But I must say, John Jantsch is among those who offer true substance and real value and merit our follows. And here’s the reason why:

He’s practical.

In his new book, The Referral Engine, John provides specific rationale, tactics and actions you can take to create a business growth MACHINE.

His “Customer Referral Cycle” will help you wrap your mind around your opportunities–many of them typically going unharvested–that exist in the market.

(At this point, I’m trying to make John feel guilty that he didn’t use me for comments on his back cover…)

The book hits shelves this week. I give it a strong “buy” recommendation.

Click here or on the image below to view that advice.

Let me know if you have a cool story you’d like to share with ABC News Now or if you have a burning question to ask. Just send me a personal message at my profile.

Click on the image to view…

My feelings about this were confirmed and further fueled at a recent networking event in Phoenix where Clate Mask, CEO of Infusionsoft, presented his thoughts on the way to make following up work for you.

Because entrepreneurs like me are among the most passionate people on earth, and we love pitching to prospective customers, we often forget the importance of following up with prospects and even current customers to get more cha-ching! into our cash registers. Add to this the especially difficult market environment, which has would-be customers more reluctant than ever to pull money out of their wallets, and practicing the art of follow up becomes even more important.

The key precept of following up effectively with customers to win more business is understanding that people don’t buy when you’re ready. They buy when they’re ready. So it’s imperative to be “in front of them,” ready to do business, at exactly that moment.

Here are some recommended ways to master the art of follow up:

Build Trust. Do special and thoughtful things after coming in contact with a possible customer. As simple as it sounds, mailing a hand-written note goes a long way these days. Also be sure to be prompt. If you set an expectation, always meet or exceed it. Promptness is a simple way to build confidence and trust.

Use a Variety of Mediums. To each his own, as the saying goes. This holds true in the world of business, particularly how and where people prefer to receive their marketing messages. Is email marketing viable? Perhaps. Others may respond better to direct mail postcards, though. Yet others may be Talk Radio faithfuls. And there’s always the option of just placing a call or meeting up in person.

Be a Thought-Leader. Instead of constantly trying to sell, figure out how to position yourself as a provider of very interesting, valuable information related—or unrelated—to what you offer. This will give you lots of excuses to stay top of mind and be poised to make a sale when the potential purchaser decides they’re ready. This also builds trust, as previously mentioned.

Automate It. Because we’re all busy and often gravitate to the more shoot-from-the-hip evangelism role, you might consider leveraging new technology to automate your follow-up process. Companies like Infusionsoft come to mind. They offer a simple software-based approach that makes the art of follow up into somewhat of a science. The data we’ve looked at from Infustionsoft and other such solutions is very compelling.

Check out this resource from one of our sponsors, Infusionsoft: 9 Secrets to Accelerating Your Success

Here’s his site: www.PNCGroup.org

He seems like a great guy. But he can’t find his groove in business. And there’s no time to waste.

So, here’s what I advised the folks at CNBC I’d recommend for him right off the bat:

• If you can’t close deals, here are the reasons why that might be the case:
• Not a clear value proposition
• Not building confidence that you can deliver
• Trying to change the way things are done
• Not a clear “win” for the specific person who would contract with you within the larger manufacturer
• Priced wrong
• If you’ve got time on your hands and you’re not able to close business immediately, do some “test” projects at no charge to prove your value. If you can get them addicted to you – believing in you – you’ve got a shot to expand the opportunity and convert it into a paying contract.
• Website: Never leave your website incomplete. The empty “news” boxes show inactivity. Nobody wants to take a risk they don’t have to and the fact that there’s no news, in this case, is “bad news.”
• Testimonials: instead of making vague references to what you did at a previous employer or for a recent client, GET SPECIFIC. You talk about “measurable results” as one of your consulting strengths, but there’s nothing measurable about what you claim on your website. Add meat to any claims. Best recommendation: Get Reference Accounts, which is a fancy term for testimonials from previous clients or employers about what you’ve been able to achieve for them.
• For your personal photo – BUTTON UP! You need to step up the image. It’s not enough to be a “friendly” looking guy. You need to be crisp, orderly, professional looking, anything that builds an aura for you that you can be relied on with multi-million-dollar responsibilities.
• Play the numbers game. How many accounts do you talk to or meet with on a daily basis? What’s your follow up procedure? What’s your specific tactic to move an introductory conversation toward a closed deal? Are you asking what the stumbling blocks are, the issues you have to address in order for the deal to become a go?

How would you add to advising Tony based on his situation and his website?

Well, I did it. And Dan, if you’re reading this, all I have to say is, IT WORKED!

I am really glad and grateful to have been turned on to such a simple tool for crystalizing an idea and communicating it to other people in a compelling and inviting way.

The “pitch” was to offer a quick solution to increase their content and social networking offerings in a very rapid and inexpensive manner with minimal risk and resources required.

Transcribed onto a piece of paper at the end of the meeting (to be able to share it with you), here are the drawings I drew on the whiteboard:

First, a box - it represented their current website.

I drew a line below it and told the 11-person, multi-departmental group in the room to help me pinpoint some of the issues that have gotten in the way of making progress on their effort to add the features and functionality at their website.

Out of the gate, they said that it required a lot of internal resources and coordination between them. That was slowing things down. So I drew lots of bodies…

 Also, the estimates they’d recieved and/or developed internally were rather pricey. So I drew the universal sign for moola.

There were also concerns about limitations of the current web architecture. I drew a house to represent pre-existing architecture.

Next, they talked about how many layers of approval this was going to have to go through. Compliance was a big deal. I drew a whistle, as in a referee whistling to call a foul. 

Then I just added that all of these issues and realities take extra time. Here was my lame attempt at a turtle to reflect that.

And I threw in one additional drawing to represent their visitors’ expectations. Currently, their visitors come to their site expecting specific services (the butler) and products (the box). I talked to them about how much I respect their primary objectives, which ultimately are to sell more of those services and products and that I was well aware that the value of providing more content and connectivity between users was to serve these primary goals.

At this point in the meeting, I noticed that literally EVERYONE in the room was involved. They were talking to me, talking to each other, contributing - there was total engagement and attentiveness. I’d go so far as to say, they were having fun. Not a typical powerpoint meeting-type experience.

Next I drew what I thought we could provide for them, in two parts:

I started by drawing a much simpler scenario if they were to work with us. I explained that very little resource drain on their side would occur - just a relationship manager and a support person would be needed. That’s the two bodies. Probably should’ve drawn long hair on one to represent a female.

Then I added a circle representing StartupNation (SUN), shining brightly.

And last, a rapidly moving, uhhh, rabbit. Not a very good one. But they got it.

This all took maybe a minute and a half to explain. It was clean and simple. From there, I started illustrating how it would work and specifically what benefits would result.

And here’s the final suite of drawings, coming to life right there in the room, everyone still enrapt.

I hit hard on how we could foster connections between their site users. Thus the circle with all the interconnecting arrows between faces. This time I did draw men and women!

Then I added that we’d be able to use our thousands of pages of business advice to move people from confusion and fear to smart and empowered. I butchered the fearful face.  It was supposed to be sweat and ended up looking like tears. But the face with the light bulb overhead was pretty universal. That worked well.

I drew a heart next with their brand inside it. This represented the very positive brand association they’d enjoy if they did provide all of the StartupNation content and connectivity.

And lastly, I drew lots of happy faces, one with a graduation cap and one holding out out a stack of bills representing how the quality of their user base would be improved and that they’d be inclined to make more informed and more frequent transaction decisions.

When I sat down at the table after this and showed some additional pre-prepared materials, it was clear that the room had great, positive energy in it. We were all working together. The meeting went on for another 45 minutes and concluded with very aggressive action items that would move the opportunity forward.

My first experiment in using drawing to draw people in and create a unified vision was a MAJOR HIT.

Here are a few things I learned in my virgin effort that might be helpful if you want to try drawing a pitch, too:

1) Prepare. Do a lot of sketching before you walk into the meeting. Have a very clear idea of key ideas you want to communicate and how you’ll do that. This will help you look like you’re having fun and know what you’re doing and it will invite others to feel the same and join in.

2) Move it along. Don’t go off the deep-end with sketching intricate stuff. Keep it down and dirty - it’s just to capture ideas and to simplify them. So be quick.

3) Pull attendees into the process. The drawing is fun, so let other people join in, direct you, even take over the white board.

4) Mix in some words. I found that some selective, supporting text went a long way to emphasizing key takeaways.

Have fun drawing and winning business!