Promote U Guru Blog

7 Business Coaching Tips You Can’t Afford to Neglect

Hi All!

Over the past 20+ years, I have presented to, met with, mentored, coached and observed hundreds (probably thousands) of businesspeople. And I am still always amazed at the lack of professionalism many of them display.

Highly successful small business owners strive to be perceived in the highest regard by prospects, clients, colleagues, vendors and employees. And as a certified Success Coach, I see many of my clients struggle because they neglect these tips. Sure, some of these may come naturally to you, but there may be one or two that will benefit your business building efforts. I hope so!

7 Business coaching TIPS You Can’t Afford to Neglect:

1. Be prepared and do your homework. If you tell a client or prospect you’ll have info to them (e.g. a proposal) by a certain day/time, do it. And prior to meeting, have all of your information organized and review it carefully so that you can easily explain it to them.

Note: I have personally had people pitch me (for things like insurance plans, printing services, etc.), and they were a mess. Things like: Their information was incomplete, they were late to the meeting, they spelled my name wrong on the proposal, they didn’t present the info I asked for, typos in the doc, etc.

Why would I invest my money in someone like that?

2. Each morning start by determining the most difficult task facing you, and do it first. Is it making follow-up calls to prospects? Asking clients for referrals? Putting together a complex proposal for a prospect? Whatever it is, do it FIRST! It gives you an edge over the competition…chances are they are avoiding the task! And if it’s a task that will benefit a hot prospect (or client) you will impress them with your initiative and speediness.

3. Don’t be late for phone or in-person appointments. It tells the prospect or client you do not value or respect their time. Successful business owners arrive to in-person meetings 10-15 minutes early and use the time to “get grounded” for the meeting. Also, this time cushion comes in handy if you get lost trying to reach your destination. It always sounds really unprofessional when you’re late and you say, “I’m sorry. I got lost.” The time cushion (normally) gives you enough time to find your way and still arrive on time. Being 15 minutes early for an in-person meeting is WAY better than being 15 minutes late!

4. Never pull a “no show”. If you cannot make an in-person or phone appointment, call the person BEFORE (not after the time) and reschedule. A good friend of mine works for a loan leads company. They screen people looking for a loan, determine the “hot leads”, and then schedule a meeting/phone appointment WITH A LOAN AGENT (the loan agents pays for these pre-screened leads).

She told me that loan agents blow-off these prescheduled meetings all the time! Can you even believe that??? Here are qualified leads that the loan agent is paying the lead service for, and he/she basically throws the hot lead away by pulling a no-show! This flaky behavior costs these loan agents thousands of dollars in commission… money that could have been theirs (not to mention all the referral business they lost)!

5. Successful business owners act confident (NOT cocky!). Here’s a simple concept that I see many business owners neglect: BEING NICE! You don’t need to be a tyrant to succeed. Be genuine, be kind and be caring.

Note: When I owned my ad agency for 20 years, I sometimes had client contacts that were junior-level marketing coordinators and they went on to become VP’s of Marketing. If I had been rude to them when they were “junior”, they wouldn’t have kept hiring my firm as they climbed the ladder.

By being nice and sincere, I not only received millions of dollars in business (and referrals) from them over the years, but they also grew to become great friends of mine.

6. Successful business owners greet people with a firm handshake. There is nothing worse than a weak, limp handshake. It irritates me to no end. When you greet someone, immediately extend your hand, offer a firm (not crushing!) handshake, smile and make eye contact. Successful business owners make people feel comfortable and build trust right away through their confident, friendly greetings!

Note: I have actually made my clients practice this. If they had a wimpy handshake, I fixed it!

7. Being organized is BIG amongst successful business owners. You must be able to keep your client/prospect files organized and your schedule organized. Successful business owners use a schedule book or electronic device (e.g. PDA) to keep track of appointments, phone calls, follow-up, to-do lists, etc. If you are scattered and disorganized, you will be less effective and sell less. And you are more apt to make mistakes. Good luck getting repeat business or referrals from a client if you miss a critical deadline or constantly have to apologize because YOU keep losing or forgetting things!

Note: There are VERY successful people who are totally disorganized, but they have a personal assistant that keeps them on-track. However if you can’t afford an assistant, then it’s UP TO YOU to create a system! You can even hire an expert to create a process for you. Someone I highly recommend is Stacey Vulakh, a Time Management Expert & Coach. She helps her clients create a time management system, customized for their needs, so that they are more effective and productive – personally and professionally.

Yes, hiring someone like Stacey will cost you money, but it will cost you more money in the long run without an organized system!

Okay! There are your 7 tips…please don’t neglect ANY of them!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa