate this can transition your company directly into hypergrowth and scaling.

Don’t forget to visit us online at https://www.myoutdesk.com and schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session today and find our how MyOutDesk Virtual Assistant Services can support you to boost your business.