November 18, 2025 • 20 mins
In this Streamlined episode, Mary Cravets, Founder and CEO of Simply Get Clients by Mary Cravets, shares how to simplify client generation and boost income without burnout. If you struggle with overwhelm and inconsistent revenue, you won't want to miss it.
You will discover:
- How to simplify strategies to focus on high-impact actions
- Why defining "working" prevents wasted effort on tactics
- What intentional choices align business with your freedom
This episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stage 2 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quiz
Mary Cravets is an award-winning Client Generation Expert and International Speaker who helps coaches grow their businesses without working nights and weekends. She’s heard all the confusing and conflicting advice out there - so she isn’t surprised that most coaches struggle to establish a sustainable business. But she’s here to change that. Using her methods, the majority of Mary’s clients quickly increase their income by 50% or more. Clients range from the former CFO of Microsoft North America to coaches in their first few years of business.
Want to learn more about Mary Cravets's work at Simply Get Clients by Mary Cravets? Check out her website at https://simplygetclients.com/
Mentioned in this episode:
Take the Founder's Evolution Quiz Today
If you’re a Founder, business owner, or CEO who feels overworked by the business you lead and underwhelmed by the results, you’re doing it wrong. Succeeding as a founder all comes down to doing the right one or two things right now. Take the quiz today at foundersquiz.com, and in just ten questions, you can figure out what stage you are in, so you can focus on what is going to work and say goodbye to everything else.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Scott Ritzheimer (00:00):
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again
to the start, scale and succeed.Podcast, the only podcast that
grows with you through all sevenstages of your journey. As a
founder, I'm your host, ScottRitzheimer, and there's a
problem I see all the time,especially for founders who've
launched their business tocreate freedom and impact, but
instead find themselves out ofone job and into seven all get
(00:23):
while getting paid a fraction ofwhat they should. You're
juggling client, delivery,creating content, doing your own
bookkeeping, the actual workitself, managing your calendar,
writing proposals, and it justpiles up and up and up. And
somehow it seems to get worseevery time you get a new client
to the point where you justdon't know how you're going to
make it all happen. And therevenue comes in. We do all the
(00:47):
work, but then it distracts usfrom bringing in more revenue,
and it starts this vicious cyclethat can trap even the most
capable of entrepreneurs, and ithappens in this startup
entrepreneur stage and to helpus wrestle down the alligator
that is this cycle that wants toget the better of our revenue.
(01:07):
Let's because, let's call itthat is the one and only Mary
Cravets, who is an award winningclient generation expert and
international speaker, who helpscoaches grow their business
without working nights andweekends, and she's heard all
the confusing and conflictingadvice there is out there, and
isn't surprised that mostcoaches struggle to establish a
(01:29):
sustainable business, but she'shere to change that, using her
methods, the majority of Mary'sclients quickly increase their
income by 50% or More. 50% ormore clients range from the
former CFO of Microsoft NorthAmerica to coaches in their
first few years of business.She's here with us today. Mary,
welcome to the show. So excitedto have you here. Thanks for
(01:52):
having me. Scott, fantastic. Allright, so let's get started with
something that I bet a lot offounders watching, coaches,
service providers founders justearly in their journey, they're
working harder than they did intheir last job. That's just
universally true. We have thisidea from Instagram, I think is
where it comes from, but it'slike starting a business is
working four hours a week andthen sipping two paint Nicoletta
(02:14):
is one for each hand, singingGarth Brooks songs or something.
But it's just not the way itworks. And so we'll zoom in,
particularly with yourexpertise. Here, you work with a
lot of coaches, and these aresmart, capable folks. Why do
they seem to still get stuck inthis do it all yourself, do
everything all the time trap?
Mary Cravets (02:33):
Well, you know what? First of all, they don't
even necessarily know what theyshould be doing at all, because
coming from a corporatebackground coming from an
academic background there.There's no school for this. I
work with people who have MBAs,who have marketing backgrounds
and this entrepreneurial pieceof, how do you do it? It's just
(02:56):
not really taught anywhere, notany traditional place that you
would learn from, likeuniversities and so forth, and
so they come in. I think thebiggest thing is that everyone
thinks they should know how todo it. And why would they? You
don't beat yourself up if youdon't know how to knit, you
(03:17):
know, it's like you just don'tknow how to do it. Go get the
skills.
Scott Ritzheimer (03:20):
Yeah, absolutely. So let's, let's
actually start there. Let's,let's try and as best we can, as
a big question, but let's answerthat question for them. What do
you need to know? Let's startspecifically with coaches,
because it's a little easier todefine in a specific industry.
But folks, I'm in this industryas well, and work with a lot of
(03:42):
our coaches in the scalearchitects program. And one of
the things that I found outpretty early is that coaching
isn't coaching, it's it's awhole lot of stuff other than
coaching. I actually I wasshocked when I started. And
maybe this was your experience,or you've seen others. I did
less coaching my first fewmonths of coaching than I did
when I was just coaching people,you know, for fun beforehand. So
(04:04):
what is it, if you have a brandnew coach, what do they need to
do?
Mary Cravets (04:09):
Yeah, the first thing they need to know is that
they have to keep an eye on thatvision of what they want to be
doing and the impact they wantto be making. But then they need
to roll up their sleeves and getto work, and their number one
job is enrolling clients. We getvery distracted with this big
picture of marketing and andsales and now social media, and
(04:30):
we see social media everywhere.So obviously, that's how people
get clients right now. So wherethey need to focus the first
system in the business. Like,the primary system is bring in
business. And people tend to goto coaches. Tend to go to what
they know. Like, instantly, I'llask them a question, like, Okay,
(04:52):
what have you thought aboutgrowing your business? And you
see them go, and they look overin this place in their mind
where business development is,and it's, there's nothing there.
And so they go over to wherethey're they're like, I was
thinking of working on myaccounting systems, because they
know that, and it's fascinating.So having they've got to first
realize client generation is thefirst skill set. It's not
(05:14):
getting more certifications.It's not necessarily even
bringing in your pastexperiences. Client generation
first skill set, and that iswhere you spend your time. And
it's probably, and actually thevery, very first thing to do,
probably, is to unlearneverything, all the assumptions
(05:34):
that you know about sales andmarketing. It's just like, No,
it's not about being pushy. No,it's about, not about convincing
people to do things they don'twant to do. It's none of those
things. And I think that'sprobably my biggest job, is
like, show people you don't haveto be that, that picture of what
they fear they have to become inorder to grow a business.
Scott Ritzheimer (05:54):
Yeah, the you're stepping on all of the,
all the sacred cows here, butcertifications, let's talk about
this. Because, again, this issomething that I definitely see
in the coach world, but I see itacross professional services and
and then I see that patternhappening in other environments.
But one of the things that I seefolks struggle with is like
(06:18):
being an entrepreneur is hard.Hearing no is really hard. And,
you know, trying to do thissales thing, and to whatever
extent, it's because you wereclumsy, or to whatever extent,
it's just they weren't ready,it's not time. You got to know
and it hurts, right? Because,especially in something like
coaching, it's kind of likethey're saying no to you, not
your product. Oh, yeah. And itjust cuts deep. So you get these
(06:43):
folks that were and really arequite confident, but that
confidence starts to take someknocks, yeah? And then I think
this is where the certificationsthing comes into play, because
we try to get more confident bybecoming more competent at
whatever it is the trade that wedo. But what I think needs to
happen, and I think this issomething that you do
(07:06):
exceptionally well, they have tobecome more confident by having
more reps just selling andclosing what they do. Would you
agree with that?
Mary Cravets (07:15):
Yeah, absolutely. And again, it's that comfort
zone. People go back to whatthey know the certifications,
and they come by it honestly, ofcourse, because in a corporate
career and an academic career,the more certified you are, the
more knowledgeable you are.Usually that's how you move up.
So you know, with the best ofintentions, these smart people,
(07:36):
they end up going after asolution with with the wrong
tools, and so the reps reallyimportant, and not just the
reps, but the strategy behindit. I was talking to someone
today, a prospective client, andshe's like, well, everything
(07:57):
you're talking about, you know,the relationships and getting
your messaging, right? And doingthose things, they all, I mean,
like, I know how to do that, shesaid, But how exactly? So it's
this pairing. Like, what I havefound gives you, gives coaches
the reps, and then theconfidence is getting the
strategy so specific and alsofeeling so natural and genuine,
(08:21):
and then the steps so small andwell defined, they start taking
those steps, and the confidencedoesn't really play as much of a
role, because they're just like,Oh, I'm gonna take some steps.
Well, look, I got a positiveresponse from someone. I didn't
die when I asked someone for areferral. That's amazing. So
they're getting, they're gettingthis positive feedback, which
(08:43):
motivates them to keep going. Soit's the reps, but not you know,
I hate hearing people say I'd bea no collector. I'm like, please
don't do that. That sounds likeaiming for the wrong thing.
Scott Ritzheimer (08:54):
Yeah, yeah. So, so one of the things that
you said earlier was you have toforget everything you know about
sales? So again, impossiblylarge question in an impossibly
small format podcast, but whatdo we need to think about sales?
What's the right frame of mindto approach it as a coach or a
professional services provider?
Mary Cravets (09:15):
You know, I was very fortunate my very first
trainer I ever heard. He definedsales for me, and I have taken
this with me forever, and I Ishare it now. And that is, sales
is helping someone make adecision they want to or have to
make, and when you like theprocesses I teach, the processes
(09:38):
I run before having a salesconversation. It's about taking
someone through a process sothey can answer the question for
themselves, should they moveforward? Should they invest?
Yeah, it's a very small answerto a big question. But sales, of
course, is the end of theprocess. Process, the sales is
(10:01):
the end. Most people, mostcoaches, will tell me, if I get
to talk to somebody, I canusually enroll them. That's not
the problem. It's how do I getall the leads coming in? Yeah.
So that's where clicking in theprocess is even more it's even
more important.
Scott Ritzheimer (10:17):
Yeah. So let's go there, because there's, there
are. I mean, my inbox every dayhas folks that are talking about
leads and appointments and you,if you spend any time on social
media, there's just justconstant onslaught of the 92,000
things you need to do to bringin clients. Is it necessary? Do
(10:39):
you have to have, you know, SEOand five social media funnels
and lead magnets and all of thatjazz. What do you actually need
to to create the sales that youneed to succeed?
Mary Cravets (10:52):
I usually follow along the lines of the just
follow the thread of what'sworking. It's very blunt. I had,
in my second year of business, Ihad a total burnout, and so I
had, like, four hours a week torun a business that was
providing half of my householdincome. And so the only thing
that could occur to me is I haveto follow what's working. I
(11:15):
can't waste time with all ofthese other things that are not
getting me anywhere. Just out ofpure crisis necessity, I had to
pare it down. All right, how canI spend the least amount of time
and get clients and startingwith what's working, I looked
at, what are the words that areworking, what are the audiences
(11:35):
that are working? What are thetactics that are working? Like
every single thing had to have atrack record, either in my
business or in the industry, incoaching, number one ways that
way that coaches get clientsthrough relationships. That is
true of also most service basedbusinesses through
relationships. And by that Imean referrals, connections,
(11:57):
getting to the cold marketthrough your warm market. The
problem is, what we seeeverywhere is social media, and
nobody sees on my desk personalnote cards and little Starbucks
cards that I send as thank yous.And guess what? I make very good
money on very simple things likethis, yeah, but it's what's
(12:17):
working you follow that threadand then systemize it.
Scott Ritzheimer (12:23):
Here's what I love about that most of the
folks that I feel get the mostconfused and frustrated by the
funnel world, if you will, arethe ones that have absolutely no
business doing it. It's so farfrom how they would naturally
behave, that the chances of themever having success there are so
(12:44):
low that even if they did itright, it still probably
wouldn't give them what theywant. And so I love this idea of
following the thread of what'sworking. I'm wondering if you
can clarify that a little bit,because I think your definition
of what's working might be alittle different than the
average coach sitting listening.So what do you mean? What's
working?
Mary Cravets (13:04):
Yes, and actually this, this is a piece of advice
I give to all coaches, becausecoaches tend to sit around with
other coaches and bat aroundideas of how to grow their
business. And they say, oh. Theysay, Oh, you know what worked
for me? And they will talk aboutit, and then they'll all follow
that rabbit. And so I've primedmy audiences and my clients and
(13:28):
everyone I can run into. I say,when someone says this is
working for me, ask them to tellyou what that means. What do you
mean it's working? Does thatmean you closed a client, or
does it mean you got 486impressions on LinkedIn, like,
(13:48):
what does it's working? Whatdoes it look like to them? What
is it actually and does thatworking mirror what you want to
get? And if it isn't, do notchase that rabbit.
Scott Ritzheimer (14:03):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Mary Cravets (14:05):
Data. When I'm talking about what's working,
I'm talking about data,
Scott Ritzheimer (14:08):
yeah, and and what's what's actually,
enrolling clients, your numberone job generating revenue,
enrolling new clients in yourbusiness. And we're picking on
coaches a little bit here.There's low hanging fruit. But
again, this really is true forentrepreneurs in general. And I
would say we could zoom and say,especially those for whom the
(14:30):
work that they do is what'sreally important to them, right?
We see this in the nonprofitworld as well, where, honestly,
if you start a nonprofit, thenumber one thing you need to do
is generate revenue. It'sexactly the same, but they're
even worse at it in the senseit's like, no, we're a
nonprofit. We don't talk aboutmoney. It's like, well, you
know, good good luck. So itreally is something that goes so
deep into the world of foundersand entrepreneurs. And this idea
(14:53):
of what's working and definingthat properly, I think, is so,
so very important. Fantastic wayof putting it. And, yeah. And
sharing with other founders.Yeah, it's just go back and
listen to it. If you'relistening to this, and any of us
just go back and listen to itagain. I'm not gonna repeat it
again. But Mary, there's thisquestion that I want to make
sure we have time for, because Iask all my guests, I'm
interested to see what you haveto say. And the question is
(15:15):
this, what is the biggest secretthat you wish wasn't a secret at
all? What's that one thing youwish every founder watching or
listening today knew?
Mary Cravets (15:26):
What is the number one thing? You know what? I
think it's I'm not sure I'mgoing to say this, right, but
it's about when you engage insomething in your business, make
sure it's doing the right job.We do things, we follow things.
(15:49):
We habitually do things, and wedon't take the time to say, Is
this doing the right job? Peopleare blindly doing social media.
Social media is great. Is itdoing the right strategic job?
You know, you're getting upearly. Is that for the right
reasons? You know, we do thisfor ourselves, so both on the
(16:13):
strategic and the personal sideof things, you know, are you, is
everything in your businessdoing the right job, and is it
really? Are you owning it andvaluing yourself in all of that?
I think I answered like fivethings in there, but it all
wraps together our identity andour time and our and our out
(16:35):
outputs from what we get, justmaking sure that everything is
doing the right job. And youknow what? It's about,
intentionality. Yeah, like, themore intentional you are, the
more you feel at home in yourbusiness, the more results you
get. It's worth taking the timefor that intentionality of
strategy and choices and valuesand everything in your business.
Scott Ritzheimer (16:54):
Absolutely, absolutely. So Mary, if there's
a coach or consultant listeningto this, and they're in that.
They're they're in the rollercoaster, they're in the thick of
all of it, and they'd lovesomeone to come and help show
them what those steps are andand build a strategy for their
sales and revenue. How can theyfind out more about the work
that you do? Where can I connectwith you directly?
Mary Cravets (17:15):
Yeah, the very easiest way is to go to my
website. Simplygetclients.comthe entire front page is kind of
like this big arrow that ispointing to a button that says,
take the class. And every month,I take people through this
process and the components andassess what you have in your
business, as far as clientgeneration, what needs help, and
(17:36):
what is working well for youalready. And from there you can
you get a lot of insight intothat intentionality that I'm
talking about.
Scott Ritzheimer (17:46):
Fantastic, fantastic. Well, Mary, this
conversation could have gone onfor a very long time, but we
like to keep it short and sweetfor our listeners, thanks so
much for being on. It really wasa privilege and honor having you
here with us today. For those ofyou watching and listening, you
know your time and attentionmean the world to us. I hope you
got as much out of thisconversation as I know I did,
(18:07):
and I cannot wait to see younext time. Take care.
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again
to the start, scale and succeed.Podcast, the only podcast that
grows with you through all sevenstages of your journey. As a
founder, I'm your host, ScottRitzheimer, and there's a
problem I see all the time,especially for founders who've
launched their business tocreate freedom and impact, but
instead find themselves out ofone job and into seven all get
(00:23):
while getting paid a fraction ofwhat they should. You're
juggling client, delivery,creating content, doing your own
bookkeeping, the actual workitself, managing your calendar,
writing proposals, and it justpiles up and up and up. And
somehow it seems to get worseevery time you get a new client
to the point where you justdon't know how you're going to
make it all happen. And therevenue comes in. We do all the
(00:47):
work, but then it distracts usfrom bringing in more revenue,
and it starts this vicious cyclethat can trap even the most
capable of entrepreneurs, and ithappens in this startup
entrepreneur stage and to helpus wrestle down the alligator
that is this cycle that wants toget the better of our revenue.
(01:07):
Let's because, let's call itthat is the one and only Mary
Cravets, who is an award winningclient generation expert and
international speaker, who helpscoaches grow their business
without working nights andweekends, and she's heard all
the confusing and conflictingadvice there is out there, and
isn't surprised that mostcoaches struggle to establish a
(01:29):
sustainable business, but she'shere to change that, using her
methods, the majority of Mary'sclients quickly increase their
income by 50% or More. 50% ormore clients range from the
former CFO of Microsoft NorthAmerica to coaches in their
first few years of business.She's here with us today. Mary,
welcome to the show. So excitedto have you here. Thanks for
(01:52):
having me. Scott, fantastic. Allright, so let's get started with
something that I bet a lot offounders watching, coaches,
service providers founders justearly in their journey, they're
working harder than they did intheir last job. That's just
universally true. We have thisidea from Instagram, I think is
where it comes from, but it'slike starting a business is
working four hours a week andthen sipping two paint Nicoletta
(02:14):
is one for each hand, singingGarth Brooks songs or something.
But it's just not the way itworks. And so we'll zoom in,
particularly with yourexpertise. Here, you work with a
lot of coaches, and these aresmart, capable folks. Why do
they seem to still get stuck inthis do it all yourself, do
everything all the time trap?
Mary Cravets (02:33):
Well, you know what? First of all, they don't
even necessarily know what theyshould be doing at all, because
coming from a corporatebackground coming from an
academic background there.There's no school for this. I
work with people who have MBAs,who have marketing backgrounds
and this entrepreneurial pieceof, how do you do it? It's just
(02:56):
not really taught anywhere, notany traditional place that you
would learn from, likeuniversities and so forth, and
so they come in. I think thebiggest thing is that everyone
thinks they should know how todo it. And why would they? You
don't beat yourself up if youdon't know how to knit, you
(03:17):
know, it's like you just don'tknow how to do it. Go get the
skills.
Scott Ritzheimer (03:20):
Yeah, absolutely. So let's, let's
actually start there. Let's,let's try and as best we can, as
a big question, but let's answerthat question for them. What do
you need to know? Let's startspecifically with coaches,
because it's a little easier todefine in a specific industry.
But folks, I'm in this industryas well, and work with a lot of
(03:42):
our coaches in the scalearchitects program. And one of
the things that I found outpretty early is that coaching
isn't coaching, it's it's awhole lot of stuff other than
coaching. I actually I wasshocked when I started. And
maybe this was your experience,or you've seen others. I did
less coaching my first fewmonths of coaching than I did
when I was just coaching people,you know, for fun beforehand. So
(04:04):
what is it, if you have a brandnew coach, what do they need to
do?
Mary Cravets (04:09):
Yeah, the first thing they need to know is that
they have to keep an eye on thatvision of what they want to be
doing and the impact they wantto be making. But then they need
to roll up their sleeves and getto work, and their number one
job is enrolling clients. We getvery distracted with this big
picture of marketing and andsales and now social media, and
(04:30):
we see social media everywhere.So obviously, that's how people
get clients right now. So wherethey need to focus the first
system in the business. Like,the primary system is bring in
business. And people tend to goto coaches. Tend to go to what
they know. Like, instantly, I'llask them a question, like, Okay,
(04:52):
what have you thought aboutgrowing your business? And you
see them go, and they look overin this place in their mind
where business development is,and it's, there's nothing there.
And so they go over to wherethey're they're like, I was
thinking of working on myaccounting systems, because they
know that, and it's fascinating.So having they've got to first
realize client generation is thefirst skill set. It's not
(05:14):
getting more certifications.It's not necessarily even
bringing in your pastexperiences. Client generation
first skill set, and that iswhere you spend your time. And
it's probably, and actually thevery, very first thing to do,
probably, is to unlearneverything, all the assumptions
(05:34):
that you know about sales andmarketing. It's just like, No,
it's not about being pushy. No,it's about, not about convincing
people to do things they don'twant to do. It's none of those
things. And I think that'sprobably my biggest job, is
like, show people you don't haveto be that, that picture of what
they fear they have to become inorder to grow a business.
Scott Ritzheimer (05:54):
Yeah, the you're stepping on all of the,
all the sacred cows here, butcertifications, let's talk about
this. Because, again, this issomething that I definitely see
in the coach world, but I see itacross professional services and
and then I see that patternhappening in other environments.
But one of the things that I seefolks struggle with is like
(06:18):
being an entrepreneur is hard.Hearing no is really hard. And,
you know, trying to do thissales thing, and to whatever
extent, it's because you wereclumsy, or to whatever extent,
it's just they weren't ready,it's not time. You got to know
and it hurts, right? Because,especially in something like
coaching, it's kind of likethey're saying no to you, not
your product. Oh, yeah. And itjust cuts deep. So you get these
(06:43):
folks that were and really arequite confident, but that
confidence starts to take someknocks, yeah? And then I think
this is where the certificationsthing comes into play, because
we try to get more confident bybecoming more competent at
whatever it is the trade that wedo. But what I think needs to
happen, and I think this issomething that you do
(07:06):
exceptionally well, they have tobecome more confident by having
more reps just selling andclosing what they do. Would you
agree with that?
Mary Cravets (07:15):
Yeah, absolutely. And again, it's that comfort
zone. People go back to whatthey know the certifications,
and they come by it honestly, ofcourse, because in a corporate
career and an academic career,the more certified you are, the
more knowledgeable you are.Usually that's how you move up.
So you know, with the best ofintentions, these smart people,
(07:36):
they end up going after asolution with with the wrong
tools, and so the reps reallyimportant, and not just the
reps, but the strategy behindit. I was talking to someone
today, a prospective client, andshe's like, well, everything
(07:57):
you're talking about, you know,the relationships and getting
your messaging, right? And doingthose things, they all, I mean,
like, I know how to do that, shesaid, But how exactly? So it's
this pairing. Like, what I havefound gives you, gives coaches
the reps, and then theconfidence is getting the
strategy so specific and alsofeeling so natural and genuine,
(08:21):
and then the steps so small andwell defined, they start taking
those steps, and the confidencedoesn't really play as much of a
role, because they're just like,Oh, I'm gonna take some steps.
Well, look, I got a positiveresponse from someone. I didn't
die when I asked someone for areferral. That's amazing. So
they're getting, they're gettingthis positive feedback, which
(08:43):
motivates them to keep going. Soit's the reps, but not you know,
I hate hearing people say I'd bea no collector. I'm like, please
don't do that. That sounds likeaiming for the wrong thing.
Scott Ritzheimer (08:54):
Yeah, yeah. So, so one of the things that
you said earlier was you have toforget everything you know about
sales? So again, impossiblylarge question in an impossibly
small format podcast, but whatdo we need to think about sales?
What's the right frame of mindto approach it as a coach or a
professional services provider?
Mary Cravets (09:15):
You know, I was very fortunate my very first
trainer I ever heard. He definedsales for me, and I have taken
this with me forever, and I Ishare it now. And that is, sales
is helping someone make adecision they want to or have to
make, and when you like theprocesses I teach, the processes
(09:38):
I run before having a salesconversation. It's about taking
someone through a process sothey can answer the question for
themselves, should they moveforward? Should they invest?
Yeah, it's a very small answerto a big question. But sales, of
course, is the end of theprocess. Process, the sales is
(10:01):
the end. Most people, mostcoaches, will tell me, if I get
to talk to somebody, I canusually enroll them. That's not
the problem. It's how do I getall the leads coming in? Yeah.
So that's where clicking in theprocess is even more it's even
more important.
Scott Ritzheimer (10:17):
Yeah. So let's go there, because there's, there
are. I mean, my inbox every dayhas folks that are talking about
leads and appointments and you,if you spend any time on social
media, there's just justconstant onslaught of the 92,000
things you need to do to bringin clients. Is it necessary? Do
(10:39):
you have to have, you know, SEOand five social media funnels
and lead magnets and all of thatjazz. What do you actually need
to to create the sales that youneed to succeed?
Mary Cravets (10:52):
I usually follow along the lines of the just
follow the thread of what'sworking. It's very blunt. I had,
in my second year of business, Ihad a total burnout, and so I
had, like, four hours a week torun a business that was
providing half of my householdincome. And so the only thing
that could occur to me is I haveto follow what's working. I
(11:15):
can't waste time with all ofthese other things that are not
getting me anywhere. Just out ofpure crisis necessity, I had to
pare it down. All right, how canI spend the least amount of time
and get clients and startingwith what's working, I looked
at, what are the words that areworking, what are the audiences
(11:35):
that are working? What are thetactics that are working? Like
every single thing had to have atrack record, either in my
business or in the industry, incoaching, number one ways that
way that coaches get clientsthrough relationships. That is
true of also most service basedbusinesses through
relationships. And by that Imean referrals, connections,
(11:57):
getting to the cold marketthrough your warm market. The
problem is, what we seeeverywhere is social media, and
nobody sees on my desk personalnote cards and little Starbucks
cards that I send as thank yous.And guess what? I make very good
money on very simple things likethis, yeah, but it's what's
(12:17):
working you follow that threadand then systemize it.
Scott Ritzheimer (12:23):
Here's what I love about that most of the
folks that I feel get the mostconfused and frustrated by the
funnel world, if you will, arethe ones that have absolutely no
business doing it. It's so farfrom how they would naturally
behave, that the chances of themever having success there are so
(12:44):
low that even if they did itright, it still probably
wouldn't give them what theywant. And so I love this idea of
following the thread of what'sworking. I'm wondering if you
can clarify that a little bit,because I think your definition
of what's working might be alittle different than the
average coach sitting listening.So what do you mean? What's
working?
Mary Cravets (13:04):
Yes, and actually this, this is a piece of advice
I give to all coaches, becausecoaches tend to sit around with
other coaches and bat aroundideas of how to grow their
business. And they say, oh. Theysay, Oh, you know what worked
for me? And they will talk aboutit, and then they'll all follow
that rabbit. And so I've primedmy audiences and my clients and
(13:28):
everyone I can run into. I say,when someone says this is
working for me, ask them to tellyou what that means. What do you
mean it's working? Does thatmean you closed a client, or
does it mean you got 486impressions on LinkedIn, like,
(13:48):
what does it's working? Whatdoes it look like to them? What
is it actually and does thatworking mirror what you want to
get? And if it isn't, do notchase that rabbit.
Scott Ritzheimer (14:03):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Mary Cravets (14:05):
Data. When I'm talking about what's working,
I'm talking about data,
Scott Ritzheimer (14:08):
yeah, and and what's what's actually,
enrolling clients, your numberone job generating revenue,
enrolling new clients in yourbusiness. And we're picking on
coaches a little bit here.There's low hanging fruit. But
again, this really is true forentrepreneurs in general. And I
would say we could zoom and say,especially those for whom the
(14:30):
work that they do is what'sreally important to them, right?
We see this in the nonprofitworld as well, where, honestly,
if you start a nonprofit, thenumber one thing you need to do
is generate revenue. It'sexactly the same, but they're
even worse at it in the senseit's like, no, we're a
nonprofit. We don't talk aboutmoney. It's like, well, you
know, good good luck. So itreally is something that goes so
deep into the world of foundersand entrepreneurs. And this idea
(14:53):
of what's working and definingthat properly, I think, is so,
so very important. Fantastic wayof putting it. And, yeah. And
sharing with other founders.Yeah, it's just go back and
listen to it. If you'relistening to this, and any of us
just go back and listen to itagain. I'm not gonna repeat it
again. But Mary, there's thisquestion that I want to make
sure we have time for, because Iask all my guests, I'm
interested to see what you haveto say. And the question is
(15:15):
this, what is the biggest secretthat you wish wasn't a secret at
all? What's that one thing youwish every founder watching or
listening today knew?
Mary Cravets (15:26):
What is the number one thing? You know what? I
think it's I'm not sure I'mgoing to say this, right, but
it's about when you engage insomething in your business, make
sure it's doing the right job.We do things, we follow things.
(15:49):
We habitually do things, and wedon't take the time to say, Is
this doing the right job? Peopleare blindly doing social media.
Social media is great. Is itdoing the right strategic job?
You know, you're getting upearly. Is that for the right
reasons? You know, we do thisfor ourselves, so both on the
(16:13):
strategic and the personal sideof things, you know, are you, is
everything in your businessdoing the right job, and is it
really? Are you owning it andvaluing yourself in all of that?
I think I answered like fivethings in there, but it all
wraps together our identity andour time and our and our out
(16:35):
outputs from what we get, justmaking sure that everything is
doing the right job. And youknow what? It's about,
intentionality. Yeah, like, themore intentional you are, the
more you feel at home in yourbusiness, the more results you
get. It's worth taking the timefor that intentionality of
strategy and choices and valuesand everything in your business.
Scott Ritzheimer (16:54):
Absolutely, absolutely. So Mary, if there's
a coach or consultant listeningto this, and they're in that.
They're they're in the rollercoaster, they're in the thick of
all of it, and they'd lovesomeone to come and help show
them what those steps are andand build a strategy for their
sales and revenue. How can theyfind out more about the work
that you do? Where can I connectwith you directly?
Mary Cravets (17:15):
Yeah, the very easiest way is to go to my
website. Simplygetclients.comthe entire front page is kind of
like this big arrow that ispointing to a button that says,
take the class. And every month,I take people through this
process and the components andassess what you have in your
business, as far as clientgeneration, what needs help, and
(17:36):
what is working well for youalready. And from there you can
you get a lot of insight intothat intentionality that I'm
talking about.
Scott Ritzheimer (17:46):
Fantastic, fantastic. Well, Mary, this
conversation could have gone onfor a very long time, but we
like to keep it short and sweetfor our listeners, thanks so
much for being on. It really wasa privilege and honor having you
here with us today. For those ofyou watching and listening, you
know your time and attentionmean the world to us. I hope you
got as much out of thisconversation as I know I did,
(18:07):
and I cannot wait to see younext time. Take care.
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