| |
| |
|
Coaching Information |
|
|
|
Saying NO to Good Opportunities!
Tracey started her video production company 2 ½ years ago, and after struggling through the start-up phase, she was finally reaping the fruits of her labor. When we talked, it was clear that she was ready to move onward and upward but didn't know how to go about doing it. "I am so busy these days, but I'm still not getting the level of work I want," Tracey told me. "I really want to get in with some bigger companies, but I'm always scrambling to get my current projects done." "When I first started my business, I just wanted to get some clients, any clients. Now, I have people calling me up to do jobs for them, but those aren't the jobs I want anymore. I mean, I need them, but I also want to start doing bigger projects for bigger clients." "All the people calling me are small business owners I've met at the networking meetings I attend. I know we talked before about the fact that I'm not going to meet the reps from the big companies there, so I need to develop a different marketing strategy to reach them, but I just don't have the time. I keep thinking I'll reach a point where I've got things under control, so I can start pursuing the bigger guys, but I never get there." It was clear that Tracey was exhausted from going through the same cycle over and over again, so I thought I would give her brain a reprieve by taking her back in time. "Do you remember when you told me about that guy that you met at a networking meeting last year? He was hounding you about making him a video, but you really didn't see the opportunity there. He didn't seem to have any money budgeted for it and didn't have a clear concept of why he needed it and what he would use it for. You just didn't feel like he was a good prospect, so you told him that you were too busy to take on his project." "Yeah, what about him?" "Well, there was a time when you would have seen him as a viable prospect. You would have set up a meeting, spent a few hours going to/from the meeting, spent a few more writing up a proposal, placed numerous follow-up calls only to learn that there was ultimately no chance of getting a dime from this guy. Over time, you learned to qualify prospects, so you didn't waste your time. By the time you met that guy, you already knew how to spot a bad opportunity and had developed the ability to say "no" to them. "He was easy to turn down. He just didn't have a clue. There was no way he would have ever turned into a paying client, so it wasn't hard at all to tell him that I couldn't help him out. But, I'm not talking about people like that. The people calling me are good prospects, but the projects they need me to do are just small. I just want to start getting some bigger projects too." "Well, you say you've been trying to get around to marketing to bigger companies for the past eight months, right? But yet, you continue to go round-and-round hoping that you'll suddenly find the perfect moment to work on your marketing strategy to reach the bigger companies. It hasn't happened yet so, just for a moment, let's assume that this cycle will continue indefinitely. What do you think it will take to break it?" I asked her. "I don't know. I keep waiting for the right time when things slow down, so I guess the cycle will end when things slow down enough for me to think about it. I was hoping the summer would give me a break, but it didn't. Maybe the holidays?" Tracey was doing what a lot of us have done at some time or another. She was letting her business run her instead of her running it. So, the summer didn't break the cycle and the holidays won't break the cycle. SHE needed to break the cycle. What I asked her to do is to start to distinguish between good opportunities and great ones. She'd learned awhile back how to say "no" to bad opportunities. What she needed to learn to do now is how to say "no" to good opportunities, so she could say "yes" to the great ones. Most of her incoming phone calls were good opportunities, but the great ones were ones that she would need to put effort into pursuing. There was an opportunity lost during the eight months she filled with small projects. She lost the opportunity to be making contacts at the bigger companies, to be doing jobs for the bigger companies, and to be adding higher level projects to her portfolio. Over the next month, we assessed the reasons behind why she was letting her business run her. Was she ready for the transition or was she rushing it? Maybe she really wanted to just stick with doing what she knew she could do well. Bigger clients could potentially require her to do things she didn't have experience doing yet. Is that scary, I asked her. It also takes a different approach to reach and pitch bigger clients. Was she uncertain about what marketing methods to use to reach them? Or did she know that cold-calling was the best way to reach her target market but didn't want to have to make the calls? Or maybe she was afraid of meeting with some big executive of a multi-million dollar company. After working through some of the potential blocks, Tracey laid out a plan for marketing to the big companies in her area. She contracted an assistant to make the preliminary phone calls to qualify prospects and set up meetings. Once the meetings were set, Tracey felt fully confident in presenting her services to the decision-makers. Within 2 ½ months, she had two new "bigger" clients and was outsourcing some of the smaller jobs to colleagues she had met through her networking meetings. Take a note from Tracey -- learn to say NO to good opportunities, so you can say YES to the great ones! Are you saying "yes" when you should say "no"? Here's how to find out. Ask yourself the following questions:
The process to follow is to: It's a BAD opportunity if:
It's a GOOD opportunity if it:
It's a GREAT opportunity if:
About The Author Kimberly Stevens is the author of the ebook series, *The Profitable Business Owner: A Step-by-Step System for Starting & Running a Successful Service Business*. Download Sample Chapters & get her free MiniCourse, *The 10 Most Common Mistakes Business Owners Make & How To Avoid Them* at: http://www.askthebizcoach.com/ebooks.htm; kim@askthebizcoach.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Coaching - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
10 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before I Went Into the Real World I must confess, I laughed when I saw that Maria Shriver has come out with a book called, "Ten Things I Wish I Had Known Before Going Into The Real World." The real world? Come on, she grew up a Kennedy and married the biggest action movie star of all time! That aside, it got me to thinking: What are ten things I wish I would have known before going out into the real world? So, here they are. Mind the Gap The underground train in London can get you anywhere when you know how to maneuver all the options. Like our subways, London under ground is a busy place. Media Underload! The Stress Reducing Psych-Diet The war, taxes, the economy, increased health problems, crime on the rise, overwhelming divorce rate, corruption in corporate America, and, oh yes, Janet at the Super Bowl! Where does it end? With so much going wrong, whats going right in the world?It is times like these that I find myself mired down in the muck spewing forth from every media outlet. Like water dripping on a sponge, this negativity begins to seep in and pervade my thoughts and influence my reactions to the world around me. Nourishing Your Network It takes less effort to keep an existing customer than to gain a new customer.This is Business 101. Automatic Brain Works Overtime For You Use all of your brain to be your most effective."Running on Automatic" is what I call the ability to visualize what you need to have happen. Think, Pause & Talk There are two kinds of peoples we generally face in every walk of life1] who talks negative and excessive and2] who talks whenever required or talks right and right time.But in reality we get attracted towards person who talks negative and excessive, it gives us fun and tax-free entertainment and we get fascinated and influenced by such activities. What The Buddha Says About Coaches There is a Buddhist saying that goes like this: "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill it." This means to kill any concept of the Buddha as something apart from oneself. Trust In The Moment, and Trust In Yourself Do you often get yourself upset and feeling less than fully confident, as part of your preparation for facing a daunting challenge? You can improve your performance if you let your somatic intelligence lead the way."You move too much to be effective. New Developments Make Christian Life Coaching "The" Career Choice for Work-At-Home Professionals I have watched for a couple years now, as my wife's career has really taken off and I must admit, I am impressed. At the age of 55, having had so many life experiences, it just made me sit up and take notice that something huge is happening. 4 Quick, Easy Ways to Say No to People Who Take You for Granted No matter how wonderful you are sometimes other people will try to take advantage of your good nature. They will push you, get you to do more than your fair share and keep asking you to do even more. Top Ten Reasons to Hire a Personal Coach Have you considered hiring a personal coach? Jack Canfield, in The Success Principles says hiring a "personal coach is one of the best-kept secrets of the successful."1. Whats in it for me if I Hire A Coach? 1. An unshakable foundation:Create and build your life from the ground up. Dealing Effectively with Midlife Issues In this article we would like to help you explore the challenges and opportunities that come at midlife. You will have an opportunity to take a look at issues that are specific to the Baby Boomer generation. 4 Ways To Avoid Looking Stupid When Making Small Talk The fear of saying something silly and feeling embarrassed stops many of us from contributing more to discussions at work and when we are relaxing with friends.And ironically the more we worry about it, the more tense we get and the more likely we are to say something stupid. Addiction to Thinking Randall sought my help because he was stuck being miserable and had no idea how to get out of his misery. In his life he had experienced moments of great joy and sense of oneness with all of life, but those moments were infrequent. Two Leadership Strategies: Don't Lose Your Mind & Be a Coach Are you feeling overwhelmed, a lack of confidence or under a ton of pressure? Are you trying too hard to make something work and focusing too much on trying to fulfill other people's needs and expectations? You may have "lost your mind!"My small still voice often speaks to me in cryptic one-liners. I'll never forget the first time I heard the quiet whisper, "You've lost your mind. The Incredible Human Psyche The intriguing Human psyche - more complex than the metamorphosing cocoon, and more phenomenal than the human brain could ever imagine.Deep within the realm of your subconscious is the centrifuge, or cerebral core of all Human possibilities. Are You Worth Investing In? Do you realise that if you're green you're growing and if you're ripe you're rotten? So says Winston Marsh, Business Marketing Guru in his recent newsletter.Here's an excerpt from it . Lovers Remorse Direct Answers - Column for the week of July 29, 2002A few months after my divorce I started seeing a friend of my ex-wife. She told me I really needed a person that would appreciate me. The X-factor Would you agree that today most of us have the same set of opportunities and the same set potential?If you agree with me, then perhaps you might like to consider this puzzling question: if we all have the same opportunities and potential why are some people more successful than others?It could be said that some people are more privileged than others, and while this is certainly true, you could argue that there is proof in every day life of people who started off with zero and went on to accumulate incredible wealth. It could be said that some people have better academic ability than others and while this is true you could argue the case of all the people who achieved success after years of under-achieving in education.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
