Tag Archive for 'NLP Sales Process'

My First Month As A Coach – A Students Tale

Published on April 1, 2010 in Life Coaching, Personal Development and Research. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

MY FIRST MONTH AS A COACH

By David O’Connor – MakingLeaders.com.au

When I left my safe and comfortable job of 9 years at the end of February 2010, I had a few options but no firm plan heading forward.  I decided to look into coaching because it seemed like a natural fit for me – I’d worked in key leadership positions in the not-for-profit sector in which my main priority was developing leaders, both staff and volunteer to oversee large scale youth and young adult events.

I’ve never been so full of vision for what the future holds!  Within a few short weeks I’d enrolled in a Certificate IV in Life Coaching at The Coaching Institute, completed my Starter Kit for Coaches, registered 2 business names, purchased multiple domain names, designed a website, decided on a coaching niche, begun developing coaching programs for my niche, fully articulated my dreams for the next 10 years and so on.

What a wild ride!  I’m writing this to share a few things that have helped me in making those first few steps towards running a huge leadership coaching business, and hope that they might inspire you to do the same if you’re up for a change as well.

  1. Get coached! The thing that has helped me the most is positioning myself to have a few great coaches speak into my life.  It’s reaffirmed my decision to step into coaching and my coaches have helped and supported my decisions in so many ways already.
  1. Get knowledge! Start digesting as many coaching resources (books, downloads, audio, free stuff) as possible.  The rabbit hole is deep my friends, and knowledge truly is power to make change.
  1. 3. Get about it! You’ve got nothing to lose by backing yourself.  I’ve had to confront so many limiting beliefs in my journey already, but at the end of the day I could either choose to just get about it, or wallow on the couch while there’s a great business waiting to be built.

My dad was a little unconventional in his fatherhood and I’m told that he taught me to swim by throwing me in a pool as a toddler and grabbing me after a few seconds.  Maybe I was built to do things in the deep end, but I want to encourage you to act and learn to swim in whatever pools you want to.

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Remove The Hoarding Mentality & Your Fear Of Losing Clients

Published on March 31, 2010 in Business Coaching, Life Coaching, Personal Development and Sales and Marketing. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Bottom Line…

If your clients trust you, they’ll stick around.

Problem is…

If you fear them leaving you then your fear can ultimately hurt this client loyalty.

And then the Good news…

You Can Do Something About This.

Realize your fear could hurt your business.
No service provider wants to lose clients, business opportunities or revenue. Ironically, though, this fear of losing business actually hurts your ability to keep and increase business because it causes you to avoid doing the difficult things that bring about even more loyalty and trust from your people, the people you are trying to serve.

It’s worth remembering that your clients can smell fear and desperation a mile away, note this is completely off-putting for a potential client. What your prospect are attracted to is a service provider who will be honest and direct with them. Even though you may see this as being at the risk of jeapordizing the relationship, your people will respect you more for it.

Put it this way. It’s just like dating. Girls prefer honest and self-assured guys over desperate ones who tell them what they want to hear. Sounds crazy and counterintuitive, I know, but it is true.  :)

Put your clients first.
What clients want more than anything is to know that we’re more interested in helping them than we are in maintaining our revenue source. And when we do something, or fail to do something, in order to protect our business, they eventually lose respect for us and understandably question whether they should trust us.

Always start with your client in mind. How can you provide them with outstanding value?

If you look after the needs of your client then the law of reciprocity states they will look after your needs in return.

Be vulnerable.
The most successful service providers are those that are not overly concerned about the possibility of losing a client or for being under-compensated for what they do. I call these guys the ‘naked service providers’becuase they refuse to worry about having their ideas misappropriated by a client, they give all their best content up front and go the extra mile for every client all the time.

They do this because they know it will earn them the trust of their clients in the long term.

The most successful people understand that despite setbacks that are naturally occurring along the way, communicating with prospects and running a business from this perspective will provide more good along the way.

Overall in any business whether it be coaching, holistic services, hospitality, health and fitness or a corporate market your highest intention should always be to provide outstanding, honest and valuable feedback to your market at all times. People come and go in the world of business… It’s the people who play with this mentality that stay.

Here’s to Your Staying Power

Kim Rowe

National Student Liaison

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Are You Spamming Your “Friendship”

Published on March 30, 2010 in Business Coaching, Life Coaching and Sales and Marketing. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The onslaught of “join my team” and “buy my stuff” posts from direct sellers on social networks leaves me wondering…do we forget that these are PEOPLE on the other end of our messages?  This has been the problem from the beginning of online communication: the anonymity of hiding behind our computers makes us forget the basics of interpersonal communication.  You would NEVER walk up to someone on the street and begin pitching your products and opportunity without at least making an effort at small talk.  Why do we think it’s OK to do that online?

Social media is first about PEOPLE.  There is a person on the other end of every single communication that you write.

So the next time you are tempted to blast a status update pitching your products or opportunity through your profile, ask yourself…has every single person that will read this opted in for this type of message?  Have I done the necessary background work to build relationships first?  Or will I be just another “interruption”?  If it’s the latter, STOP.

Social networking is about connecting with people, understanding their needs, and providing value.  Stop with the sales pitch.  You’ll achieve much greater long-term results by meeting 5 new people per day online, and getting to know them.  Then you can provide your products and opportunity individually, in a way that’s actually relevant, and will bring you the results you’re seeking.

Your thoughts?

Kim Rowe

National Student Liaison

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How to Change the World

Published on March 26, 2010 in Life Coaching, Personal Development and Research. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

OK so I’m going to get a little philosophical on you here guys… I’ve been reading some great books this week and they have been quite thought provoking so I’m just gonna put it out there how I believe YOU Can Change The World In… in a moment.

I look forward to your active conversation following this one….

I hope you are ready for it… Some of you may not have the gusto or desire do follow what I am suggesting… but here goes.

You have that much power right now, that you can rid the world of crimes, gossip, corruption and international conflict.

To be able to fully use this Power there are a couple of things you will need to do.

Hit the ‘OFF’ button.

Turn OFF your TV
Turn OFF your radio
Turn OFF your newspaper subscription

Watching media that aggregates the most brutal, shocking, heinous and scandalous events of the day can give you a perverted view of the world. Meanwhile millions of beautiful, miraculous,positive and wonderful things happen during the same day that don’t get any attention. It’s incredibly destructive to your spirit and creative potential.

Here is the controversial part…

What I am starting to notice is the difference between THEIR world and MY world.

So I have made a conscious choice to only pay attention now to MY world. Narcissistic as that may seem I have realised that it is only my direct world that I can control. My own thoughts, behaviors, beliefs and experiences.  This new focus allows me to feel in control and on top of what I am experiencing in any given moment. To the degree where it has become quite empowering, as opposed to focusing on to the rest of it only makes me feel fearful, frustrated and cynical.

Our biggest gift is that in our lives we have the choice of where we focus our attention.  That choice affects my experience of life and determines my potential for positive creativity. I can focus it on the worst of the world or the best. I can focus it on things I can’t do anything about or I can focus  on those things that I can effect and that have a direct on my life and those people closest to me.

I’m not interested in the negative, the tall poppy syndrome of society and media hype and scare tactics. I believe in the law of attraction and what you focus on is what you achieve or attract.

So now for the “Yeah butt’s…”

Does that now mean I am sheltered, naive and uninformed?

To be honest I would rather be informed and aware of the areas in life that matter the most and support my personal goals and ambitions. At this stage in my life I cannot justify spending two hours watching every news telecast telling me about the current interest rates, or the armed robbery in the USA. I do not see how it can directly support my health and happiness nor in improve my relationships. Based on this I therefor cannot see how it would work in favor of continued growth and expansion of my business.

Don’t get me wrong… I have plenty of compassion for humanity and plenty of awareness about the economic climate and its impact on business, however there are plenty of other references in my world that offer references for these things without having to look to far outside of myself.

Think of it this way. You are Coaching an executive and they are complaining about not having enough time for personal time, study or his family. You ‘unpack’ their day only to discover they spend 45 minutes in the morning reading the paper, 35 minutes listening to the news – each way to and from work. During the Day they scan MSN News bulletins, perhaps the online Age and catch up on the sports or fashion report. Coming home they listen to the last 15 minutes of the 7 o’clock news as they greet their family and then after sitting down for dinner catch 30 minutes of the 10 o’clock news before going to bed.  That’s nearly 3 hours of the ‘same same but different’ mindless, negative, hype, every day.

Perhaps instead they could subscribe to an RSS feed that would only deliver to them the news and broadcasts that support their business, education and life relationships?

This would clear 95% of the time stealing, noise and distraction. From 3 hours down to 20 minutes a day. Imagine the time that now leaves for productive activities: exercise, listening to instructional and inspirational material, reading, planning, preparing, and spending quality time withtheir family.

When I dissected his day he spent 45 minutes in the morning reading the newspaper, another 35 minutes listening to news, both back and forth to work. During his workday, he’d check Yahoo! News several times, spending at least 20 minutes in total. When he got home, he’d catch the last 15 minutes of the local news while greeting his family. Then he’d catch up on 30 minutes of sports news and 30 minutes of the 10 o’clock news before going to bed. In total he was spending 3.5 hours with the news each day! I suggested he keep his TV and radio off, cancel his newspaper subscription, and set up an RSS feed so he could select and receive only the news he deemed important for his business and personal interests.

So if we don’t care who does?

This is a valid point, and I am glad other do care. I would prefer to see it as ‘picking my battles’. Some people pick the human rights battle, some the political, some the homeless and some pick the battle against animal cruelty.

All valid and all important in their own right. All I am saying is pick what really matters to you. If it really matters then you will give your whole heart and soul to make a difference in this area and find it easier to stay focused.

If you take care of that issue for me, I’ll take care of this one for you. That way you can be as productive as you can. Stick to what you care about… not what the 7pm news does, every day.

It all comes down to this—what you give your attention to becomes the reality of your world. Give your attention to scandals, murders, war, fear and brutality and that will program your creative computer and your world around you. Instead, focus your attention on what’s good, wonderful, abundant, wholesome and possible in the world. Focus your attention on ideas, information and knowledge that can help you grow, prosper, create and contribute to making a positive difference based on your unique talent, skills and effort. Turn OFF the rest… it will change your world and your life!

To Your Success,

Kim Rowe

National Student Liaison

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Great Referrals Aren’t Accidents

Published on March 25, 2010 in Business Coaching, Life Coaching, Personal Development, Research and Sales and Marketing. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Make networking part of your relationship-building strategy, and you’ll see real results.

Networking: The process of meeting people, staying in touch and then asking them for business, requires patience and practice…. It’s a little bit like fishing.

I heard a story a little while ago about a fellow net worker who was planning on canning his networking memberships because he believed that his referrals were coincidental.

Despite a full year of getting great referrals, my fellow net worker did not feel the fortnightly connection with others in the business world was a viable business strategy. Their belief was the business they were being referred was purely generated by “chance” — one person knowing another who “happened to know them” — even though these “chance occurrences” were coming directly from their networking contacts, they believed it couldn’t last and subsequently left the group.

Your getting the Irony of this right?

So the question is now raised… despite “chance” is networking something you can rely on as a consistent means of getting new business?

Of course it is.

There are two major factors that platy a part in Networking being successful for your business. Repeatability and Understanding.

If you step back and ask, “Is it possible that somebody will know someone else who’s looking for my services and will give me that referral?” Well, there’s that repeatability–especially if you focus on building relationships–because there’s always a “somebody.

Then the Understanding. If you focus on the specific people who gave you the referral, rather than the process and relationships that allowed it to happen, then it’s unlikely you will consistently get more business from networking. Focus on the relationships, people talk.

Networking Is a Long and Winding Road

When it comes to networking and passing referrals, it’s not about who’s giving what to whom, and it’s hardly a straight line. If you’re thinking, “For every referral I give, I can expect one in return,” it’s time to put that idea to rest. Reciprocity is nice, but networking just doesn’t work that way, energetically yes, with direct person to person networking… No.

Think of referral-giving in the context of the Abundance Mindset, which is the awareness that there’s more than enough business to go around. If you hear of a business opportunity that would be well-suited for a referral partner–in other words, not your kind of business–think of it as “excess business.” When you pass this kind of excess business to others in the form of a referral, you’ll wind up attracting more prospects who want to work with you.

Call it a gift from the referral gods, but when you do good things for others, those good things have a way of making their way back to you–often from a different person or group of people. Even if it seems that you’re not directly benefiting from the referrals you’re giving others, take note of all the other business that just happens to come your way.

  • The guy who stumbles across your website and gives you a call.
  • The old prospect you haven’t heard from in months who suddenly wants to get together for lunch.
  • The inactive client who wants to renew his contract with you.

Even though it seems “coincidental”, some or all of these occurrences are likely to be new business you attracted by giving away excess business (in the form of referrals) to people you know.

Network With a Net
Referral networking is a lot like catching fish by casting a net. Each fish comes to the net by a different path–each has a unique “story” that is not repeated. You don’t focus on a particular fish and then try to get it to come to the net–in fact, you probably don’t even see the fish until you pull in the net. Instead, you focus on the action of setting the net. You know that if you set your net correctly and consistently, fish will eventually come, no matter what path they take to get there.

The same is true for getting referrals. You don’t have to worry about how a specific referral got to you because you understand the process of setting your net.

And the best part is your net can be working for you all the time. You don’t have to be there whenever someone you know runs into someone else who could use your services–this means you can be “fishing” in many different ponds simultaneously and reaping tons of new business. This is especially true when you’ve become a referral gatekeeper and begin to get referrals not only from your own network of contacts but from the networks of others as well.

When it comes to networking, there is no coincidence about referrals. They are the inevitable cumulative result of the day-to-day activities of relationship-building. And even though those efforts can’t be measured as easily as cold calls, the results are far more powerful.

Happy Networking!

Kim Rowe

National Student Liaison

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