Chains and locks won’t stop us from opening doors of opportunity. Will they?
Well, here we are. It’s the last Friday of March. Due to my sickness I missed the last Friday of February. But thankfully, March brings with it another opportunity. Another chance to riff on about whatever I’d like.
Here’s a few of the points of today’s Free Form Friday – they’re mostly questions I’m asking YOU. I’d love to have your feedback. Email me at SupportBulaNetwork [at] gmail [dot] com.
Is there a market for online executive coaching in the form of a membership site? By executive coaching I mean coaching aimed at anybody who has direct reports. People who manage the work of other people, regardless of their title, are candidates for what most call “executive” coaching.
What do you think the subject matter should be? Think big or broad, then narrow it down. For example, if I think about communication (a broad category), there are many more narrow areas like peer-to-peer, staff meetings, one-on-one with direct reports, written (including email and texting) and group presentations.
If the platform included video, audio and text (PDF’s perhaps), how small should the content be broken down? In other words, should a single video/audio be no more than 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes…how long should each piece of content be? A topic that might require 2 hours of instruction could be broken up into as many smaller sessions as needed. Twenty-four (24) five minute sessions might be a little much, but a dozen ten-minute sessions might be okay. What do you think?
Would it be more powerful if it had an interactive component with me? For example, what if it were a relatively inexpensive monthly subscription (say, something under $50), but then supplemented with a closed webinar with me each month for a slightly higher price (still under $100 though). Is that a dumb idea? What are your thoughts?
I’m talking about comprehensive, action-oriented content designed to help people really move the needle in their ability to become more effective leaders and managers. I’m also talking about including areas that deal with selling, persuasion and marketing. I’d want this to be delivered in a logical sequence so people could make progress and not feel like they’ve got a fire hose aimed at them. I’m not talking about a once-then-I’m-done affair. I’d want to continue to add and update the material while addressing the concerns of the members. How much should something like this cost if I wanted to make it extremely high value, but I wanted to make sure the people who enrolled where serious about taking action?
Should it be strictly monthly with no annual opportunity, or should I offer a reduced annual rate?
My philosophy with all my work is to have customers think or say, “This is worth so much more than what I’m paying.” I’m a guy who has no problem leaving money on the table IF the result is a remarkable experience for the customer/client. I want to dazzle people. I don’t want to merely satisfy them. And that necessarily means I’m aware of managing the expectations with a price point. If you’re going to charge me lots of money each month, I’m going to ratchet up my expectation. If you’re going to ding my credit card a lower amount, I’m going to lower my expectation. My objective would be to err on the side of BLOWING AWAY a reasonable expectation. I’m also aware of retention rates of subscribers. It wouldn’t help me to have a high churn rate (the rate at which subscribers leave and I have to go find new replacements).
How valuable would an affiliate program be…for members only? I wouldn’t want to entertain an affiliate program for the open public. I’d only want people who are subscribers themselves to have that opportunity. What would be a fair affiliate commission?
Do you have any other ideas for me?
The door of opportunity often looks just like that picture. Closed. Chained. Locked. And intimidating.
Do you think this may be a door of opportunity for me?
Let me bribe you to share you thoughts with me. Email me your feedback using the subject line “MEMBERSHIP SITE” and include your Skype ID in the email. I’ll contact you and we’ll schedule a 15-minute Skype call so you can ask me anything you’d like. I’ll do my best to give you at least one great idea to help move forward.
Kurt Sutter is the guy behind “Sons of Anarchy.” Back in 2012 he did a documentary on the Aryan Brotherhood for the Discovery Channel series, Outlaw Empires.
The Aryan Brotherhood was born in the 1960’s and grew from a prison system based band of criminals to one of the most feared groups in history. One person in the documentary, John (one of the founders) revealed how the group finally realized they needed a more structured leadership. By the 1980’s they had established a 3-man commission. He was one of the commissioners. An articulate man imprisoned for life, he said, “There’s only two ways to get to the top. You either earn your way or kill your way. You’re either a money-maker or a killer.”
Don’t go thinking I know my way around climbing to the top of a criminal organization. I have no firsthand knowledge or experience. I have seen The Godfather and plenty of documentaries on organized crime so I understand the basic concepts.
In season 1 of Vikings (a History Channel TV series that is now in season 2), the main character, Ragnar Lothbrok, engaged in a one-on-one battle with Earl Haraldson, the local chieftain. The victor would be acknowledged by the society as the ruler. Ragnar killed Earl Haraldson and instantly became the chieftain. Survival of the fittest and all that.
In the business sector it’s not terribly different, except it’s less literal and more metaphorical. Power, fear and authority in the corporate setting often stem from a person’s ability to do you harm. Hopefully, no literal blood is shed. It’s bad enough to have a career that hemorrhages to death. At least you can go find another one and start over though. If you get shanked in prison and die…or if you battle to the death with a subordinate who wants your kingdom, let’s just say your opportunities for redemption are dead, too.
As for the money-maker or the earner, we all appreciate the person who can get us things we can’t otherwise find. From Radar on MASH who could work magic to get the supplies lacking at the 4077, to the rainmaker who brings in new clients to the law firm – and all the countless examples in between – we all have learned the value of the person who can bring in business or increase the assets. They become indispensable to the organization. They may become indispensable to us, too.
Money-Maker or Killer: Which One Are You?
Don’t confuse money making with just sales. It’s not merely about revenue generation. It’s about being valuable and other people seeing your value. It’s also why killing your way to the top works so well. It gains you instant visibility. And notoriety. Doing good work tends to keep you off the radar like a referee in a game who does a great job. You can become invisible if you report to work daily and do a good job. You can’t remain anonymous if you’re terrorizing people.
Now I don’t have to tell you that if you’ve got enough cold water in your veins to instill fear among your cohorts, you’re eventually going to encounter somebody whose blood runs even colder. Then what will you do? Or you may go after the wrong person, at the wrong time and find yourself lying in a pool of your own blood. Ruthlessness is a hard road to follow in getting ahead, but history is filled with success stories.
But there’s another kind of killer in the business world, the person capable of besting the competition. We tend to focus merely on people inside the company who get ahead at the expense of their peers. That’s a crummy way to go. Instead, it’s possible to add value to your organization because you have an ability to defeat the competition, or contribute heavily toward that cause.
Money makers and killers. It’s two completely different personalities, skill sets and inclinations. But both can achieve success others only dream of.
What if you’re neither of these? What if you’re not resourceful in bringing value and you’re not a killer either? Well, kiss your butt good-bye. You’ve got to add value somewhere, somehow. Then, you’ve got to be visible enough to gain proper recognition. Else…you’ll wind up like the millions who suffer daily with the frustration of feeling under-appreciated.
Some tips discussed in today’s podcast:
You have to identify and faithfully serve your number one customer. It’s not who you think it is.
You have to be able to see problems and solutions.
You have to be able to clearly communicate your ideas, and sell them.
You must believe in yourself and your ideas. It’s a confidence you must cultivate.
You can’t be bashful, but you can’t be overbearing either. You have to know when/where to pick your spots.
You must forge helpful alliances. Successful people don’t go it alone.
Visibility is key. You have to help others see your value else it will go unnoticed.
Your value is often determined by what others value, not what you value.
Life is not fair, but you can improve your odds by being capable, smart, confident and visible.
Gripe guts and malcontents won’t rise to the top and if they do, they won’t stay there long. Don’t join them. Avoid them.
Promote other people. Climb the ladder with colleagues. You need their help. Besides, it broadens your scope of influence.
It’s a marathon with countless sprints built in along the way. Be prepared to break away from the pack in an instant. You never know when your opportunity will come.
Do not let it go to your head. Keep your head on a swivel and stay on top of your game. Keep building value in your career.
Success is never final. Be prepared to suffer a setback.
Failure isn’t final either. Well, it doesn’t have to be. Be resilient. Bounce back. Be a fighter!
It’s time to take aim. No time like the present and all that. Wait a minute, it’s already February…far too late to plan for 2014, right? Not necessarily.
I’m a compulsive planner. It goes with writing things down. One jot here triggers another thought…there. Before you know it I’ve filled a notebook full of gibberish. Well, okay – it’s not all gibberish. Some of it might be worth keeping. No matter. I keep it all anyway. Somewhere.
Don’t mistake me as a person not given to action. Truth is, in spite of my willingness (and fondness) for planning – I’m ridiculously proactive. It’s a hazard of growing up in fast moving businesses I guess. Back in the 80’s remember telling a rather slow moving colleague that I could make three decisions for every one he made. My argument – made long before anybody had thought of the whole LEAN startup movement – was simple. By the time he made his first decision I was on my third, which meant I had course corrected twice already. That put me way ahead of the game. I’ve worked that way for as long as I can remember.
I chronicle. I make notes. I record things. It’s a lifelong habit. Yes, some of it appears to be gibberish…and maybe it is. But…
Some of it ends up in a plan. More like an idea with plan potential. Why I do it this way will become more clear as I go through my little 3 item list. Why a list? Because everybody tells me, “People love lists.” And I read blog posts where the authors talk about the most positive feedback they get are when they write short lists of things. Nuff said. Don’t have to hit me over the head with it. Done.
There’s nothing wrong with using pencils. Fact is, ink is usually found in 3 colors: black, blue and red. Pencils? Well, I can get a pack of many colors. Cheap. People think pens show commitment (I.E. do a crossword puzzle in pen and it shows you’re confident). No, it shows you might be arrogant and pompous. Nuts, even. Pencils represent creative planning. Pencils show you’re committed to adapt, adjust and hone your creativity. So I urge you to embrace the notion of pencil thinking. Be creative!
Here’s my list of 3 things that may (I reiterate the term, “may”) help you create your big audacious hairy goals for next year. I’m snarky, but I’m also serious about these things. Consider them carefully. Please.
1. Go bigger.
“Go big or go home!” I don’t know about you, but I like home. So, that’s not much of a battle cry for me. I will confess something to you though. When I was young, dreaming big – planning big – was easier. I suspect school and adults beat it out of me, or tried. That’s how the world works. We like people who are like us. Dream too big, we’ll beat you down until you’re just like us – thinking small.
Big, audacious and hairy are not terms for rinky-dink goals or plans. Those are terms that conjure up gigantic, awesome aims.
“Oh, but you’ll just be disappointed,” exclaims the realist. Maybe. Maybe not. But for now, I don’t care about that. I care about what goes on in your head. The reason I care about that is because I know that’s where reality starts. In your head.
Living in my head has always come easily. Make believe. Imagination. I don’t have to concentrate much to create even brief moments where I can transport myself in thoughts of what I’d like to make happen. Visualization is what most would call it. Sometimes it might border on hallucination, at least in the mind of critics. That never bothered me.
I used to think everybody did it – visualized (not hallucinated). In fact, I was convinced everybody did it. I don’t remember when it dawned on me that it might not be so common after all. I was grown. That much I remember. Books should have been a clue. There were plenty of books and chapters written on visualizing. I need lots of instruction about a lot of things, but not this. Where was I?
Oh, yeah – thinking big. Aiming high.
It helps if you can see it in your mind. I’m not sure it’s even possible to think bigger if you can’t see the end first. Is it? I wouldn’t know how.
Here’s what I know to be true – we can all benefit from thinking bigger. Consider reaching higher. Consider achieving more. Consider being better. Forget those phrases meant to convince us that the difference between success and failure is razor thin. You know the ones. “Fractionally better.” “Marginally improved.”
Now, go thinking I don’t understand and appreciate the fact that we can be incrementally better and make a BIG difference in the results. I do believe that. In fact, I know it. But when it comes to thinking bigger, aiming higher and trying to be remarkable I don’t think we’re served by hanging on to the notion that if we’ll just be 2% better, then our success is assured. It’s a fool’s gold.
Be bold. Don’t hold back. Unleash the beast between your ears and dream big. Then plan even bigger!
I’m always working on a plan. A business idea. In fact, I’ve got one goal or plan that has been in the works for over 2 years. To be fair, it’s been in the pondering stage for about 2 years. It started out in the dream stage for about six months. It’s been in the more serious planning stage for about 90 days. It’s big. Seven figures big to start. Eight figures big to maturity. And I don’t expect maturity to take a decade. It may, but that’s not my vision.
Here’s my most compelling argument for thinking bigger. I don’t know of a single benefit of thinking smaller. Unless of course you consider smaller results, smaller accomplishments and smaller achievements being a benefit.
2. Be vivid.
Your mind, it’s your biggest tool. Your most powerful weapon. That visualization is important. What’s more – you need to make it as detailed as possible. Every little nuance is important.
Give it lots of time. I don’t mean that you take your sweet time coming up with thoughts. I mean, you give yourself to dwelling on your big goal. Think of it often. Camp out on the idea. Roll it over. Keep rolling it over. Go to bed thinking about it. Wake up in the morning thinking about it.
Imagine the finest details. Embrace them.
Part of being vivid is devoting sufficient time to the mental exercise of seeing the reality of the idea. The longer you hold onto the idea, the more powerful it can become. And the more clarity you’ll experience.
By the way, it’s perfectly fine to adjust the idea. That’s part of the benefit of being vivid. Refine it as you go. Think of it as writing your own story. The characters grow as you write the idea in your mind. They mature. They become more fully developed. So too does the action they take. Enjoy working through all these creative elements.
3. Act. React. Adjust.
Bold ideas require bold action. They even deserve it. Why have a bold idea if you’re not willing to put it out there?
All that thinking should spur you to take action, but not just any action. You have to take action that is congruent with your idea. You’ll likely have thoughts about who and what. Don’t shy away from either. Pursue. Vigorously pursue. Pursue people who can help. Pursue actions that can make the dream come to life. What you do will make the difference in a dream being imaginary or real. Do nothing = imagination is all you’ll have. Do something meaningful, repeatedly = that imagine you first created in your mind becomes reality.
Be ridiculously happy if your images all come to pass. More likely, you’ll find you have to make a few adjustments. For instance, I’ve had things like pricing all worked out in my mind. All of a sudden, I’ve been forced to realize – I was way off. Sometimes way too low. No problem. Adjust. Adapt your vision to the new realities facing you – and your dream.
Keep doing it. Push. Pursue. Adjust. Adapt. Keep working it out in your mind, but keep taking actions. Even small actions can progress you forward. But never avoid taking big steps, or reaching out to big people who can help.
Bonus tip: Don’t fall in love with one single bold idea. If you do you might become paralyzed from thinking of new ones. Form the habit of thinking of big, bold ideas and goals. The more ideas you create, the more easily you’ll create even bigger ones. Sounds ridiculously obvious, but it escapes many people. Don’t be shocked if one big bold idea doesn’t work out. You don’t want to be a one and done kind of a person. Keep creating more big, audacious and hairy goals. In idea creation, more is better!
Ready, aim, fire. Or, as Mr. Masterson of Agora and ETR fame is fond of saying, “Ready, Fire, Aim.” By the way, it’s a good book, too.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from William Hutchinson Murray, but often attributed to Germany’s answer to Shakespeare, Goethe (nope, he didn’t write it)…
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”
Now, go to it.
P.S. Did it ever dawn on you that bigger targets are easier to hit?
Help, I’ve started a business and I’ve got problems.
For many, it’s the American Dream to start your own business. Okay, if you’re in Europe, Asia, Australia or other countries besides the USA, maybe it’s your dream, too.
Sadly, for too many the dream turns into a nightmare from which there seems no escape. The HELP WANTED sign may not indicate the need for an employee, but rather the need to break free.
Carol Roth and a few others have written about the need for people to think soberly about what they want before embarking on a chase that may not ideally suit them. I agree with Ms. Roth that entrepreneurship isn’t always the best dream for everybody. The failure rate continues to be extremely high. According to Statistic Brain the rate of failure among startups increases over time. You’d think over time a business owner would become more accomplished and break through to that wild, crazy success we all hear about and dream of.
Yes, it can happen. But are the odds favorable? No, they’re not. And of course, I am speaking in general terms. Every industry is different. Markets are different. Timing and skill play major roles, too. With all those moving parts, success is far from guaranteed.
It’s ironic that many people start their own business because they don’t want to work for somebody else. Unfortunately, they wind up working for far more people than they’ve ever worked for before. Maybe now they work for the credit card company where they’ve racked up lots of debt, and the friends or family members who have loaned them money, or a bank. And then there are the customers who demand more and more. Maybe they’ve got partners who also have expectations and demands. The list keeps growing and over time they realize that life on the J.O.B. with one boss was far simpler.
Others, hoping to craft work that more rewarding than their old job, find their checking account dwindling, savings exhausted and income dropping lower and lower. Trapped, they despair about what to do.
What can you do if your business isn’t what you dreamed? What can you do to fix your own small business? No, I’m not going to start by telling you to shut it down. That’s an option and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it, but that’s one of the 5 things I want to talk about today. And I’m not going to tell you it’s cowardly to quit. It’s a viable option that every frustrated business owner must carefully consider, but our goal today is to help you find solutions to fix your business.
5 Steps To Fix Your Business Problems
1. Triage yourself and the business.
I’m not talking about going back to exam why you started your business or any other mumbo jumbo touchy-feely thing. No, that ship sailed. Now it’s time to take a hard look at what’s wrong.
Where is the pain? What’s the source of the suffering?
Is it not enough revenue? Or profits?
Is it no life outside the business?
Is it delivery to customers or the execution of whatever service/products you provide?
Think about the trifecta of business building that serves as my focus here at Bula Network: a) getting new customers, b) serving existing customers better and c) not going crazy in the process. In my experience of triaging businesses, I often find 2 of these are in play when the owner’s misery factor is sky high. What about you?
You can’t fix what ails you until you first properly diagnose the problem. And don’t get ahead of yourself. I’ve seen people try to fix problems that weren’t really the problem. This is not the time for knee-jerk reactions. Come to think of it…is there ever a good time for the knee-jerk reaction (except when the doctor is testing your reflexes)?
Give this some sober and serious thought. Bring your team together, if you’ve got one. If you don’t, bring together the people who help you in your business. Collaborate on the problems as you see them. Do others see what you see? Feel what you feel? Is this problem just specific to you? It may be IF it deals mostly with the fact that you never see your family.
Focus on THE problem. Don’t scatter shoot and list 12 problems. Think about THE PROBLEM. Narrow it down to the one thing that is causing the most pain.
If you go the ER with life threatening injuries, the doctors aren’t going to worry too much about your headache. First, they have to save your life. They’ll worry about the lesser problems later. You have to do the same thing when you triage your business problems.
Part of triage is determining the severity of the problem. Is it life-threatening or mildly aggravating? Just because it’s not life-threatening doesn’t mean it’s not urgent or important, but it does mean you can likely take a bit more time to examine it. You’ve got to have a clear understanding of the nature of the problem before you can ever hope to find a remedy.
2. Find the root of the problem.
Now that you’ve identified the problem, you have to get to the source. When the ER patient is bleeding profusely, the doctors know the problem is excessive bleeding. Well, that’s not enough information to fix the problem. It’s great to have identified the problem, but that won’t fix it. You’ve got to find out why this is happening. What’s really going on here?
Depending on the nature of the problem this can be quickly identified or it can be tough as nails. Our ER patient may have suffered a stabbing. Pretty obvious problem. But what if the bleeding is internal? No outward signs of injury. Much tougher. It’s gonna take some time to find the problem if the bleeding is internal.
So it is with your business woes. Maybe it’s something very obvious like a lack of sales (i.e. bleeding), but why? That may not be so obvious. Is it pricing? Is it your offer? Is your quality or lack of quality? Is it marketing? Is it your positioning? Why aren’t people buying? You’ll have to spend hours and days mulling over that one. There’s no time like the present. Start mulling.
Maybe it’s something else, equally obvious. You’re working 100 hours a week and your family is a mess. Why are you working 100 hours? This problem is far more common than you may think. And the reasons vary wildly. I’ve encountered business people who declared how miserable they were working 100 hours a week, but on closer examination they’re facing the reality that they do it because they want to. Yes, they’re miserable, but in some cases, they’re more miserable at home. They’ve conned themselves into thinking the business is wrecking their family, but they’re just using the business as an excuse. They’re wrecking their family because they’re more in love with their business than their family.
You’ve got to see the real problem and not just the perceived problem. This is why you likely need help to identify the real problem. Seek the wise counsel of people familiar with the situation. Listen. Really listen. Think about it. You can’t fix it until you get to the source so this step can’t allow any shortcuts. Dig until you find the real reason you feel trapped.
3. Act now, but consider multiple remedies before deciding on the best long-term fix.
If a person is bleeding we use any method possible to stop the bleeding. Pressure. That’s the main goal early on. Apply pressure and stop the bleeding.
It’s life saving, but it’s not a remedy. It’s just an urgent act necessary in the moment. It buys time so a more permanent fix can be performed.
That’s how you’ve got to view your business problem. In step 1 (triage) you’ve determined if your problem is life threatening to you or your enterprise.
Cash flow is a frequent problem I encounter. Few things are as urgent as a lack of cash flow. Your business needs cash. Every business does. When it runs out, or runs low, panic can overrun you. A short-term fix might be to sell some things to create some quick cash. That’s immediate pressure on the wound, but it won’t fix the problem for long.
What must be done right now so you can buy some time? Focus first on that. Then, as quickly as you must, exam the various fixes you might perform. Almost every solution has an upside and a downside. Again, I’m going to encourage you to avoid going it alone. Seek the input of others. Yes, you’re the leader so the final decision is in your lap, but don’t be stupid thinking you alone have to solve this. Weigh your choices before settling on the one you think is best. And that means you need to pick one and commit to it. Whole-heartedly.
4. If it’s not working, change it. If it is working, keep doing it.
Pay attention to the symptoms. Look for improvement. Also be watchful for a lack of improvement. You’re the doctor and the health of your business is your responsibility. Don’t take your eye off the patient.
Just because you’ve gone all in on the best long-term fix doesn’t mean you have to remain all in if new information changes your mind. For instance, a business suffering a cash crunch quickly sells off some excessive inventory at a reduced margin. They’ve bought themselves a month or two. Great. Now they huddle about how to avoid getting into this pickle again. Three suggestions are on the table and the owner selects the one he thinks is best. Two weeks in, it’s clear that this strategy isn’t going to work. It’s time to abandon that strategy (or change it). He can’t be reluctant to alter the course when the strategy appears to be failing.
Don’t fall in love with a single solution. Be willing to change based on the outcome. You need a good outcome. You need to find a remedy. It’s either working or it’s not working. Or maybe it’s not working well enough. Then be fearless to try something else. Remember, you’re looking for the best long-term fix possible. That may require a few changes in medication. Do it.
If it works well, then keep doing it. Keep putting the fix on trial for its life.
5. Change the behavior (actions) that caused the problem.
That stabbing victim that came in the ER is a gang member. He’s living a high risk life. He’s gonna get stabbed again if he doesn’t make some big changes in his life. It’s just a matter of time.
Your business is no different. The problem that trapped you can be fixed, but that doesn’t mean it’ll stay fixed. If the crisis is averted, great — but your work is not done.
Maybe your life has gone to you-know-where-in-a-hand-basket. You endured the crisis and managed to get some “balance” back into your life. Unless you have made some lifestyle changes that problem is sure to creep in again. Don’t assume your work is over simply because the crisis is over.
A bad sales process can create poor sales, resulting in poor cash flow, low revenues and low profits. In a moment of crisis, a few big sales might be generated out of sheer willpower and determination, leaving the poor sales process in place. But, with the crisis ended the company can resume business as usual. In time, they’ll be right back where they started…and what if they can’t make a few big sales this time?
The remedy needs to be a longer term fix, but now you’ve got take the time to investigate what went wrong so you can get busy making the bigger changes necessary to provide growth and efficiency for your business (and your life).
It’s not about being everywhere. It’s about being where your prospects and clients are. It’s about attracting paying clients you can dazzle!
“I don’t have time to blog,” he tells me. “Do you have time to answer your phones?” I ask. “Of course I do,” he replied with extreme indignation.
“How would you characterize most of your phone calls?” I inquired. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Are most of the calls from people trying to sell you something? Are they from existing clients who need to talk with you? Are they from prospective clients who have questions?”
“I’d say many of them are from existing clients who have questions about their case, but quite a few are inquiries asking us about our services,” he replied.
“Are you ever asked the same question over and over again?” I wanted to know. I knew the answer, but I wanted him to hear himself say it. “Of course, all the time!”
“And naturally, you take the time to answer that question every single time, don’t you?”
“Yes, obviously.”
“Then why don’t you sit down one time and create the very best answer to that question and answer for anybody who may ask it? Get out front with answering it because you know it’s coming anyway. Don’t wait until somebody asks. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to answer it one time and make that answer available to anybody online than to answer it individually every single time?”
Pause. More pausing.
He looked from side to side. Then he glanced up at the ceiling. Looking for a good answer I suppose.
And suddenly there it was. The real problem. His constraint and challenge.
He just didn’t know how to do it.
Taking my own advice, I spoke first. “I know you don’t know how to do this. That’s why I’m here. That’s what I’m here to help you with. Mainly, I want you to understand that I know you’re busy. I know you need one more thing on your to-do-list like you need a kick to the teeth. I’m not here to lay more work on you, but I am here to give you a workflow and process* that can help you grow your practice. I want you to be able to serve more people and then to serve all your clients better. And none of that matters if you go crazy in the process. This is about sanity as you build your practice.”
* If you want to know my take on the power of “the process” – visit my other podcast LeaningTowardWisdom.com where I talked about it here and here.
His shoulders relaxed. His eyes widened. I could tell he was beginning to believe. Just beginning, mind you, but it was a start. Realizing that he might – MIGHT – be able to incorporate some new marketing strategies into his practice.
Service professionals have a lot of things other than time. They have significant overhead. They have a business model that is tough to scale. They have high touch clients. Many of them begin their careers with student loan debt. The one thing many of them lack is TIME. Well, there’s another thing many of them lack, too – enough clients.
Convincing them to take on another task is like asking them to miraculously create a few more hours a week. Impossible. Or so they think.
Honestly, service professionals are just like you and me. They know what they know. But they don’t know what they don’t know. And it can be tough to admit not knowing something when you’re a service professional who is an expert in some field of law, or medicine, or architecture, or finances. You’re hired to be the person who knows, but here’s an area where you feel somewhat lost – except you don’t want anybody to know. The result? You just keep doing what you know to do, which tends to be what you’ve always done. Even if what you’ve always done isn’t working so well. It’s comfortable.
What Should I Do?
That’s almost always question one…after an exchange like the one I recounted. Some have told me I’m an idiot for trying to help this crowd – the service professionals – because they claim it’s not a hungry market. “They don’t know they need help,” one friend told me. “You’re always talking about not wanting to push water up a hill (my description of trying to help people who don’t want help or don’t know they need help), but isn’t that what you’re doing?”
I’ll talk more about that in an upcoming episode about business building and marketing, but for now – I’m convinced this crowd, SERVICE PROFESSIONALS, need help and I’m driven to provide it. So there!
“What should I do?” is a valid question, but it doesn’t provide a framework to give enough detail that a service pro can use. For instance, to simply answer, “You should blog” is an injustice to blogging and the service pro.
Answering WHAT is like framing up a house. It’s necessary, but it’s just the start after you’ve put down the foundation. There’s lots of work before and after the framing. So it is with any answer to the question, “What should I do?”
How Should I Do It?
Frequently this is the next question. Again, it seems logical. Once we know what, then we naturally want to know how.
I don’t avoid these questions, but I’m pretty quick to tap the brakes because first and foremost I’m a business builder. Yes, I love being creative. I enjoy all the “soft” aspects of business and I’m equally fond of those hard “let’s measure it” aspects. However, one overriding question trumps all the other issues for me because it’s the one question every successful business builder must deal with first.
Why Should I Do It? I’ll Give You 5 Reasons.
All of these are purposefully framed from the prospects point-of-view, not yours. This is about your clients, not you. It’s about service and building a more profitable and successful practice (or business).
1. Your prospects and customers get a better experience.
Every service professional (just like every business owner I’ve ever encountered) confesses to answering many of the same questions every week. Sometimes daily.
Think of the number 1 question you get asked by prospective clients. How many times in a month do you answer that question? Now, take that number and multiply it by the number of minutes it takes to answer that one question. That’s how many minutes every month you spend answering the same question. And we’re just focused on one question, your top one.
If prospects ask you the same question 10 times a week, that’s 40 times a month. Assuming it takes you 10 minutes to properly answer the question, that’s 40 (times per month) multiplied by 10 (minutes each time). That’s 400 minutes, which is over 6.5 hours a month. One question. Answered 40 times a month.
Now, figure out the second most asked question. Do the same thing. Let’s assume it’s only asked 25 times a month and it takes half the time to answer (5 minutes). There goes another 2 plus hours a month.
Two questions and we’re up to almost 10 hours a month. Here’s where I get “real world” on clients. No, you may not be able to fully escape answering questions individually for people, but do you suppose you could cut it in half? If so, you’ve gained 5 hours a month. Could you shave 25% off the time spent privately, individually answering these two most often asked questions? Then you’re still saving about 2.5 hours a month.
But we’re not saving that time in one month. We’re saving that much time month, after month, after month. And the more questions (and answers) we can scale, the more time we’re saving. That’s time you can spend any way you want. You can spend more time serving clients better. That means you may be able to elevate your fees because you can provide greater service. You can invest that saved time any way you want.
It’s nice to have choices! When you scale your time by incorporating content marketing strategies into your business building, you can decide how to spend the time you save.
But that’s a benefit for YOU and we’re focused on the benefits to your prospects and clients. We spend hours in search engines because we want answers. We go to YouTube if we want video answers. We look for blogs if we want text-based answers. Maybe we visit Stitcher or Apple iTunes if we want audio or video podcasts to give us the information. As a content creator – an educator in your space – you can give your prospects a better experience by providing content suitable to their tastes.
You can also go into more depth maybe. Or you can provide an abbreviated answer if they don’t want the details you may normally provide (because you give everybody the same in-person experience). Why not give them the experience they want? If they want details, give it to them. If they want a brief outline, give them that. Your prospects want what they want and they want it the way they want it. By using content marketing you can construct the content to ideally suit a wide variety of people, making yourself more visible to more people.
2. Your prospects can get better answers.
You are attending a professional conference. It’s a small affair of about 100 people. The presenter scheduled for the first session after lunch has fallen ill. The organizers approach you, asking you to fill in. They know it’s a last minute request, but the topic is in your wheelhouse and you’ve only got to fill a 45-minute time slot. It’s a terrific opportunity for you and it helps the organizers escape a pickle. You agree to do it.
Question: Will your presentation be better than if you had known weeks prior that you’d be scheduled to present?
Very few people can deliver a superior presentation on the fly versus a presentation that has been carefully prepared and rehearsed. Good speakers and presenters know the power of the edit. They work on their speech or presentation and hone it until they have it just right. When you’re going on the fly, there’s no opportunity to craft a better speech or presentation. You’re live and done.
But there’s another phenomenon that salespeople and service professionals (and every other business person) suffer – falling into a rut. Saying the same things in the same way. Every. Single. Time.
Go back to those top 2 questions asked by your prospects. I’m betting you have a rote answer that drips from your lips without much thought. You’ve answered it so many times your brain (and mouth) go into auto-pilot. You don’t even pay much attention to the result of your answer. Is it the most effective answer? Does it fully engage the prospect? You may not know or care at the time. You just want to answer the question. It’s not that you’re insensitive or uncaring. You just turn into Pavlov’s dog. They ask the question and you hear a bell. Then, off you go answering the question just like you have thousands of other times.
Stop. Think about what you’re saying. Think about the answer. Can your auto-pilot impromptu answer be improved? I imagine it can be GREATLY improved. You know it’s true. Now’s the time to craft a better answer. Prepare. Edit. Hone it. You can put it in a format to help your prospects learn a better answer than the one you’ve been giving live on the fly for years.
3. Your prospects get answers when they want them and more conveniently.
The other evening my son called me. He wanted to know if had any experience with Apple’s iCloud, especially as it relates to iTunes. I told him I didn’t, but I quickly got online and told him to visit the Apple website where he could access their support pages. Like most companies, Apple has a knowledge base where visitors can find answers to their questions. It was about 9pm when my son and I were talking.
What about your clients? I imagine you’re not answering your office phone to answer questions at 9pm. Am I right?
So your prospect has a question. It’s 9pm. They go to your website. Can they find the answer or do they have to wait until your office opens?
What if they can find somebody else who will answer their question right now? Do you think you risk losing them? You bet you do!
4. Your prospects can share the answers.
Gastroenterologists are doctors who deal in digestive problems and that sort of thing.. There are about 15,000 in America. How many patients do you suppose hear the exact same explanation of a procedure or a diagnosis? TONS. Now, how many of those patients do you suppose are asked by family and friends to recount what the doctor said? All of them. I guarantee 100% of them repeat what the doctor told them — to somebody!
Think about it. 15,000 doctors with dozens or hundreds of patients each, repeating the same diagnosis and explaining it (and answering more questions about it) — only to have those patients try to repeat it to others. The phrase “lost in translation” comes to mind.
What if these doctors recorded a detailed explanation of a procedure – one they could share with their patients? Online? They could go into more detail, giving patients the opportunity to not only learn more about the procedure, but to share it with their family. And you thought social media was just Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Social media is sharing. It’s interacting. It’s what you do every day with your prospects and clients. Now you can do it 24/7/365 even when you’re on vacation or closed.
5. Your prospects can decide if they like you and are willing trust you before they ever meet you.
In sales, we call it pre-qualifying. That just means we can narrow down prospects to find out who is most serious about buying from us. You’ve likely done it before when you applied for a loan. You complete a form and that information is used to pre-qualify you — that is, to find out if you’re suitable or not. Well, our prospects can use online resources, if we provide them, to decide if they like us, trust us and want to pursue doing business with us.
This gives the service professional a number of advantages, but let’s focus on the prospects first. They don’t have to call and make an appointment to get some sense of who or what you are. In the comfort of their own home or office they can check you out. Maybe they can read some articles (or blog posts). Maybe they can watch some videos, or listen to some podcast episodes. Some of them may immediately think, “I don’t like her at all.” Others may think, “She’s very, very good.”
They save tons of time and hassle. As they scour your website getting to know you, they make some decisions. They don’t have to book an appointment, get dressed, drive down to your office, then spend time waiting…until they meet with you.
This rubs both ways. You don’t have to do any of that either. How cool would it be to have a person book an appointment and they tell your receptionist, “I watched a couple of his videos last night and I really liked how he explained things. I’m interested in having him help me.” By the time this person walks in, they’re pre-sold and you’ve never met them before, but they feel as though they’ve met you.
Do you realize what this means? Think about it. Depending on the realm of your work, the sales cycle can be compressed. This may not apply so much to medical professionals, but I can tell you it can apply to legal and financial service professionals who are used to multiple meetings before finalizing a commitment. If a financial advisor has to meet with somebody three times before they land a client, they’ve just been able to shorten it by one if the prospect has booked their first meeting because they liked what they found online.
Conclusion
There are many more reasons and benefits, but these are sufficient to prove the point. You’ve got to make the time and take the effort to do this. I know you’re tempted to think that your competence and expertise should suffice to attract people. As Dr. Phil says,
How’s that workin’ out for you?”
Your practice success is gauged by how many people you can serve and help. Namely, by how many clients can you land and dazzle! World-class professional service providers – attorneys, financial advisors, accountants, health professionals, architects, etc. – have extraordinary client bases. Annually, you invest money and time in maintaining (and improving) your professional competence. I’m merely suggesting that you do the same to improve your visibility so you can serve more clients!
Dirt floors, no shoes, but still smiling. How ’bout YOU?
Today is the last Friday of January. I’m thinking of doing this bit of riffing on the last Friday of each month.
I call it “free form” because I’m just going from some bullet-point notes based on a few thoughts from this first month of a new year. Here are a few hi-lights:
It’s time to take aim. No time like the present and all that. Wait a minute, it’s already February…far too late to plan for 2014, right? Not necessarily.
There’s nothing wrong with using pencils. Fact is, ink is usually found in 3 colors: black, blue and red. Pencils? Well, I can get a pack of many colors. Cheap. People think pens show commitment (I.E. do a crossword puzzle in pen and it shows you’re confident). No, it shows you might be arrogant and pompous. Nuts, even. Pencils represent creative planning. Pencils show you’re committed to adapt, adjust and hone your creativity. So I urge you to embrace the notion of pencil thinking. Be creative!
