Simply Business Coaching

Is Success Avoiding You?

I wrote a post asking if you were avoiding success by not venturing outside your comfort zone.  One of the lovely people who retweeted it said she thought success might be avoiding HER!  That conjured up an amusing mental image of playing hide & seek with prospects and opportunities.   Then I started thinking of how we could unknowingly be giving out signals that we’re not ready for success to come knocking at our door.  Here are some I’d like to share with you:

What message are you giving?
Is it clear to people you speak with exactly what you do and for whom?  When I’m out networking, some of the business owners I meet are building more than one business.   Nothing wrong with that at all – except when they try to promote all of them within one short sixty second pitch.  Then I get confused and switch off.  It’s important to keep the message simple and clear if you want to be remembered.

Your personal presentation
If your business requires you to get ‘down & dirty’ – perhaps as a gardener or plumber – then no-one expects you to wear a suit & tie to networking meetings.  But if you want introductions to businesses as, say a book-keeper or sales trainer, looking the part will help.

Your marketing materials
With the internet there are many low-cost opportunities to promote your business and even printing costs have become more affordable.  But inexpensive doesn’t mean marketing materials need to look ‘cheap’ or amateur.  Again, it depends on what business you’re in, but think what impression that dog-eared business card with crossings-out might give to the person you hand it to. 

Order and Organisation
Some people just seem to be tidy by nature.  Everything about them is crisp and neat, from a freshly laundered shirt to that well-organised folio.  Other people appear rumpled and leave a trail of chaos behind them, unable to find anything in a bulging briefcase.  Which appearance gives you more confidence in their ability to do a good job? 

How you present yourself and your business to the outside world is often a very good indication of how ready you are for success. 

Has success been avoiding you?  If so, I’d love you to leave a comment below, and please share this post if you found it helpful.

Do You Work to Your Strengths?

Some years ago, when I was a newly qualified coach, I read 'Now, Discover your Strengths' by Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton.  Not only did this book turn my previous thinking upside-down, its message has stayed with me to this day.

If, like me, you spent a few years working in a corporate J.O.B., you'll have experienced the annual appraisal, performance review (or whatever it's called now).  This was a long anticipated interview, usually with your immediate boss, where you found out how well they thought you'd 'performed' over the previous 12 months and what increase in salary (and bonus if you were lucky) you could expect to receive.

It didn't matter how long the list of achievements and congratulations for a job well done, these were wiped out in seconds by the suggestions for improvement - the 'could do better' part.  They were what I focused on, took as criticism and then determined to work on and improve.

After several years of following this cycle, I did indeed improve my performance in previously weak areas, but it was hard work at times.

When I set up in business for myself, I made a list of skills I believed I needed to learn to become a better business owner and booked myself onto lots of training courses - continuing the cycle of working on 'weak' areas.  Until I read the book and the penny finally dropped.

Here's what I learned.

No matter how hard we work at improving an area of 'weakness' it's unlikely we'll ever become more than 'adequate' at them.  But the danger of spending precious time learning how to become adequate at one skill, is that it takes away time which could be more usefully spent honing our areas of expertise - getting better at what we already do well.  Working to our strengths.

When you find out what you're already really good at (happily, it's also usually what you enjoy doing most), work out a plan of action to get even better at it.  Ditch the adequate stuff - you can offload it to someone who's already really good at it!

Working to your strengths brings several benefits

1.  You'll stand out from the crowd of other 'average' performers.
2.  You'll become known as a sought after expert in your field
3.  You'll be doing what you really enjoy
4.  You'll be able to command higher fees

Isn't it time you started working to your strengths?

What do you think?  Please let me know in the comments below - and feel free to share if you enjoyed reading this post!

Taking a few detours

On Wednesday I drove to a meeting and got a bit lost!  While I love and use lots of new technology and tools to make life easier, I'm still resisting getting a SatNav system - mainly because I don't believe I make enough journeys to get good use from one.

So before setting off, I looked up the route on the internet and in a trusty old-fashioned map book to get a clear 'picture' in my mind of how to reach my destination.

Everything went swimmingly until about the last 5 miles (as often happens!) when I departed from the chosen route somehow.  After pulling over and consulting the map again, I could see the road I was now on would rejoin my route a bit further on, so thankfully there was no need to turn around.

Admittedly my heart did sink a little as I drove along busy streets looking out for road names and landmarks, but I didn't panic because I knew I'd reach my destination in the end.

I lost count of the total number of involuntary detours, but eventually I arrived safely - and even 10 minutes early for the meeting.

In business we need to have a clear vision and defined goals to aim for too.  Mapping out how we're going to achieve those goals provides the direction and action steps to take.  But when life leads us to take a few detours along the way, as it surely will, that doesn't mean giving up on the end goals. 

Being on the right road all the time isn't as important as reaching the destination safely, especially if there is great scenery to admire and lessons to learn from the detours.

And yes .... I got lost again on the way home too!

A Challenging Question

Whenever I'm asked to describe my style of coaching, I say that I challenge my clients.  A long time ago, I used to think being challenging was simply a matter of asking questions like "What's stopping you?" or "What is it costing you to ...?" 

However, now I know there is more to it.

Challenging means I encourage clients to take actions that will move them out of their comfort zone, increase self-awareness and move them forward towards their goals.  You see, I know something they don't.

I know we are all capable of so much more, and while a pinch of realism is necessary so as not to set ourselves up for failure, the goals we usually set ourselves simply aren't big enough.  They're puny goals that don't excite or get the adrenalin flowing. They're safe goals we don't feel motivated enough to strive for.

Successful people don't succeed by staying in their comfort zones, they succeed by challenging themselves every single day.  You may have noticed they often publicly announce their goal months before it becomes a reality - if that isn't challenging themselves to make it happen, I don't know what is!

If I were to challenge you to do one thing this week that will move you nearer your biggest goal, what would that be? 

Go on, I challenge you to do it!

New Ideas need New Thinking

As Einstein famously said, you can't solve a problem with the same thinking that caused it in the first place!

So why do we think we can come up with new ideas for our business when we keep doing the same things or mixing with the same people.

Even those of us with notebooks full of ideas need to revisit them to see if they really are 'new'.

Now that it's so much easier to find out what the latest trends are, what the thought-leaders are thinking it can be easy to be swept along the same path as everyone else.  To become a 'me-too'.

Original thoughts and ideas are much harder to come by, and all the more precious for that very reason.  And if it's true that there is nothing really new in this world, then coming up with a new twist to apply to an existing idea is maybe a better place to start.

Let's take a common problem facing small businesses - that of charging what their product or service is worth - and not discounting!

Rather than only listening to what fellow business owners within your networking circle might say, how about getting a different opinion from, perhaps a

Dentist
Musician
Farmer
Barrister

These people may not know anything about your business, but they will be able to tell you about charging for your product or service - from their viewpoint.

How do you come up with new ideas for your business? 

What Should You Charge?

I was looking through my newsletter archives at the weekend and came across this article from 2005! The topic is just as valid today - and I think the tips are too... let me know what you think

 What Should You Charge?
The answer to that question is simple – you should charge what you’re worth! The explanation will take a little longer....

Many businesses bump along the break-even line because they don’t charge enough and unfortunately many go out of business for the same reason.

Whether you’re selling products or services, you have to believe in what you have to offer – or you’ll have an uphill struggle expecting people to buy. If your prices are too low, the perception of your products/services is that they are inferior in quality and durability to those with a higher price tag. In other words, cheap.

If you’re tired of customers trying to beat you down in price or saying you’re too expensive, try something radical – raise your prices! Let me explain a bit more ….

What sort of customers do you want? Those who are just looking for the best price deal or those who appreciate the quality you can offer?

Something most of us forget when setting prices is how much studying, research & development, expertise and experience has gone into our products and services. They need to be factored in, they cost you time and money to acquire. Be proud of what you have to offer, you’ve worked hard for it.

Be First Class
If you’re going to raise your prices, you’re going to have to deliver the goods. Make sure that you give a first class service to each and every one of your customers, for each and every purchase they make. Go further and delight them with great follow up and add value wherever you can – you can afford to as this is now included in your higher price.

I recently bought a new car. The young salesman was very eager to please and personally made sure all my requests (including enough petrol to get home!) were carried out. As I drove away, I thought that was the last I’d hear from him....

However the next day, he called to make sure everything was OK and said to be sure to call him if I had any problems. He called again after a week and yet again after 4 weeks – just to check that I was still completely happy with the car. Now I know I paid for this service in the price of the car but how often do you actually get it? I was and still am a delighted customer.

Two Quick Coaching Questions
What can you do to delight your customers?  And when are you going to raise your prices to reflect what you’re worth?

Important Phone Calls

People spend ages crafting the perfect letter, email, proposal or web page to get it just right.  But when it comes to telephone calls, they often seem to just dial and hope for the best! 

Whether making calls to follow up with leads and prospective clients, or to try and get an appointment with bigger company decision-makers, or even catching up with existing and past clients, important phone calls deserve special treatment.

Here are some suggestions to help get the best response:

• Have a goal for the call
• Write down all the points you want to include
• Don't make your most important call first
• Warm up your vocal cords before picking up the phone
• Make the calls from a corded landline for best reception
• Smile and sit up straight (or even stand up)
• Be prepared for different situations (voicemail, gatekeeper, and especially the person you really want to speak to!)

What telephone tips have you found most helpful?

Are you Avoiding Success?

As a business owner or manager, I’ll bet you’re really busy all the time and that there never seem to be enough hours in the day.

I expect some of what you do every day is routine, such as opening the post; reading emails and checking your diary.  You do these almost without thinking.

But what about those activities you absolutely must do to bring in more business?  Like prospecting for new clients; following up with existing contacts; planning and goal setting for growth?

If you’ve ever spent your day doing such tasks as responding to emails; helping other people; working on making your marketing materials absolutely ‘perfect’; doing paperwork or tidying your office – you already know deep down these are comfort activities which will keep you stuck and your business exactly where it is now. 

The hard truth is:  you’re avoiding doing the less comfortable activities which will really move your business forward and generate more sales.  The ‘busy’ work will create the illusion you’re working hard, simply because you feel busy.  Your avoidance tactics will enable you to do everything but the activities needed to dramatically speed up your business success.

Do you get to the end of the day and say to yourself “It’s OK, I was really busy today, I’ll do that tomorrow.” Or “I just couldn’t find the time today to make those follow-up calls.”?

You know what?  If you’re waiting to find time, it will never happen!  There will always be other avoidance tactics and ‘busy work’ to fill your available time.

What avoidance tactics are you using?  Once you uncover them and the reasons why you are using them, then you can decide if they are really the best use of your time.

(If you need a bit of help with this, get in touch)

What I like about copycats!

In previous posts I’ve had a good moan - and the odd rant - about people who copy ideas, designs, offers and generally jump on the latest bandwagon, regardless of where it might take them – just so long as there could be money somewhere along the way!

As soon as you put an idea ‘out there’ it really is fair game isn’t it?  Whether people model it respectfully, or just downright copy it wholesale without even bothering to change the words.  I suppose it’s kind of a back-handed compliment even if very annoying.

But there could also be a benefit.

The people who came up with the original ideas are the real achievers and winners.  Being copied forces them to keep thinking of new ideas that are even better than before.  In fact, often they’ve already moved on from the original idea and leave the copycats standing in the dust as they power ahead.

I’m certainly not condoning copycats or plagiarists, just smiling slightly at how they’ve unwittingly raised the bar for the rest of us who can’t resist a challenge.

What if they don’t like me?

I remember coaching a client some years ago when she was just starting her business.  We were working on getting the basics in place, including her new website.  But I noticed that every time there was work to be done on the website, it wouldn’t happen and my client would be full of apologies and excuses in our next call.

When I delved deeper, it turned out she felt very vulnerable knowing so many people would be able to read about her and her business.  I confess I hadn’t thought about it in those terms before – but it’s hardly surprising since a fear of rejection is one of the basic human fears which can stop us in our tracks.

I wonder how many people approach social networking with the same trepidation?

Soon after I started blogging, I received a long angry email from someone who decided one of my posts was a direct criticism of her.  The message ended with me being ‘struck off’ her mailing list.  I have to admit I was mortified to think this person ‘didn’t like me any more’.  Until I saw sense.

It was actually nothing to do with me, it was about the words I used and more importantly, the way this one person chose to interpret them.

One of the whole points of blogs, and Web 2.0 in general, is to be able to share information, thoughts and opinions – and we actively invite comments!  Whatever we write, someone, somewhere won’t agree with our words, just as we won’t agree with everything another person writes.  But it doesn’t mean they don’t like us or that we don’t like them.

By being prepared to be vulnerable we let people get to know us (as little or as much as we choose).  We are taking a small chance, but a necessary one if we’re to build successful business and personal relationships.