Business Coaching
Shut up!
Oh, that’s not very nice.
Mom would give us a spanking back in the day if we used such indelicate language.
But what if there’s some valuable advice in that imprecation.
Well, there is. Let’s just phrase it more politely and talk about it as it relates to your daily conversations.Read More
When it comes to your marketing, I have two words for you:
Partner up.
It’s natural to think we have to do this all ourselves. After all, it’s OUR business. Why should anyone else be interested in helping us promote ourselves?
Because there’s something in it for them too!
That’s what honest commerce is all about, creating that win-win.
It’s just that in the case of your marketing, it isn’t a case of the professional service provider wins and the client wins … it’s you win and your strategic partner wins.
And since you’re providing a stellar service, your client wins too. Yea! Win-win-win.
There are four variations on theme here when it comes to how this partnering can work.
You know where growth takes place? One place and one place only.
Outside your comfort zone!
It’s also where you’ll find adventure, excitement, and a fresh perspective on life.
Old, tried, and true is good. But so is new and different.Read More
When you become successful, you almost inevitably face a challenge … a limitation.
There are only so many hours in the day … and only so much of you to go around.
So how do you fit everything into your schedule without compromising your performance … and risking eventual physical and mental breakdown?
It’s an important question because too many people, especially the overachievers among us, think we can continue to push the limits of our endurance and not suffer any serious consequences.
But so often, here’s what happens.
Everybody likes to think they’re doing a good job. You probably are. But how do you know?
Because you’re getting few, if any, complaints? Because you get sincere thanks and compliments from time to time?
Okay, that’s nice. But how do you really know what’s going on in the minds of your clients … and what may be stuck in their craws?
Bottom line: You can’t know … unless you ask.
What am I saying?
Conducting structured interviews with your clients isn’t a nice, optional thing to do. It’s essential. It’s really the only way to know how well you’re doing and how you could do better.
In this article, I want share with you what I’ve learned from doing innumerable client interviews over the years … the dos and don’ts … the ins and outs … because it’s easy to make mistakes and/or not have the process yield the results you’re looking for. But when you do them right, the benefits can be substantial.
Why do people typically get promoted to leadership positions … besides having the right connections?
They get the job done.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about an expert who does a great job of handling her assignments or a member of a team who stands out as a solid performer.
And what typically accounts for the good results these folks have achieved?
They worked hard, and maybe more than anything, they sweated the details. They crossed the t’s and dotted the I’s. They were meticulous. They were smart, fully engaged and “owned” their work. You could count on them.
So, they got promoted.
But now, “getting the job done” is no longer about their direct contributions. It’s far more about what they’re able to help their team achieve.
That requires an almost completely different mindset and set of skills.
“There’s never been a better time to buy.”
“Act now.”
“Call today.”
The calls to action from marketers are everywhere and come at us non-stop.
And guess what? A lot of times, you’re just as bad as the hucksters with the urgency you impose on yourself.
Gotta make a decision. Gotta get it done. Time’s a wastin’. He who hesitates is lost.
Really?Read More
I have client after client telling me the same thing.
They’re overwhelmed.
I know you’re familiar with the feeling. You have a laundry list of things you HAVE to do, but the burden feels so heavy, you can’t get ANY of it done. The neurons get overloaded and we just kinda shut down … paralyzed.
Remember our two-part discussion on cortisol from a few months ago? Part 1 and Part 2. That’s the culprit. Cortisol sets you up to fight or flee.
But you have a business to run.
You’re the expert.
And that’s good, because your clients rely on you to know the ins and outs and do’s and don’ts you need to know to get the results they’re looking for.
But does that mean you know everything? Does that mean you have all the answers or always have the best answers?
Of course not. There will always be gaps in your knowledge, especially when it comes to what’s going on in the head and gut of your client.
What are your clients comfortable or uncomfortable with? What creative ideas do they have that you’re unaware of? What insights do they have that you haven’t gained access to?
Well, I can tell you, you’ll never find out if you make the mistake I see so many people make.
Flash quiz.
Tell me where your business will be in 5 years, complete with details.
Can you do it?
If you can, that’s great! If you can’t tell me right now in very specific fashion what your business will look like in 18 months or five years from now and what you’ve accomplished along the way, why not?
Have you taken the time to sit down and think about it, envision it, and map it out? If not, I encourage you to set aside the time and get busy.
Why?
I want to pose a hypothetical to you.
Suppose you’re an attorney specializing in contract law. How many competitors do you have out there?
Plenty.
And suppose you speak and write fluent Mandarin.
How many now?
Not so many. You’ve radically reduced the pool of candidates someone needing those two skills can hire.
By virtue of possessing that additional language skill, you just made yourself far more appealing to certain prospective clients and cut a whole lot of your would-be competitors out of the running.
I tell young people all the time, if you want to stand out and essentially write your own ticket in life, combine specialties that very few people possess in combination, but that are solely needed in certain niches.
The same goes for your business.
Give yourself some credit.
You’ve spent weeks … or was it months … getting to the point where you’ve managed to arrange a face-to-face meeting with a prospective client … and the meeting went well!
Here’s what you did and what you didn’t do in that meeting that made it so good.
You hear a lot these days about the benefits of simply taking the time to express gratitude for all the blessings you have in your life. It’s actually quite a big deal. The practice of expressing gratitude just puts you in a good state … mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. It positively affects your health …and pretty profoundly at that.
At Thanksgiving time, we call these expressions of gratitude “being thankful.” Same thing.
Are you truly thankful? Do you express how grateful you are on a regular basis? Do you actually take time to catalogue and give thanks for all the stuff you love about your life?
I’ll bet you do, and that’s good, because when you’re grateful for what you have, you’re concentrating on the positive and … as the law of attraction says … you get more of what you focus on. Be grateful and you create more of what you’re grateful for. It’s the perfect example of a virtuous cycle.
But there’s something more powerful even than gratitude / being thankful when it comes to attracting the things you want to you.
In business, as in life, you’ll always find yourself in one of three places. You either have your mojo workin’ … you’re stuck in neutral … or you’re losing ground. In other words, you’re trending up, sideways or down.
I want to map this trend model onto your client acquisition and retention efforts and do two things. Examine what your success … or lack thereof … can mean to you professionally and personally. And look at what you can do to make it easier to be successful.
If you’re bringing in new clients and the folks you have are happy to stay right where they are, great. Give yourself some credit. You’re doing something right. But stick around. You may still be working too hard for the results you’re getting.
If you’re struggling to just hold your ground or you’re actually losing clients despite your best efforts, it’s time to take a hard look at how you’re going about marketing and client retention. Because if what you’re doing is taking a whole lot of time and effort and straining you to the max, you’re at risk of burning out.Read More
Last month, we identified cortisol … the hormone your body produces under stress … as the silent destroyer.
This month, we look at what you can do to avoid stress, de-stress, and mitigate some of the effects cortisol has on your mind and body.
Some stress in life is unavoidable and even necessary. From challenge comes growth, but most of us are experiencing way too much stress and paying way too high a price in terms of compromised health and wellbeing. So, what do we do about it?Read More
