How’s your conversion rate going these days? There comes a time when many business owners say, “I NEED TO ACCELERATE MY CONVERSION RATE?”

But I have a different take on this…

You should never need to accelerate your conversion rate.  You should have enough leads in your pipeline at any given point that somebody is always converting. Most of the time when you are trying to accelerate your conversion rate, you’re coming from a place of lack.  

You’re coming from a place of desperation…

“I need this right now.”

“I need this client.”

“I need this money.” 

When you really should be asking yourself, how can I continue to build my pipeline so that I don’t need to accelerate my conversion rate?

Here’s how you can do just that:

1- Understand where your leads are coming from. In order to do this, you need to be tracking your conversations. There is a great tracker available in the Lead Gen Done Different Bundle.

2- Review these conversations. What are their pain points? What are they needing?

3- Reflect. Look at the last 3 people you have converted. How many conversations did you have? How long were they in your pipeline? What made them finally pull the trigger to work with you?

4- Put yourself back into their world. Put your offers out there.

We’re talking about all this and more in Episode 6 of The Real Truth About Business Podcast today!

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If we haven't connected yet - I would LOVE to chat with you! Let's share a virtual cup of coffee and you can tell me all about you and your business.

Connect with me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/michelle_denio/

To learn more about customized 1:1 business growth support packages, visit our website or email michelle@michelledenio.com

Hello all of my absolutely favorite people in the whole wide world. No, I do. I truly, truly appreciate every single one of you that listens to the podcast on a weekly basis or whenever you listen. Um, I don't think many of us take the time, you know, with podcasting, the hardest part about it is that there's not a lot of analytics around it. And so it's me on the other end of the, you know,

on the other end of your speakers and I'm kind of just talking. But I know that you are there and I want you to know that I see you, I hear you, and I appreciate you. And also if to ask you a favor in the sense of because there is not a lot of analytics around podcasting, if you would not mind, if you listen to the show and you love it, either share it with a friend or tag me on your socials or send me an email and just let me know. Or obviously the best is to leave a review.

and just let other people know that you've listened and that you're here. I really, really do appreciate it. But I'm super excited to dive into today's topic, which is, it actually came from a conversation. I had met a friend for breakfast a couple weeks ago. We were talking about business planning because I was knee deep into biz planning, my own biz planning. We had just come off of our biz planning session with my group program.

And so I was talking all about it and the things that were coming up and we were just talking about business because it was like half the year had been over. It was mid, you know, right in the beginning and end of June, beginning of July. So it was kind of like that mid way point in the year. And we were just talking about really being able to look at your numbers and look at your business and understanding exactly where your leads are coming in and what your conversion rate is. And anyway, throughout the conversation, we were just talking about all of these things and talking about

pipeline and how a lot of people, so there's two sizes and I don't want to, because there's really two conversations that can be had here. So I don't want to get too far on a tangent, but I want to at least give you a little bit of the backstory. So you understand what I was talking about, where this came from. But one of the things that I've been really working with on my, with my biz planning participants is understanding your conversion rate, right? And looking at the leads in your pipeline and how long they've been in your pipeline and understanding how long it takes them to convert.

because the conversation that comes up a lot is that, okay, I need five clients, but if there's only 10 people in your pipeline and on average, one out of five converts, like the math doesn't math, right? Like 10 people in your pipeline to convert five, but really on average, one out of five converts. Or, I had somebody say like, one of the people that converted last month for me was somebody I met like six, eight months ago. And so,

That was the conversation I was having with her. It's like, well, how long have they been in your pipeline? They met you six months ago. How many conversations have you had, et cetera? And the woman that I was chatting with said to me, okay, that's all well and good, Michelle, but how do you accelerate your conversion rate once you know it? Okay, so that's the conversation I wanna have today about accelerating your conversion rate. And the conversation in my answer to her because I thought this is such a

great, great question is like, how do you accelerate your conversion rate? And so I think there's a lot of ways. And if you talk to a lot of coaches and they've got, there's all these tricks and you know, different things to accelerate the conversion rate. But here's my answer. You should never need to accelerate your conversion rate. You should have enough leads in your pipeline at any given point that somebody is always converting. Okay. And what I mean by that is the only reason people are needing to accelerate their conversion.

right, the conversion rate would be because again, like they're trying to fill five spots and they're talking to five people, right? And so maybe that you met those five people last month and now you're trying to convert them this month, but they could be on vacation or they could be in the middle of a launch or they could be working with a big on a big project, right? And they're not ready to convert, but somebody that you met six months ago is now ready because they've gotten there. Maybe they needed to get their stuff in alignment or they were working.

some things in the backend or whatever it is, right? Like, so my point is, is that every single month, you should be working on filling your pipeline. But the problem is, is when people get busy, they stop working on filling their pipeline. And then all of a sudden they burn through that pipeline, and then they need more clients. And so they rebuild up their pipeline, and then all of a sudden they need more clients. And then, you know, it's this constant, this constant cycle. And so,

people are constantly feeling like I need them to convert faster. Why am I following up with them? Where the reality is, is if you are just constantly in a state of building your pipeline and nurturing them at any given points during the month and that month that you're currently in, somebody should be ready to convert. Right? So again, this is why I think it's so important for you to look at your numbers and understand exactly like how long is it taking people?

to convert. How long are people staying in your pipeline? Yes, there's ways that you can increase it. Like I have certain people in my pipeline right now on a small offer that's like a $47 offer. They've clicked on the link multiple times. But again, it's like, okay, either buy it or don't. Like stop looking at it, you know, and there's ways that you can kind of maybe just reach out to people. I'm not saying that there's not ways to accelerate it.

But the problem is, is most of the time when you are trying to accelerate your conversion rate, you're coming from a place of lack. You're coming from a place of desperation. You're coming from a place of, I need this right now. I need this client. I need you to convert. I need this money. And that's when people start to like get the icky feeling. I just said, get the ick. I hate that. My goddaughter says that she's 21. She was like,

She told me she spent a week with me and she kept using that word. Like they get the ick. I was like, what the hell is the ick? Um, and there I just said it like, ew. Um, anyway, I digress. Um, you know, like it's an icky feeling when people feel like you're trying to convince them to convert when they're not ready. And so that's where I'm saying, like, just let people be ready when they're ready. And if you have a pipeline and you have.

a system where you're continuing to nurture them and you know exactly where they're at and you have a note system, which, you know, that's why I created the lead tracker that I did inside the lead generation bundle. I mean, truly, that's why I created it because I couldn't keep track of it either. And the other thing too is I think when you don't have a way to keep track of it, you don't realize how many leads you truly have in your pipeline, right? Like when you aren't truly tracking all of the conversations that you're having, which I know sounds daunting.

But it's not because when you can track the conversations that you're having, you can see like, wow, I really do have a lot more leads in my pipeline than I thought. They might not all be hot leads, they might be warm leads, they might be like semi-cold leads, but they're leads, right, and when you have a way where you can visually see exactly who's there and you know exactly where they're at, like I have one person right now that I can think of off the top of my mind that said to me like, summer is crazy, we're traveling, we're doing all of these things, like.

She's super interested in something that I have. And she just said to me, it's just not a good time. She said, I know looking at my schedule, it's just not a good time. And so she's still a lead in my pipeline and I know exactly where she's at. I've got a note and I've got her in my schedule to follow up with her in September. But again, I'm not relying on her right now in this month.

to do business with me. If she was the only lead in my pipeline, that would make me feel anxious. And that's the thing, I don't wanna try to accelerate her. She point blank said, I'm not ready. Okay, so who's ready this month? And so if you are continuing to build those leads and have those conversations and bring people into your audience, then the conversion, understanding your conversion rate is important, but you're not in a place or a need to accelerate it.

Right? And that is what you need to really be focusing on. And so I think you mean, I hate to say you mean, like I get sick of that when people tell me, you need to do this, you need to do that. I don't mean to be that way. So like, don't take it when I say that. What I suggest you do or to think about, again, my goal on this podcast is always to just give you ways to think differently, right? And again, it's just the real truth. What my intention is always to just give you the truth about it is that,

there really is no way to accelerate your conversion rate. I mean, go talk to somebody who's in business, you could run sales, right? Do sales accelerate your conversion? Sometimes, right? Giving people an incentive, giving people a deadline that accelerates your conversion, right? Of course, there's certain things like that. Could you nurture people a little bit more, maybe? More like, more frequently, faster? Is there ways to speak?

more directly to their exact pain points? Is there ways to have deeper conversations? You know, could you share more reviews? Yes, like all of those things in general accelerate your conversion rate, but let's just be honest, if somebody's not ready, they're not ready. I actually have a call today on the day I'm recording this podcast with somebody who has been, I am a lead for them. She has been approaching me about a program that she's putting together and I keep pushing her off like

she can email me every single freaking day and ask me if I'm ready. The reality is, is I'm still not ready. It's not that I don't see the need in what she does. It's not that I don't see the value in what she does. It's not that I don't think she's an amazing person. I absolutely do. Um, but the reality is the timing just isn't right. It's just not the right timing right now. And this is why I say there's only so much you can accelerate your pipeline. What I need for her to do is have other people that are ready right now.

so that when I'm ready in September or whatever month I'm ready, I can just say to her, okay, I'm ready. Or I might even be able to say to her, and that's one thing I think you could do too, is just ask people if they continue or pushing you off, say like, hey, I get it. I understand you're not ready right now. When is a good time for me to follow up with you? Because then you have a reason, like with this other prospect that I have too. She said to me, like, summer's busy, and I said to her, okay, do you mind if I touch base with you again in September? She's like, no, that sounds perfect.

because I really am interested in what you have. I just can't commit to it right now. Okay, cool, right? And so this is, so if you're continuing to work on it, the more you build up, and it takes time, right? Like you're not gonna just immediately build your pipeline every single month, but what I started to say when I said you need, and then I got sidetracked by that, which is typical of me, is to focus some of your attention.

more on continuing to build the pipeline than converting the people in it. Right? So like for me, if I'm looking at order of importance of money making activities would be one, always continuing to build and grow your audience, right? Like new people. Number two, nurturing the people that are already there. So those are kind of a close second because there's a lot of nurturing that can happen that versus trying to find new.

But again, constantly be bringing in new people through networking, through relationships, through power partnerships. If you didn't listen to the power partnerships episode, go back and listen to the power partnerships episode. What are you doing to continually bring people into your world and continue? Are you asking for referrals? Are you asking for recommendations?

those type of things. Like you could be doing that and then nurturing people, keeping track of the people that are in your pipeline and knowing exactly where they're at, but not pushing. Right? And then following up with the people that are ready when they're ready and continuing to just put your offers out there. One of the other things I think, you know, is a simple thing that you could do that most people forget is just putting your offer back in front of somebody. That accelerates it. Like think about it.

How many people have you talked to, if you are thinking right now, as you're sitting here listening, I want you to think back to three months ago. So at the time of recording, three months ago would be what, April-ish. When's the last time you remember what somebody put in front of you back in April? Do you remember what somebody's offer was back in April?

No, and actually like and things change too. And so don't be afraid to put a new offer out in front of somebody. Um, I've been nurturing a lead right now since I think February and. My business has changed the way I work with people is changed. That's okay too. Like that you can put back in front of people. Like, Hey, I know that we talked about this, but I just want to let you know, things have kind of changed. This is what I'm doing. I don't think we go back and share with people and update them often enough for them.

to know really what's going on. We make the assumption that people are remembering what we're doing all the time, and that's just such an unrealistic expectation. We are all so busy, nobody remembers. You know what I mean? Even now, I know that I needed to follow up with this call I have today, it's a LinkedIn thing. It's on my mind, but it's not top of mind. It's top of mind because...

We have a call. It's top of mind because she's hit me in my inbox a couple times, right? It's top of mind because I've been working on my biz plan, but she's just stayed in touch with me and she's respected my timeline. And that is what keeps people top of mind. Like that's what keeps people remembering you. But if you don't do that and you're not nurturing them and you're not staying in front of them and you're not keeping them updated of like, hey.

I know we talked about this and that's actually this conversation I'm having today. Hopefully you're still following me. The conversation I'm having today later about the LinkedIn program is because she had put a different one in front of me and I told her that no, that's not really what I'm needing. And she's like, you know what, Michelle, hey, you and the rest of the world said they didn't need that. And this is what they said they needed. And I think this might be more in line with what you're looking for as well. Is it something you're worth having a conversation about?

Yeah, sure. Like, you know what I mean? So like that to me, those are the things that you can do to accelerate your conversion rate. But I really think more importantly, it's how can you continue to build your pipeline so that you don't need to accelerate your conversion rate, right, so that you are continuing to be booked out. So if you're continuing, your goal should be to be always be booking into the next two or three months, especially if you're project-based. So if you're retainer-based,

That's one thing where you're just, you know when you can take on a new client. But if you're project-based, let's say you can only take on five new clients at a time, five projects at a time. Don't be booking for the month you're in. Your goal should be to be booking for the next month or even the following month. So if it's July, your goal as a project-based service provider should be booking August. You should not be trying to book July in July. That's why you need to accelerate your conversion rate is because you're trying to...

work in the month you're in. You're trying to, it's not, you're not being proactive enough, right? You should be booking out into August so that when you're having these conversations and you're talking with your leads, you're saying to them, hey, by the way, my next opening is in August or my next opening is in September. Or when do you think you're gonna be ready? Because I only take five and I'm already booked out for this month. Like I tend to be booked out for the current month. So keep in mind that when you're ready,

give me about a month in advance, right? That is how, then you don't need to, right? Like if July's already booked and you're booked in August, again, now when August gets here, you don't need to accelerate anybody because you're already working towards September and then same for September and October and all of that. Like that should be the goal. And that's where I'm saying, like it's not about accelerating the conversion rate per se.

Maybe you want to increase it from 20% conversion rate to 50%, but it's not about making the timeline shorter. That's not what you should be focusing on. You should be focusing on building up your pipeline and then maybe increasing your conversion percentage, but not trying to accelerate it. Does that hopefully this is making sense? So I know I've rambled and I want to give you action items. So if you're thinking, okay, Michelle, this is all well and good.

What do I do now? So action steps, all right? Your action steps, number one, would be to go and look at how many leads you have. Do you have a list somewhere, whether it's through the lead tracker in the lead generation bundle, whether it's a spreadsheet, whether it's a handwritten notebook, I don't care what it is, but every conversation you've had. If you need to go back through your Google calendar and all your appointments or whatever booking software you have, go back through every conversation you've had.

How are you tracking those leads? Think about where you're engaging on social media. I have been engaging in a couple group threads on Facebook, people asking about like Voxer coaching, or you know, like I do the rapid fire. And I talk about how I've got a workshop coming up about going to teach people how to implement this. I have multiple people that are in those threads saying, I would love to learn more about that. I've got a list of those people. I just keep writing their names down.

I've never spoken with them, I've never connected with them. I just say, hey, I'll definitely keep you in mind. I'm gonna friend request you, I'm gonna connect with you now, and then I'll get you the details, right? They may or may not remember when the time comes, but I have a list, right? There are leads in my pipeline. I'm not ready to convert them, they're not ready to convert, it doesn't matter, but I have a list. That's step one, is making sure you have a list of all of your leads. Step number two, go back through and re-

review those conversations. What are they needing? What are their pain points? Go look at the leads that you felt like were hot leads. Go stalk their socials. Go stalk their business pages. See what's happening in their business. Is now a good time? Are they off on summer vacation? Update your notes on some of that stuff. Number three, looking at how many conversations do you feel like it's taking with your people? Look at your past.

Number three would be to reflect, like look at your last three people that you've converted. How many conversations did you have? How long were they in your pipeline? How did they find you? What made them finally say, okay, I'm ready to do it, right? Like looking at that data, was it just that it was a timing thing? Was it that you got back in front of them? Did you follow up, right? Like what made them finally say, yes, that's what you also need to look at. And then number four, put your offers out, like go nurture them, remind them.

Bring yourself back into their world. When's the last time you've spoken to these people? If you wanna accelerate your conversion rate, go talk to them. Go talk to these people. Stop sitting around waiting for people to come to you. Go be proactive. Let them know, hey, I've only got five spots available for this. You might've mentioned you were interested. Are you ready to start in August? Are you ready to get started in September? If you've already done some of that followup, work on finding new people. What are you doing to build your pipeline?

Are you a guest on podcast? Are you doing guest expert spots inside of a membership? Again, go listen to the Power Partnerships episode and figure out how you can work each other's audiences. Do those things so that you're continuing to build up. And then also really looking at, again, what is that actual conversion rate? If you have 10 conversations in a month and two of them convert, that's a 20% conversion rate.

Right? So if you need to convert five at a 20% conversion, right? Where does your number need to be? Right? So math is, I'm not a thing right now because I'm trying to wrap this up, but you see what I'm saying? Like looking at those things and then really understanding where you're at. It's not about accelerating it. Accelerating it comes from a place of lack. Accelerating it comes from a place of desperation. You do not want to do that. All right.

So instead, how can you build it up so it doesn't matter? So it doesn't matter. If you build your pipeline full enough, somebody will always be ready. That's the way to view it. That's my point, is if your pipeline is full enough, somebody will always be ready. How can you get to that point? What do you need to do in your business to get to a point where somebody is always ready? Obviously, there's other activities that happen behind the scenes, but that's, to me, one of the biggest things that needs to happen.

Alright, so you know what to do. Go take action. Go take action. Of course if you need me, come find me. Come find me. No, I'm letting you know. I'm here to help. If you need like a power hour or even just a little 30 minute action session, something of that sort, whatever it is. Like if you need help and you really have no clue what I'm talking about, come find me. Alright, I'm putting my offer in front of you. I want you to go do the same. Alright, I'll talk to you soon.