I came to Levant Technologies in 2011 as the fourth ever employee. As soon as I arrived, I implemented tracking. Everything to me is about tracking. It’s paramount to write down your goals and know where you’re going. If you’re not tracking every single step along the way, then how do you know if you ever got there?
I track sales, networking opportunities, marketing, everything. When I first arrived at Levant, they had a excellent product. But no one knew about them. That year, I made it my goal to increase awareness of Levant. I attended every single networking event I could possibly attend for the next six months. Happy Hour, OKC Chamber, Edmond Chamber, Norman Chamber, it didn’t matter what it was, I was there. For six months I attended everything.
After these events, I took business cards I acquired and I put them into a 3-ring binder with index cards and I wrote where I met the person. Six months later I did a review of:
- How many business cards I got.
- How many people I followed up with, had coffee or lunch with, or continued any kind of contact after our initial meeting.
- Did I receive any referrals from any of these individuals?
- Did I write any web proposals for them?
- Did I close a deal?
I used these measurements to track my efforts. After six months, I was able to calculate a return on investment of my time and determine which organizations to devote myself to. It might be a free meeting, but my time is valuable. I chose to participate in the activities that were truly of value to me. This helped Levant grow our sales by 300%. My first year we had 13 product launches, my second year we had 37 launches.
This year our goal is 100 project launches. We’re up to nine employees and six contractors. Now, I’m trying to focus on the next step. In 2016 I will have been with Levant for five years. Whether or not I meet my five-year goal is up to me.