Back for the first time.
That's ludicrous...
It’s been almost 6 months since I last published The Growth Lab.
A lot of things changed during that time.
In fact, many things have changed since my first post in October 2022.
I ran my first marathon in 3:38.
I completed my first 4x4x48 challenge.
My YouTube channel has grown from 0 to 2400+ subscribers.
I got my first paying subscriber on Substack (thank you, and thanks for your patience).
I consulted with, and have since joined, my first startup (more on this later).
The idea for The Growth Lab came from trying to launch a coaching program for cleaning businesses.
I spent hours talking with business owners. Their biggest challenges?
Finding new business (clients + contracts); and
Recruiting and retaining staff.
I thought back to starting my own cleaning company in 2012.
All I did was make cold calls.
No Google Adwords, SEO, content marketing or PPC.
Only after winning my first client did I figure out staffing.
That sparked a fuse.
In the following weeks, I spoke with dozens of owner-operators and sales executives in the cleaning and FM space.
When I asked about winning new clients, I got the same replies:
referrals
paid ads
SEO
They relied on inbound marketing.
Outbound - cold calls, cold emails and LinkedIn - were rarely mentioned.
Opportunity.
The Growth Lab launched on 3rd January 2023 from these insights.
I helped cleaning business owners build outbound sales systems.
On the 20th of January, I had my first discovery call. It was with the Commercial Director of a cleaning business that had grown from £2m to £10m in revenue in the last three years.
WITHOUT A SALES FUNCTION.
The business didn’t have a sales infrastructure — no ideal client, CRM, or sales process.
It was down to the Commercial Director to build a pipeline.
Interesting….
I also launched The Growth Lab podcast in January. I wanted to interview successful entrepreneurs in the cleaning space and learn how they grew their cleaning businesses.
Guess what?
referrals
paid ads
SEO
Outbound was barely mentioned.
In February, I hosted this interview with Housekeep’s CEO, Avin Rabheru MBE. After the interview, we talked about growing Housekeep’s B2B proposition.
That conversation evolved into my preparation of this business development plan for Housekeep. It got lots of positive feedback, but ultimately, the board decided their B2B proposition wasn’t a priority.
Disappointing but a good experience nevertheless (more on that in a future post).
A few weeks later, I liked this post:
The next morning, I received a connection request from LITTA’s CEO.
I sent him this message:
After receiving his reply, I responded with this:
That led to an email exchange, during which I sent this document after a couple of hours of research.
Two phone calls later, I was on my way to a working session at WeWork London Victoria.
After a few more hours of research, I prepared and sent this document before the session.
The day at WeWork was a success, and shortly after, I started a consulting gig with LITTA. Six weeks turned into six months, and at Christmas, I was asked to join the team.
My remit: to help grow the commercial department to £8m+ ARR.
Target markets: construction, FM and property management.
Key objective: Finding the quickest path to revenue.
Although this is my first time working in the waste industry, I’ve sold into construction, FM and property management before.
Now, I’m almost 6 months into working at LITTA. It’s a challenging environment and a great learning experience.
The importance of growing revenue and adding value every month narrows your focus. It adds a different kind of pressure to growing a business.
The intensity of the last few months is why The Growth Lab has been on hold.
You may be thinking, “Why is this story relevant?”
All these opportunities came from cold outreach:
The Growth Lab clients - LinkedIn + cold email
Podcast guests - LinkedIn
LITTA - Linkedin + email
LITTA clients - Cold calls, cold emails and LinkedIn
Rarely do the biggest opportunities come from inbound marketing.
To find them, you need to go hunting.
Sales hunting.
That means using cold calls, cold emails and LinkedIn.
You also need a plan, a process and an approach.
I will share all of this with you - the failures and the successes.
If your business sells into Construction, FM and Property Management, I want The Growth Lab to be your go-to resource.
The Growth Lab goodies
Weekly newsletter posts with one strategy, tool or tactic to grow your sales. Every Wednesday and Saturday.
Weekly Twitter threads with bonus tips. Every Tuesday and Thursday (follow me @iam_mattharris)
Daily LinkedIn posts that are easy to digest and value-packed (follow me here).
I will also relaunch The Growth Lab podcast and YouTube channel later this summer (stay tuned).
No spam, no filler. Only the good stuff will help you build your sales pipeline and win more construction, FM, and property management clients.
This is my promise to you.
Let’s go!