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Courage & Clarity
157: Best Month Yet: The Simple Strategy That Took Charlotte to Record Revenue
00:23:58
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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Welcome to the Courage and Clarity podcast. I'm your host, Steph Crowder. I'm a former sales training director who's helped thousands of entrepreneurs earn a living doing something they love over the past 10 years. On your journey, you'll need the courage to be bold, to take risks, and to do what looks crazy on paper. You'll also need the clarity, the brass tacks, simple strategies that actually work. And on this podcast, we deliver both in equal measure. Oh, and by the way, we've got absolutely no time for bs, gross marketing tactics or get rich quick schemes. Just sustainable business strategies for good humans with big dreams. If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Let's go. Hi everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited to have a special guest with me today. One of my clients is here and I am welcoming Charlotte to the podcast. Hi, Charlotte.
- [01:00]
B
Hi, Steph. Pleased to be here.
- [01:02]
A
So happy to have you. All right, let's start out by telling us about you, your business, and how it is that you earn your living.
- [01:09]
B
So I am Charlotte. I own a company called Caffeine. I'm based in London in the UK. I have 20 years of experience in marketing a new business with service providers, predominantly creative agencies, but I also now work with a whole host of other people. Consultants, coaches, tech startups, nonprofits as well as agencies. And primarily we work with them to build authority so they can attract clients and grow with ease. And we do this typically with people who are resistant to selling, which I know is an audience that you're very familiar with. Yeah, and. And so we piece together marketing and sales into something that is more digestible for them, but is also something that really resonates with their dreamiest clients.
- [01:56]
A
Love that. Okay, so you have been in the mastermind just a few months. About three months. Right. So we have a great story and already amazing results just three months into our year long relationship. So let's kind of rewind the tape to when you decided to jump into sold out group programs. It was June, July ish of this year. Where were you in your business and what were you hoping for in making this investment?
- [02:23]
B
So things were going relatively well. It a lot more encouraging than in previous years. I was coming off the back of about 18 months of a really dry spell due to the audience that I was primarily working with at that point was suffering some real kind of challenges. So we did a slight pivot into working with outwardly focusing on different audience. And we'd been following a strategy that was predominantly meta ads Led and it was going really well. But what we know about our audience is that they, they do take a while to buy. And so I was really struggling to. Because I was so focused on bringing new people into the audience and speaking to them. I was kind of neglecting my existing audience. And I knew there was a big piece missing in terms of. It just felt like there was a big piece missing in the business. I knew we were kind of leaving money on the table. I was getting frustrated, I was getting demoralized, a huge part of. So I could logic my way out of it and say I knew that business would come in eventually. But the problem was, was my mindset going to crumble? Was my confidence in my ability going to crumble before then? Because as a, you know, classic people pleasing type, I take immense gratification from winning clients and helping them and working with them. And so the fewer of those that are around, the harder it is to maintain momentum in the business. So I would say that it's. It was really an issue around mindset, and that was coming from not showing up for my existing audience. Right.
- [04:05]
A
When I think about you coming into the Mastermind, I feel like you got to work right away. There was a number of things that we started working on. What comes to mind for me is we really kind of took a fine tooth comb to the webinar training that you were doing. Really moved things around, took it through the converts framework. And so I think we could talk about that. But then also maybe the more, maybe the better place to start is you really dove into our 90 day planning process. And as you, you joked before we started recording, you really turned it into like 120 day plan, just due to where we are in the year. But I'd love to hear a little bit about the process of putting together that plan and then tell us what has happened and how that plan has unfolded. Because we're recording this on October 16th and I would say we're, we're. We're ahead of where we thought we would be.
- [04:54]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's. Yeah, a bit of an understatement. I'm just looking at whiteboard over here. Yeah. So the 120 day plan. So in terms of like my personality, I'm a real action taker and like, you know, fast out the gate. And I really strongly believe in, I think you talk about imperfect action. I call it seeking completion over perfection. And, and so I created a plan that would take me up to the end of the year. So starting from the beginning of September Just got over the hurdle of the school holidays and like settled into the curriculum nicely before I kind of set myself up with that. And, and yeah, I did my. I've been a year on the wall client before, so I kind of knew the concept of like I'm not going to be able to remember the terms now but like minimum viable number, like happy number and then like dreamy number or whatever you call it. Um, and, and so I felt like I kind of had a head start on that. But when I wrote those numbers down and figured them out, really, really helped my brain in terms of like literally doing the breakdown around it and understanding how that might look in terms of sales, making it more manageable. And then you normally Recommend In a 90 day plan doing one launch. I was like, why not do three launches? This is like the story of my life. Um, so we, I actually did that because one of the key recommendations and we've just spoken at length about this just before you hit record. But when you are kind of a bit feeling a bit unconfident or it's been a while since you've been working closely with people, I know that I tell my clients, and I know you do too to send out personal invitations, work with people one to one, just kind of get back on the horse effectively. And so the first kind of launch in that 120, 20 day plan was a personal invite campaign. And then I kind of rolled that that source, a lot of conversations, got a few clients from that. For a lot of people it wasn't quite the right time because of the time in the year. And I was like, why not just turn this into a kind of mini launch for one to one coaching. And I did and that was really successful. Ostensibly it should have finished like before the end of September, but this is what happens, right. Like you we did. So it's really funny. We don't like when people work together one to one. Obviously they want to have a call. My schedule makes it quite difficult to have calls, particularly with people in North America just over the period of time that we were doing this. So a lot of those sales calls are still happening right now. And so we're actually getting quite a few one to one clients still coming in at this point, even though I'd thought that that period cart open period would have been closed by now. And then we moved into another launch for LinkedIn lead liftoff, which is what we are constantly kind of promoting in terms of moving people from meta ad into a free live training which is the workshop that you just mentioned you've really helped me with a couple of times going back through that converts framework. Improving it, improving it and continuing to present it. So we are now moving into a live launch for that in addition to the three times weekly launching that we do on a meta ads basis. And I know this is probably sounds overwhelming for some people and like I am in two programs right now, so I'm like trying to do two different kind of strategies at the same time. But I think what you should take out of this is when you're doing like, because I was doing one strategy, I was neglecting the other side of things. And what Steph's really helped me to do with the 120 day plan is remind my audience that I exist because that is a really nice, really sweet, kind of sweet spot audience me there. I've got a big list at this point, I think for the size of business we are. It's a very warm list. And, and I, because I was so busy working in another part of my business was really shamefully neglecting that. So it's really forced me to readdress that. So now I feel like I'm covering off both visibility and nurturing within my business. And yeah, so that, that live Training happens on the 6th of November. We will close Koft around a month from now on the 13th of November. And, and then I've got another launch planned before the end of the year which now seems like absolute folly. But at this point, as you said, you know, we, we also have had another client come in through those conversations at a higher ticket offer that we weren't planning to launch until right at the back of the year. So currently we had a December 31st goal of £25,000 to get us to our minimum viable number that we needed for the remainder of the year. And right now we are at 28,749 and we are like what, not even halfway through that period? I don't think so. Very, very encouraging. Now we're like gearing up the business to be able to do all of the work, which is another challenge that, you know, maybe you can launch another course on. Please Steph. But no, honestly your team have been super supportive around ideas around that and actually Lacy started doing a bit of work with us to support around that. So I would say, you know, certainly other challenges or kind of concerns or thoughts that have come up have been addressed despite the fact that this is ostensibly a sales mastermind.
- [10:33]
A
Yeah, we really do it all just to highlight what you just said. This was a December. It is October 16th. It was a December 30th time.
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B
Right.
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A
I took 25, 000 pounds and we are at 28, 000 and we are in October. And I just want to call out and celebrate the fact that you, you know, we're, we're celebrating in our community saying. I don't, I can't remember your exact words, you'll have to correct me. But I believe you said something like this is the, like really a high point in business for you or this is the best that business has been.
- [11:06]
B
We've ever had. Is the best month we've ever had. For sure.
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A
Best month we've ever had.
- [11:09]
B
Absolutely. Absolutely. And what I don't think, I think so much. I was thinking a lot about this last night actually. I think so much about this is making it really, is really breaking it down, making it digestible, making it really transparent. So not only was that happening with the 90 day plan, but I, well, 120 day, but I, I really remember taking out of it and a year on the wall training that you did about the importance of having your whiteboard up with your sales targets, et cetera. And I started in like a new business like Cold Calling Agency. It was in a very specific niche and it was something I was very passionate about, but it was my straight out of uni job. Man, those, those whiteboards give me ptsd because like we even had the bell, you know, the bell, we had like.
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A
A symbol, like a chime, like a song.
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B
For somebody who doesn't even like celebrating their own birthday. That was like way too much attention. But anyhow, so I, I've always had resistance to having a sales chart on the world, but I have to say I think that making this stuff really like literal, visible, all of those things is super important to remind you of where you've arrived at and what progress you're making. And I did share in the. Oh, actually I just say as an aside, my daughter is really frustrated because she used to use my whiteboard to draw animals on and now I've commandeered it. I have to buy her a new whiteboard from my kid because she's so angry with me. But I did share in the slack group the other day in the Winter Celebrations channel that actually I felt like I was being obnoxious because I was celebrating so many things in there and you called me out on it and so did one of my like peers in, in the cohort as well, which I was really grateful for because like I, I Think as like a huge thing for me is I think it's something around being female. I think it's something around being British, something around the part of the country that I come from. And like not being too big of your boots and not being a tall puppy, not being like, you know, too full of yourself, all of these phrases that we hear when people celebrate themselves. But having an environment where that is, I feel like it's almost like a self fulfilling prophecy because and obviously there are exceptions to this and I've been in situations where it's been challenged, really challenging with business, no matter how positive a spin I try and put on it. But I think it comes down to three things, practical systems that you offer actually maybe four things really down to earth and supportive support. Really supportive support. Like I really. You make me feel calm and like I can handle it. I think making like breaking things down so they're. And having them very kind of like transparently visible like these numbers. And then also celebrating, like celebrating when I get certain number of podcast downloads or celebrating that I've had three sales calls in a row that felt really positive or that somebody upgraded or whatever the word upsold from one thing to another or, you know, like I'm now looking for more proof points that it's working. And because I'm seeing them and acknowledging them and going into writing an email, taking a sales call, recording a podcast with a different kind of energy. And I know that shows through and I know it's more magnetic. So it really is like this snowball effect.
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A
Yeah, absolutely. I love that.
- [14:41]
B
Excited. Like nine more months. Like, yes.
- [14:44]
A
Right. We've only been together for three, but you have nine more months of this and we're already having our best month ever. I love that. One thing I'd love to hear your thoughts on that people might be thinking is you are a really great example of using our Framework Buzz blitz. Right. To sell one on one. Right. So you talked about this like sort of re engagement campaign with your list. And we actually just did an interview on Charlotte's podcast. We were talking about how she's been able to create these results in the program without even tackling group programs yet. So if you could just kind of speak to a little bit. I know that's a question that people have. They might be thinking, gosh, I'm really interested in this, but I'm not. I don't know if I'm doing a group right now or I sell one on one. Maybe just give us a couple minutes on how these strategies can translate to one on one as well.
- [15:29]
B
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I have got a group program that is currently dormant. We're not promoting it. We don't have anybody in it right now, and for a couple of different reasons. So in terms of the offers that we have that kind of different levels of one to one service as well as DIY stuff, I don't think that it actually changes anything. I don't think at any point of going through the training and when I've asked questions in calls or submitted stuff for feedback, there's really been a point at which like, oh, it's not relevant to me because it's not a group. I do intend to do it for group at some point. But I think coming from a sales and marketing background, I think so much of it is just rooted in showing up and, and being supportive. But being of service is a term that you used before when we were talking about this in my podcast. And, and just like, I think probably the biggest thing, just like flip back to what we were saying earlier is for me is removing the buzz bullets process in particular removes the mental load of, well, what does that look like? And what, what dates do things go on? Like, really practical stuff that can really discourage you from doing the damn thing right. Like I, having a framework, knowing what you recommend, you say, minimum three weeks, minimum one email a day. It removes any kind of doubt I have. It's like Steph told me to, that is why I'm doing it, you know, like, and that's fine. Like, that's. I, that's why I joined. I want that accountability, I want that direction. I want that permission to do that. And that's something we talk about a lot in our business, giving our clients the permission to go talk about themselves, to be an authority. I think it's, it's super important that if you don't feel like you're able to sign off on yourself selling yourself, then you seek it from somebody else. And I think Buzz Blitz is a big tool in your program that allows, like, gives people a very kind of practical kind of permission slip to go implement and speak to people. I honestly think, I know this is something I shared earlier. I, I just don't think we appreciate how much you need to, how many times you need to speak to people and how selective people's cognition is. So we, I didn't really build on this point. You said earlier, you know, some people, like messages will speak to certain people, but you could write five emails and depending on the subject line, like, you might Use a word that answers a problem that somebody has and that's the one that they read. It's not that that's the one they take action on. It might be just like the rest of it is just like noise. So the number I think we wildly underestimate A how many people we need to get in front of and B, how many times we need to speak to them. And I think for a lot of people, see how much we need to demonstrate that we're going to be supportive rather than just shout at them about what we do. And I think that that's a really fine balance that Buzz Blitz also massively helps with because you are, you're showing how to, how to get that balance between service and sales and when to pivot and make it more salesy. Like you just fed back on Buzz Blitz that I'm currently working on. You like at this point, I normally like to pivot to just talking about the thing that you're going to sell. At this point I was like, oh, okay. That completely changes my mindset. By the way, Seth, I've not even done Buzz Blitz two training. Like I've just done the first one and then just stop. So there's loads of things that you're recommending. I'm like, shit, this is probably in the other training and I just haven't even done it yet.
- [19:05]
A
Yeah, but you've created so many results just with that initial Buzz Blitz training.
- [19:10]
B
Yeah, and there's, I. There are so many things that you reference that I want to go in and kind of play around with, especially in same day sales. I didn't realize when I joined sold out group programs like how the access to the other things that you have on offer that is available and yeah, I just, I don't want to be quiet with clients so I can get the stuff done. But I also don't want to be so busy up until the end of our time working together that I don't get to. And I'm sure it won't be the last time we work together, but I don't get to go through those materials because I'm sure there's so many other things that I could be doing. But we were discussing earlier about the importance of prioritizing and focusing on the things, as you say, your money making activities, focusing on the things that are going to move the needle for you and your business. And I feel like even if I don't take anything else out of the program, the 120 day plan that I've done so 90 day plan. Sorry to confuse. And. And the Buzz blitz are like, those two, those two things, those two trainings have, like, more than paid for themselves in terms of, like, I got my return on investment, like, within two weeks. Within. Within two weeks? Yeah, yeah, yeah, within two weeks of the first Buzz blitz.
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A
Yeah.
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B
So, like, I, I was like, doing a lot of reading up right at the beginning because it was the summer holidays and I was, you know, with kids and stuff. But yeah, within two weeks of doing the thing, like, yeah, for sure. And obviously we have other overheads and we have, you know, like, I'm not calculating all the other stuff that goes into that. But guys, are you, like, if you're listening to this and you're like, shall I do it this time or next time she might put the price up. Do it now. Like, please take action. Because she's like, yeah, I. I think this is massively underpriced for the amount of support, the personalization and the, the amount of really actionable course material that's available. Because it's not just kind of mindset. Like, even if you just took Buzz Blitz out of it, that's something that you could repeat four times for the next year and you'll, like, you'll probably have sold out your great program.
- [21:25]
A
Yeah, absolutely. Charlotte, I appreciate so much you sharing your experience so far. And again, I'm so excited. It's only been three months of working together. I think you mostly just did. Did this in terms of what my final question was going to be. But just in case there's anything that you didn't get to add, I always like to ask for speaking directly to the people who are listening to this who are thinking about joining. And you know, it's an interesting time to join the program because due to the way the holidays are falling, if people join this round, they get to work with me through all of 2026. Right. So with that in mind, is there anything else you'd want to say to people who are really seriously considering making this investment and having me as their coach for next year?
- [22:07]
B
I would say start before you think you're ready. I don't think this is a program where you have to have achieved a certain thing. I think you could come in at any level business and take something out of this. I think it doesn't matter if you even work with your own clients on sales marketing, which I do at a slightly different stage to what Steph does in terms of the, the sales process. Everybody needs somebody in their corner and to be nudging them along and. Yeah. And to be supporting them. And I remember a piece of advice I got years ago from a mentor, which was, you pay either way. You either pay through experience and time, or you pay by getting the experience of somebody who's already been there. And I can't think of a safer pair of hands to be in than Steph when it comes to selling in what feels like a very ethical and grounded way, that suits my personality. So, yeah, I would take the shortcut. And I know the other day on your podcast episode, you said, don't believe in the easy button, but I think making this decision and getting that support is an easy button that you can press in your business to grow your sales.
- [23:17]
A
I love that. Charlotte, thank you so much for spending some time with us today on the show. Please tell the people where they can find you online and where they can hang out with you.
- [23:26]
B
Yeah, of course. So you can find me at Kapeen Co, that's K, A, double F, double E, N, Co. And we have a podcast, which is probably a great way to get started listening to what we do, and. And also a free live training, which you can get both of the links to those on the website. So, yeah, I'd love to see you over there.
- [23:44]
A
And I'm going to be on Charlotte's podcast, so you can come listen to a familiar voice over there as well.
- [23:48]
B
Absolutely.
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A
Charlotte, thank you so much. This has been great.
- [23:51]
B
Thank you.
- [23:52]
A
All right, everyone, we are wishing you the courage and the clarity to go after what you love.