Do You Retreat?
October 28, 2008
This past we
ekend my business partner and I took a small group on a creative retreat. From Friday afternoon through Sunday noon we talked, created a small photo album, napped in front of the fireplace, ate, walked, and listened to music. We tucked our participants away in two B&Bs in Granville, Tennessee – away from the Internet, cell phones, family, business, and TV. It brought home to me the constant information overload we have become addicted to, think we absolutely must have – an information overload that can serve at times to increase our anxieties, fears, and sense that we are in control. (We aren’t!)
I watched as each participant relaxed and realized that it was really just fine not to know what was going on back at home every single hour of the day. Giving up constant control is an exercise in delegation and trusting others – two thing most small business owners have a hard time doing. Giving up instant access to information flow is an exercise in focusing on the true thing rather than the minutia.
Faced with uncharacteristic freedom to breathe and be, our group dove into the fresh air of a slower pace, a small community of listeners, and a supportive group. As we occupied our hands with paper, glue, and ink our hearts opened to share our current stories. We strategized on topics from growing new employees to facing health problems to tax reduction strategies to delegating. We practiced collaboration (the best business model there is for today’s business owner) as we shared supplies and creative ideas. We deepened our knowledge of each other’s characteristics and skills – things we can draw on now that we are back into our normal world. We learned that quiet and space is necessary for our sharpest thinking on key issues. We fed our body, minds, and souls in ways that benefit us both personally and in business.
No matter how busy and involved you are, the world actually will function without your oversight and input. It is a good growth experience for you and for those you leave behind. Quarterly retreats are a part of my business plan, and I strongly suggest them to you. Give yourself (and everyone else) a break. Plan a few days away, and watch your focus sharpen as you relax. Just another tool to help your business thrive!
Sue P.
The Courage to Create Something New
October 22, 2008
It’s time to envision what we want to manifest for the coming year. Late October is good for planning, before the rush of the holidays, before the New Year is here. Creating what one wants in the coming year requires courage, letting go, and clear vision.
- It’s an act of courage to consider closely your current life and work, asking yourself what is working well and what no longer feels right. It’s much easier not to look, to go along in the path one has already created, staying in the comfort zone. The downside of the comfort zone is that it doesn’t create much in the way of forward movement – it’s more like marking time, marching along in place. Over time, vague feelings of dissatisfaction or longing may arise, telling us it is time to sit and feel our way into the future. If we put aside these feelings, they will most usually lurk inside of us, gathering strength and coming out in stronger ways – anger, illness, self-sabotage. On the other hand, if we allow and even encourage these feelings, they can be helpful messengers, giving us strong clues about what we need to change or let go of in both our personal and professional lives.
- Letting go is an act of courage, too. Get this: for the new work to succeed, what is not working must end. Trying to create something new while at the same time expending the same level of time and energy to keep up the old will end in failure every single time. It is a subtle form of self-sabotage. It gives us the message that we are not quite committed to the new, want to hedge our bets by hanging on to the old while we see if the new will work. This is a costly and unwise action. It perpetrates a lack of total commitment to what we want to create, making manifestation of the new much harder than it needs to be. It keeps alive self-doubt, a surefire way to fail. Manifestation is nothing more than full commitment to what you envision. If you let go and step forward, you set in motion the energy that supports you in creating what you want.
- Clear vision, a vision that has energy and good vibe, will sustain us when things seem blocked. Clear vision comes from taking time for ourselves, creating the quiet, unfettered space to ask what is working and what is not, what we have not yet done in life that we really truly have a deep desire to accomplish, what are stuck places in our personal lives. Clear vision creates an energy of allowing things to happen that take us where we want to go. We create this vision by stating dreams and desires, leaving aside the many “yes, but” statements or the reasons why we cannot do what we see. Clear vision is freeing, not clinging. Clear vision holds the best for one’s heart and mind. It isn’t hampered by what others think or want us to do. It feels unburdened.
Here are five questions that I use when I do personal retreats with my clients. Set aside some October time and find your own courage to create something new for the upcoming year.
- What secret hope or dream do you have that hasn’t yet seen the light?
- What tasks are on your plate that you really dread to do?
- What one thing would you take off your calendar if you could?
- What one thing needs to change in your personal life – just pick one thing from the laundry list in your mind.
- Are you willing to block off time for something new next year?
Answer these five questions and see what new vision arises. See how your energy feels. You may just find that you have found the courage and clear vision to let go, creating and manifesting something new.
A Tale of Two Sales & Why Neither One Occurred
October 14, 2008
I often point out to my marketing clients that the link between sales and customer service is unavoidable and very close. An experience I had today reflects this point and shows how easy it is to leave a potential customer undecided and dissatisfied – and with money still in her pocket!
My 3-year-old Palm handheld died, I need something new. Time to consider one of the all-in-one telephone and PDA’s. I’m a free agent right now, my contract with Verizon is up and I can change carriers without penalty. So off I go to AT&T to play with the iPhone, something I’ve been curious about for a while.
As I walked into the AT&T store I’m greeted by a “sales concierge” who asks my name and a few questions, fills in a form, and personally walks me over to an eager-to-be-helpful saleswoman. She answers my many questions patiently, shows me a display iPhone I can play with, and even checks to see if my husband’s corporation offers a discount for setting up an account. I’m interested but wary about call coverage in the rural areas outside Knoxville, where I live. I leave with her card, though, and when I leave I’m pretty convinced that I’ll go back to purchase.
A few hours later I went (for the third time) to the Verizon store just across the street from my office. I’d been there twice before, and after waiting a good 10 minutes and having no one even give me eye contact I left. This time, a tall young man met my eyes right as I walked in and asked if he could help me. Ahhhh….we’re off to a good start! I explain that I’m in the market for a phone/PDA combination and had been off looking at an iPhone, but was undecided and currently a Verizon customer. I also pointed out that I am currently a free agent cell-phone wise – a cue to the salesperson that he has a great opportunity to upgrade my current phone, engage me in yet another two-year contract, and make some good money in the process. “Oh,” says he, upon hearing all this, “Well, sounds like this would be a good time to change since your contract is over.” Before I can get over that reply he launches again, “If you’ve looked at the iPhone, you must like touch-pads. We have the Blackberry, no touch pad to offer you. But thanks for stopping by.”
I hope that you are as aghast at the Verizon salesperson’s lack of finesse as I am. Does the company give no sales training at all? Here this guy has a customer of 8 years standing with him, asking for a solution to her problem, fully able to walk away to another company, and he comes off as uncaring and completely lacking in sales acumen. He may as well have said to me, “Our products really aren’t very good.” Maybe he thinks that, but if so he might think of working somewhere else.
So, you might be wondering, did I go back to get the iPhone, kissing Verizon goodbye? No, not yet – although I still might. I’ve checked around with 3 people who use AT&T and all three independently complained to me that their calls drop constantly – right in the middle of town. This points out another marketing truth – word of mouth will overcome even a good salesperson every single time. While I appreciated the helpfulness of the AT&T salesperson, I can’t deal with dropped calls – and I DON’T live in the center of town.
I still need a new PDA, and I still need a good solution. I’m the epitome of a frustrated customer who can’t find a place to put her money – and in these tight economic times that is really a sad thing for both AT&T and Verizon.
Until next time,
Sue P.
Quit Using the F-Word!
October 8, 2008
For as long as I’ve been working with business owners, I’ve preached and preached about the dangers of “giving it away for free.” My mantra is “if you don’t value and respect your work, no one else will, either!” I’ve had to talk to many clients about continually offering free consultations, free services,and free products in an unwise and unproductive effort to lure people to become customers. The vast majority of the time it does not work – in fact, it teaches people to wait for the freebie, or the discount, or the bargain. (See my blog post Setting Your Price and Getting It“).
Now, research has shown that using the word “free” doesn’t engage your potential customers. Freebie seekers are just that – after resources that don’t cost a thing. The more you feed freebie seekers the more they will show up for more – and you will train them to keep doing exactly that! So, what to use instead? The research shows that the word “new” actually engages potential customers more than the word “free.” Try replacing the “f-word” with “new” and see what you get – my bet is that you’ll get money, which is the point of your business, after all!
(Thanks to Penny and the staff at amarketingexpert.com for pointing out the research on “new.”)
The Marriage of Vision and Success
October 5, 2008
Right now I’m in California at the International Living’s Live and Invest Overseas conference. Meeting the
250+ people here has reminded me of the relationship of vision to success. The people here fall into three categories:
- Those who dream about living offshore, read about it, but never make a plan.
- Those who are here and have a zillion questions, wanting to make an international move with absolutely no surprises and insure their success ahead of time.
- Those who have, in writing, their criteria for selecting a new country in which to live, have made several trips to check out potential locations, and have created a written budget of what they can afford and how they will live.
As you might imagine, the latter group will be the ones who actually act, who will achieve the goal of trying another country as their home. Why? They have done the work of honing their vision, and that solid vision gives them confidence to act and succeed.
It’s the very same with us as entrepreneurs and business owners. We know what we want to walk away from, but we have not taken on the thoughtful and sometimes tough work of thinking and feeling through to what we want to walk toward. We dream, and share our dreams with others over coffee, but we do not dig in. The more I work with entrepreneurs and home-based business owners the more I find that the unsuccessful ones are half-in, half-out. They have a vague idea of “something different” but their vision isn’t clear. They have not dug in and done the work of taking their current discomfort and vague dreams of something difference into a lively vision. And consequently, they take no actions, or their actions lack focus and energy.
Without taking our dreams into vision we do not bring about success. Working with our dreams and creating a heart-felt, written vision will spin our energy toward action, and action drives success. I sure have seen many examples of this as I meet the conference attendees here. Specific actions work best when married to one’s vision. And vision is more than a vague dream – it is the flesh we put on the bones of a dream.
Here’s to taking dreams into vision, and vision into success!
Sue P.