I have a little tip for you today, especially if you are tired of people setting up times to chat with you about your services and then canceling on you last minute. This used to happen to me a lot. Last year after having a day where I had 7 consults booked and 5 of those consults didnt show up or bother to notify they couldnt make it, I realized that I had wasted an entire day where I could have been helping paying clients, waiting for people who never showed up to their calls. I realized it was like throwing money into the toilet. Since then Ive implemented a small security deposit if people want to speak with me about the possibility of working together. If the person shows up to the session, they get it fully refunded or the amount of the deposit gets applied as a discount to whatever program they sign up for. If they dont show up, I keep the security deposit. Heres why this is awesome: 1) It holds the person accountable to themselves and helps them step into greater integrity with their commitments. So already before they have even spoken to me, they are being coached to stay true to what they desire. Its so easy for the people we are here to serve to self sabotage--its scary to make a change and sometimes when you can feel you are about to have a huge transformation, your brain will come up with all sorts of excuses to not show up for yourself in the ways your Soul is really desiring to. If you put down a deposit and have some skin in the game, you are so much more likely to follow through and follow your Soul and overcome mental resistance and self-sabotage. 2) You feel good because your time is being valued and respected and if someone doesnt show up it hasnt just wasted an entire hour of your time that you could have been using to help someone else who is interested in working with you. 3) It ensures that your client can afford your services--if my client cant afford to put down the deposit, then they most likely cannot afford my services. Its great to not waste the clients time either, talking with them when they are going to get all excited and cannot afford it. 4) It eliminates people who arent serious about making a change. If youre like me, you know your work is powerful and will move people forward. And if youre like me, you take your work seriously and really want to serve your people. If someone balks at putting down a deposit to honor your time and theirs, then that probably means they are not ready to make the commitment to honoring themselves either. So they are probably not a good fit at the moment to work with you. Note: I dont recommend this strategy for very beginning business owners. I think that in the beginning you should do as many strategy sessions as possible because you want to get practice in developing your own sales style that feels authentic to you and where you can truly serve. So I always tell my clients who are beginning their businesses that their job in the beginning is not to close the deal or get the client--its to be the best strategy session giver they can be. Clients will flow easily from that if you make that your goal. But if youve had your biz for a while and already have clients and your time is starting to become more valuable than money, then this is an excellent strategy to implement.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 16:13:04 +0000
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