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The power of a mastermind group

Yesterday I was at my monthly meeting of trusted advisers. It’s an opportunity to take advantage of the brainpower in the room. One of my favorite sayings is this, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” What I’m talking about here is I can’t see it my own blind side. No one can.

What I appreciate most about this group is the willingness for all of the members to appear vulnerable and at the same time to be caring and innovative when solving problems for one another. I’m a strong advocate for mastermind groups. It led several with spectacular results for all of the members. In my latest group, one of the members launched two new training programs, and has plans which are in progress for a new segment of her business. Two others, no make that three, updated or launched their websites focusing on their ideal clients and showcasing their products and services in clear user-friendly ways.

The benefit of having a mastermind group is exponential in moving ideas forward and discovering the best ways to overcome to go around obstacles. I like the give-and-take as much as the brainstorming and warm support I have experienced and helped to create in each of the mastermind groups I have participated in and facilitated.

As Einstein said “you can’t solve a problem in the same frame of mind in which the problem was created.” Bringing together the minds of others and focusing on the problem generates many more possible and plausible solutions than anyone of us can imagine on our own.

Every business owner needs the group of trusted advisers, Board of Directors, creative minds. Meet with them regularly. Share your successes, be transparent about the issues and concerns you have, and most of all asked for help when you need it. Be generous with your ideas, your concern, and creativity when you are on someone else’s team. Acknowledge ideas, appreciate help when it shows up, and recognize contributions from your advisers as the gifts and solutions that help you and your business excel.

Two heads are definitely better smarter than one. Watch for news about my next mastermind group starting this fall. If you have stories about your success as part of a mastermind group I’d love to hear all about it.

My husband, Garry, is nearly finished filling in our backyard where previously we had a deck. He has loaded a total of 16,000 pounds of dirt and poured it over the ground in the backyard. Each wheel barrel full was about 200 pounds. It took him 80 trips to complete this seemingly overwhelming task.

He did this step-by-step, day by day, shovel full by shovel full. He didn’t do it all at once. Some days he got more done than others. In less than three months from start to where we are today, this Herculean task is nearly complete.

As I said last time, I was only able to help with small, but important effort. Garry demonstrated that doing a little bit at a time and yield massive results. The changes in our space reflect his efforts. Sometimes he spent an hour, sometimes two or more. What he did was work at it with consistency over time.

Take a look at areas in your life and business where you would like to make a dramatic and significant change. These changes can be accomplished with small steps taken consistently. Just remember my husband moved nearly 1ton of material by himself. If you are committed to making a change I’ll bet you can move your own mountains.

Small actions can move mountains

I was working in my backyard this weekend. We are in the process of transforming our yard into an outdoor room. The process has many component parts. The first step, as in most projects, is defining the project and what it will look like when it is complete. In this case, the vision and goal are the same. Both my husband and I decided that we wanted to do more entertaining out of doors. Our existing backyard configuration did not encourage mixing and mingling. The traffic flow was a bit awkward. We wanted to improve the feel of the yard.

We had several conversations about what we wanted. We each had ideas about how we wanted the space to feel when we were finished with the remodeling project. Our ideas were similar but not identical. We negotiated, collaborated and came up with a list of must haves, nice to haves and a budget. We outlined a schedule and put it into an action plan.

Action Plans keep you on target and on task

In my consulting practice, I use action plans to accomplish what might otherwise seem impossible. Action plans are brilliant for managing progress, identifying the discrete steps that when strung together equal a project. Action plans, like recipes, show what, when and who is responsible for doing each step, in the right order. They show how long each task is likely to take and what is needed to be successful. By breaking big projects into their individual component parts, it is easy to track progress and to realistically assign resources for each step. Action plans show the beginning, middle and end of each task. You can measure your progress against your action plan.

Action Plans don’t have to take much time to yield measurable results. In fact, by taking the step of creating an action plan, I have often saved time by seeing clearly what resources I have, what is missing, and what I can delegate. Action plans help me plan my day. The important stuff gets done when it must be done.

Planning for Change

If you have ever shifted your attention in a new direction, attempted to lose weight and keep it off, or get yourself in a regular exercise program, you know that real success comes when you plan beyond the goal. What will it look like once you have what you want, how will you keep the change instead of reverting to your old patterns.

In this case, my husband drew up plans for the yard, He is an architect, but I’m not, so to be sure we both were seeing the ultimate outcome in the same way, I needed some visual aides. I supplied the step-by-step action plan. I asked questions and documented his answers.

The project gets underway

Our biggest investment was time. Then came materials., and after that, labor. This was to be a do-it-yourself project. We didn’t have any pressing issues influencing when the work would start or end, so it was easy to fit it in as we had available time in our schedules. Most of the work required the muscle and mind of Garry. I contributed some of my time and muscle as I could. When it came to carrying wheel barrows loaded with crushed gravel and cement, I just didn’t have the upper body strength to do the work. But I could lift and load the wheel barrows with dirt for the new planters.

Our yard is sloped. We had put up the deck to create a flat platform. Some of the deck had already been replaced. We decided to take out half of the decking and build up the ground where the deck had been to meet the same level as the remaining deck. We plan to install a fire pit to encourage lingering out of doors on summer and fall evenings.

I pounded nails to put in the deck and I wanted very much to be part of the deconstruction process. Garry showed me how to use a small pry bar and hammer to pop up the heads of the nails in the boards. Once the nails were loosened, I could come back in with a larger, longer pry bar and easily remove the nail from the boards. By using the right tools and leverage, I could do the same work as my manly, well muscled husband. And so, this post came to mind.

Are you using the right tools to leverage your business?

Just as I learned that the right tools in construction make a big difference, I know that the right tools in marketing yield exponentially big results. When I went with the grain of the wood when loosening the nails, the job was almost effortless. When I pressed the pry bar against the bulk of the board, again, it was easy to remove the nails. When I tried to use my muscles instead of leveraging my strength with the hammer and pry bar, I didn’t accomplish what I wanted and the more I strained only caused the nails to dig in and I became frustrated.

Working smarter allowed me to get what I wanted, to loosen and remove the nails in the shortest amount of time. Small actions produced big results. Using the right tools I multiplied the power of my well-toned bisects, abs and legs to get the job done.

I’ve applied this principle to other big projects, like learning to drive, getting a master’s degree, exercising regularly (19 years and counting of 5-6 days a week working out), and to eating a healthy mix of foods (one small change at a time).

The grain of sand approach

Pick one area of your business where you want to see a change. Write up what it will look like when the change is complete. Now pretend you want to explain to a five year old how to get from where you are now to the result you want. No fancy words, not fancy concepts, just plan, easy to understand language. You are going to write up each step, just like in a recipe. Don’t leave anything out. Put your list aside for 24 hours and then, read through it and see if anything is missing. Rinse and repeat until you have a map of what to do, headed up by why you want to do it. Your vision is what will keep you doing the steps/tasks until you get where  you want to be, even when you don’t feel like it.

The moral of the story…by taking small, leveraged actions, you can move the biggest mountain. Use the right tools in the right way and you can get what you want with ease. I can show you how to leverage your marketing muscle to get more clients now. When you’re ready to get a different result from what you have now, send me an email at success at creative1.com and tell me what you want, why you want it and what is keeping you from having it. I’ll pick one lucky entrepreneur for a complimentary business building strategy session in August. It could be you.

Have you ever noticed that when you are angry it becomes very hard to hear what is being said by anyone but yourself. What you are experiencing is a natural phenomenon known as “fight, fight, or freeze.” And when this happens you are experiencing both an emotional and physical reaction. You become hyper alert, blood rushing away from your extremities and your vision and hearing narrow. A part of your brain sometimes called “lizard brain” is taking over. The result is that your thinking is impaired and your body has taken over. It is now operating in a primitive way. Not the best way to be for providing quality customer service.

Next time and angry or dissatisfied customer calls you take a moment and check in with your body. You can have an opportunity to interrupt your automatic autonomic response. Take a few deep breathes, and instead of matching anger you may be hearing, try something new, opening up and focusing your attention on what your customer is saying instead of how they are speaking. If you put your concentration on content of their comments and really hear what is being said, you may be surprised to learn something you don’t already know. This small change, when you pause and listen, can yield a deeper understanding of the needs of your clients. Instead of reacting, you are now able to support them, and be creative or more importantly, let them know they are heard. You may not need to do anything more than listen and acknowledge what has been said.

Many times conflict comes about when people feel they have different or opposing views. By listening to what is being said you may find out you share more than you differ. Listening with the intention of understanding is quite different from the way you listen when you have the  the intention of reacting.

The more valued, respected and heard a client feels, the more likely they will stick with you. It is far less costly to keep an existing client than to source a new one. By listening to a client’s concerns and working to resolve their issues, you will find you can turn conflict into cash, repeat business and glowing referrals.

To learn more about how you can help your body and mind stay in balance, visit http://www.healthatyourfingertips.com. I highly recommend you practice the “Daily Clean Your House Flow” to experience good health and a clear mind.

Clear communication fosters good relations. The purpose of a contract between a consultant and client is setting the tone for their working relationship. A contract is more than a legal document. It is a contract of ethics and expectations for all parties. It is an outline of agreements made and intentions. It is like a pre-nuptial agreement for business relationships. A solid contract respects the needs and rights of all parties. It provides protection should any of those involved fail to fulfill their agreements. I like to think of a contract as a map of the essential and important aspects of an engagement. You may have noticed that the similarity in the words used to describe a romantic contract (engagement, nuptials, pre-nuptials, honeymoon, breach of contract, commitment) and a business contract (engagement, agreements, honeymoon, breach of  contract, commitment). At the start of your relationship, you may not envision problems that may arise, thinking that what you want and what your clients want are in alignment. That may be true, yet the road to clear communication is not always as transparent as we think it is.

Each of us comes to the table with our own view or perception of the world. We all have unique experiences and therefore goggles that color what we see and hear. This unique map is built upon our perceptions. While we may believe that we have been clear in our attempts to communicate with others, unless we understand the filter or map we bring with us and the map of those we wish to communicate with, our communication can fail. As you can see in the model below, there are layers of messaging, perceptions and intentions.

Fortunately, there is shared space where the sender and receiver have common understanding. It is in this space where a well written contract can exist.

What goes into a clear contract?

The scope of the engagement

• how much
• how long
• metrics
• milestones

The expectations of each party

1. The process for making requests for changes to the original scope of work (change orders)
2. Rights and responsibilities of the client and the consultant
3. Who has authority to make decisions
4. How you will communicate
5. What it will cost
6. What resources are available
7. What resources need to be brought in
8. How payment will be made
9. How to end the contract in the event that circumstances change
10. What it looks like when the terms of the contract have not be honored by either party
11. What it looks like when all the terms have been honored

Best Business Practices

A contract is a summary of what you and your client have agreed to. It doesn’t have to be long. It needs to state what you both understand and will do you best to honor. I draft my contracts based on conversations with my clients. We work out the details together. It is an excellent opportunity to deepen our relationship and avoid misunderstandings. Skip any of these steps at your own peril. Take time to work out the details collaboratively with your clients before you start a project and you will have a strong foundation for success.

Judy’s 10 commandments of winning customer service

Have you ever wondered why Apple created the Genius Bar? They did their homework. They interviewed customers and asked them where they experienced the best customer service. The overwhelming winner: the treatment experience working with a hotel concierge. Why a concierge? These talented people do what it takes to satisfy their customers. They help you find what you need when you need it, even when the path to success is not easy or a straight line.

I’ve translated the parallels between the hospitality model and that used by Apple into the 10 commandments of winning customer service:

1. we are here to help you have a good experience

2. listen to what your customer has to say, especially when they are upset

3. respond with helpful behavior

4. treat your customer with respect

5. have a fix-it mentality (solutions not excuses)

6. maintain a broad spectrum of knowledge related to the needs of your customer base, beyond the expertise of your own business

7. recommend tools and resources outside of your own brand when appropriate

8. be friendly

9. be available

10. make it easy to work with you, be flexible

How to build customers for life

Become a resource like the Apple Genius Bar. You will find that you have higher customer satisfaction, frequent contact with your customers, repeat business,  it is more fun for you as well as your customers to be engaged and to work together on solving problems (which will come up — and how you behave under pressure can make a customer one for life or one who goes out and tells 10 or more people about their bad experience with you).

This post was triggered by an article about why Apple is great in the May issue of Fast Company. You can read more at http://bit.ly/cdLiGy, Whether you are an Apple fanatic or a PC fan, there is much to learn about why the Apple style is a winner and why other industries want to emulate them.

Let me know how I can better serve you.

I am in love with my new Yeti microphone from Blue.com.

It came in a very cute box covered with cartoon abominable snow people singing and talking into a microphone.

It stands about a foot high.

I love the easy of use, the long usb cable (that allows you to get away from any computer hum that would otherwise spoil a recording).

It has four settings, depending on whether you are speaking, singing, doing an interview, voice over or podcast recording.

You can plug in a headset or musical instrument into the base.

It cost me $109.00 from Amazon.

I say check it out. You might fall in love with a snow creature too.

Listen to the quality by clicking on the link below.

Yeti Stereo Microphone Review

An effective way to build the habit of asking for referrals begins by giving them to others first!

If you are now or have ever been a member of BNI, you know the philosophy well.  “Givers Gain.”

Joanne Black, author of “No More Cold Calling” says that this behavior stimulates reciprocity in others. She herself has benefited from this habit. Repeat business doesn’t just happen. Staying in touch reminds clients about us and when they have a need for our services, we are top of mind.

Being generous with contacts, resources and help that is asked for and needed builds strong relationships.

Judy’s Ten Eleven Commandments of Referrals

1. Listen to the needs of others with an open mind, heart and ears.
2. Ask for permission before giving information or advice.
3. Confirm your understanding of what people say they need.
4. Respect others as you would like to be respected.
5. Follow-up when you have shared with others, get their feedback on what worked well or what you could do better next time.
6. Give credit where it is due.
7. Ask for what you need.
8. Be specific.
9. Give often.
10. Let others know how they can help you.
11. Express gratitude.

Here is a short movie clip of an exercise based on these principles.

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“Creating Connections at BACN”
It was filmed at the BACN meeting on June 25, 2010.

“Creating Connections” is a regular part of our meetings, yet each month this segment is presented in a different way.

The purpose of this segment is to bridge the gap between meeting someone at an event and building a connection that is of benefit beyond the moment.

If you would like a one page handout on referrals, send your request to me at info at creative1 dot com

Sometimes you hear of a particular software but find out it doesn’t work on your computer operating system. Sometimes, you just need something that fits your budget. You want the features you need and want to find out what your choices are instead of the leader of the software pack.

I found a worthy web site that gives a lot of information in a readable and useful way. AlternativeTo.net. It is not just for Macintosh users.

This site has freeware, shareware and commercial software reviews, comments and link to developers. The site is easy to navigate. Content is readable and well organized.

Once you arrive on site, enter your search term and you will get a list of results for alternatives to your search term. Dig in deeper for more information, including details like system requirements, features and full specifications. There are live links to the software developers too.

I was curious about alternatives for Pinnacle Studio (a PC only program).  I got back two pages of suggestions in seconds. See for yourself.

Alternative Mac software – AlternativeTo.net.

If you are looking for an alternative for a specific software application, this site provides you with choices for Mac, Windows,Linux and online options

This is one website of resources that can save you time and money.