How I'd Make Event Leads Compound

0:00I own a cybersecurity consulting. We focus on cybersecurity compliance. Uh for middle market and enterprise customers. I've been in this industry for a long time. >> Don't you want to build a membership business? >> [laughter] >> I love what I >> No, I'm I'm >> I love our industry cuz it's always like changing and technical and all that. >> So, IT compliance mid-market. >> Cybersecurity mid-market and and and and climbing to enterprise more and more enterprise customers.

0:27Um we I did revenue of 5 million almost 5 million in 2023. >> Amazing. >> Brute force. >> Love it. >> And then it's dropped. So, I'm like at 3.6 right now. >> Okay. >> My my net margin was 35%. Now, I'm at like 18%. >> Okay. >> So, it's shrinking. And what I've accumulated over these years was, you know, obviously ignorance and a lot of things that I wasn't even thinking, but people debt. So, now all that that margin is going to the people side, right? But also my sales, right, have dropped and my leads because I've been focusing now on the things I never did cuz I was just, you know, hunter.

1:04>> Yeah. >> And now I'm focusing on learning how to become a real CEO and learning how to do people things well and all of that. >> Okay. >> So, I'm solving right now for some things. I didn't realize my concern was even recruiting. I found a recruiter by the grace of God that's amazing. >> Great. >> And he's helping me solve these problems. >> Okay. >> And then the next thing I was solving for right now is the practice leader, which is like a technical person too that's good with clients and watches all the people that we work with and works with them, grows them.

1:30>> So, that I'm working on. And I think I'm cracking the nut with that. >> Okay. >> Um I think I may have found somebody, but we'll find out in a week or so. So, but in the meantime, sales has been my thing. And then I would say my industry has evolved and COVID definitely was a game-changer where cost per um events have increased tremendously. Your conference stuff you got to pay to pay pay to speak right now, which wasn't the case before. And you know, I had family changes and

1:57>> Yeah. Do you go to conferences to get customers? >> I used to. And I'm not doing that anymore. Very little because of the cost and, you know, the the time. >> Are you coming back with us? >> Um I don't know. >> Okay, no worries. We have a whole conference playbook that just murders. So, if you're >> Okay, I mean I need that. I need a lot. I need all the help I can get. >> Okay, no worries. No, it's fine. I just figured I'd ask so we could >> But I'm learning tremendously from you. So, thank you so much. I'm listening very intently to everything you say. So, um so, you know, LinkedIn, it's obviously my my my market.

2:28>> I want to pause. So, can you handle more customers? Yes or no? >> Yes. >> You can handle more customers. So, you're demand constrained. >> Yes. >> Right now. Okay. >> now. And it's it's like changed over time. >> Okay, great. So, right now you can handle more customers. You've got this other person that will work out the door, whatever. Okay. So, demand constrained is where we're at right now. >> Yes. >> So, you used to do conferences, they got too expensive, which means the sales motion didn't work as well as it used to. >> little, not a lot. >> Okay. Maybe we should do more. >> Just organic, friends, networking, call every

2:55>> That's how basically you just did all outbound as your primary way. That's what you did. Okay. Got it. So, and no one else did the outbound? Just you? >> Just me. >> Okay. So, um >> Now I have a marketing person that's like keep the lights on marketing person, I would say. Nice guy, but anyways. >> He's not that good. >> doing some content and we're, you know, like that I realized >> the lights on marketing. It's like either you're getting us business or you're not. >> I've used agencies before. It was awful, too.

3:22>> Well, if you don't have a marketer, you're not getting a marketer. >> You spend money on, right? >> I know. But no, I listen, the the thing I'm thinking here is >> Do you want my advice? >> Yes, I want your advice, of course. Yes, you you figured it out. Thank you, Alex. Thank you. >> So, outbound is what you're good at. You can either go one-on-one the way you were or you can go hunt where in there's fish in a barrel. What's the average customer worth to you? >> 75, 80,000. >> Yeah. I think like

3:48>> per per per sale. >> Yeah, heard. Um I think I mean like you were you were you were the the prototypical conference playbook. Like you like go to conferences, run the sales motion through the conference, collect as many leads as humanly possible. And then basically have an offer that's structured there so that you have urgency for the people to sign up. Like that is the way to do it. >> And LinkedIn? >> Hm? >> LinkedIn. >> I I would say LinkedIn is kind of what I would say is my like for you because because of how your type of business works in terms of the sales motion overall. You what will happen is it will it will look like this.

4:23So you all So it's like you'll fish with a net. This is me fishing with a net. On a boat membership, right? Okay. So we're fishing here and this is events, right? And then what will happen is kind of like a telephone pole. You'll start you know you'll close close close and then you'll have fewer fewer leads. And what you'll do is in the meantime your outbound will go up during that time period until you lean into the event and then you'll have the next event. And so it's kind of this crisscross motion while it's just you.

4:55Once you get enough cash flow which you're probably close to at now, I would then have somebody who's doing basically the SDR work for you. So sales development representative, somebody who's doing the outbound who can just basically set and qualify. Yeah, exactly. Because for you I'm sure you can close in a couple calls anyways and so >> Some take longer because they're big companies. >> Sure, no you're good. But getting the SDR is probably the largest time constraint for you right now and also not that expensive. And so I would step one run conferences for sure so I can fill up the pipeline because that's like that can happen fast and you have the cash flow to do it. And then second in that same time because you could do these concurrently. I would just I would put the ads out for our SDR so that I could bring somebody in to start feeding you.

5:36>> somebody that could fill that role right now. He's my >> What is he not Why is he not doing that? Is it the marketing guy? >> No, he's not the marketing guy. >> Maybe we should let the marketing guy do >> No, but you know what? Cuz he's a recruiter guy. He's a recruiter guy. >> He's my recruiter and that's like a sales person recruiter. >> Okay. >> he's working with us because he wants not to be a recruiter anymore. He wants to be in sales in a technical field so he could learn something technical. >> I mean, if you if you did >> all the time and effort to really learn everything.

6:03>> recruiting and you did outbound for recruiting, which is what most recruiters do, doing SDR work is like the closest comparable role anyways. >> Yeah. >> So, I'm fine with that guy. >> So, conferences, LinkedIn, and thought leadership LinkedIn. Then just to like so they could see >> you mean just like post good >> Posting >> No, but no, like I'm thinking about this like trying to solve a client's problem like listen, you have this issue, here's how it works. >> Mhm. Well, all you do is to be a thought leader, you just take the stuff you're doing privately and then just talk about it publicly.

6:32>> Yeah, exactly. >> So, yeah, just talk about your client work. >> And no webinars? >> Hold on. >> No, okay. Just No, I agree. Conferences >> conferences, and >> hire somebody to do more Oh, no. Making a load of money weeks worth. >> love that idea. >> [laughter] >> Right. So, like do the conferences, fish with a net, fill up your pipeline, get the SDR so that you get the stability that'll happen. So, this is our events that all event leads This is our SDR leads.

6:57And to eventually the SDR leads will stay here. And then this will just continue to stack over time. Does that make sense? >> How many conferences per year? >> How many How many a week can you do? >> Oh, god. No, I mean I can't >> See. >> [laughter] >> I have family and kids so I >> How many a month? >> Maybe two a month. >> Cool. That's fine with me. Let's start there. >> Thank you, Alex. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> If you're not getting as many leads as you want and your business is demand constrained, [music] meaning you could service more customers than you currently have, then this is for you.

7:29So, marketing is changing and I think ACQ [music] tends to be on the bleeding edge of this stuff. We certainly spend the money to do it, but we also build custom software and we pay amazing vendors and very expensive people to figure out the system that we have right now and I want to share it with you, kind of open kimono style. If you're not getting as many leads as you want, boy, do I have the thing for you. Click below, book call, and uh hopefully I'll see you in Vegas.