Networking: An Example
November 14, 2009
The other morning in my BNI meeting I had the following experience:
I saw a visitor signing in whom I recognised. “Allan, how are you?” I greeted him as I approached. He barely had put the pen down from signing in before I asked, “you are a business analyst… is that right?”
He affirmed my memory.
“There is some one you should meet,” I lead him to another group member and ask him a question on the way. “Do you ever work with business owners that are interested in buying other businesses?”
“Oh yeah,” he replied.
While walking him over to the business broker I saw the groups office furniture guy. That reminded me that my Squidoo page, http://www.squidoo.com/business-coach-chuck, had a link on it to a furniture store. “Brian,” I asked him, “do you have a way I can use affiliate marketing on my sight to sell your furniture?” He had this dear in the headlights look about him. So, I turned to Chris, the web guy. “Chris, do you know how to get some one set up for affiliate marketing??”
“Yes,” he assured me.
“Could you talk to Brian about getting his business set up to do aaffiliate.”
“Sure.”
I left Chris and Brian behind, and moved along to Charles, our Business Broker and introduced he and the Allan, the business analyst. Once they were fully engaged, I took off to meet some one new.
Coach Chuck
True Diversity is a Matter of Perspective:
November 12, 2009
And All Perspective is NOT Created Equal
The elements of diversity are, well, diverse. Diversity that is going to help your business has to do with perspective. Perspective has to do with the position from which one sees something. Perspectives are not opinions. Perspectives are not, in the most basic sense, cultural. Granted, a person from one culture may observe something that a person from another culture won’t or won’t see the importance of observing. However, once observed, the position from which the person sees it is the perspective. The value of diversity has to do with the accuracy in which a particular perspective is communicated and our ability to understand a relevant perspective and how that relevant perspective is weighed in proper proportion to other relevant perspectives. Irrelevant perspectives, and perspectives based upon political correctness and other forms of bigotry are very dangerous to business. If certain individuals feel compelled to alter the expression of their perspective because of social expectations then their contribution is going to be tainted.
If your team is in the business of portfolio management one person may see the world from the vantage point of technical stock action, while another is very much in touch with the fundamentals of the business and products themselves. Another person may be looking at investing from an overall economy, market and industry perspective. Each of these perspectives is valid.
And then there is the irrelevant perspective: Let’s say the team owns a stock that is trading at 72 and they paid 102 for it. Let’s further say they are considering whether or not to sell the stock and take their losses. One of the members says it is their opinion that they should not sell the stock because they do not want to take a 30% loss. This opinion is based upon fear, frustration, hurt pride or some other combination of negative emotions. None of this has anything to do with whether or not the stock is a good buy or sell right now.
Yes. Judgment. Assessing the value of a particular perspective, which is the heart and soul of meaningful diversity, still comes down to judgment. All perspectives are not created equal and not all perspectives are even, really, perspectives at all. Many are simply bias based upon cultural misperceptions or personal emotion.
Coach Chuck
www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/new_workshop/business-coach-chuck
Networking is Different than what You Do For a Living
April 26, 2009
At a networking event, a real estate lawyer and another person were talking.
“I was thinking about investing in homes in foreclosure or underwater with their mortgage … you know; try to figure out a way to make some money out of this tough economic environment.”
The attorney responded, “The problem is …” and proceeded to put the person to whom he was talking to asleep with an astute legal description of all the associated legal issues.
I inserted myself into the conversation and asked the real estate lawyer if he knew of a realtor who would know how to help a client navigate these difficult waters.
“Oh, sure,” he said.
“Who is it?”
He told me.
Being as that we were in a networking situation and they know me as a coach, I asked them if they minded if I rewound their conversation and demonstrated what a good networking conversation would look like. They agreed.
So, the first guy repeated what he was looking for.
I pretended to be the lawyer and said, “I know a great real estate agent that can help you with that, would you like to talk with him/her?”
That is a conversation that might actually result in business which is the business of networking. Networking and whatever you do for a living are two different skills. When entering a networking environment, remember, this is not the place to demonstrate everything you know, but rather, the place to connect and help other do the same.
Coach Chuck
Networking With a Passion
April 26, 2009
Networking, for the most part, needs to be fun. The stiff lipped amongst may ask, “Why does it need to be fun?”
Simply put, networking is about making personal connection and we are the most ready, willing and able to make that personal connection when we are having fun.
So, if there is something you love or enjoy very much (such as antiquing, motorcycling, quilting, private aviation, art, fine wines, religious and philanthropic activities) and if the demographics of the other people that enjoy those activities fit the profile of your prospective client, get more involved and have more fun. Obviously, this is a group where your networking will consist more of simply showing up, being an active high profile participant and finding some way of letting it be known what you do. This is not an area where others would appreciate being marketed to in a direct way, because, like you, this is where they come to relax. But, over the long term, being a valued member of this social group and letting them know what you do and that you are always open to referrals, is often a great way to build a high quality network.
When you meet others in your social groups that are interested in building their network, be helpful to them in their endeavors. This creates a networking friendly atmosphere with the primary focus on Fun. And when we are having fun, personal connections are easy to make.
Coach Chuck
Real Social Networking (You know, F to F)
April 26, 2009
Effective networking is a process that combines formal or structured networking with informal networking, along with your own commitment to be a part of other peoples’ sales team. Nothing illustrates this more than the following example.
I walk into my favorite coffee shop, Longfellow’s in Jefferson, New Jersey:
Bruce the Owner says, “hi Chuck,” as he goes to make my usual black decaf and says, “I’d like you to meet Jerry,” (An informal contact) who was standing with his fresh cup of coffee.
“Hi, Jerry,” I reach out to shake his hand, “and, what is it that you do?”
Jerry proceeds to tell me that he has a business where he will help negotiate municipal offences and the client doesn’t pay unless Jerry saves them money on the fines. (gerald.vadas@cjviolations.net).
I was very excited to meet him, because two days previous I’d had a formal networking meeting with Julie Ann Woods from my BNI group that meets at the Marriott on Route 10 in New Jersey each Wednesday morning at 7 AM. Julie Woods (Julie.woods@sprint.com) represents a product that lets fleet owners know where their vehicles are and everything about what they are doing.
Without skipping a beat, I said, “I’ve got some one you have got to meet,” and had my cell phone out and Julie’s number dialed before I introduced myself.
The connection between these two has great potential.
One of the really joyous things about networking is that I was just as excited about connecting the two of them as I would be about one of them referring to me. They know that. They will be on the look out for ways to refer me. I know that.
Coach Chuck
Networking and the Personal Connection
April 26, 2009
Networking is how we develop a sales team through the process of personal connections, by building purposeful relationships. To be an effective networker, we are just as committed to being on other peoples’ sales teams as we are in building our own. That means. That means we listen to, pay attention to and focus on what other people need. That is how the personal connection is made.
If we actually listen to some one, we may be the only person that day, or for some people, much longer, who have actually paid attention to what they are saying. Further, in this age of e-mail, junk mail, pay per click, twitter, digital billboard, we all have the experience of a never ending supply of people trying to extract something from us. What a breath of fresh air it is when some one actually wants to help. If they do the same for you, then there is a possibility that a real relationship can be formed.
Coach Chuck
Networking: Improving Your Results*
March 9, 2009
In networking, you goal is to:
- Meet prospective referral sources and develop a contact sphere
- To meet prospective clients.*
In a networking environment where people meet on a regular basis you might walk up to Mary and say, “Mary, when you were talking, you mentioned that you are a business attorney. As you know I am a business coach. When you said that you like to approach issues in (and then you paraphrase something she said) that resonated with me. I think you and I think about business in the same way. Maybe we could help each other get business, what do you think?” If the networking environment is one where you don’t know the people you are sharing the room with, it becomes very key to you develop questions that help you to quickly establish whether the person you are speaking with is a prospective client, referral source or neither.
If you get a positive response, set up a time to either meet or talk on the phone to follow-up further.
If you are a business attorney, for example, and you heard some one say something about their business partner, you might say: “I heard you mention something about your partner. I’ve worked extensively with partnerships … I’d like to meet with you to see if there are ways I could be helpful to you. Would you like that?”
If the response is positive, make arrangements and move on.
This type of approach works well because it sets the table for when you do meet, as to what the meeting is about.
Meet in a way that is comfortable, where both feel free to talk. This is information gathering. Whether this is a meeting with a prospective client or a referral source, this meeting is all about listening to their issues to see if you can help. While the meeting has a high level of comfort, there should also be a structure. After listening to their situation, this is when you have an opportunity to say something to the effect of, “this is how I see it….” and then let them know that you have heard, digested and interpreted what they had to say. And follow up with, “this is how I think I could be of help,” and then describe in broad strokes, without giving away the store, what you would do. If this is a prospective referral source, you might give an example of how you would refer them and then say, “Likewise, with me, you might say …” and then give an example of how you can be referred. If this is a prospective client, after you have said how you might be able to help them, you simply ask, “How does that sound to you?” This is one of many times when shutting your mouth and letting the other person speak first is key. If they say they like the idea, say something to close the deal, such as, “my retainer for this would be X and you would be billed at Y per hour. Are you ready to get started?” Another approach is to ask if they have questions about your services and how they work. This is where they will often ask about pricing. In either case, this is another moment when silence is important. Let them work it out for themselves. This is not a hard sell. This is one in which the prospective client has articulated their issue, you have offered a solution and it is up to the prospective client to think it through and say what they want
.
Whatever the outcome of this discussion, you will want to decide what kind of follow-up, if any, you want to have with this individual. If it is a referral source, my suggestion would be to suggest that two of you touch base in no more than two weeks. At that time, you will discuss any opportunities that have arisen to refer the other person, how it went and how it might be improved. Continue this process and a great power team will be created. If it is with the prospective client, the follow up will be about getting started working together or whatever your business proposition happens to be.
You should always know your conversion rates. How many prospective clients come out of how many hours of networking? This will help you evaluate the value of a given networking venue and/or the value of your networking abilities. What is your conversion rate of prospective clients into clients? This will help you understand your effectiveness when you meet prospective clients. Likewise with referral sources, it is very important to track where your clients come from to know which of your referral sources are the most valuable. Certainly it is important to cultivate new referral sources, but it is more important to maintain and improve current good ones. Just like it is much cheaper to keep a current client happy than it is to get a new client, the same thing applies to referral sources.
In summary, early in the networking process you quickly determine if there is a connection and what the nature of that connection is. If there is, you let the other person know what the possible connection is you see and that you’d like to meet them and explore it further. When you meet, you listen until the person has really had a chance to fully express themselves and then let them know that you were listening by saying back to them what you heard and what you think the most important issues are. You offer a solution and see if they want to continue. Decide if there is going to be a follow up. If so, schedule the follow up and describe what you hope to accomplish in that follow up meeting.
This is a manner of networking that has the potential of yielding great results.
*See previous blog, “What is the Purpose of Networking?”
Coach Chuck
What is the Purpose of Networking?
March 9, 2009
The purpose of networking can be broken down into two categories:
- Meet and arranging follow-up with prospective clients.
- Meet and arranging to follow-up with prospective referral sources.
A great referral relationship is created when people meet the same clients in a noncompetitive way and feel comfortable referring them to each other. Ex: A CPA meets with business owners on a regular basis. I am a business coach. I don’t do accounting work. The CPA doesn’t do Coaching. This has the potential of being a great referral relationship.
The success or lack thereof of each networking event is measured in the quality and quantity of prospective clients and prospective referral sources that are obtained in the event.
Coach Chuck
Should We Follow Our Gut
March 7, 2009
Business Coach Chuck @ 973-670-7215
Whether we follow our gut or a well structured plan actually depends upon how well we have practiced successfully what we have a hunch about. If we have successfully gotten the result we want in something we have a hunch to do, then there is a good chance that following our “gut” is a good idea. What we are actually following here, however, is muscle memory. We are following a well structured plan that we have practiced so much it has become a hunch.
Even in cases where we have had great success, however, the caveat to following our hunch is to be observant of reality. One guy had a great investment strategy that had worked well for him. Then, he bought six stocks in a row that went against him. He became stubborn because of his previous success and did not recognize that the experience he was having with the six bad trades, was a foreshadowing of a changed market. Consequently, he lost a lot of money. So, no matter how good we have been, be open to reevaluating the facts in light of new information.
In summary, if you are in the zone, stay in the zone, but when results begin to vary, adjust quickly, let go of the hunch to move on to something new or different.
When Business is All in the Family
March 4, 2009
The challenges of running a business are huge. They inspire us in ways that we didn’t know they could. Imagine, if you will, these challenges, and then add family to the stew!! Sometimes it is a wonderful stew and some times it is a witches brew.
When I asked a prospective client why she called me, she said, “It’s my employees” she said, “they act like children.”
Two of the employees, I discovered, were her chilvdren. They were key managers. They were acting like children because they were her children. The ones that weren’t her children were working for her children. They patterned themselves after their boss, her children. Later, I observed that not only did they act like her children in the workplace, but, indeed, she acted like their mother. Statements among the three of them were like, “I feel betrayed.” “That is just childish.” This is not exactly the kind of language you’d expect to hear between a boss and an employee. Boss employee language might be something like, “you did not give the support in this situation we had agreed upon,” or, “you did not perform this task correctly.” The language was personal rather than professional.
The approach that has the potential of solving the business problem while supporting the family involves attention to both the business and personal. It involves recognizing that while business and personal in the family should be different, that is not always the case.
Acknowledging this reality results in the potential for a more profitable business and a happier Family.
How this is done is as different as families and businesses are different, but it is what Business Coach Chuck does.
Family and Small Business: Effective Relationships
December 19, 2008
A happy family is 80% support and 20% accountability.
A successful business is 80% accountability and 20% support.
In other words, in a happy family, if a family member has a bad day, home is a place to retreat, renew, refresh and be loved regardless. In a successful business, if a member has a bad day, week, quarter or year – we want to know why and how is that going to be different next time. In a healthy family, a reasonable dose of accountability keeps us from enabling self-defeating behavior. In a successful business – there is enough support to let the individual know that they have a team behind them. It’s the proportion of one to the other that distinguishes the personal from the professional.
When these proportions get altered significantly, dysfunction erupts. If one feels like home is too demanding, then joy leaves one’s life while if the work place gets “too understanding” of failure then, well, failure results.
No wonder then that family businesses are often such treacherous places. Without clear distinctions between work and home, families and or their business can fall into disarray.
The same thing is often true of small businesses, where relationships within the business may begin more personal than business.
Working with families and small businesses to create healthier relationships for happier personal lives and more successful businesses is a very high priority with Coach Chuck.
Business Coach Chuck @ 973-670-7215
What Obama Did Right: Apply that to Your Business
November 5, 2008
Forget for a moment, your political POV, let’s look at Obama’s success and learn from it.
The questions I’d like to explore are:
- What did Obama do right?
- How does that contrast with what the Republicans did?
- Are there lessons to learn for growing a successful business?
Obama reached out to new voters.
McCain did not.
In your business, are you constantly expanding the reach, getting out of your comfort zone to meet and attract new people or are you trying to build your business with the same group of clients?
When Obama reached out to the new voters, he actually spoke directly to the new people and talked to them about how his policies could impact them. He talked about how taxing high income earners would help the middle class by “spreading the wealth” around and he gave specific examples of this by letting people calculate their tax bill on his web site.
Obama Made Benefits Tangible
McCain Made Benefits Abstract
McCain did a lousy of explaining that while an individual’s tax rate may be less under Obama one reason that your tax rates may be lower is that you will have a much higher chance of being unemployed. Examples of this abound under both democrat and republican presidents. Then put a face on it. Explain that a government job is an expense that does not create wealth, but expends it. Put a face on it. Show what welfare did to people under Johnson and his “Great Society.” Put a face on it. They could have gone to the coal mines and asked people how they felt about Obama wanting to bankrupt the companies they work for. They could have gone to PA and asked they felt about their Democratic Congressman Murtha call them racist rednecks. When we talk about offshore drilling, interview employment specialist to talk about how many those workers would make and how many new jobs there would be and what that would do in the specific states for their economy. Interview people that would apply for those jobs.
So, when you have a competitor in your business who does things differently and in a way, that on the surface looks better, but creates long term harm, are you assertive in getting your message across?
When it comes to reaching out for new supporters, Republicans have a ready made base of parents of children in the inner city schools. The schools are horrible in many of these districts and the Democrats consistently stand in the way of Vouchers that would allow any kid to go to any school. But, republicans have not gone into the neighborhoods where the issues are there and speak out.
In your business, are there people that really need your services but to whom you have not taken the time to meet them on their terms?
Obama Saw Himself as a Winner
McCain Saw Himself as an Underdog
The next thing that Obama did really well is that he visualized success. Sometimes his vision bordered on arrogance, but the foundation that visualization (such as the presidential seal on his plane) gave him, far outweighed the perception of arrogance. This centeredness gave him the courage to say, “Yes, I want to spread the wealth!” And that confidence gave his supporters confidence. If McCain had half the confidence that Joe the Plumber had in the American Dream and capitalism, then his message of freedom would have resonated more. However, when he kept pounding away at the “greed on Wall Street,” instead of focusing on the Government regulation that created the problems generated by FNMA and Freddie Mac, that were completely Democrat creations, then by default, he gave away his power to Obama. McCain did not LIVE confidence in his own message.
As a business owner, do you have a product that you believe in? If you do, then visualize success with it – the success of your clients as well as your own success for making it available to them. If you don’t believe in it, then get the hell out of the way.
In summary, reach out to new clients, be specific about how you can benefit them and offer a product or service that you believe in to the core of your being. When you reach out to them, reach out to them on their terms. Reach out to them with something that they want. And finally, reach out to them in confidence.
Coach Chuck
A P.S. to this is in the following link: http://biznik.com/articles/how-email-marketing-just-changed-the-world?utm_source=article_reviews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_review_49
about his internet marketing campaign.
Business Coach Chuck @ 973-670-7215
Attention Deficit Disorder Re-defined for the Business Owner
December 18, 2007
(Don’t worry this is a short article)
Move Over Attention Deficit Disorder -
Here comes the The Multi-stimuli Reactor/processor Business Owner!
(Okay, so sometimes it does get disordered, but we can deal with that – That’s why we have employees!)
As a Business Coach of Small and family businesses I’ve found a disproportionate percentage of clients that, were they in school today, would be labeled ADD. Maybe they were labeled that in school. Maybe you were too. If so, doesn’t it just piss you off that other people don’t think as fast as you do, and then they can’t keep up with you and then they come up with labels to call you because you don’t do things like them.
On the other side, it is also true that this kind of thinking often leaves many things undone, plans with loose ends and a frustration of incompleteness. As with most things, there is a multitude of ways to deal with this. Seldom, however, is the best way to try to stuff yourself into everybody else’s box. Let’s be real. That’s why you are in business for yourself in the first place … there is not a box big enough for you. When some one suggests thinking out of the box, you may very well reply, “What box?”
If this is the case, then building on your strength of being a (let’s ditch the A.D.D. label shall we?) Multi-stimuli Reactor/processor Business Owner, usually requires:
- an acceptance of one’s self, and
- a recognition that we need to hire someone who tilts toward the organizational end,
- but that person also needs the people skills to interpret your vision, and delegate while you are off making tracks in still new directions. [This obviously requires tremendously careful selection in hiring for that particular position as well as absolute mutual respect for differences. This person may have a label or two of his/her own!]
Ok. That’s it. I’m done. Bye … I see you’re off already. Gimme me a call, I can help.
Coach Chuck
Business Coach Chuck @ 973-670-7215
Business, Golf and Bagger Vance
December 5, 2007
What do God, Golf and Bagger Vance have in common. First of all, Everything. But now, let me break it down a little bit. In Both Golf and Business, people on the outside don’t get it. They don’t get that in each of these endeavors we are constantly called upon to reach deep inside ourselves - usually when no body is looking, like when the ball is in the rough or the woods or on the other side of the fairway – and asks, “whach-ya-gonna-do-now, huh?” and then we can do the right thing or the wrong thing. The thing about golf, and the thing about business, is that when we do the right thing – regardless of outcome – the result is joy. It just feels so good to do it Right – oh yeah!! Joy, joy, joy is the spirit of God. God could give a rat’s a…, err uh, God could care less about Business or Golf. But God – and just for the record, I don’t care who or what your God is – God cares ALOT about reaching deep, doing the right thing and feeling it, feeling that joy. Am I ready for Sunday morning TV or what! at Coach Chuck’s Church of the 1st Tee … I’ll see you at the clubhouse.
There is no book that captures the spirit of golf like The Legend of Bagger Vance. Golf is a game of mind, it is a game of our integrity, of our past, of what everyone thinks of us. And ultimately, is a game that asks, “can we just let go of everything, everything that is, or ever was, and hit the damn ball the way it needs to be hit?” And its not about thinking it. Its just about doing it. The caveat is you go through all the other stuff first, until you find yourself alone with the ball. Its you, yourself and doing the right thing – with nobody looking. What are you going to do? Bagger Vance: the book, the real deal, about the game of golf.
Coach Chuck973-670-7215
Getting Hardnosed about the Soft Side of Business
November 27, 2007
When involved in a business transition, the business owner typically focuses on:
· What’s the bottom line?
· Cut to the chase – what are the numbers?
Unless the transition that we are talking about is the sale of the business, for which the owner is going to get cash, the bottom line is only one snapshot in a dynamic moment in time. “The Bottom Line,” that which we tend to be hardnosed about, is the result of everything that is done and market conditions and all kinds of “The Soft Side” of business.
Business transitions are as simple as moving from one business season to the next and as complex as purchasing a business to merge with an ongoing business. A Business transition may be creating sales oriented staff from a group that is currently task oriented. A transition may be selling the business wherein the owner is going to get paid over time or buying a business where you are going to pay over time. A transition is any change in business. When there is a change there is a transition. The one thing we can rely upon is change. Therefore, transition is part of business. The more that transition is built into the business, the faster reaction time the business can have.
So, what does a transition business coach do? We get very clear about what the business owner wants to transition into. We get very clear about what the reality of the situation is presently. We get a handle on what is going to be required to make that transition. What is going to need to be different? Then we coach toward an assessment of the current staff, clients, market, vendors or who or whatever is relevant to that change. Included in this coaching process are the vision, mission and intention of the owner and key players.
The result will be a strengths and needs assessment along with a strategy and coaching toward implementation for the soft side of business transition. Additionally, the foundation will be in place for the recognition of ongoing transition so that change, in the future will be an ongoing intentional part of business rather than being treated as a problem.
Cutting to the chase, the point of all of this is, of course, a better bottom line!!
Coach Chuck973-670-7215
What is a Business Coach: and What do they do?
November 17, 2007
What is a business coach? What is the process and what could you expect were you to hire a business coach? Frankly, that is a question that you are going to need to ask the individual coach. There are many different backgrounds and educations for coaches. Some have coaching accreditation. As for myself, my educational background is in psychology and counseling. This combined with my extensive business experience informs and has helped me to create an effective and individualized coaching strategy.
I have a masters in clinical psychology/counseling where I was educated in both the theory and the practice of assessing human behavior as well as how to aide people to achieve desired results. My experience in mental health is very broad and is combined with 19 years business experience in the financial markets. The specific experience in mental health that informs my methods more than any others is experience is working with families. The family is the basic social unit. The dynamics that occur in families form the basic components of in the rest of our social life, especially in our work life. Additionally, small businesses are often family owned. Even if they are not family owned, the personal lives of the owners and the work life of these owners are inescapably entwined.
My coaching method would begin with an understanding of where you see yourself right now. This sounds simple enough and sometimes it is. Most of the time, however, it is not. Were it simple you would not be seeking a business coach. Your business life does not stand in isolation from the rest of your life, so when we are assessing the starting point, we get a thorough understanding of the rich context of your current situation.
Next, we’d like to look at where you would like to end up. This is broken down into a few areas. First of all, we look at how you think things should be right now, but aren’t. This is not long term at all. In fact, you might be gasping for air right now and before any planning can be done, we need to address the current situation. Dealing with current situation may or may not be a significant issue. It almost always takes longer than the business owner originally anticipates. But, laying the foundation is key to moving forward.
From this foundation, a vision for the business has the where-with-all to emerge. And, emerge it must. A vision is more than just figuring out what the business should do. We dig deep. Business is hard. Things happen. Economy happens. Employees happen. All kinds of things happen. Imagine coming home from the beach on a summer Sunday evening. The traffic is insane. Imagine it comes to a stop. There has been a disaster. No one is going anywhere. What do you want to do then? Most people at that point just want to get home. I’ve never heard of any one in a situation like this simply saying, “Ah screw it! Traffic is really bad. I’m not going home. That would be too hard?” Can you imagine?
We attempt to tap into and encourage your organic and natural vision. In order to get through the traffic jams of business life, your vision must be as certain to you as your home is.
And then, we look at the obstacles between now and your vision. And then we devise strategies to succeed.
In actual practice, this is certainly not a straight line. Each of the areas described above influences each of the other areas. You are never completely in one stage or the other.
Something we are doing concurrently to the above process is graphically depicting your business pipeline. How do customers find out about you? How do you (Your business) and your client connect? How is the client treated? What services or products do you provide the client? How, exactly, is that done? How do you get paid? What happens to the money?
If you are providing a product, the same process is done with the product.
We come to understand the ratio requirements of each part of the pipeline to the other parts of the pipeline. How do you generate revenues while at the same time meet new prospective clients? This pipeline is a living, dynamic organism. If you get twice the number of clients, it is not jus a matter of multiplying the rest of the pipeline by two. Different methods of providing service need to be developed for differing volume numbers. We don’t just manage the pipeline. We inspire the pipeline. That is a matter of assessment and transformation all the time.
So, if you were to ask this coach, Coach Chuck, “what is a business coach and what might I expect form the business coaching process?” You would get an answer similar to what I outlined above.
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
Partnerships and Strategic Partnerships
November 1, 2007
What are the things that you consider when deciding whether or not to go into a partnership? A partnership should be among people that bring complementary strengths together that when combined are greater than the sum of the parts. In other words, the two people, if working together with common goals, will achieve more than they could alone.
The key here is complementary strengths. Take two attorneys that practice different kinds of law who are always finding that they often refer the other attorney’s kind of law out to some one else. This might be the basis of the two attorneys getting together to discuss a partnership. Could the two together gather resources that would allow each more success in their chosen fields? If yes, then the process then is to discover whether or not the partnership is a good fit.
A partnership, like a marriage, is a very comprehensive relationship. Issues of trust, compatibility, shared vision, compatible work ethic and working styles are just as important as whether or not business complement exists.
Very often people will form a partnership based upon the personal issues of trust, compatibility, shared vision, work ethic and style without examining the actual business compliment elements. Other times, people will form a partnership based upon business partnership without examining the more personal issues. Either of these methods have a poor prognosis of success.
Strategic Partnerships however can be entered on a very limited basis. For instance, the two attorneys above may decide that if they share office space and staff and agree to refer each other, without partnerships beyond that, may, in some circumstances, find greater success than trying to bring together a shared vision and so forth. A Financial Planner and Personal fitness trainer may decide to run a workshop together addressing the needs of retirees, without any obligation to each other beyond the workshop.
When contemplating a partnership, consider the question: what makes us a partnership that is greater than what we would be on our own? Further, ask if these accomplishments are greater than what could be accomplished through strategic agreements or partnerships, rather than a full-blown partnership. If the answer to these point to partnership, then carefully consider your commitment of each partner to each of the other partners success and how that would change in good times and bad – to put another way, through sickness and health.
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
As a summary, partnerships are for those joining complementary strengths between compatible people with a shared vision. This is truly a rare relationship. Strategic partnerships are like dates. One can engage in strategic partnerships with a greater attitude of experimentations.
Networking: After the Intro
August 6, 2007
This article is about the first meeting after the networking event. In other words, you were at a convention, BNI meeting or whatever, met some one with whom you thought there could be mutual benefit. In order to learn how to get up this part you might want to read my article about how to meet people. For now, however, we assume you have met some one and are now meeting with them for the first time.
For the most part, I would suggest something very casual – such as breakfast or coffee in a premium coffee shop. The idea here is to be at ease. That is not a cash register in front of you: don’t make them feel like one. Remember, they were at the same networking event that you were. They were looking for something. Make this about them.
- “Why were you at ________?” Or “What are you looking for?”
Be completely transparent. There is nothing to hide here. You are both business people in search of something.
Now, this is a tough one:
- Listen.
Listen completely.
Be completely okay with not understanding what, exactly they are talking about.
- “When you say ________, what, exactly does that mean?”
No one likes a know it all and most people like to talk about what they do know. When you have really understood them and what they are looking for, stop and reflect. Is there any way you can be helpful? Perhaps there is another networking source you have met to whom you may refer them. If there is, make the referral or suggestion. If this seems to connect with the person, spend just a few minutes on how to make the connection.
Once the other person feels totally listened to and helped or at least been the recipient of your authentic concern, connect something they have talked about, in some way with what you do. Remember, most people completely lose interest when it is not about them. Let’s say the person is an interior designer and you are a financial planner. They say mentioned having spent summers as a youth with an aunt who owned an antique store. You might say something like, “I was impressed by how you were so influenced by your aunt. I was influenced with how poorly my parents planned their future! I think that’s how I got into this field.”
- Then give a very short version of your background as it pertains to what you do.
- An even shorter version of what you do.
If they express curiosity or ask questions, answer with examples that are relevant to them. For instance, with the interior designer, talking to them about what some VP of ABC corporation did is irrelevant, but if you can tell them a success story about a shop owner or some other independent businessperson with whom they can identify, then that will be helpful to them.
At this point, you have some choices – what you want is to either qualify them as potential clients or get a referral. What I do is combine those two into one and ask:
- “Do you know anyone that might benefit from that?”
Maybe it is because I’m generally diligent up to this point, but for me, about 1/3 of those people say something like, “I might want to use your services.” They become prospective clients.
What to do from here is subject for another article, but for me, about ½ of those people actually become clients.
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
Take the Next Step to Your Picture of Success
Go To – www.businesscoachchuck.com. – for details of Coach Chuck’s business coaching services.
Networking – Meeting People With a Purpose
August 5, 2007
How do you meet people and what do you do at an event where business people are gathered? The following is something that is very natural and works for me. It might work for you too.
- Walk up, confidently, but in an unthreatening manner and say, “Hi, I’m _____,” and then be quiet.
- They will almost always say their name; sometimes they will say their name and whom they are with. Let them say as much as they want to say.
- Make an authentic, positive comment about the event. If the speaker was terrible say – “it feels great to get up and walk around.” If the speaker was great say, “That speaker really made a good point about such and such.” Whatever: make it positive. Life is good in your world. That’s why other people are going to want to be in your world!
- Pretty early on, ask, “So what do you do?” Again, let them tell you as much as they want to tell you. Spend your time listening.
- Decide if you think the relationship might be one that you might want to develop. If not, say, “great to meet you, “ and move on. If yes: ask one or two questions that invite brief clarity on the issue that you think might be of mutual benefit. If, upon asking those one or two brief questions you still think that there might be a mutual benefit follow that up with something like
- “That’s interesting, my focus is _________ and it seems like you and I might have something worth following up on in more detail, what do you think?
- If they say yes, ask for their card, and ask if you could give them a call this ____ or ____.
- Regardless of the answer, thank them and move on.
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
Learn more from the coach that defines business success by the happiness of the owner!
Take the Next Step to Your Picture of Success
Go To – www.businesscoachchuck.com. – for details of Coach Chuck’s business coaching services.
You and Your Business
April 27, 2007
Maybe you already know: being good at what you
do and running a business are two different things.
If you don’t already know that, I’ll tell you:
being good at what you do and running a business are two different things.
If you already knew that, great. If you didn’t, now you do.
What do you do with that information?
There are many great systems on how to build a business.
Google “how to Run a business” and there are 323,000,000 listings. Many are very
good. Some are great. Intuit has great resources, the book E-myth is great.
But, how are YOU going to run a
business? In other words, let us assume that you find a good book
or program that teaches you how to create
a business,
How is the unique YOU, not some generic you,
but YOU, going to work this great plan? Most people in small
business that get to a suitable answer to this question, get there having been
beaten into submission by the grim facts of life that confront the business
owner that doesn’t build plan and do the plan.
Would you like to get there before the business beats
you into submission.
OR
Maybe you already have been beaten into
submission and that is why you are reading this now.
This is what coaching is about. It is about you. It is about business
and getting you, the unique you, to build your business.
My coaching service is geared for you:
- Results oriented
- fairly priced
- highly personalized
Whether you are ready to get off to a great start or ready to stop the pain
and really do it different this time, Coach chuck will coach you toward your
vision.
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
Take the Next Step to Your Picture of Success
Go To – www.businesscoachchuck.com.
- for details of Coach Chuck’s business coaching services and fees.
Take a Test Drive – Call now for your FREE 30-minute exploratory consultation -
Call 973-670-7215 and set up an appointment. There is never any pressure.
Or e-mail me –
chuck@businesscoachchuck.com. Please provide three dates and times
that would be a good time to call you. I will return the e-mail with a confirmed
appointment time.
Is Small Business Success Possible?
April 17, 2007
The definition of a successful business is a business that contributes significantly to the owner(s) happiness.
The reality:
- Most business fail.
- Most businesses that don’t fail create become weight on the back of the owner.
Owners often grow to hate the grueling treadmill their dream has become.
How does the business owner sidestep the grim reality that is the inside view of most small businesses? In the early stages and the middle stages of those who make it to the middle, the answer is, “when we get to (some pot of gold at the end of the rainbow) we are doing to do it right.” In the meantime, the attrition of hope and enthusiasm continues. It continues until the grim reality strikes that this monotonous grind is just going to continue and there is no pot at the end of the rainbow that is going to come along to allow them to “do it right.”
What is doing it right?
Doing it right is Visualizing your business as a Pipeline.
- Reaching prospective customers/clients and then them becoming clients.
- It involves the process of doing the business that you are in – be that providing product or service and all that entails.
- It involves the profit, which is the back of the pipeline.
Define your pipeline precisely.
- Define all of the tasks required in the pipeline, from start to finish.
- Define exactly how you want each of those tasks performed.
- Define exactly how the process of quality control.
- Build rewards and consequences as part of the process.
- Define how flexibility will be build into the process that is responsive to the market and to your vision.
When is a good time to do this?
- Preferably before your doors every open.
- But, if it is too late for that, then the best time is now.
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
Take the Next Step to Your Picture of SuccessGo To – http://www.businesscoachchuck.com/. – for details of Coach Chuck’s business coaching services and fees.Take a Test Drive – Call now for your FREE 30-minute exploratory consultation – Call 973-670-7215 and set up an appointment. There is never any pressure.Or e-mail me – chuck@businesscoachchuck.com. Please provide three dates and times that would be a good time to call you. I will return the e-mail with a confirmed appointment time.
©2007 Charles W. Markham MA. You may not copy, reproduce, post or forward this document in any format. For permission or joint venture opportunities contact Chuck Markham at chuck@businesscoachchuck.com.
Vision
April 17, 2007
“We are always successful.” – Maxwell Maltz
This means
-
we are successful at what we really see happening.
This means:
-
It is important to develop a vision rather than letting it happen.
-
Fear is our first reaction to change. The second reaction is our choice. Without activation of choice, fear, de facto, becomes vision.
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We, with our powerful brain of our always have a vision.
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Our brain knows where it is going.
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The goal is to bring our whole self, including our brain, into alignment.
-
Bring your goals and your vision together.
If you want to make more money and to have a better relationship with your spouse and start the day knowing that things at work are a mess and old issues are suffocating your love life: it is going to be ugly.
On the other hand if you wake up knowing that today is going to be successful and that you have a loving relationship with another caring person, all kinds of doors will open. They may not be the ones you expect. Without the expectation of positive outcome the likelihood of seeing the open doors are remote and the likelihood of walking through them is remoter still.
Vision is the GPS (global positioning system) of your brain. Vision is how you know where to go. So, if you envision failure, your brain will, with all due obedience, open the door to all the opportunities that you need in order to fail. It is trained on that spot.
Vision is what you actually know is going to happen.
So, right now, you may know that if you don’t do x, y and z this terrible thing is going to happen. It is time to develop a new vision. Write it down. Shape it. As the song says, “Make it real or forget about it.”
One of the things that I do with clients is help them to get very clear about what they believe to be true and what they want.
Getting our beliefs and our wants together as one is how we set our own GPS.
Develop effective goals.
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
To learn more go to www.businesscoachchuck.com.
Take a Test Drive – Call now for your FREE 30-minute exploratory consultation – Call 973-670-7215 and set up an appointment. There is never any pressure.
Or e-mail me – chuck@businesscoachchuck.com. Please provide three dates and times that would be a good time to call you. I will return the e-mail with a confirmed appointment time.
Do the Employees Appreciate Me?
April 17, 2007
If you have a family or small business and you find yourself asking this question to yourself of employees and partners then you are getting business and personal relations confused.
Example:
A business owner (whom we will call Mary) realized her manager (whom we will call John) really did not like to work Saturdays. Recently Mary hired a person to come in every other Saturday, thereby giving John the day off. Something came up in Mary’s personal life and she had to call John and ask him to work a double shift. John agreed to. Mary Further offered to work for him on the following Saturday (a day he would normally have had to work). He agreed to that too.
It came to Mary’s attention that John had a really lousy attitude that day and even told a customer that he didn’t feel like doing something because – “I’ve been here since seven this morning and I will be here till nine tonight.” Additionally, John was beginning to act like the owner. Mary had come to rely on John but she was getting very uncomfortable.
This is a situation doomed to blow up. It happens all the time. If the people involved are family members, it is even more explosive.
As for as John is concerned, he still has to work every other Saturday and he is annoyed about that. As for her working for him on Saturday in exchange for working for him … he feels that she is putting personal matters ahead of the business which he would not be allowed to do. In his mind, his power is growing. Perhaps he has even made people think he is the owner. The fact that Mary can call in and just say she’s not coming in (which is how he interprets what she did) and he can’t creates a resentment.
The underlying problem here is that John is not clear as to what his position is. Why? Probably because Mary was so overworked that when he began taking more and more over, she was happy to let him. Michael Gerber, of Emyth, describes this as abdicating responsibility as opposed to delegating responsibility.
Defining position expectations is key.
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
Take the Next Step to Your Picture of SuccessGo To -
www.businesscoachchuck.com. – for details of Coach Chuck’s business coaching services and fees.
Take a Test Drive – Call now for your FREE 30-minute exploratory consultation -
Call 973-670-7215 and set up an appointment. There is never any pressure.
Or
e-mail me – chuck@businesscoachchuck.com. Please provide three dates and times that would be a good time to call you. I will return the e-mail with a confirmed appointment time.
Not This Again
May 8, 2006
Yes, that is where we often find ourselves – back in the same place again after having said again and again, “never again!”
And then the committees form in the head:
“We told you so.”
“Back again, huh.”
“Loser.”
And then there is the thought that if people really knew the real you they wouldn’t like, do business with, hire, love or whatever it is you’d like them to do with and for you.
How do we get in these positions? Sometimes that is an important question and sometimes it is not. Sometimes trying to figure it all out is just our ego trying to rationalize something that we know is wrong. One day in New York, I got out of the Subway on 57TH Street. I needed to go to some street in the Mid-sixties. It was a stop I’d been in before so I really wasn’t paying attention, with my mind more on some project. So as I’m walking along in my own world, at some point I looked up to see what street I was on and I was on 49TH. Obviously, you say, I’d gone the wrong way. I found myself standing, looking at that sign, mentally telling myself I knew I’d gone the right way and giving myself reasons for why I came out of the subway the way that I did. Then I Just cracked up laughing at myself. “Hey brainiac – the sign says 49. You are going the wrong way. Turn around.” I became very amused at myself for the way that I tried to rationalize something that was so obviously wrong. Why I went the wrong way is not important.
On the other hand, if I find myself, for instance, always scrambling to get my bills paid regardless of whether I make a lot of money or a little – that is something that is a bigger problem, over and above simply not having enough money. Were it a simple problem, more money would solve the problem. In order to have a better life with more money requires a change in life-long ways of doing things.
How great would it be to say – “never again!” And be confident that that were true.
Cw Markham
4/28/06
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
Take the Next Step to Your Picture of Success
Go To – www.businesscoachchuck.com. – for details of Coach Chuck’s business coaching services and fees.
Take a Test Drive – Call now for your FREE 30-minute exploratory consultation – Call 973-670-7215 and set up an appointment. There is never any pressure.
Or e-mail me – chuck@businesscoachchuck.com. Please provide three dates and times that would be a good time to call you. I will return the e-mail with a confirmed appointment time.
©2007 Charles W. Markham MA. You may not copy, reproduce, post or forward this document in any format. For permission or joint venture opportunities contact Chuck Markham at chuck@businesscoachchuck.com.
What is the GPS and Why is it Important
May 8, 2006
The GPS goes to the very heart of the coaching experience. Like the any Global Positioning System, it establishes where we are. Like the GPS in your car, it is also where we set our destination. Where do we want to go? Like the GPS, when we set it, it is set without judgment. We don’t care. As an Author of the Law of Attraction says, the GPS does not make fun of you for having tried to get there before, or remind you what you mother thinks of you wanting to go there or that your neighbors would or would not approve. We are simply setting the GPS for a particular destination.
When we know where we want to go, most of us know generally what we need to do to get there. By the time we’ve sought help, we’ve tried to get there already and for one reason or another have not been successful. As a coach our goal is to help you to stay the course, make adjustments to the planned route where needed and to keep moving. Along the way, we may run into obstacles that are very old which may require counseling. That is a great opportunity. Our Challenges are our greatest opportunity. If counseling is needed we will recommend that it happen parallel, but different than coaching. When all of this works together, we learn that our challenges, our difficulties are, in fact, our greatest assets, because once they are overcome, the experience of that success can be leveraged in ways that are incalculable from the position before the experience. RD Lang referred to experience as something that changes us. Coaching is an experience. Coaching attempts to move us to places we have sensed but been unable to reach. The GPS is set, regardless of obstacles, we keep moving in that direction
Coach Chuck
Coach Chuck
973-670-7215
Take the Next Step to Your Picture of Success
Go To – www.businesscoachchuck.com. – for details of Coach Chuck’s business coaching services and fees.
Take a Test Drive – Call now for your FREE 30-minute exploratory consultation – Call 973-670-7215 and set up an appointment. There is never any pressure.
Or e-mail me – chuck@businesscoachchuck.com. Please provide three dates and times that would be a good time to call you. I will return the e-mail with a confirmed appointment time.
©2007 Charles W. Markham MA. You may not copy, reproduce, post or forward this document in any format. For permission or joint venture opportunities contact Chuck Markham at chuck@businesscoachchuck.com.
Coaching is about keeping your eye on the prize. Counseling and Therapy is about untangling the mess. They are very important. Each are has inherent strength and inherent weakness. If you tell a coach that you just found out you have to go in for heart surgery they are likely to begin developing a plan to keep progress toward the goal in motion, or at least on the tracks while this procedure and the ensuing recovery takes place. A therapist may explore the feelings that arise because you are going in for heart surgery at the same age that your father died from a heart attack.
The strength in the coaching approach is that regardless of your heart condition, assuming the experience does not change your goals, you are going to want that process to be as far along as possible so that you can just get back on for the ride when you recover. The strength of the counseling approach is that our feelings produce results in the real world. The power of our belief is probably one of the most important distinguishing characteristics that separate us from other life forms. We are able to believe that which is not in our present experience and act on it. By acting on that believed reality we make it true. So, it is very important sometimes to come to terms with what it is we believe and why we believe it and decide if that is something we want to believe. As with anything else, the line between coaching and counseling is not set in stone. But, in general terms, what was just described falls into the area of counseling.
The weakness of the coaching model is that one can be so focused on a future goal that one neglects health, relationships and other aspects of the moment. When we achieve our dreams and ambitions, they are empty without those with whom we love. Counseling and Therapy, on the other hand can get so enmeshed in the past and with feelings that it becomes a tangle with no outcome. We can get lost in there.
It’s easy to see how these two areas can work together. While most excellent counselors and therapists have a little bit of the coach in them it is not their primary job. Coaching is not therapy. When coaches and counselors can work together, the therapist can help untangle the obstacles that prevent us from being the best we can be while the coach helps you devise a road map, vision a goal and achieve it.
From a practical application, this approach can end up being very economical. This is because issues that come out in counseling are often worked through quicker. Coaching is often done over the phone. The phone call might be a fifteen-minute call. When its all working together, it can be faster, better and more effective. That is the goal. And achieving that goal makes us feel good!
Cw Markham
Coach Chuck: chuck@businesscoachchuck.com
973-670-7215
Take the Next Step to Your Picture of Success
Go To – www.businesscoachchuck.com. – for details of Coach Chuck’s business coaching services and fees.
Take a Test Drive – Call now for your FREE 30-minute exploratory consultation – Call 973-670-7215 and set up an appointment. There is never any pressure.
Or e-mail me – chuck@businesscoachchuck.com. Please provide three dates and times that would be a good time to call you. I will return the e-mail with a confirmed appointment time.
©2007 Charles W. Markham MA. You may not copy, reproduce, post or forward this document in any format. For permission or joint venture opportunities contact Chuck Markham at chuck@businesscoachchuck.com.
