Warning, this post is not only long, but it also points the mirror directly at you – the business owner. Unless you put yourself out there you can not expect a connection with your client, they don’t know where you’re coming from. If they don’t know where you are, at your heart, then they can’t find you to connect. Relationships have two sides, both need to be open for it to work.
This is where my goal setting workshop and workbook came from. To look at who you are personally, what you want to achieve personally and as a business. But it goes deeper than this. It’s about drivers, it’s about belief, it’s about what warms your heart and makes your blood boil. It’s about what you would stand up for no matter what.
You see, all of these things you bring into your business. You might not use them, but as business owners they can be what keeps us getting out of bed. For me, it’s about helping others to be the best they possibly can be and reaching their potential. It’s all I want for my children and it’s why I love ‘empowering businesses online’.
But if I don’t tell you that, how will you know? You will have to guess that is where I am starting from. You will have to assume that I have your best intentions at heart. You will have to trust that I am in your corner pushing and pulling and urging you on. But if I am vulnerable and let you in what happens?
Sure I run a risk. I risk that I will alienate people. I run a risk that I will be judged. I run a risk that people will shy away from me. But what if that doesn’t happen? What if by opening up to you , I actually touch you where your heart resides? What if that is exactly what you need to hear? What if instead of focusing on how to get to my ideal client, I open my arms and show you my heart and you like it?
It’s a scary place. It’s a vulnerable place. It’s a place where I run the risk of being hurt. But if I don’t do it then I am not being a good example. I am not living to my potential. I am not holding my tenet of being open and honest.
But is this what I should do? Surely as a business owner it’s about products and services and making money. Really? Is that what it’s all about? It’s not for me. It’s about freedom and connection and choice. It’s about being able to help more people. Now that is not to say that money isn’t important and I am going to give away my services. I used to do that. The thing I learnt was that by not valuing myself and the value I bring to others I was teaching them not to value me and to devalue what I had done for them. That’s not empowering, that’s the exact opposite.
How can I expect to connect with you if we are only working on half of the relationship; you? I teach my clients that you get a lot further with a customer when you speak from the heart, when you speak to their why. It allows you to connect. The thing is, and Tony Hsieh from Zappos knows this, that if you tell people what drives you – massive things happen.
You see, I studied this in my Masters. (I did one subject in of a Masters in Public Sector Management and stopped, I had proven I could study at that level) I studied how in the Public Service, if you recruit and motivate based on an alignment of staff and organisational goals, behaviours and drivers – you can have change. I even showed it in an underperforming team. I inherited a group with a 12 month backlog, by aligning their personal beliefs with those of the organisation I was able to get them to work through the backlog in 3 months. This is where I come from when I say this to you, to my coaching clients, and to my Mastermind Group. It works. It seriously stinking works. But you have to be open. You have to not just know your customer’s perspective, they have to know yours. It’s freaking scary, but if you open up – wonderful things happen.
So from me to you – I want you to be your very best. I am open and honest. I value transparency. I believe that speaking from your heart to your ideal client is the best way to build a relationship. I believe in research and facts and how psychology and human behaviour influence sales. I know that if you trust your message, then others will too. I believe that experts quoting big business results doesn’t always relate and translate to action small business can take. I believe that if you set an intention and work towards it, things will happen. I believe in woo woo. I believe!
This was what I needed to hear. I was wondering what I should be open about, and what to keep to myself? What subject is the best place to start?
What does your heart say, Susan? Or what makes you wild? What do you wish people would just ‘get’? I always start there.