Our Blog

You said you wanted to do something.  You said you were going to do something … and you didn’t.

Why not? 

Well, there could be a dozen reasons in each particular situation, but there’s one reason that’s common to many failures to follow through on our intentions.

And what’s that?

Let me tell you about a mistake I made recently that I’d like you to avoid.

I had a lovely and productive complimentary consultation with a prospective client who felt just right in terms of fit.  Turns out she felt the same way.  She wanted to discuss coaching with her business partner and told me she’d get back to me by email.

Background:  The options I offer prospective clients are three calls a month at a certain price or two calls a month at a lower price. I also request a six month commitment.  I say “request”, but I will rarely work with anyone who can’t commit to six months, because you have to have at least that much time to get measurable results.

I always suggest scheduling a follow-up call instead of waiting for the other person to call or email you back.  But it was clear she wanted to follow-up by email.

She got right back to me in the timeframe she promised and said, “I’d love to work with you and would love to start with a set of three meetings.” 

There we are, walking through a village in Provence at 7:20 on a Sunday morning. It’s completely still. Perfectly silent. There’s no one around. Magical.

We stop to take a picture of an unusual house front. A man, an American expat, emerges with his little dog, Rosie. He’s delightful. We talk for a few minutes. He shares about losing his wife of 50 years. We were touched by that interaction.

Two things are true.

Everyone goes through stretches in life where you’re maxed out … stretched to the limit … in terms of available hours and available energy.  But you do what you have to do to meet your obligations and deal with emergent issues.

I get some of the best ideas from the people I coach!  But first, let me start with a story and you’ll understand why this insight is so important to me … and could be for you as well.

Someone I love dearly and used to be close to is ghosting me.  The saddest part for me is that I don’t even know why!

You have two separate conversations. You get two indications of interest.

“I’ve talked with my friend and I think she’s interested in your services. Here’s her number.”

“Can you put together a proposal on that and send it to me?”

Yahoo! People are interested in doing business with you.

My clients often tell me stories … ranging from the tragic and heartbreaking to the hilarious and heartwarming.  Many I couldn’t relate to you because of confidentiality.

But recently, a client told me about her dog and a distinctive behavior he displays.

It’s both funny and instructive.

With 20+ years as a business coach and a lot of personal experience, I can tell you that if you do the following three things that don’t even really relate to each other, you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache and a bunch of money.

I’m a coach, not a psychologist, but let’s play a little word association game.

Yin … Yang

External … Internal

Force … Intention

Wait … What was that?

Yeah, how that last pair matches up isn’t exactly intuitive.  But hang with me.

I want to illustrate an important message for your business with a quick story.

We have a lot of good restaurants in our little home away from home in Mexico.  My absolute favorite is O Sole Mio, owned by my “paisan” Fabrizio.  This winter we ate there several times.

It’s our last night in Mexico and we decide to go to Café Sophia, the other Italian restaurant we like down at the marina.  We’re chatting with our waiter, as we usually do, telling him it’s our last night in Mexico.

At the end of our meal, they surprise us with a beautiful dessert with the words, “Have a safe trip!” written in chocolate … along with two shots of Limoncello.

Oh my!  So sweet.  I was touched.  And that small gesture increased my loyalty BIG time!  I feel differently about this restaurant now … and Fabrizio has some stiff competition.

So, what does that have to do with you and your business?