The Wilder Zone

Must-Read Blog: Sproutwire

You know those moments where you thunk yourself upside the head and wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?!" Well, I had one of those moments when I first saw Sproutwire. Sproutwire is the brilliant brain child of Shane Pearlman & Peter Chester. It's a blog that offers, as they put it, "a daily dose of the best small business articles that the internet has to offer." 

Oh, if only I'd thought of that myself. <g> It's currently in beta but I expect it's going to be very popular and successful. Take a few moments to check it out for yourself, and if you come across, or have written, a great post let Sproutwire know by sending them an email. If they use the article they'll give you a mention and link to your site or blog.

Say What?! An Example of Good Customer Service Gone Bad

Last night my sweetheart Glenn and I went grocery shopping for the week at a major chain grocery store. By the time we were done it was about 8:30pm and the idea of cooking once we got back to the house didn't appeal to either of us.

We decided to pick up a rotisserie chicken from the store's deli. They were running a special that included a side dish and rolls. As we were standing there a store employee walked up to ask if we were finding everything we needed.

Not an unusual occurrence in this particular chain grocery store. Every time I visit one of these grocery stores I have anywhere from 1-3 employees ask me that very question. The store training manual obviously spells out that employees are to ask this question of their customers, and I'm betting it's because the store expects that having its employees do so will provide a higher level of customer service. Which made what happened next all the more surprising:

Glenn (in response to the store employee's question): Do you have mashed potatoes?

Store employee #1 (shouting to store employee #2 behind the deli counter): Did we throw the mashed potatoes in the garbage yet?

Store employee #2 (shouting back to store employee #1): I don't know. Let me check.

Meanwhile...Glenn and I are looking at one another with stunned expressions on our faces and I'm thinking, "Say WHAT?! No way! He did not just say that!" Moments later Glenn and I are both laughing at the complete lack of decorum. Clearly the store training manual didn't cover an exchange such as this. And let me just clarify, should you be wondering...both store employees were adults. You'd think they'd have known better. You'd think no one would have had to tell them that this was not an appropriate exchange to be having in front of a customer.

This is a prime example of why, if you have a team of people working with you and representing you and your business, it might prove helpful to be more specific than you think you need to be about what your expectations are. Sometimes the things you think go without saying need to be said.

Do You Have an Emergency Back-up Plan for Your Business?

The phone was ringing. Instinctively I was rolling out of bed in response before I was even fully awake. As I did so my eyes fell on the glowing red numbers on the bedside clock - 2:56am. I ran for the phone. 3am phone calls are never good news. As I grabbed the phone from the table where I'd left it the night before the "missed call" message flashed onto the screen. I flipped the phone open to see that the call had come from my friend, the mother of my 17 year old son's best friend. "Shit, shit, shit...." I began chanting as I dialed her number. No answer. My panic rising, I hit redial. Still no answer. "Shit, shit, shit..." I'm mumbling under my breath now trying to keep the panic at bay. I hit redial again and she finally answers.

"What's going on?" I asked, skipping the niceties altogether. "You mean you don't know?" she asked. "Know WHAT?!" the rising panic clear in my voice now. "The boys were in a bad accident," she replied.  "The car was totaled." 

"OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod!" My panic was full blown now. My heart dropped into my stomach, chills ran down my spine and my throat clenched closed as all the air was seemingly sucked out of the room in that instant. For a moment I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. Then one word ran through my mind - breathe - as I realized I was gasping for breath, and the mother-instinct that has been fine-tuned over 20 years of raising kids kicked in and the panic receded enough for me to speak. "Are they okay? Where are they?" My voice still sounded a bit shrill to my own ears and the dread in my voice was echoed in hers as she replied, "I don't know. They're being taken to St. Anthony's."

"I'll meet you there," I replied. I was already stepping into my jeans and looking frantically for my shoes. Two minutes later I was in the car, trying to maintain some semblance of calm so that I could drive. "Breathe, breathe, just breathe," I thought. It was taking every ounce of will I had to prevent any other thoughts from running through my mind. My concentration slipped for a moment as I prayed, "Please God, please God, let them be okay. Please let them be okay." I pulled my attention back to my breathing as I realized that silent plea was increasing my sense of panic.

Needless to say, as I rushed to the hospital ER, my business was the furthest thing from my mind and I didn't stop before I left the house to grab the phone number for the clients with whom I had a call scheduled for later that morning.

That was a week ago. Thankfully, my son and his friend were released from the hospital several hours later with only minor injuries and my clients were the essence of understanding about the missed call.

However this leads me to the question in the title of this post - do you have an emergency back-up plan for your business should you ever receive one of those dreaded 3am phone calls? If an unexpected emergency arises that requires your undivided time and attention do you have a plan that will allow someone else to take care of things for you?

While we all hope we'll never receive one of those calls, it's important to plan for the possibility by creating an emergency back-up plan. If you don't already have one there's no better time than now to create one. If you haven't already done so, document the most critical aspects of your business. Create master lists of: 

• Contact info for your clients and for your team if you have one.
• Passwords to any business tools you use regularly such as business email, an online calendar, project management system, auto-responder system, etc.
• Account numbers and passwords for any business accounts.
• Accounts payable/receivable and any associated account numbers and due dates.
• Critical tasks and any details needed to accomplish them, including a schedule for when they need to be accomplished.
• Anything else critical to your particular business.

These lists and an operating manual if you have one (if you don't have an op manual you should, but that's another post), become your emergency back-up plan.

The next and final step is to give this emergency back-up plan to a trusted team member, colleague or friend so that in the event of an emergency you're able to make a single phone call and they can implement it for you.

Creating an emergency back-up plan insures that if you ever do find yourself or a loved one in an emergency situation you have the peace of mind of knowing that at a minimum, the most basic and critical aspects of your business are being taken care of.

   

Gain Powerful Relationship Insights

Life and business is really all about relationships. I don't know anyone, myself included, who doesn't from time to time have one or more relationships they'd like to improve. Whether it's a personal relationship with a spouse or significant other, with your children, friends, or family or business relationships with potential clients, current clients, colleagues or the team you're building to grow your business.

Because relationships are at the heart of both our personal and business lives,  I'd like to  invite you to join me tomorrow night, Tues. Nov. 14th, at 9:30 pm EST, for a special free tele-seminar where I'll be interviewing spiritual teacher and relationship expert, Ron Wypkema, about the revolutionary relationship model which is helping people’s lives and experience of relationship transform dramatically.

I've mentioned Ron here before, and when I heard about his approach to relationship, I found it so exciting and so refreshingly new in the field of relationship coaching and training, that I wanted to be a part of getting the word out....that's how much I believe you can benefit from this. In addition to the interview you'll have the opportunity to experience first-hand one of his techniques and to ask any questions you may have about his methods. To join us simply register now. I hope to 'see' you there.

Oprah Goes to Hawaii

Okay, okay, I can just hear you saying, "Big deal, so what?!" What makes the trip interesting and worth blogging about is that she took 1,065 people with her. Yes, you read that right..... 1,065 people. Oprah chartered 5 American Airlines jets to take all of her staff AND their families to Maui.

Why? Simply put, to say thank you, to express her appreciation. Oprah clearly understands that success doesn't happen in a vacuum. Let me say that again......

                             Success doesn't happen in a vacuum.

She knows she didn't create the kind of success that has made her one of the world's most influential and wealthy people all alone. There are literally hundreds of people whose contributions have contributed to her success and a trip to Maui was her way of giving something back to her staff and to the families that support them.

Inspirational Leadership

On August 2^nd, ABC’s 20/20 aired a segment which I’ve been meaning to write about since I first saw it. It featured Jim Sinegal, CEO of Costco, a man who demonstrates beautifully the principles of leadership and team building.

Whether you’re just beginning to contemplate building a team, or you've been leading one for some time, you’ll do well to follow his inspiring example. Jim Sinegal has built a multi-billion dollar business despite his very unconventional team building strategy. He’s not your stereotypical CEO sitting behind a desk in the penthouse office of the company headquarters. He’s on the road, visiting his stores and his employees. He recognizes the importance of communication and connection – the very foundation of good leadership and team building.

One-on-One Coaching/Consulting

You Can Have a Wildly Successful Business Doing What You Love

Are you passionate about the work you do but are feeling confused and overwhelmed with all that building a successful business entails?

Have you taken program after program trying to figure out the practical details of marketing and running your business and are finding you're still not sure how to implement it all?

Do you know what you need to do but are having a hard time stepping out of your comfort zone to actually do it?

Have you gotten so wrapped up in the day-to-day grind of marketing and growing your business that you've lost sight of the life you went into business for yourself to create in the first place?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then take heart. You can breathe a great big sigh of relief because you've finally come to the right place. I can help. You don't have to go it alone anymore.

One-on-One Coaching/Consulting is One of the Most Worthwhile  Investments You Can Make in Yourself and Your Business

So often, in my work, I see struggling service professionals who either can't quite seem to get their businesses off the ground, or on the flip side, have successful businesses but are so busy working on, and in, their businesses that they have no time for the life they envisioned, and went into business for themselves to create in the first place.

It can be disheartening to venture into creating a business doing what you love, only to get bogged down in the the practical details of marketing and running a business. It's all too easy to lose faith, to begin to doubt your ability to make it happen, and so often I see service professionals who have so much to offer, nearly give up just as they're on the threshold of a dramatic breakthrough.

Before you give up your dream of having a wildly successful business, or resign yourself to having to continue to struggle, let me show you how you can market and build your business without selling your soul, and how to do it with ease. It doesn't have to be a struggle anymore.

With one-on-one coaching/consulting you will put an end to:

• The frustration, overwhelm, and confusion and you'll learn step-by-step what you need to do to build a successful business, and how to implement it all.
• The isolation, insecurity and doubt so that you can take bold, confident action to move yourself and your business forward.
• The stress, fear-based mentality and limiting beliefs that keep you stuck so that you can get out of your own way and begin to experience more joy and ease while being more productive.

And you'll gain:

• A clear vision of the business and life you want to create.
• Greater clarity and confidence about who you are and the value of what you have to offer to those you feel called to serve.
• Clear steps to implement the marketing strategies which will allow you to build a wildly successful business, without ever needing to use hard-sell tactics.
• The ability to more boldly step out of your comfort zone to pro-actively go after what you set out to achieve.
• A mind-set of love and abundance that will open up amazing, and infinite new possibilities in your life and business.

My biggest hope and grandest dream, is to help others to recognize their power to create lives and businesses they're passionate about and that bring them joy - to help service professionals to express and share their unique genius with the world, enhancing others' lives while enhancing their own. It would be my honor to help you to do just that.

Whether you'd like a single session, a month, or several months of sessions, I've got the options and solutions you need.

Send me an email. I'd love to chat with you and answer any questions you may have.