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I was listening to Tim Ferriss on a podcast recently and he brought up something that aligns so well with my just get started mission.

→ Minimum effective dose.

It's the smallest amount of something you need to get the result you want. Anything past that is overkill, especially at the beginning as you are building confidence.

And sometimes the overkill is what ruins it.

It’s something that I continually see show up in sales coaching sessions with founders.

They feel that if they don’t have a couple hours to prospect for potential clients then what’s the point. So they don’t do it and it gets pushed to the back burner for more urgent issues.

But, that’s how you end up way behind on your revenue goals.

And it’s how you end up with a pipeline that's feast or famine.

Let's change that.

As a founder you have a lot on your plate so there’s no way you’re going to spend your whole day prospecting like a sales rep does. That's okay.

But, you do have to do some of it.

So, what's the smallest amount you can do every single day?

Maybe it's 15 minutes. Maybe it's 30.

Maybe it’s not even an amount of time. Maybe it’s a number.

5 reach outs, 3 reach outs, 1 reach out.

Everyone has time for 1 reach out to a potential client. Or a past prospect who was interested a year ago. Or to send and email asking a happy client for a referral.

It can be that simple.

Think about it outside of work. If you want to get in better shape, you could start with 5 push-ups a day. If you want to move more during the workday, you could walk around the block for 5 minutes.

Neither of those will change your life on day one.

But, you'll actually do them. And that's the whole point.

→ The dose should be small enough that you'll do it even on the days you don't feel like it.

Because let's be honest, a lot of you don't like prospecting. In fact, you hate it. I know, I’ve never been a big fan of it either. You don't want to put yourself out there and get rejected.

So the bigger you make it, the easier it is to push it off until tomorrow.

That’s why we make the dose small.

Here's where it gets fun.

Say you reach out to 5 people a day.

At the end of the week, that's 25 people you've connected with in one way or another.

At the end of the month, that's 100.

Surely a few of those 100 turn into conversations. And a few of those conversations turn into clients.

Now compare that to the founder who couldn't find a 2-hour block on their calendar.

Zero at the end of the week. Zero at the end of the month.

I'd rather you do 5 a day. Heck, I'd rather you do 1 a day and have something to show for it at the end of the week.

For me, I'd rather put in a couple small reps every day and build consistently over time because it compounds.

When you try to take a big chunk all at once, that's usually when you fall flat.

ICYMI: I wrote about stacking days back in Issue #47. If you want a simple prospecting plan to go with this, start there.

When you look back at your pipeline and how your revenue grew this year, it all comes back to one question.

Did you put in the reps each day?

They don't have to be big reps.

They just have to happen.

Consistency wins…time and time again.

Reach out to 5 people every day next week.

Past clients, past prospects, a referral ask, someone new you'd love to work with. Doesn't matter who.

Just do 5.

Monday through Friday. That's 25 people by the time the weekend hits.

Then reply and let me know how many conversations it started. I read every email.

Need to get a quick W?

I offer one-time sessions to go deep into the specifics of whats happening today.

→ Set up a deal review audit: It’s deep-dive into active deals and how to get them over the finish line.

→ Get a sales call roasted: I review a real sales call and provide an in-depth, tactical overview for immediate improvement.

Want to build a repeatable sales foundation?

These help you build the skills and systems for the long-haul and a foundation to accelerate growth.

→ 90 Day Sales Accelerator: Hands-on coaching built around your pipeline and growth objectives.

→ Team Workshops: Live team training built around real friction points in your sales process.

→ Fractional Sales Leadership: Ongoing leadership for startups growing out of founder-led sales