IMHO, I don’t think committing any of these offenses could be considered a good sales strategy

The story I’m going to tell involves an interaction I had with somebody who tried to peddle his services. I’m not going to name names, describe the service or any other particulars because 1) that’s not cool and 2) I believe such an incident isn’t limited to that particular industry. I said this on Facebook but feel the need to go into greater detail.

There comes a time (sometimes more often than we wish) when entrepreneurs need to cold call or send an unsolicited email to folks they’ve never contacted previously. In an ideal situation, cold calling wouldn’t be required but it happens. As a solopreneur, I do everything myself; hopefully the day will come that I don’t have to do everything myself but I’m not there yet.

I got an email from somebody who took a shot in the dark by contacting me in hopes that he can take one of those tasks off my hands. Not for nothing, I appreciated the opportunity for that to happen so we corresponded back and forth over the course of a few days before I decided to take a pass on his services.

The first rule is to listen. I told him what I was doing, how I was set up, etc. but not once did he offer to work with what I had, make suggestions on improvements, etc. All he wanted to do was push his agenda. When I looked at his work samples, the format that he seemed to use wasn’t going to work with what I have and there would’ve been a learning curve, shall we say, for me to do any reviews, updates, etc.

Rule #2 – back up your claims. Don’t insult my intelligence by saying that you have a lot of “big clients” but your portfolio dictates otherwise. I’m not going to knock somebody for having a portfolio of mom & pop shops but don’t pass yourself off to be bigger than you actually are. On the one hand, I might be intimidated by somebody who works solely with “heavy hitters” but I might be flattered to be in that ballpark.

Rule #3 – don’t assume. This part was nightmarish and this is where he showed how much of a tool (I used a less polite word when talking to somebody about this) he was. Quite frankly, I found humor in the whole thing and I wonder how he’s scoring all of these “big clients” and selling “millions in services” if he’s turning me off. I had to laugh when he said in one of his emails that I must be in my early 20s & obviously had a lot of learn. I would’ve killed to see the look on his face when I corrected him by saying I just turned 40 & have over 17 years of relevant experience. The one statement that takes the cake is when he said something about not orchestrating my next failure because I’m already succeeding in that respect. Oh yeah, like I’m really going to change my mind over that statement. Hell, if he’s raking in the Benjamins, what’s the deal with chasing me?

Rule #4 – don’t harass. I understand the art of getting to yes but if the chemistry (or whatever) isn’t there, don’t press it. While my folks that do sales for a living may state otherwise, I equate this part to dating; if I’m not comfortable with you during this part of the transaction, I doubt I will have the warm & fuzzies while we’re doing business together. After I declined, the emails that followed really annoyed me.

Rule #5 – don’t badmouth anybody, especially your competition (who your potential client is currently using BTW). I don’t think I have to go into details about this.

Rule #6 – don’t be dismissive. I know that I’m a startup, you don’t have to remind me about that. Hell, didn’t firms like Microsoft, Apple and Dell start in somebody’s garage, spare bedroom or basement? The condescending attitude doesn’t score points with me.

Finally, don’t take cheap shots. It’s not about getting business from me or anybody about being done with it, it’s about creating future opportunities for yourself. If all went well between us, I would’ve sung his praises and referred him to everybody. He blew it. He’s lucky that I’m classy enough to not name names.

If there are any takeaways from this, I’m glad that I did my due diligence and went with my gut when things didn’t seem right. I feel the need to incorporate some Dale Carnegie by saying that being a meany isn’t a way to win friends and influence people.

Can somebody explain why I should spend thousands for something I can do myself?

I understand that there are certain things that are best left to the pros. I know that I can go to a place like Pep Boys to buy some oil & a filter as a way to get out of paying a mechanic for an oil change but I will gladly pay for the security of knowing that the job is being done right.

As a business owner, I receive numerous emails from “service providers” who claim to provide assorted services; I know that we all have to hustle but I’m not quite there yet for some of the services that are being offered. The particular post concerns those folks that have up a shingle as a consultant and claim to assist firms in completing applications for WOSB, EDWOSB, 8(a) and GSA schedules.

I’m going to backtrack a bit to explain the four items that I just mentioned. WOSB & EDWOSB are designations that have been put into place by the US Small Business Administration to create opportunities for small woman owned businesses. The 8(a) program is also under SBA jurisdiction and is another method for small businesses to secure business with the Federal government. The GSA Schedule is a purchasing vehicle put into place by the General Services Administration to streamline procurement for commonly-purchased products & services by Federal Agencies.

A few months ago, I registered my business as a WOSB and an EDWOSB. I will be honest and tell you that the process wasn’t too intuitive or else my business would’ve been registered more than a year earlier. Once I was able to navigate the requirements, I only needed to upload various documents to the SBA General Login which is an online repository for documents. If a firm is currently certified as a minority, woman or disadvantaged business enterprise then it’s pretty likely that the required documents are readily available. I don’t remember what I submitted but I know that my tax returns and personal net worth statement were definitely included. One of the emails that I received included a fee schedule and for a nice sum of $2,800, I could’ve had this group handle my registration…no thanks.

I will be eligible to apply for the 8(a) program in March once I reach the second anniversary of my business. As I mentioned previously, if a firm is registered as a M/W/DBE then there a good chance that the documents that are required for the 8(a) application are already on hand. The 8(a) application process requires uploading the required documents onto the GLS server. One of the consultants is charging $4,000 to prepare my 8(a) application…I don’t think so.

So…if you’re keeping track, if I chose not to do my due diligence and see what required for the WOSB, EDWOSB and 8(a) programs, I could’ve felt obligated to drop close to 6 grand. Sorry buddy, I’m not a member of the Rockefeller clan.

The GSA requires companies who are applying for the GSA Schedule to be in business for at least 2 years so that’s another item that I will be working on. The only cost that companies need to pay is for Open Ratings which is a reference check service…there’s no way to get out of that. There’s a lot of work that goes into preparing a package to become a GSA Schedule holder but at this particular point, I really can’t justify spending thousands of dollars for an outside consultant to prepare my response.

What’s the take-away from this posting? Do you due diligence and see what the real effort is to prepare an application or response.

OK, you want to connect on LinkedIn & that’s awesome. Be honest about how we know each other.

I don’t know when it happened but LinkedIn started to incorporate a “people you may know” feature. It’s been great to see old faces and I’ve made a lot of reconnections with folks.

My network is quite extensive and can be tied primarily to high school, college, my assortment of jobs (more than I care to admit), and SMPS. I also go to an extensive number of networking events, conferences and preproposal meetings which gives me more opportunities to meet people. I do have folks in my network that fall into work, school, etc. but they fall into one of the following categories: 1) we’ve met, 2) we should meet (since we have mutual connections), 3) we could potentially meet (because we have similar interests) or 4) we might be a referral source to each other (we can’t do business together but we know folks that might be interested).

Let’s shoot straight, it’s tough to keep track of folks at times and quite frankly, I don’t know how I remember certain people along with particulars such as where we met & what we discussed. It’s easy to connect with folks on LinkedIn but it’s helpful to the person that you’re connecting to if a “reminder” is included on how the two of you know each other. Options include: colleague (you worked at the same company), classmate (self-explanatory), we’ve done business together (self-explanatory), friend (self-explanatory but requires you to include an email address), group (you both share a membership on a LinkedIn group), and other (none of the above but requires you to include an email address). There is also an opportunity to include a personalized note in the invitation to connect; if it’s been a while since you’ve been in touch, you only met a few times or there’s a chance that the person receiving the invitation could say “WTF is this,” it might be a good idea to include a brief note in order to minimize the risk that person clicking the “I don’t know this person” button.” Getting the IDK a few times will put you in “hot water” with LinkedIn and you will have a tough time sending out invites.

Personally, I’m an “open networker” and will connect with folks if it seems to make sense. Other folks aren’t as liberal; one person I know requests an actual conversation before agreeing to connect and another is insistent an “actually” knowing the connection. My attitude is that I will connect with somebody until I have a reason to no longer be connected; I have “unlinked” from a few folks for committing certain offenses against me but I don’t go into details.

Lately, I have been getting connection requests from folks claiming to be a “friend.” I’m not offended but I have to have check the person’s profile to see how we know each other.

For those of us that remember having a Rolodex, you can take your LinkedIn profile with you

I’m an “early adopter” of LinkedIn; I joined in 2006, three years after LinkedIn was established and I just hit 1,300 connections.

LinkedIn has been great in terms of reconnecting with former coworkers and folks that I met in my travels but lost touch with for one reason or another.

While going through my connections, I noticed that a number of folks have multiple profiles and I attribute that the challenging economy that has been in place for a number of years which has resulted in job change or loss. I guess some folks thought that new job = new LinkedIn profile; the problem is, I don’t know which profile is the latest & greatest.

Learn how to handle multiple accounts by visiting https://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1275

Learn, relearn & finetune. Thankful for assorted resources.

When I started my business almost two years ago, I learned about assorted organizations that can help me with any area concerning starting a business and running one. Living on Long Island, I am fortunate to be able to travel into the City for courses and seminars that I find beneficial but I was thrilled to find a few places on the Island that had similar offerings.

For my first two months in business, I was busy with a host of course offerings from SCORE NYC & Long Island, NYC Business Solutions and the Farmingdale SDBC. I felt challenged in certain areas and each organization attracted instructors who had demonstrated experience in his or her respective field.

Recently, I was accepted in the FastTrac New Venture Program which is organized by NYC Business Solutions and is an intense program that consists of 7 full-day sessions that helps new entrepreneurs with getting their businesses off the ground. The first session will be on February 6th.

Facing a “catch 22.” Presenting my capabilities to create opportunities.

For years, I was told that I’m good at what I do and that I should think about starting my own business. Let’s face it, we’ve all thought about the “perks” of being our own boss but those dreams get dashed by the fear & uncertainty of being a business owner. This “challenging” economy has shown that “job security” doesn’t exist and a number of folks have hung up a shingle in hopes of creating an opportunity instead of being at the mercy of what’s available.

When I lost my job two years ago, it was not an “ideal” time for me to start a business…hell, it wasn’t an ideal time to be out of work. My daughter was 8 months old and my husband was out of work. I went on the “interview circuit” and was sickened by what I saw; very few firms were interested in the level of experience I had (15 years at the time) and the postings that I noticed called for 5-7 years of experience. I had three versions of my resume; the “true” version covered my 15 years, the “shorted” version covered 10 years and the “dumbed down” version covered 5 years. Which version generated to most responses? The dumbed down version. I went through the exercise of interviewing and I was disgusted by the process. I was in my late 30s at the time and felt sickened by the thought of passing myself off as somebody with 5 years of experience; I hoped the interviewer didn’t notice the grays in my hair since I could no longer afford a decent colorist. The dumbed down version of my resume not only eliminated 10 years of my experience but also didn’t include references to articles that I’ve written, presentations I’ve given, leadership positions I’ve held (I was President-Elect of SMPS-LI at the time) and my extensive association involvement. Yes, I could’ve gone through the motions of interviewing but I knew in my heart of hearts that I was selling myself short and couldn’t help but wonder how happy I would be if I got hired.

When I applied for unemployment, I received a letter from the Department of Labor saying that I was eligible for the Self Employment Assistance Program which would allow me to start a business with the support of the DOL. I had to complete an application and wait to hear if I was accepted. The program required a bunch of deliverables and the completion of 20 hours of classes. At the conclusion of the program, I had an actual business in place.

That’s where the fun began. I started a business that was based around my capabilities but everything that I’ve done to build up my skills were done as an employee or through SMPS. A few months ago, I submitted a proposal for services that I had the capabilities in performing; my representative experience was through my SMPS involvement. I didn’t get the project. I’m facing similar roadblocks as I market the firm to other government agencies because they want to know where I have worked in terms of other public clients so they can properly vet me for work with them. The work that I’ve done to date have been for private clients and I secured those clients through my existing connections. Hopefully, I can find some opportunities as a subconsultant which can help me build a portfolio.

Happy 2012. What I would like to accomplish this year.

As I approach the second anniversary of registering my business, I’ve looked at a series of ups & downs as well challenges & triumphs. As a business owner, I’ve experienced a work/life balance that I seriously doubt that I would have if I continued working as an employee and I experienced a greater level of respect. I’m not going to go on a soapbox and talk about the wrongs that I’ve experienced as an employee because it’s inappropriate and I don’t want to be accused of trash-talking.

I enjoy the consulting end of my business but I would like to expand on the training component as get the community relations part going.

The consulting has been great but since RFP activity has left much to be desired, there hasn’t been too much happening with some of my clients. While a slow-down would be the perfect opportunity to work on positioning a firm & get it geared up for recovery of the market, the reality is that if there aren’t any proposals to respond to, there aren’t any projects being awarded which means that a revenue stream is being diminished. When I came to terms with that, I looked into diversifying my firm’s offerings and developing other income streams.

When I started my business, I never thought about pursing diversity registrations since I believed that all of my work would be done for private clients. One day, I was reviewing an RFP for a client and actually read the staffing section; the area that caught my eye was the community relations role and thought “damn, I’ve done this stuff.” I also couldn’t disregard that the project had a two-year term and this one position required about 2,000 hours of work which didn’t stop my from doing some math.

In 2011, I became received my DBE certification with the MTA and received my M/WBE certifications with NYS, NYC, Nassau County and Suffolk County. I also submitted my documentation to the SBE for their WOSB and EDWOSB programs. I just submitted my application to the Port Authority for their M/WBE certification. In March, I will be eligible to apply for the 8(a) program with the SBA.

A few months ago, I started marketing to small business specialists at various Federal agencies and to current contractors to those entities to create opportunities. That process isn’t instantaneous; the process could take 18-24 months from initial contact to awarding of a contract. I learned that becoming 8(a) certified could shorten that time and getting on a GSA schedule could also help. I can’t apply for the Schedule until my second anniversary.

There are local government contracts that can present some opportunities for me. For that, I’m working on packaging my qualifications to properly present them to my contacts.