Six Horrible Mistakes the HubSpot Pipeline Generation Bootcamp helped Me Fix

I recently completed HubSpot's 8-week Pipeline Generation Bootcamp (PBG) and boy did it open my eyes to the mistakes I have been making. The general purpose of the boot camp is to help agencies generate more opportunities.

Here were the critical mistakes that the PGB helped me identify and correct:

1. I wasn't smiling and dialing.

It has been many years since I made outbound phone calls to generate leads. It worked back then, and it works now. The only difference, cold calls don't work. Warm calls do. And once I did start calling, my tone was not great. We practiced our greeting at least 100 times until we got it right.

2. I was wrong to think of other agencies as competitors.

The boot camp was full of other Hubspot Agency Solution Partners, and we all worked together. We celebrated our big wins together, and we helped each other get better with role plays.

3. I wasn't investing enough time learning how to help my prospects before reaching out.

We learned how to use a few tools and techniques to research a prospect, company, and website. The result, helpful tips, and advice that add value to the prospect.

4. My lead generation efforts weren't disciplined enough.

We scheduled a time block every day in our calendars over the 8 weeks. We were expected to come to the weekly meeting, having identified/researched/called/emailed at least 2 new leads per day. We attempted each new prospect at least 4 times.

5. My Sales process was weak.

We learned how to build a reliable sales process. My process now has these steps: Connect call, Exploratory call, Solution Design & Planning call. The process culminates in a proposal.

6. I hadn't thought enough about my positioning.

Each of us created an agency position statement that details what we do, who we do it for, and how we do it. I put my new agency positioning statement front and center on my website homepage. 

The course was not a walk in the park. There was a whole lot of real work involved. And I was pushed to do things outside my usual comfort zone. But it was worth it. My deal pipeline is significantly fuller now than it was before I took the course.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the course leader, Dan Tyre. Dan is one of a kind. Dan was very supportive and gave us some great tips, like pausing and saying, "Ugh, sounds like you weren't expecting my call" just to put the client a bit off-balance to start a conversation. Dan is high energy and truly a mentor that I respect and admire.

Armed with my new sales approach, the support of HubSpot, and my new agency partner friends, I'm ready to hunt like a lion. Now, what can I do to help you grow?