Dealing with Client Relationships

Every person in business has good client relationships... and then some that aren't as connected. There are so many variables to how to manage a relationship with a client in order to ensure its long term, honest and strong. Here are 5 key things to think about in caring for your client relationships:

1) It is YOUR responsibility to make the relationship work. Yes, yes, it is both parties responsibility in a relationship but the bigger person and the driving force behind the relationship is you. You initiate communication with clients. You call to check in. You present ways to communicate regularly that might work for them. If you wait for the client to manage things, you are not owning that responsibility. (Tough conversations are also yours to start).

2) Get Results. Business relationships are fundamentally built around the work. So you can be the greatest person on earth but if your project or service is being poorly delivered, then the relationship will ultimately fail. Sure, a good personality and friendship might give you some extra chances but make no mistake, results are what a client needs.

3) Systemize the communication. Formalize the methods you use with a client so they get updates, reports, emails and status on things regularly, on time and at the same time daily or weekly. No news or silence is not a good idea. People always think the worst when they don’t hear from you. You are better to send consistent reports that say, no change, than to provide no word at all.

4) Ask for Feedback. We all dread the idea of asking for feedback but it is essential to knowing where your client relationship stands. People who are surprised when a client ‘lets them go’ shouldn’t be. They are only surprised because they never had the courage to ask the client how things were going and where they could’ve improved.

5) Be Courageous. Tough conversations around price, delivery and client cooperation are going to come up. If you are feeling bad or there is the proverbial white elephant in the room, your job is to bring up the issues before your client. You are proactive about issues, able to voice concerns for the client from their perspective and willing to admit mistakes. People appreciate courageous communication.

How to Win Every Challenge Before it Begins

Have you ever had a favorite competitor or team that was so dominant, they had destroyed the competition before they even got on the field or reached the start line? These athletes have a success mindset and it’s a necessity for you, in business today.

You, your customers, your team and co-workers all have pre-conceived notions and ideas that form your beliefs around work. It could be beliefs around pricing, effort, money, whether you’re better at sales. The beliefs you start each day with determine your effectiveness in sales, in customer service, in leadership. It impacts what you make each year as income.

Here are some key exercises to master your mindset and identify your limitations:

1. How do you define your skills and abilities? Ask yourself this, what am I not good at? Make a list. Now let us ask, how do you know? Is it an opinion, or a fact? Very often people’s limitations are based on a belief about what they can’t do. It’s an opinion that they are “not really creative”, “not good with numbers” or “bad in front of clients”. Is this really true? Most of the time it is a lack of practice and a belief in that limitation which creates the result. Look at what your list is; now write out what you would need to do to get good at these things. What would you need to practice? Where could you get help? Who could mentor you? Creating an action plan of steps to improve a limitation often uncovers its temporary nature.
2. Play Out the Ideal in Your Head – if you want to get comfortable with a new belief you need to play with it in your imagination. For example, if you aren’t making enough money, you need to start to imagine what it might be like to make double or triple. What would you spend it on? What would those big paychecks feel like to receive? Write one out to yourself. Once you really start to enjoy imagining the new situation it is easier to start to say, how could I do it? It starts with you feeling comfortable before you start to create it.

Get on the right track - Join us for Success Mindset- the first seminar in the Leadership Selling Series beginning Monday October 18th.

Managing Time Versus Energy

Evolve Business Group was one of the sponsors of a WIIFM Productions presentation June 29th featuring Russell Hunter from the Human Performance Institute (http://www.hpinstitute.ca). During his talk, Russell likened a business person to a high performing athlete. There are chronic demands on energy and over time if the appropriate measures are not taken the life span of a “corporate athlete” is diminished. The key point is that energy is the fundamental currency of high performance.

In order to perform at one’s best there are four principles of personal energy management to assess:

Principle number 1 is energy is four dimensional. The four dimensions of energy are: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. All four dimensions are connected and work to create either physical or emotional based energy. The ideal situation is to move between quadrants of high physical energy & low physical energy along with positive emotional energy. This allows for opportunity based energy.

Principle number 2 is energy investment requires renewal. It is important to be able to have “micro-recovery” so that you can have sustained performance. Check in with yourself and ask what are already doing to recover in small ways throughout the day? Some examples are: getting up and stretching periodically, walking at lunch or taking a book and reading over a break.

Principle number 3 is stress is not the enemy. Stress is created simply by how we frame situations and things and attach meaning to them. Studies have shown that by experiencing “training stress” the capacity for performance increases. In other words stress is important in stretching our abilities and creating learning.

Principle number 4 is willpower is overrated. 95% of how we perform is determined by non conscious habitual behaviours. Only 5% is conscious and self-regulated behaviours. By creating specific performance rituals, these will become embedded in the 95% of non conscious habitual behaviours.

By doing a quick self assessment and a process of development based on these 4 principles, you will be on your way to becoming a corporate athlete. Enlist a partner to create performance rituals or consult us at Evolve (results@evolvebusinessgroup.com) and get training!

Tips to Success at Work and in your Health:

So you are sleeping poorly? Too stressed? Not eating as well as you could from your desk? Exercising monthly? All business people have periods like this. They do. Some people take a different approach to solving these issues though. Exercise is incredible for reducing stress, improving sleep, giving you energy, clearing your head, even improving what you eat (no one wants potato chips after a workout).

So why aren't you making health and exercise a part of your weekly routine? Can't find the time? Can't get out of the office? Can't get all the way to the gym? Maybe 2010 is where you need to start.

Here are some critical tips for making fitness part of your life in 2010:

1. Find a gym close to your house or close to your work - if you have to drive more than 10 minutes you won't do it. People tell themselves they will drive 30 minutes to the gym ... no you won't.
   
   
2. Go at a time when you are energized ... if you are not a morning person then quit trying to convince yourself you will get up at 5am. If you do get up early, set 2-3 alarm clocks to ensure you succeed.
   
   
3. Get a trainer - they will give you routines, exercises, ideas and companionship for every workout.
   
   
4. Find a sport or activity you like - if you hate weights, don't lift them. If you hate swimming then don't swim. What do you like to do?
   
   
5. Learn more ... most people know little about kinesiology, bio-mechanics, caloric intake, exercises for different parts of the body, etc. Get interested and become a student of health.
   
   
6. Get a trainer - they will push you harder than you thought you could ever go and will show you what you are capable of.
   
   
7. Find a partner - people who workout with a partner are 4 times more likely to stick with it. Find someone at work, at the gym or get a trainer to help you.
   
   
8. Tell your boss or co-workers ... I know, it seems crazy but telling those you work with about your commitment to fitness and health will increase their understanding and support of you hitting the gym.
   
   
9. Get a trainer - they will encourage you, hold you accountable, teach you, hug you, make you successful!

Personal Touch Your Way to Success

Personal Touch Your Way to Success:

No matter what position or role you play in a company, personal touch matters. How are you putting a personal touch on things with your co-workers? Your suppliers? Your customers? Sure people all send out those chocolate boxes or a fruit basket this time of year. What about next month in January? Adding a personal touch is something you need to do each day, week and month. It doesn’t have to be big things. Here are ideas you can use no matter what time of year or what position you are in:

1. Personalized notes – attach a little handwritten note of thanks whenever you send papers out.
2. Personalized cards – send a card out saying thank you, great job or sharing some admiration. You appear more human than an email ever will.
3. Bring Food – send cookies to a client and watch the reaction. Bring donuts to the Monday meetings and show someone you thought of the team.
4. Send Kudos to the Boss – send a message to the boss letting him/her know what a great job was done by them (they’re people too).
5. Magazine subscription – get a client a magazine subscription they will love. It’s a gift that gives for 12 months!
6. Inspirational Sayings – put some inspirational message in the kitchen or the boardroom for people to read and appreciate
7. Wrap it Up – next time you send a report, a book, a part – wrap it up like a gift. Amazon does it with books and people love it.
8. Gift cards – send someone a gift card every week with a note telling them how they impact you.
9. Take Someone for Lunch – who never seems to leave the office? Take them out for lunch on you and get to know them.

Use little extras like this to make a big impact on people … during this festive season but also in all of 2010.

Plan B

With many of our coaching clients at the ownership and management levels we talk about Plan B. What is your plan to generate income that doesn't rely on your current job or your current company? If you assumed no one else was going to cover your retirement or long term well-being, what plan do you need in place? Now some people think this is about being a financial planner. It's not. It is about business strategy for you as an individual and as a company. It is critical to know that you have a second income stream, second opportunity and cushion if things ever finished up quickly with your primary role/job.

Where are your interests? What things do you love? Real estate? Stocks? Makeup? Organic Products? Find your interests and see where Plan B can fit around those. If you had to spend 3-4 hours a week working on your future then you have the makings for a Plan B. Do it with your spouse. Know that getting rich and being independent isn't based on what your financial advisor tells you - he or she has hundreds of clients and isn't watching your money every minute of the day. It is based on you taking time to find a hobby called Plan B that will continue to grow your knowledge in business and your wealth outside of your first role/career.

Money is the Result.

So many people are focused on making money in their companies and in their careers that I thought it was important to write about how they can do this. The fundamental problem most people have is that they don't recognize that more cash, bonuses, sales, commissions and salary are results. They are an output and not an input. Therefore, by just focusing on the result of things (I need some more money personally, we want more sales this quarter) we are missing the critical focus - the inputs that create money for us.


In your job you should know exactly why you get paid what you do. What is expected of you in order to earn your salary? My experience is many people aren't quite sure. Well, you need to know in order to be able to increase your inputs to get more output (money). Talk to your boss and your co-workers, AND your clients and see what generated results for them. Then you have a sense of what you need to produce more of in order to get more money. A raise doesn't show up without more effort and results. You don't get a bonus at the start of the quarter, it's at the end when your results can be measured. So start today in knowing what you need to do to serve more people and to create more results worthy of more cash.


As a business owner or manager, how can your organization serve more clients and better serve the clients you have? So often companies think that clients deal with them because of their base product or service. Well, your clients can get your product or service from probably 50 different suppliers (or at least 5). So why are they dealing with you? You need to know in order to create more value. As you create more value for clients you create more buzz, strengthen your reputation, advance your product offering and generate more results for clients. It is a cycle. So figure out fast what you offer. Then set some new goals based on how many people and companies you will help this quarter. That is the input you control and revenue is the result.