| “Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself from the unacceptable.” – Dennis Waitley
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Posts Tagged ‘executive coaching’
Facing life’s challenges…how will you respond?
Monday, November 7th, 2011The power of goals
Monday, October 24th, 2011| “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea”
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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What does your coffee say about you?
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011Last week, I had a speaking engagement at a historic building in downtown Indianapolis.
It is a beautiful building with a lot of space for meetings. However, it’s about 1 mile from the center of downtown and as a result, it doesn’t get much foot traffic.
Regardless, the group I was speaking for took a chance and chose this venue for their largest annual event.
After eating a light lunch, I decided to get a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, it was freezing cold. And no, it wasn’t supposed to be an iced cappuccino.
What’s the big deal? It’s just a cup of coffee right?
Wrong.
In today’s hypercompetitive environment, you have one chance to exceed your customer’s expectations. One chance.
If you blow it, your customer is one Google search away from replacing you with another option.
For your business it might be the way in which you answer the phone, the look and feel of a proposal or how quickly you respond to a question.
Whatever it is, remember that your prospect/customer notices every little detail.
How hot is your coffee?
Life’s Tough
Monday, October 17th, 2011| “Life’s ups and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals – Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want” – Marsha Sinetar
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Feedback
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010About 1 year after I began coaching business owners I started sending out a customer satisfaction survey asking my clients how I was doing.
The first few response were great. I had responses like, “For the first time in my life I have a clear direction for my business” and “one of the best investments I have made as a business owner”. I felt great!
Then it happened.
I was sitting in my office and heard the familiar hum of the fax machine indicating that a message was on the way. I looked over and noticed that it was coming from a current client who had recently received the customer satisfaction survey. I was seconds away from reading another glowing testimonial about how my coaching had transformed another business owner.
Unfortunately, that’s not what I read.
Instead, this feedback form was filled with comments like “this isn’t what I expected” and “I am receiving very little value from this program”.
My heart sank. I literally felt like I was going to cry.
But guess what? I am a much better coach today because of feedback from that very honest business owner (who remained my client for more than 3 years).
There is no better teacher than a very honest assessment of your performance.
I realize that sometimes the feedback might be negative. That’s OK. This feedback is by far the most valuable of all.
CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. Email CJ at cjm@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s revolutionary executive coaching program, Summit.
Product Conviction Changes Buyers Minds
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010Michael Reynolds and I were having a chat over Twitter in May about Tungle. He asked if I liked it. I told him I hated it – and continued to badmouth the product for another 3 or 4 tweets. Then I got a random tweet from a guy named @mgingras that said, “Hey Jamar – would love to talk to you about your opinion. Are you open to having a call?”
Turns out that @mgingras is Marc Gingras, the CEO of Tungle. Whoops.
Marc and I had a call. I was obviously sold on why Tungle is a neat idea, but a poor example of an end-user application. Marc was sold on why Tungle is at the forefront of online scheduling, and is the best product on the market.
Marc sold me, and challenged this nay-sayer to get on Tungle not just as a periodic scheduler, but as a primary end-user; to sign up for an account and put my schedule out there to be ‘tungled’. He knew his product was the best, and if I used it, I would agree.
I was nervous to trust a system that I felt was confusing and inefficient, but Marc’s product conviction was based on tons of product testing, and hundreds of tweaks to the system to make it perfect.
At this point, I have used Tungle for over 2 months, and it is one of the best productivity tools that I have found this year. Tungle brings me almost as much “productivity-joy” as my in-home personal assistant!
People schedule meetings with me quickly, there is no chain of annoying emails going back and forth, and the technology is integrated with Outlook and by Blackberry. Yes!
Marc’s product conviction changed me from someone who was spreading negative brand messages about his product, to someone who is now a raving fan.
How much conviction and belief do you have in your product or service? Are you so confident in your service that you would challenge a complete stranger to become a client, and let the product speak for itself?
Product conviction sells new customers and it helps you keep the one’s that you have.
On a scale of 1-10, how high is your product conviction?
Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice-President of Business Development for reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. For more resources on business leadership, please visit http://blog.goreachmore.com.
Use the Right Communication Currency
Monday, June 28th, 2010Have you ever called, and called, and called a prospect, never to get a return phone call? You’re not alone. I couldn’t even begin to number the amount of prospects that have lost out on a great product because they didn’t pick up their phone.
Wait. Maybe I lost out, because I didn’t find their communication currency. What I mean by communication currency is the medium that someone likes to communicate through.
For prospects, this could mean contacting them through phone, email, or snail mail. This could also mean that you may need to reach them through facebook, text, or twitter. Some people just don’t respond to phone calls, and others never check their email. There are still some clients who refuse to text or use social media. Amazingly enough, there are some people who only respond when I stop by their office!
Everyone has a means that they like to communicate through. Your job as a business owner is to find your clients communication style as quickly as you can, so you can move your prospect through your sales pipeline.
This may mean blasting a client with messages at every outlet that you have from the get-go. Even though you may think you are inundating them with the same content, they are actually only receiving it in 2 out of 6 communication vehicles.
Take reachmore’s founder, CJ McClanahan, for example. You will rarely catch him on social media, and you would almost never get a text response from him. If you stopped by the office, he’s either teaching or off-site with a client. No luck with a cold call. Sending an email will just get you sent to his VP of Business Development or trash folder. If you called him on the telephone before 8am, you might just catch him.
The same philosophy rings true when you are communicating with your employees. Don’t know if you’re communicating with a D, I, S, or C? Ask questions and use key phrases for all 4 styles until you have nailed exactly how someone would like to be communicated with.
The point of this blog is to encourage you to be flexible when communicating with prospects and employees. If you think that everyone receives information the same way that you do, you are sorely wrong, and will have the mediocre success if you continue to act as if they do.
Be flexible, and remember that people aren’t difficult, they’re just different!
Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice-President of Business Development for reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. For more resources on business leadership, please visit http://blog.goreachmore.com.
Enjoy the Ride
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010On my way to Gatlinburg, TN in April, I ran into some problems about 6 hours into my trip, and ran into the most massive traffic jam I have seen in 2010!
After working a full and tough week, I hopped into my car and drove all the way to TN for a quick getaway vacation. Apparently in Pigeon Forge there was a car show that night. I went from being excited about getting to my vacation destination early; to grumbling because it took me two hours to drive 12-miles through this car show.
In the middle of fuming about how tired I was, I paused and looked at the scenery around me. There were people walking up and down the street in their summer clothes, laughing and enjoying one another. There were rows and rows and rows of beautiful old and new cars. Their owners were standing close by with looks of pride on their faces, and a polishing cloth in their hands.
Everyone with a convertible had their tops down, there were tons of people in the backs of jacked-up lifted pick-up trucks, and tweaked mufflers sang the song of their over-eager owners pumping the gas pedal.
This was a party. I was in the middle of a party! So, instead of being mad about my situation, I decided to join the party! I put my top down, turned up my music, and participated in every bit of the car show.
I enjoyed the ride. Life and business are a ride, and we have to enjoy every moment of them.
There is a quote that says, “Success is a journey, not a destination.” Remember that saying as you go through your great days and your poor days. Success is equivalent to what you are doing right now, so put your top down and enjoy it!
Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice-President of Business Development for Reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. Email Jamar at jamar@goreachmore.com for the latest on Reachmore’s newest seminar, Launch.
Your Perspective Creates Business Success
Monday, May 10th, 2010When I was 3 years old, I used to jump in the kitchen trash can and play Oscar the Grouch with my Mom. I had so much fun crawling in that little green trash can and acting grumpy. One of the best parts for me was the fact that I was just small enough to fit completely inside, my Mom could close the top, and I could peek my head out just like Oscar does.
Oh, to be young again…
That little green trash can now sits inside my garage next to the back door. My old play place now serves as the spot to dump junk mail before going in the house (and yes, I know that Lynn Jenkins with Indiana Living Green would kill me for not recycling…). Oh, and by the way, at this point in my life, that trash is barely tall enough to pass the bottom of my knee!
It’s amazing how our perspective and self image change over time. At one point I could fit my entire body in a 2 ½ foot tall trash can, and now I can barely stick my foot in it without getting stuck.
The strength of your business is a direct reflection of how you view yourself. If you see yourself as a micro-business owner who could never afford the staff or the overhead to have a $1 million business, you will never have the staff or overhead that will support a $1 million business. If you see yourself as an entrepreneur who is always failing, you will always fail. If you always see yourself as a little boy who can fit neatly into a little green trash can, you will never grow up.
Thank goodness I grew up.
From the mouth of Tony Scelzo, the founder of one of the fastest growing business networking associations in the nation, here is how to change your self-image and perspective for the better:
1. Read – Start reading books that challenge and inspire you to grow. Find material that shares the experiences of people who are where you want to be in life. As a start, check out Tony’s reading list here.
2. Visualize – After you hit the snooze bar at 6am, instead of letting your brain wander, focus and actively visualize the success that you would like your business to have.
3. Get a mentor – Talking regularly with someone who is ‘head and shoulders’ more successful than you, will cause your self-image to immediately expand. They also have the ability to give you wise advice from an outside perspective.
4. Change your environment –Hang out in the places that force you to grow. Join the best gym, dine in fancy restaurants, and network with the most powerful people in town at private business clubs.
If you follow the steps above, you can grow from a little boy grumbling about life in a trash can, to an inspiring leader who is taking their business to the next level!
Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice-President of Business Development for Reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business owners and executives. Email Jamar at jamar@goreachmore.com for the latest on Reachmore’s newest seminar, Launch.