Ep 196: Stop Pitching Cold And Start Selling Through Warm Paths

Welcome To Tiny Marketing

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Hey, hey, hey. This is Sarah Nawa Block, and you are listening to Tiny Marketing. This is the Uncut Summer Series, where you are getting the raw, unfiltered, unedited recordings from our interviews, webinars, and workshops. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ridiculousness

Sarah Noel Block 0:17

Hey, all! This episode was originally a live stream and now we're sharing it here as part of the Uncut Summer Series. Enjoy!

Why Decision Makers Feel Unreachable

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Hello. Most B2B sales advice assumes you already have access to the decision-maker. You hear advice on LinkedIn, in your Slack groups, in, on podcasts, and every single time they're giving you sales advice, it's assuming you have access to somebody, that you already have that momentum in place to be able to get on the call, but you don't. They've got an assistant. They've got pr- a procurement process, a calendar that's already full, and a h- a healthy allergy to vendors, contractors, freelancers, and sales pitches. Today, I'm showing you the way, and that, that doesn't involve fighting through any of that. And I know how that goes because w- if we take that way, way back time machine, my very first job out of college was that person. I was that gate. I was in, like, the lowest of the low marketing roles within a company, and then when the receptionist was on lunch, I got to cover reception. So basically, my job was to decide who was worthy of talking to the decision maker, who was not, and then when I had the time, I'd be making the short list of who we would go after when there is something that we knew that we wanted to buy. So I was this person for several years, and that's when I learned that there's a way around it. There's a way around going to decision makers, because people were doing that with me. If I became friendly with this vendor that was calling me all the time, and we became friends, or we were in the same community, I was a lot more reach them over to the people who actually made the money decisions. So that's one avenue, but we're gonna talk about a few different ones today. I want you to stay to the end because I will be sharing the Third Door Playbook. That's what this method is called. It's called the Third Door. So for anybody who is new here, hi. I'm Sarah Nawa Block. I am the founder of Booked Out in Six and the host of the Solo Consultant Summit, and if you are not on the wait list for those tickets, which are going on sale very, very soon, within the next week, get on that list. This QR code will get you there. Okay. So let's talk about the real problem. Most B2B sales advice It assumes that you have access to the people that you're trying to sell to. Decis- decision makers are protected by assistance procurement, overloaded calendar, vendor fatigue. They're not even looking at their LinkedIn messages. But the problem with what you're doing, it's not, it's not about the pitch. It's that you're trying to walk through the wrong door. You're trying to walk through the door that everybody else is walking through, and it's just a little too crowded. So today we're talking three strategies to get around that: the third door, gateway offers, and niche communities. So real quick, before we move on to the teaching element, please hit like and subscribe if you're over watching on YouTube, and if you're watching this on LinkedIn, hit like and follow so you can get more of these because I do this series every other week. The algae likes it, and it'll show it to more people, and I appreciate you. Now, real quick, in the comments, please say hi and where you're coming from because I want this... There's a reason this is... I want to talk to you. Hello. I see, uh, Virginia here. We have London. Hi, guys. It's awesome to meet you or see you again if you're here normally. Get in that chat. Say hello. Tell me where you're from. I want to chat with you. Okay.

The Three Doors Framework

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Let's talk about those three doors that are available to you and why there's only... There's two that you want to go through, but one is really VIP. All right. I'm gonna pull up a media There we go. This. So let's talk about those three doors. We have the front door. This is cold outreach. This is the door that everybody is going through, so direct to the contact. So this, this concept will actually work if you are looking for a job or if you're looking for a contract. You don't want to go directly to the person who is posting that job or directly to the person who talked about hiring someone. Everyone goes through those avenues, which is exactly why they are absolutely bombarded and they ignore them. They ignore all of the people who go through that front door. Cold outreach is a no. I have never gotten work from cold outreach. I find a way to make it warm no matter what. Door number two is the VIP door. Your existing network already has an in. So if you have a first-degree connection that already has a connection with the organization you are trying to sell into, take advantage of that. Please take advantage of that, 'cause that is gold. And then the third door, those are the unexpected pathways. So it's not direct, and it's not your existing network, but it's a shared connection. Like you attended the same event, you're part of the same community, you have a second-degree relationship. I'm gonna remove this so you can see me So those are the three doors. We have front door, which is cold outreach, and rarely works. Avoid it if you can. And you always can. You can always find a warmer way to get to them. Door number two is the VIP door. You have someone in your existing network that already has an in with the decision-maker. And door number three is the unexpected pathways. These are the little ways you can get around to finding that decision-maker through an introduction or a warm outreach because you attended the same event or you're part of the same community. Okay, so who holds what doors?

Finding Third Door Connections

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Um, so front door, nobody holds that. Nobody owns that because it's just, like, going right through. The VIP doors, if you have a large network and you're in a lot of niche communities, you are active on LinkedIn, you're more likely to get into that VIP door, which is your warmest door, and I highly encourage that you have it. And then the third door access, you want to look for people who have third door access to that decision-maker. So this might look like people who have collaborated with them before. Maybe they did a webinar with the specific company, and you have an in with somebody within that company. They can do an intro with you. Maybe you have an in with some, like, consultant who has worked with them before, or a vendor. Let's say they're a HubSpot user. You can probably find somebody who has worked with them through HubSpot. Um, a coach or an advisor, an industry leader. Community hosts are huge. They are a connection A hotbed, I'll say. Um, so community hosts are great. Um, maybe you attended the same event. You are part of the same community. You have a second-degree connection. You can use those to do a little stalking. Go through the decision-maker's posts from before and see, have they ever talked about being on a podcast, that they were a guest on a podcast? Maybe you know the host, or you know someone who knows the host. Um, did they attend an event recently that they talked about? Go find your connections related to that event so you can get a warm introduction. These are just some simple, easy ways to do that. So in the chat right now, I want you to name one company you would love to work with, because maybe someone here has a connection there. Name it in the chat right now. And then what I want you to do, now or later, whatever f- feels like the right thing for you, um, figure out who already has access to them. Have they attended any events? Do a little sleuthing. Go through their LinkedIn. Go through their company blog, whatever there is to find out, did they attend any events? Are they part of any organizations? Do they have any shared connections with you? Are they part of a community that you're a part of? Um, so start there, and try and identify three possible third doors. So I'm gonna head over there. Hello from Vegas. Hello from London. Hi, guys. So chat with me. Tell me, what are some companies that you are looking to get into right now? Because you never know who's in this chat right now that might have a connection. Okay.

Gateway Offers For Faster Yeses

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Let's talk about the next part. Number two is gateway offers. Most B2B offers are way too big for a first engagement. You're coming in trying to propose to them with a retainer or a annual contract, and they're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We just met. I just swiped right on Tinder. This, this, this is a little much." So let's talk about the gateway offer, which is an easy entry offer for someone that, you know, can work with you when they are relatively cold. You might have that one warm connection from your VIP or your third door. But other than that, they don't know or trust you yet. They are fast, they are low risk, they are outcome focused, and they are trust building. Okay, I'm gonna pull up the This thing right here. All right, let's talk gateway offers. So here are some... The, the problem with it. So a lot of times people are coming in and saying, "Okay, let's move right into a retainer or an annual contract or a full implementation," but nobody wants to say yes, um, when they just met you. So what it should be is something like an audit, a diagnostic, a strategy session, or a short sprint that can be done within two weeks, and it leads into a bigger engagement. Okay, I'm gonna remove this so you can see my face. Hi. Hi again. That's me. Um, okay, so this is the basic structure that I teach gateway offers to be. They should have two bookends of live elements, and then middle should be documentation of what the foundation to solve their problem is. So the first part of that gateway offer should be an interview where you're interviewing all of the stakeholders involved in this problem, and some of you might be, "Mm-mm, that won't work for me because I work with large enterprise companies. They're not going to do that." They are gonna do that because I also worked with large enterprise companies, and this is exactly how I would sell them Because right now, if you're selling straight into the retainer, you're making a real risky guess at what they need. What is the true problem that they're going through? What is the actual journey that you need to take them through? By having a gateway offer first, you can truly diagnose what's happening within that organization. So many times I would go into this, and they would tell me that their problem is X, and after interviewing the stakeholders, I learned the problem is actually Y and involves a completely different type of scope in order to fix it. So you need to be the expert here. You're the doctor, so you need to diagnose during this time and then prescribe it on the last call. So first step is an interview with all stakeholders. Second step is to, is to document what that strategy looks like going forward. How would you solve this problem? What does that look like? What is the timeframe? What is the cost? So it's not a proposal. It is literally a strategy of what would make sense, but you also give them, "All right. This is what it would look like to work with me. You can take this strategy, you could run with it, and you can do it yourself, or you can work with me." And then the last piece is the live review of it. So you give them the strategy, and then you review it together so they can come with all of their questions. And questions, by the way, are objections in disguise. So be prepared to answer those objections right on that call and talk about what that next step is. Do you want to move forward with building this out with me, or do you want to take this and run with it on your own? You can get an answer within 30 days with a B2B corporation to move forward rather than the 12 to 18 months that it generally takes on average for you to close a sale, so this streamlines it a ton. So stop selling retainers, okay? Don't sell the con- don't big project first. Start with an entry offer that diagnoses the problem and hands them a strategy to solve it, and then you upgrade from there. You sell them into the upgrade, which is that contract, the retainer, et cetera So this allows you to take those colder, you had a warm introduction through a VIP, or you had an introduction through a third door, and sell them into something that they're willing to say yes to. And a lot of times, organizations have a cap on what they can approve at different levels price-wise. So know that cap. What is it that people are allowed to approve pricing-wise? And go with that. That should be your price for this so they don't have to get multiple people signing off on it. Drop your questions if you have any. Okay, awesome. I see a bunch of questions, and I am going to get to all of those as soon as I'm done with this third strategy, okay? I love how involved you guys are. It makes these live streams so fun. Okay, let's talk about niche communities, which is the next step. Okay, right here

Diagnose First Then Prescribe

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So niche communities are, they're, they're gathering spaces. Think like Slack communities, Circle communities, um, association forums, masterminds, industry communities, conference communities. So what I would love for you to do is leverage these niche communities. Find the ones where your either your ideal customer hangs out, or the person who works with your ideal customer hangs out, so you can build a reputation and trust with them so you have more third door connections and VIP door connections. I don't want you pitching in these communities. What I want you to do is I want you to become known as the experts. I want you to answer questions when they come up. I want you to host workshops with the community owner. I want you to share insights and make introductions between members. I'm gonna remove this so you can see me So niche communities, they are not for pitching. They are for extending your network and building out a larger VIP door and a larger third door. It's huge. It makes such a big difference. I've talked several times about my 30-day experiment where I tried, I don't even know how many experiments over the course of 30 days, and I tracked it all in Airtable, and I found that 40% of the leads that turned into customers, I got through a niche community. This is such an under-leveraged strategy. These communities are like warm watering holes where only your ideal customers and people who work with your ideal customers are hanging out. This is where trust compounds. So you're not chasing one specific deal with this. You're becoming known as the expert in your thing. You're building trust with that community in that circle, and then you become the person that people are naming freely without even having to ask. This is so under-leveraged and... Well, two things. One, I built a directory of niche communities, so email me, I guess, because I don't have it out yet, at hello@saranoelblock.com if you're curious about that. And the other thing you can do to get within a niche community is to sign up for the Solo Consultant Summit, which is up there in the corner, because we're probably around 3,000 attendees that are also consultants that can help you to then become your third door, your VIP door, and there will be a community in there, so you don't have to do all of this alone. And, you know, it's backed by over 20 consulting experts that are going to be speaking on these topics to help you. So make sure you get on the waitlist for that and email me if you want access to the directory. I don't have it for sale yet,

Niche Communities That Build Trust

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but it's built, and it's coming out right around... Well, a little secret for you. Right around the Solo Consultant Summit, it's coming out Okay, let's talk about the last thing. We have our third doors, we have our gateway offers, and we have our niche communities. All three of these strategies work because they meet the buyer where trust already exists, through somebody they already trust, through a warm connection, instead of trying to build it cold. I have not sold anything cold ever. I always find some sort of warm in, in order to build that connection with someone who is going to ultimately hire me. But knowing the strategy and actually mapping it out are two different things. So if you're sitting here and you're thinking, "Okay, I get this, but I don't actually know who my third doors are," that's why I put together this worksheet... Hold on. I'm gonna pull it up. Here you go. The Third Door Playbook that you can download. Just make a c- it's a, it's a Google Doc, so you can make a copy of it, and it will show you all of the different ways that you can find your third door within these organizations Um, it's super helpful. I use it myself when I'm looking to find that connection with somebody new. So download the worksheet. The link is right there in that QR code, and block just 15 minutes this week and actually do the exercise. Make a shortlist of the accounts that you want to sell to and find the third doors. You're gonna see what a huge difference it makes Okay, so a quick recap before I get into the questions. We have three entry points to get into these B2B organizations that are bigger, that are gate kept. We have our third doors and VIP doors, of course, that give us access. We have our gateway offers that give us an easy entry point to be able to work with them without them having to go through all of the red tape and have multiple people sign it and add you to pur- procurement. You should be able to be, to be able to pay on a, a pay card. You know, some middle manager has a credit card, you should be able to be paid that way. That's the pricing you wanna sit at. And the niche communities. This is where you build trust at scale with potential third doors and potential clients. So which strategy do you wanna try this week? Tell me in the chat. And while you are doing that, I am going to pull up your questions and go through it Okay. So we have... I'm gonna go from the top I have my ICP nailed, but don't have a target list of companies. Maybe I should. Hey, Carla. It's good to see you. Um, so having a target company, it makes it so much easier, 'cause then you can go ahead and you can find those for door... The VIP doors. And a way to start when you don't have that list is to go through your LinkedIn profile views and see what companies are looking at your profile already, 'cause they're already a little bit warm. And then you get that introduction with them, and that's easy. I closed a, I think it was a $60,000 contract doing that, where I just... I looked at my profile views and I saw this one company just kept looking at me, and it was clear they weren't trying to sell to me. It was something unrelated to selling to me. So I went and looked for my connections and didn't out- like, ask for an intro with them, and we closed a deal using a gateway offer first. So it works really, really well. That's an easy place to start. Another way to start if you don't already have a target account list is to go on LinkedIn Jobs and see what companies are hiring for what you do, because they might be looking for someone that's interim. And then the third place I'll tell you to find, uh, to start building your shortlist of what companies to go after is to go into your niche communities. And there's usually, like, "Help, I'm looking to hire," or, "Help, this part-time job is needed." Go through that and see which ones make sense for you. So those are three ways that you can start building, uh, a list of target companies to go after We have targeted companies use Gryft and 2Logix, so if anybody here has access to them, please let the jazz dog know. Um, let's see. We have, "If your core offer is $12,000, what price should your gateway offer?" Yes, 10%

The Third Door Playbook Download

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is w- I, I always say start at, start at 10%, work your way up to that. However, I do make a little adjustment to that when you're selling into, like, larger corporate corporations or enterprises, because there is a lot of red tape that you want to avoid. So if you're selling into those companies, make sure you're finding out what their pay card, their credit card, their company card, whatever they call it, what their threshold is. What are they allowed to approve on their own at the point that you have the decision-maker, and start there. Make your gateway offer that price. Okay, another target company is Wise Hav. If anybody has connections there, share it please. Okay, Carla's gonna try the third door this week. Yes, do it, and please let me know how it goes. I wanna hear We have, "This week you're going to make connections through other consultants and podcast hosts." That's such a great way to do it. That reminds me, too. When I first launched my business, the very first day of my Tiny Marketing was alive and I wasn't working corporate anymore, I started my live stream, which was a live stream now, it's a live stream today, um, but turned into my Tiny Marketing podcast. But all of those guests that I interviewed on my live stream back then became my third doors and my referral partners. So having a show and doing collaborations and partnerships, those build your third doors so, so well. So I love that idea. Okay, it looks like that was everybody's questions. Um, thank you so much for joining me today. I appreciate you. And don't forget to grab that Third Door Playbook, which will show you a bunch of ways to find third doors for you. And if you are interested in that niche community directory, which will be coming out the week of the Solo Consultant Summit, send me an email so I can put you on the wait list for it. All right, I'm out. Bye. If you enjoyed this episode, please, please, please remember to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and

Q&A And Final Takeaways

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