Decide to Make Time For You

I received this letter from a real estate broker:

Dear Sandy,

Perhaps you can do an article on finding time to make appointments with yourself and your loved ones; that is the ones who aren’t too busy?

When and why did this happen? We have more "time savers" than ever before but there is no need to look for storage for this ‘saved’ time. On the contrary, we need one more day added to our present 7-day week. Perhaps that can be our personal day. I am feeling very stressed and my patience is stretched to the limit, which I know is affecting my work.

I know I'm not the only one who feels that way...

Annette

Here's how I answered her:

Annette:

While my focus is on helping salespeople and professionals make more money, the time issue is one that comes up often in my work.

But it’s largely a “made-up” issue. I’m hoping this never happens, but what if you needed to take one day off each week for some medical treatment like dialysis or to spend it with someone you really cared about that was seriously ill. Would you be able to do your work the rest of the week and still take that day?

Most people say they’d find a way and that yes, if forced to, they could do it. So, it’s not impossibility that keeps us from taking a day off to recharge our batteries; it’s a choice we’re making. And most of us make the wrong choice.

Our best ideas come from slowing down and taking time to think. Our greatest bursts of energy and productivity come after we’ve taken some time away from what we end up calling the daily “grind.” (It shouldn’t be a grind; it should be a joy—and one of the reasons it’s not is that we don’t step away from it.)

Start with a half-day a week to do whatever you like: get that massage, have lunch and dinner with friends. Don’t answer your calls; make some alternate arrangement.

Tell me how that feels after a month. I know it’s counter-intuitive, but you’ll eventually start making more money taking time off than you do working around the clock.

Sandy

If you run your own schedule, take my word that you can accomplish more after a half-day or day off every couple of weeks than you can working straight through. You don't need extra days, you need to make the decision--choose--to take time for yourself.

Try it as soon as possible and tell me what you think afterwards. In the meantime, keep REACHING...

How To Avoid "Let Me Think About It Junction"

Last time, I wrote about how to handle the “let me think about it” objection.


Right after it was published, one of my clients asked me if there was a way to avoid getting all the way to the point where it’s time to obtain a commitment and ending up at “Let Me Think About It Junction.”

”Yes,” I advised her. “Ask more and better questions before you get there.”

If your communication with the prospective clients has revealed a need, and the services you provide are a good way to satisfy that need, what do they want to think about? While sometimes it’s the cost or they’re shopping around, and sometimes they’re not certain you’re the right person or have the right solution for the job, there’s also uncertainty about whether the problem or issue is important enough to them to make a commitment right now, as well as the possibility they don’t have the authority or willingness to make the commitment on their own. These issues will come out if you’re asking about them.

Here are some sample questions you could incorporate into your conversations:

~ Before I go into some of my ideas with you, I want to get a sense of whether you see this as an important enough problem to take care of immediately.
 
~If this turns out to be something that you want to get started right away, who else needs to be involved in the final decision?


~Is this something you want to move on right away?


~Have you been looking at the potential solutions? Where else have you looked? How much effort have you already put in? Is there a reason you haven’t moved on it already?

Often, answers to questions like these will tell you whether it makes sense to move ahead and get into the details of your proposal or not.

There’s no guarantee that even if you ask more and better questions about their readiness to commit you won’t hear “let me think about it” anyway, but you might prevent arriving at Let Me Think About It Junction in many cases simply by understanding their situation better before you get to the point of asking for a commitment.

If you want to double your practice quickly, contact me now to learn how I might help you–or do you need to think about it? If you do, then in the meantime, keep REACHING…

Sandy

Let Me Think About It

“When you don’t know what to do next in the process of trying to get a prospective client to hire you,” I told a group of attorneys recently, “do what you do best—ask a question.”

A hand went up. “Any question?” a very young-looking attorney named Natalie asked.

“That was a good question,” I replied, and a few members of the group laughed.

Then, a more experienced attorney, Ben, asked me specifically about what to do when you’ve explained everything to a prospective client and you hear those dreaded words—“Let me think about it…”

“What do you do now when someone says that to you?” I asked Ben.

“My usual response,” he replied, “is something like, ‘Sure, take your time. When do you want me to check back with you?’” “But,” Ben complained, “once they leave, they usually don’t respond to my call, and I’ve lost them.”

“Let me think about it” is a statement that can mean anything:

“I’m not convinced of the approach.”
“You haven’t convinced me that your firm is the best one to handle this problem.”
“I’m not happy with fees and costs.”
“Maybe if ignore the problem, it will go away.”

As a result, you can’t do much with it unless you understand what it means for the person you’re talking with. A good response here, once again, involves questions. It might look something like this:

Great! It’s an important decision and you should think about it. Let me see if I can help you though:


Do you agree with concept [or approach]?
Do you agree that what I’m offering is the best solution?
Have I convinced you that we’re the right firm for what you need?
Do you agree that you need to start this right away?
Is there someone else you need to involve in the decision-making process?
Is there an issue with the fees?

“Your questions will eliminate the non-issues one-by-one, and you’ll find out exactly what your prospect needs to think about,” I told the group. “Then, you can ask more questions about whatever the particular concern is and make sure you’ve satisfied them—if satisfying them is possible.”

“At that point, ask them again if they want to get started,” I concluded. “Does that answer your question, Ben?”

“I don’t know,” Ben replied, “let me think about it!”

I can help you get more clients and feel more motivated, but you need to reach out and ask. In the meantime, keep REACHING…

Sandy

A Tale of Two Doctors

I've been limping around for three weeks with a pain across the top of my left foot that didn't seem to be getting any better.  I made it through two workshops on my feet for five straight days and an active vacation, but the pain did not subside. So, I finally decided to visit a local orthopedic physician's office.

It was good for me to go through this experience, because I was reminded of why I do the work I do. 

You know the drill:  You call a doctor's office and an unhappy-sounding scheduling assistant treats you as if you are a huge interruption to her day.  She's abrupt, unsympathetic and annoyed if you don't give her precisely the information she demanded.  She tells you the doctor you want won't be available in this century and offers you alternatives, and then becomes agitated if you need a moment to think or are not satisfied with the first available appointment.  After all, who do you think you are?  SHE works for a DOCTOR and is VERY busy.  You are just one more bother in her bothersome day.

Now you visit the doctor's office.  The staff is annoyed that you didn't notice the big hand-written sign on the right side of the desk that says "Sign In Here," and that you thought it was okay to go to the busy person sitting on the left. When you get to the one on the right, she asks you questions efficiently and hands you a clipboard telling you to return it with your insurance card and a picture i.d., without ever looking up to see your face.  She even makes you pay your co-pay up front, to make your leaving more efficient--without ever looking up.

Believe it or not, your staff may be treating people like this, and no matter how good you are at what you do or how kind and considerate you might be, your client or patient is thinking, "I'm not coming here again."

Maybe, like the doctor I'm describing (we'll call him Dr. "A"), there are so many people waiting to see you that you can afford not to know how the staff is behaving, but if you're like most professionals, a client or patient who has experienced something like what I've just described isn't staying with you, and will tell others to stay away, as well.

If you want to grow your practice or business, you need to be certain that you've spelled out for your staff how to handle phones and greet people, and you need to be sure that they're following your procedures.  This means listening in on a prospective client or patient call and having someone report to you about how they are treated while they're waiting for you.  Don't assume because you're being treated well by your assistant that he or she is treating your clients the same way.

It also means spelling out the basics for them with a formalized procedure that includes all of the following points:

1. Be pleasant.  No matter how frenetic your office might be, every caller deserves to feel that he or she is not an interruption in someone's busy day.
2. Identify the office and yourself.  Everyone who answers a phone should use his or her name.
3. Offer to help.  The identification should be followed by "How may I help you?" or "How may I direct your call?"  or--well--anything helpful.
4. Don't rush the caller.  No matter how busy you are, clients need to get rid of their stress, not to confront yours.
5.  Own the call.  Until the caller is connected, the person answering the phone is responsible for the caller's happiness.

These are just some of the basic rules.

This week I needed to renew a prescription written by Dr. "B."  Don't get me wrong, I thankfully don't have a lot of medical problems; this is just a story about doctors.  Dr. "B" gives his patients an e-mail address, so I was able to e-mail my request for the renewal.  I received a return e-mail today advising me that the new prescription had been sent to the pharmacy. It was a small thing--a simple return e-mail--but the extra twenty seconds it took his staff to send it meant the world to me.

Referrals come from clients who tell stories about the "magical" service they are receiving.  If you want to learn how to make magic in your practice or business, contact me today.  In the meantime, keep REACHING...

P.S.  Dr. "A" was a really nice human being.  He advised me that I fractured a bone in my foot, but I'm not sure I'm willing to face his staff for the follow-up appointment.

Stop Focusing On Your Income...

In 2008, Karen became a “Top Ten” representative out of over a hundred in her financial services firm. She received an award, a $15,000 bonus, and a great deal of attention.

In 2009, she barely made it into the top thirty.

In January of this year, Karen called me for help. “I didn’t do anything different this past year than I did the year before,” she told me. “Maybe it’s the economy,” she continued, “It just seems like fewer people are saying ‘yes’ to me.”

“When you made the Top Ten in 2008, were you consciously pursuing it?” I asked her.

“Well, no, actually,” she responded. “I was totally surprised by it.”

“What were you focused on, then, that year?” I continued.

“My total focus was on helping as many people as I could in as many ways as I could,” she said with a note of pride in her voice.

“Did your focus change this year?”

There was silence on the other end of the line. After what seemed like minutes, Karen spoke again.

“I wanted to make it to the Top Ten again, and I guess my focus was on that, and not really on helping anyone,” she exclaimed, “But would that have made such a big difference?”

“There’s a way to find out,” I told her. “Start focusing again on helping as many people as you can in as many ways as you can, and see what happens.”

Karen called me last week to let me know she was already in the Top Ten at the end of May, but was no longer focused on how she ends up. Her focus was, once again, what got her to the Top Ten in the first place.

“What about the economy?” I asked. Karen just laughed.

Stop worrying about your income or your standings and focus your energy as Karen is doing: Help as many people as you can in as many ways as you can.


Contact me and I’ll help you focus on what will make you successful.

In the meantime, keep REACHING...

Sandy

They Changed Their Minds!!!

After two visits--a total of six hours--advisor Marianne had an enthusiastic "thumbs up" from her new “almost clients,” a young professional couple with small children, to prepare a financial plan for them, specifically including much-needed life insurance for both of them.

But a few days later, before Marianne's scheduled return with her specific proposals, the couple called to tell her they had decided to hold off on doing anything.

“I needed that sale,” Marianne complained during our coaching session.”

“That’s probably why you lost it,” I responded.

Our need is the ugliest thing we can show prospective clients. If they believe that your need to make money is more important than your delivery of the service they would be hiring you to do, they’ll back away. Retaining you or buying what you offer has to be their idea, not yours.

Even when—especially when—you need the “yes,” make sure that your prospective clients sense only your devotion to bringing them the best and most appropriate service.

Start by making sure you spend the time to ask compelling questions, and base the solution you offer directly on their answers. Whether it’s in asking for the sale or asking for introductions, make it about them—not about your need.

Ask more questions and better questions before you offer solutions, and keep REACHING...

Sandy

Professionals who market and "sell" their services usually don't FAIL--they QUIT. It's a choice, as is getting help. Choose wisely!

Embrace Your Genius

There’s a theory that we were all born geniuses—Einsteins, Picassos, and Mozarts—and that somewhere along the way, we lost that special quality.

I’m not saying we all had amazing IQs. We also call people geniuses who have some special spark or talent. One of Webster’s definitions for genius is a person with “a peculiar, distinctive, or identifying character or spirit.”

If you have a child, niece, nephew or grandchild who is three or four years old, you know that yours is a genius, but the fact is, almost all of them are—and, most likely, you were one, too.

Maybe your genius had something to do with art. You could see people and places in the green crayon swirl you worked so passionately to create. Or, maybe yours had to do with flowers. You spoke to them, and they spoke back and told you their troubles, and you helped them. Or, maybe it was about insects. You catalogued thousands of them using your own proprietary system. But somewhere along the line, you became socialized. You learned that what you were a genius at was not very important.

Imagine Miss Crabtree, gathering her kindergarten class for story time:

“Albert! Albert Einstein! I know you’re trying to figure out how fast the light is moving from the window to the floor, but it’s story time now. Please join the circle. Wolfgang, you too! Stop banging on that piano and join us. What’s that Pablo? Yes, that’s a very nice picture of your mother. Next time try to draw it with only one face.”

So, we grew up to become accountants, lawyers, managers, and consultants, going through our adult lives with a feeling that we’ve forgotten something. And, of course, we have. We’ve forgotten that we were geniuses—or even what we were geniuses at.

Once in awhile, though, there’s a glimmer of memory and recognition—and somewhere deep inside we do remember. Oddly enough, instead of embracing whatever it was that made us geniuses, we push it out of our minds. We’re afraid that allowing it in at this point will somehow disrupt our lives.

Do something wonderful for yourself. Next time that flash of recognition is triggered, take a small step toward embracing your childhood genius. Buy those pastels, or that telescope, or that electric guitar and play with it. Maybe you won’t be an Einstein or a Picasso or a Mozart, but you might find some joy and fulfillment that you’ve been missing.

In the meantime, keep REACHING...

Maybe you're just not passionate enough...

Nobody has time to read
all their messages--even
great messages--anymore.

So, I've decided to send
shorter messages and pack as
much content into them as I can.

Today's message is below, but first, I wanted to
tell you that if you've been afraid that the training
you need to grow your business is a bigger investment
than you can afford to make, take a look at my June
teleconference series.

Increase your business by 30% or more for a
very small investment of time and money.

Find out how at
http://www.brassringcoaching.com/pyp.asp

Now, today's message:

Pat, the top financial advisor in his company,
has a simple formula for success.

"Show up and talk about it with passion,"
he tells new advisors. "Listen and try to turn
every conversation into an opportunity."

Every time I look at a professional or sales person
who is successful, I see the same thing: Someone
who is passionate about what he or she does and
lets people know it. People want to follow people
who are passionate.

If you're not passionate about what you do or what
you offer, maybe it's time to reconsider your career.

If you're passionate and have been afraid to show it,
remember what Zig Ziglar said:

"For every sale you miss because you're too
enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because
you're not enthusiastic enough."

If your light is shining brightly, people will follow
you when you ask them to come along.

Shine your light proudly and keep REACHING...

Sandy

DOWN With The Elevator Speech...

Where's Sandy?

I know, it's not as much fun as "Where's Waldo?" but hopefully you can learn a lot more...

Blog Talk Radio - Louise Crooks' Keys To Clarity program

Monday, April 12th at 7pm. Louise will be interviewing three of the Workshop leaders (Yes, I'm one of them about the business topics we'll be covering at the Chief Everything Officer event on the 17th (see below). Find Louse's program on the internet at  http://budurl.com/CEOBustOUT.   Listeners can call 347-945 5963 to ask questions of the panelists.  

How to Thrive as a Chief Everything OfficerApril 17, 2010. Hamilton Park Hotel, Florham Park, NJ. 

On Saturday, April 17th, 2010, I will be joining guest speaker Michael Port, author of the best-seller, Book Yourself Solid, at a full-day event for professionals and service entrepreneurs hosted by the New Jersey Professional Coaches Association.  The $199 pricetag is an incredible bargain for the training offered.  If you'd like to learn more about this program, click here.  

4th Annual IDEAS Women's Business Conference & ExpoApril 21, 2010. Spring Manor, Ivyland, Pennsylvania. 

Then on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, I'll be conducting a workshop on client attraction at the IDEAS Women's Business Conference & Expo, to be held from 9am to 3pm at the Spring Mill Manor in Ivyland, Pennsylvania.  Learn more about this powerful program by clicking here.

 

DOWN With The "Elevator Speech"

I was listening to Michael Port being interviewed on Louise Crooks' Keys To Clarity BlogTalkRadio program this week (you can catch this great interview at  www.blogtalkradio.com/KeystoClarity, and smiled when the subject of "elevator speeches" came up.  "We hate giving them," he told Louise, "and we hate listening to them." "Why, then," he continued, "Do we keep doing them?"

I'm sure that at least one Chamber group where I spoke recently that awards members for the best Elevator Speech at each meeting, would have been shocked and surprised, but I happen to agree with Michael...DOWN with the elevator speech!

Don't get me wrong. You need to be crystal clear about three things:

 (1) Who do your work for?  Who's your target market?

 (2) What do they need that you provide?

 (3) Why will they buy it from you?

I've said this many ways, many times, especially in my recent book, Become A Client Magnet.

I also believe you need to be bold and compelling.  That's why I replaced "elevator speech" with "audio billboard." 

In my seminars, I sometimes ask,

"If you were driving down the highway at 65 miles per hour and you saw, up on a billboard, what you usually tell people in response to a question about what you do, would you slow down to read it, or would you drive right past it?"

The usual answer is, "I would probably drive right past it."  but that's the WRONG answer.

What you don't have to do though, is blurt it out in a "cutesy" one sentence statement. 

In the interview, Michael went on to explain that describing what you do should be part of a conversation, or as I like to say, a human-to-human conversation.

Here's a sample of a conversation "audio billboard" exchange:

John:  I've been talking a lot, Peter.  What do YOU do?

Peter: Well, John, do you know how a lot of people have been falling behind on their mortgage payments?

John:  Yeah, especially in last year or two.

Peter: Exactly...which means that there's a serious danger they could lose everything they've worked for their whole lives.

John:  It's really sad, but it's happening a lot, with the job market the way it is.

Peter: Yes, and that usually means that unless someone can help them work something out with the mortgage company, they live in constant worry and stress, right?

John: I can just imagine...

Peter: Well, my company steps in and helps them work something out with their mortgage company so they can stop worrying and get on with working out the rest of their lives...

The template for this conversation is:

[What do you do?]
Do you know how.....?
Which means...?
Which means...?
Well, [I/my company]...

Using a simple conversational format like this, you move from the "dreaded elevator speech" to a human-to-human conversation.

Join me if you can this month.  In the meantime,  keep REACHING...

Sandy