Simply Business Coaching

Don't wait until it's too late

With the very sad news of Michael Jackson’s sudden death last week came the predictable, and understandable, outpourings of grief; testaments to his musical genius; sharing of personal memories and the lament of opportunities now lost forever.

MJ’s music has been playing almost non-stop, reminding us of the astonishing scale and diversity of his talent and musical output. 

His greatest hits album ’Number Ones’ rocketed from 121 to the top of the UK album chart after a surge in sales since Thursday.   The same album was his last number one when first released in 2003 and some of his other albums have raced up the charts too.   Read the full story here.

While I sincerely hope that MJ’s children benefit from the play royalties and proceeds of all those sales, isn’t it a shame that they come now it is too late to lift the worry of financial ruin from their father's shoulders?

I nearly didn’t write this blog post because I dislike the idea of jumping on such a distastefully morbid bandwagon. The reason I’m writing this now is because, with the sad story still prominent, my reflections will hopefully make more sense than if I wait until later.  Which is also the point of this post.

Sudden losses can mean guilt for those left behind if they didn’t tell a deeply loved relative or friend just how much they are loved and appreciated, while they still had the chance to do so. 
Who are you going tell how much you love & appreciate them, today?

We often believe we have all the time in the world to fulfil our ambitions and dreams, when the reality is very different.
What dreams are you going to start making real, today?

Waiting until the time is right before embarking on a new project usually means it doesn’t get started.
What’s the first step of your new project that you’re going to take, today?

It can take life-changing events to force us to evaluate what we’ve achieved so far, and how satisfied we are with the results.
What changes do you need to make, beginning right now?

Whatever you've been putting off, please do it now.  Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Are you on target?

Unbelievably we’re already half way through 2009!   I’ve always found this to be a good time to check and reflect on the progress made so far towards both my business targets.  And as it’s my birthday early in July, I also like to review how I’m doing with my personal goals since the previous year!

What I do is set aside some quiet time (usually over a weekend) to do a bit of self-coaching. I turn off the phones and select a CD to accompany my thoughts. 

Here’s a sample from the questions I’ll be reflecting on:

• Is this still a valid goal?
• How will I feel at the end of the year if I don’t reach this?
• What actions do I need to take to get back on track?
• What outside help or extra resources do I need?
• What would Richard Branson do?
• What one thing will I do today to start getting back on track?

If you’re reviewing your progress so far and gearing up for the next 6 months, I hope you’ll find these questions useful.  And if you need any help, just give me a call!

Do your customers see you?

It’s rather unfortunate but our customers can be a fickle bunch!  Oh, they’re very nice when they meet you, and then a couple of months later you hear they’re working with one of your competitors!  If you want to reduce the likelihood of that happening, then you need to make sure you’re the person they think of calling – and you do that by keeping yourself visible.

While Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogging are great tools for communicating quickly and reaching a wider audience and will help to increase your visibility, they work best when done in addition to some of the more traditional marketing methods.  Here are some of my favourites:

• Write a regular newsletter (email or printed) and actively build your list of readers
• Go to networking meetings and remind people what you do (and that you’re still around!)
• Set up a system to follow up with your prospects and contacts
• Have a keep in touch campaign for your customers - present & past (different to the previous point)
• Pick up the phone!  It’s easy to fire off an email but you still can’t beat a more personal approach.

What works best for you to stay visible to your prospects and clients?

Help - I found another Overwhelm 'Monster'!

What I’m finding out is this is an ongoing, rather than a one-off project!  No sooner do I think I’ve got this monster tamed than it grows another head and threatens to overwhelm me again.

The latest monster crept up on me while I was busy planning!  I have a stack of 5 trays on a shelf behind me that started overflowing with paper.  Do you know where it all comes from?  I certainly don’t.  But I’d got into the habit of throwing stuff in the top tray ‘to deal with later’.  Big mistake!  Before I knew it the tray was full.  My concern was that there might be something urgent at the bottom, and I’d miss a deadline. 

At the weekend I went through the contents of all the trays to find out what was lurking.  Fortunately it turned out there was nothing urgent and the piles of paper were soon reduced to current work, with everything else either filed or recycled.

In an attempt to stop this happening again, I’ve made room for the top tray (the biggest problem) on my desk so I can see it and avoid its contents building up.  That’s the theory anyway! 

The rest of the story so far
I’ve ruthlessly reduced the number of email newsletters arriving in my Inbox.  That’s ongoing and the one-out, one-in policy is working well.

I finally got around to writing down a list of business development projects, prioritised them in order of which will bring the best return and selected just 3 to work on.

What’s next?
This story is far from finished, in fact I think it’s going to run and run!  The next challenge is to actually get the first projects on the list finished, and make sure I don’t get swamped by new information coming in while I’m working on them.

How do you tame the amount of information flowing into your business?  I’d love to hear from you.

Stop Comparing Yourself!

Have you ever been at a networking event, chatting to a business contact and listened, with a smile fixed on your face and a sinking feeling in your stomach, as they told you about all the new clients they’ve taken on?  While of course you’re pleased for them, at the back of your mind have you wondered why you aren’t having the same success?

It’s a perfectly natural reaction to compare your situation with theirs – but it can also be very damaging to your self-esteem.  It can pull you off track from your marketing efforts as you scramble to find ways of increasing business in a hurry.

If you have a carefully worked out marketing plan, then you know the results you can expect over the next few months.  To change your plans suddenly, without a valid reason, will endanger those results and leave your marketing activities in disarray.  They are not you and their business is not yours.

It could be that their recent influx of new clients is the culmination of months of marketing effort (which you don’t even know about).  It’s a bit like comparing fuel consumption when they drive a Ford Ka and you’re in a Range Rover!

By all means find out what marketing methods are working well for your contact, but don’t compare their results to yours unless you are comparing like for like.

Have you got room for new business?

Now that may sound like a strange question, especially if you haven’t got enough clients at the moment.  But don’t think it doesn’t apply to you.

If you have a cluttered office, a backlog of work or unfinished projects you need to take notice.

How on earth are you going to have room for more business if you’re working in a disorganised muddle?

Start by clearing up your backlog and throwing out (or selling?) that unwanted clutter.  Get those unfinished projects under control and work on finishing them – one at a time!

The best way I’ve found is to do a little bit every day, even if I only manage 15 minutes.  It’s a lot easier than waiting until Friday and being face with over an hour to get through (especially if it’s filing or accounts!)  But usually once I get started, I end up doing more than 15 minutes and the job gets finished quicker than I though. 

The key here is focus.  Just concentrate on finishing one task or project.  The sense of achievement as you complete each one is greater!

If you haven’t got enough clients just now, try getting organised, clear up your unfinished jobs and make room for that new business!

Information Overwhelm Project - more progress

At last! I managed to write down a list of all the projects (current & immediate future) I need to work on.  Just the act of writing them down helped me to remember one that nearly got away!

I stopped the list at 7 projects (it was in danger of becoming a ‘wish’ list) and now need to prioritise them.  A couple of the projects have built-in deadlines of subscription renewals (one in July, one in August) and I’ve marked them ‘high priority’.  So there’s room for just one more (read my previous post about Focus for the rationale behind this). 

Following the coaching advice I give to clients, <g> it must be a project that will give the quickest ROI (return on investment of my time).  There’s only one that fulfils that criteria so the choice is easy.

Now that I have identified my 3 projects to work on, and the dates by which each needs to be completed, I need to plan out the action steps to take.  Once that’s done, I’ll gather together all the resources I need and make a start.  I’ll let you know how it’s going next week.

It’s a real relief to be a step nearer to resolving my information overwhelm!  How are you getting on?

More Sales: Sell what they want to buy

Do you know what your prospects want?  Do they want to buy your product or service?  Actually they don’t.  But all is not lost!

People don’t wake up in the morning and say “I must get a business coach today!” Of course I wish they did!  But once I realised what it was they wanted, it became much easier to sell my coaching packages.

What they really want are more clients, more time to spend with the family or to build their business to provide financial freedom so they can have more fun!

Your prospects want to buy results, so make sure you‘re selling them. 

Let’s look at another example.  People don’t want to hire a virtual assistant, they want the mailing campaign envelopes to be stuffed and posted, and their drawer full of business cards to be entered onto a database and filed neatly away.

What do you have that your prospects want to buy?

Time Management : When do you go off duty?

Every small business owner I know has a mobile phone.  When they’re out and about they usually have their landline phones forwarded so as not to miss any calls.  I have a BlackBerry and get my emails wherever I am too.  Isn’t technology wonderful?

However, a growing problem I’m hearing from clients is they feel they need to be on call 24/7.  One of them said to me recently:

“I might miss a call from a client or prospective new client and I’m afraid they’ll take their business somewhere else if they can’t get hold of me.”

It’s understandable to want to make sure you don’t miss a business opportunity these days.  But there’s a big difference between wanting to make sure you provide excellent service and being available right around the clock!

I asked them “Would you expect to be able to reach all of your suppliers at any time of day, 7 days a week?”  Of course they answered no.  “Does the fact that you can’t reach them 24/7 make you want to take your business elsewhere?”  Again, they answered no.

Hmm...  doesn’t quite add up, does it?

It’s very important to be able to switch off from business completely, to take time to relax and enjoy being with family and friends.  If you are constantly ‘on call’ for your clients, you won’t be able to relax properly.  Even people who work for the emergency services take time off!

Decide when you’re going to be contactable then publish your business hours in your terms of service and on your outgoing phone messages.  Of course there will be occasions when you may need to take an urgent call outside of business hours, but these should be the exception rather than the rule!

Get better at Time Management and save your business

Lately I’ve been busy spreading the word about all the exciting possibilities for small business owners who use social networks to help market their businesses.  Now, you need to understand that I don’t tend to rush into things; I like to do thorough research and fully explore how everything works.  But the internet marketing machine is moving at such a fast pace that you just have to jump on or be left behind in the dust.  So, whenever I’m out and about, mixing with fellow business owners, I encourage them to get started online as a matter of urgency, because I want to help them succeed.

Well, frankly I’m amazed at what they’re saying to me!  Rather than being excited at the low cost marketing opportunities to reach many more prospective clients, they’re saying that they haven’t got time!  If you could see me as I type this, there is steam coming out of my ears!! 

The whole business scene has permanently shifted.  We are in a recession that is affecting corporations and businesses of all sizes.  But small business owners have been handed a golden opportunity, almost on a plate!  Through social media they can promote themselves, build a brand, and sell more products and services – all at virtually no cost!  But they can’t find time to do that.

I understand that they may be concerned at how much time they will need to allocate to network online effectively.  Yes, it will take a bit of time to get set up and started. Yes, I’ll admit to spending far too long on Facebook and Twitter in the beginning. But once everything’s in place, there are several tools to help automate and save time.  Now it takes me about 30 minutes a day to keep up to date with the different sites I belong to.

Traditional networking meetings are a very effective marketing activity – and each event can consume hours (add in your travel time, plus the meeting time and you’re talking about 3 or 4 hours PER EVENT).  With online networking, your message reaches so many more people – and takes LESS time than the traditional method!

If you believe you don’t have time for online marketing, you need to take another look at how you’re managing your time. 

Apologies if this has been a bit of a rant, but I’m not sorry to be giving you a firm but friendly shove towards getting more business!