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Real authenticity

Posted byIan Brodie on November 3rd, 2013.

I sent out an email last Sunday entitled “Doorbell embarrassment”.

It told the story of how I'd been interrupted by my visiting parents when doing a webinar (and my kids were so “busy” on the xbox they didn't answer the door).

The point of the email was about how we spend so much time worrying about maintaining a professional image – yet in truth our real supporters don't care. In fact they appreciate seeing the ‘real” you.

I got more replies to that email than any I've sent out for years. All supportive. All agreeing and expanding on the point.

A lot of people used the word authentic in their reply and I think there's absolutely a growing expectation for the people we follow, interact with or buy from to be authentic. To be open and “real”.

I started thinking about authenticity, and what we can all do to be more authentic with our clients.

It's not easy.

In my field I see a lot of what I would call “scripted authenticity”. People recording “candid” videos in their back gardens with their kids rather conveniently captured on HD video with perfect sound and lighting. Or getting all weepy about their wonderful clients in a rather too perfectly written and structured sales video.

All carefully planned to have an emotional impact on you.

That kind of stuff makes my skin creep a bit. It seems to work for some people, but it's not for me.

One of the things I'm trying instead is to be transparent. I show you what's working (and not working) for me so you can apply the same lessons to your business.

Are you doing something to be more authentic in your business?

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Playing the big game

Posted byIan Brodie on October 27th, 2013.

I caught a rerun of one of my favourite films this week: Rounders.

If you haven't seen it, the film charts the rise, fall and rise of law school dropout and poker natural, Mike McDermott (played by a young Matt Damon).

The main plot follows McDermott as he tries to win enough money to pay back the debts of childhood friend Worm.

But there's a really interesting subtext which always grips me.

As the film reaches its climax, McDermott reaches out to his mentor Joey Knish to borrow money to take another tilt at his nemesis, Teddy KGB.

Knish turns him down and berates him for taking too many risks, for going for the big score and risking losing it all.

Knish is a “grinder”. Day in, day out he grinds out a living playing 12 hours a day against weaker players, slowly taking their money with percentage plays. Never taking any risks.

As he says, “I'm not playing for the thrill of f-ing victory here. I owe rent, alimony, child support. I play for money. My kids eat.”

There's great nobility in being a grinder.

Both my grandfathers were miners. Breaking their bodies underground to feed their families and put a roof over their heads.

Both my parents were teachers. They didn't always love what they did, but my brother and I got a great education and opportunities they never had.

There's a wonderful, selfless nobility in being a grinder.

And yet…

And yet, Mike McDermott knew he had the chops to play a bigger game.

When he'd won enough to pay off the loan and avoid the beating that came with non-payment, Teddy KGB goads him to play for bigger stakes. McDermott knows that quitting while he's ahead is the safe play. The one Joey Knish would make.

“You can't lose what you don't put in the middle….but you can't win much either” he says.

He risks it all for a shot at the big time. To follow a dream.

Sometimes. Just sometimes, you know in your heart the big play is the right thing.

Sometimes you've got to get above the grind and play a bigger game.

See you in Vegas ;)

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My doorbell embarassment

Posted byIan Brodie on October 20th, 2013.

So, about 20 minutes or so into a webinar I was running for Momentum Club members a while back on “How To Win High-End Clients” and our doorbell rings…

It's my parents. They've been visiting and have just come back from a visit to the shops.

The doorbell rings again. The kids are supposed to answer the door but they don't. Probably up in the loft on the Xbox.

The doorbell rings again. I can't leave my parents out in the cold so I have to apologise to the webinar attendees and head off to let them in.

A rather quiet 20 seconds later and I'm back on the webinar feeling rather embarrassed.

After we finish I'm still embarrassed and I get an email from my friend Brendan Cullen who was on the webinar.

“Your break for your parents is great raw material for an email!” he says.

So here it is. But what lesson can we learn from it?

Well, originally I thought “I'll write an email about how I should have prepared better”.

But I quickly realised that nothing bad actually happened.

I'm pretty certain that no one on the webinar suddenly started thinking “well, Ian was talking sense about winning high-end clients. But now he's answered the door he doesn't seem quite so credible”.

Like most people, I worry rather too much about my “image”. About looking professional. Not having any hiccups.

And it's great to always put your best foot forward.

But sometimes caring about our image holds us back. We never finish that great article about a topic we think is important because we're worried what other people might think.

We hold back from doing a quick video to share our ideas because it might not look professional enough.

The truth is that if people like you, you have useful insights to share, and you do your very best to help them; then they won't really care if you have the odd hiccup.

In fact it kind of adds to your appeal. You're fallible like them.

Don't let wanting to “look professional” hold you back.

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Avoiding “The Chase”

Posted byIan Brodie on October 13th, 2013.

Does this sound familiar…

You have a meeting with a client. They seem very enthusiastic about working with you. You send them a proposal and…

…nothing. No feedback, no call, no email.

So you email them to chase up and ask about progress.

No response.

You email again. Again no response.

You call and get voicemail.

And so the chase has begun.

You can't win the chase. Even if you do get through eventually you now seem so desperate that you lose all that expert positioning you worked so hard to build.

There are some things you can do to avoid the chase.

Firstly, at that initial meeting, always agree a specific follow-up date and time when you'll discuss next steps with them. That way you have an agreed meeting or call. It's downright rude if they don't show up. So you're not chasing when you follow up.

Secondly, follow-up with a full stop. Don't call and leave a message to say you'll call back. Then call back to leave a message to say you'll email them. Then email to say if you don't hear from them you'll call.

You're conditioning them to expect you're going to keep calling. So they don't need to take any action themselves.

Instead, call once, and if you get their voicemail leave a polite message saying you haven't heard from them, but if they want to discuss they can call you on such and such a number. If you don't hear from them you'll assume priorities have changed and you'll close the file on this one.

Then the ball's in their court. They can't rely on you keeping calling back.

But the biggest, most important way of avoiding the chase is to have enough quality leads that you don't have to worry if this one drops through.

If you don't need this client to sign up, you won't be so worried and keen to chase them.

And rather amazingly, they often pick up on that subconsciously and become rather more keen to chase you.

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Get rich slowly

Posted byIan Brodie on October 6th, 2013.

Warren Buffet often says “the most powerful force in the universe is compound interest”. He makes his money from long-term investments, not short-term gambles.

Winning clients works the same way too.

Trying to win clients quickly with no previous relationship is really rather tricky. And if you do, they're rarely the best clients. Much more likely to be folks who shop around.

If you want to win the very best, most loyal clients, you have to invest regularly and repeatedly in building relationships with them over time. Use a little client-winning compound interest, as it were.

Of course, it's tough. I've been there myself.

When you've got other things on your plate, especially client work, then investing in keeping in touch with potential clients where you many not see the returns on that investment for many months or years takes discipline.

My advice to my clients is often to dedicate Monday mornings to marketing. That way you don't get dragged into all the other issues that emerge during the week. And you're not yet worn out by all the energy you put into doing a great job for your clients.

Establish a habit of working on nurturing new client relationships every Monday morning and bit by bit, your investment will grow like compound interest.

You'll get rich slowly.

But surely.

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The dreaded S word

Posted byIan Brodie on September 29th, 2013.

If there's one word guaranteed to send an uncomfortable shiver down the spine of even the toughest consultant or coach it's “selling”.

Something about the word brings up associations with Willy Loman, Ricky Roma (or over here in the UK even more unfortunately, Del Boy Trotter).

Despite the fact that before we get hired we almost always have to talk to potential clients face to face or on the phone, most of us hate the idea that we might possibly be be considered “salespeople”. Or that this 1-1 discussion about whether we should work together is “selling”.

If you find that process really uncomfortable yourself, here's a simple solution I use with many of my clients in similar situations.

Instead of thinking of the meeting as a sales meeting. Think of it like your very first coaching session together. Or your kick-off meeting to start a consulting or other project with them.

What would you do in those sorts of meetings?

Well, you'd ask them questions to try to figure out what their big challenges were that you'd then work with them on.

You'd probably ask about the impact of those issues to get a sense of which were the biggest priorities. And you'd discuss some of the barriers you might face when it came to working on the issues.

And in that initial meeting you'd probably lay out an initial plan of action for them. And no doubt you'd confirm with them that they thought it was a good way forward.

And that's exactly what you do in your “sales meeting”. The only difference is that at the end, you ask them if they'd like to work with you to help them implement the plan.

(Michael Port puts it rather well. He advises simply asking “would you like some help with that?”).

Now that process isn't the absolute ne plus ultra of selling. But it is one that works, and one that even the most sales-averse professional can use.

If you're struggling to get as many clients from your meetings as you'd like, and you don't feel fully comfortable selling, give it a go.