Solution providers: does this look like a familiar cycle? Sales are up, you become super busy with your new leads and existing clients, you stop marketing, and a few months down the line incoming leads slow (or worse—stop all together). We understand it is human nature to focus on the immediate deadlines when you’re overstretched on deadlines. To stop the cycle of feast and famine, you need to consistently fill your sales funnel. But how do you keep up on your marketing when you’re stretched for time? We have a few tips to help you keep your sales funnel full in five hours a week.

I. Dedicate three hours a week to inbound marketing. Stay top-of-mind with current clients and create a dialogue with prospective clients using your social media and list. Let your prospects know that you’re there to solve their pain points.

• Social Media. For B2B we recommend focusing on LinkedIn and Twitter. Use LinkedIn effectively by learning more about Unleashing the Power of LinkedIn. Schedule five tweets per week using interesting content that solves your prospects’ pain points. Get savvy with and learn the 5 mistakes you're making on twitter. Keep in mind, the content you share on your social media is not pushing your services, but rather establishing yourself as a thought leader.
• Connect with your list. Email, a more traditional means to stay connected with your audience, can be effective as long as you respect your list. By “respect your list” we mean “Don’t be a spammer!” Emailing too frequently or emailing without offering valuable content is a surefire way to have your connections unsubscribe from your list. Rule of thumb: Only email your list when you actually have something of value to share. Channel Maven Consulting emails our list once a quarter with our newsletter. We feel that emailing more frequently will bombard our community. Those who want to follow Channel Maven’s insights on channel marketing more frequently than once a quarter can subscribe to our RSS feed to catch our blogs, and follow us on our Twitter and on our LinkedIn Company Page. Additionally, our newsletter offers valuable content our community won’t get anywhere else (and is NOT just a sales pitch). Read 6 Tips for Launching a Successful Newsletter for more in-depth advice.

II. Use one hour a week to connect with past clients. Much of your business will be from referrals or repeat business from previous clients, so make sure you are directly connecting with them. Manage this process in 3-2-1.

1. Call or email three previous clients to catch up. This is where your three hours of inbound marketing above come into play. Have a reason for connecting with your past clients. For example, “We recently saw an article on [fill in your client’s pain point] and I wanted to share it with you.” Stay abreast of their news so you can call and congratulate them on successes.
2. Send two thank you cards/notes to previous clients. Always thank your previous clients for doing business with you; for large clients a hand written note or gift may be in order. This personal touch helps remind your past clients of the kind of service you provide.
3. Set-up one face-to-face meeting per week. Depending on where your clients are located this may not be feasible, but the goal is the same—to set aside a time to have a more in- depth phone call or meeting with a past or prospective client.

III. Set aside one hour a week to connect with ideal clients. Use similar to 3-2-1 above; however, spend a quality hour on one or a few clients. This could be an in-depth phone call or time spent making connections with the right people at your ideal client. Hint: Leverage your network on LinkedIn to get an introduction to these prospects.

What are you doing that works? How do you keep your sales funnel full? Leave your comments below!

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