The Truth About Generating Leads
The Truth About Generating Leads
What ongoing commitments do business owners need to make for sustained success?
That “one decision” is never a single, final choice. It’s a decision I make repeatedly—every day. The moment I take my foot off the gas, everything stops moving forward. That’s the big lesson: if something is truly working, it requires ongoing commitment.
If I had to pinpoint one decision that really allowed my business to succeed, it would be the three months I spent making 300 to 600 calls daily. After that period, this business was no longer an experiment. One piece of advice I give entrepreneurs is that if they think they have a dream, they need to try it because it might not actually be their dream.
For example, I once hosted a live event at my house, charging $2,000 per person. Ten people attended, and I made $20,000 in two days. While it was successful, I’d never do it again. Some people might say that’s crazy, but I realized I’d rather wake up and go jet skiing than host events. The experience was valuable, but it wasn’t what I wanted long-term. If I ever did it again, tickets would be $5,000 each.
The point is that the three-month commitment taught me the potential of my business and that I could make it happen.
How can business owners determine when to delegate or take ownership of key roles?
My worst decision was hiring a marketing company. I hired a guy named Ben Oberg, paying them around $33,000. They came in hot with big promises: to quadruple or even sextuple sales and eventually be 10% partners because I’d be so successful. I wasn’t completely sold on everything, but I was drawn in by the excitement.
As time went by, it became clear that no one could market my business as well as I could. While this was my worst decision financially, it turned into one of my best. It showed me that I need to step into the role of Chief Marketing Officer for my business. Outsourcing marketing wasn’t the answer—it’s my natural skill, and I need to own it.
There’s a lesson in this, like the story of a guy who’s a talented knight but just wants to drink tea all day. He has a skill with a sword, but he’s not using it. I realized that I am my business’s best marketer, and handing that responsibility to someone else didn’t work. So, while paying that $30,000 was my worst decision, I learned a lot from it.
What metrics should business owners track for sales and profitability?
For cold calling, the key metric I track is leads generated per hour. Since I already know the dialing speed, leads per hour are the variable that indicates success. If we’re generating more leads per hour, it’s a positive sign for return customers.
For the business overall, I focus on cost and profit. My priority is keeping costs as low as possible. Having run restaurants, I’m used to tracking everything separately—labor, marketing, and other expenses—each contributing to the total cost. My business has always been profitable, and after five years, it’s even more so. Last week, for example, we reached a 71% profit margin.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.*
