Kindle version of Confident Business Communication Etiquette just out!
Meeting new clients and having my first “in take” conversation with them is exciting and oh my heavens revealing. My new client’s chief complaint in running her business is that things are not going well and she is having trouble meeting her expenses each month.
I told her that during the intake we would look over her finances, her strategies, the branding and marketing she was using and what her client niche looked like…for starters.
That all made sense to her so we pulled out our devices and tried to fix a good time and day for the both of us to meet – making sure we had at least 2 hours for the intake.
It took us 10 minutes of discussion and calendar checking to filter through a time, day and place that would work for her.
Here is why it took that long. First she had to make sure that she did not miss her swimming lessons; book club; church council planning; the times she babysat for her granddaughter; her volunteering for Wheels on Meals and 3-4 other activities that she completed during the workday, each day, each week, each month.
I think you can see why she was having trouble with expenses…who was managing her business?
During our conversation of trying to fit in a business meeting together, she did not even notice how much non business producing time she was spending during the work week. Those questions will come out during the meeting, and I think it will be a shock for her to see how little “work” she is doing.
Another, “don’t ignore the obvious, again” pertains to my new home and office. I have lived here for 2 months and am totally unpacked and pretty much settled. There is always something we want or need to do in a new place, but mostly I do know where my “stuff” is and I can access it easily…except in one spot.
My office.
I am a home office gal and have been for most of the 29 years I’ve been working. At one time I had a full time staff of 10 and two bricks and mortar office buildings in two different states. However, for the last 5 years I have been a home office worker.
This move to my new home, I set things up very differently in my office. I set it up for not only efficiency, but comfort and beauty. I have a beautiful set of book cases that match. My arm chair has the most beautiful pillows which match the curtains and the rugs. My lamps are very efficient and lovely. My new side table beside my arm chair is terrific and big enough to hold all my stuff that I might be reviewing, a lamp, my cups of tea and my devices to be in contact.
My technology serves me completely with my monitors, HP color printer, devices, colorful bulletin board(s). My office chair is comfy and ergonomically correct for my body.
“So, Natalie, what is the issue?”
“So, Natalie, what is the issue?”My side table. It looks like I have lived in this office for 10 years.
I promised myself when I moved in and designed this exceptional space for me and my clients, that I would not continue to have the habit of “set it down until I decide what I want to do with it”.
Yup, it crept up on me again.
Habits are like that. That is why we have such a hard time breaking the habits we have.
I know it is not working because I am spending a good bit of my time at that table sorting through things looking for a certain file, client notes etc. It is NOT as bad as it has been because it is a habit that does not serve me and I am working on it, again.
My awareness and promise to myself is to keep the space regulated, effective and efficient for ME.
What are you ignoring that is obvious and not serving you? Just look around at your office, cubicle, home, organization, car, and you will have reminders that “there I go again”.
Some call it clutter. I call it habitualness. This kind of behavior creates big stress for us also. The reason we have the habit to begin with is that at some time, it served us.
I know exactly why I do what I do. When I first started my business, I had so many details to keep track of (and I am a visual learner) that leaving everything out helped me not forget things. Or so I thought. What I discovered is that I am much more confident, effective and efficient with a simple system for client notes, speaking projects and proposals in process of being developed and delivered. It serves me well as a visual learner.
Reduce your stress. Build your confidence. Clean up the clutter that is keeping you from being effective and efficient. See where some of your old habits might not be serving you, again. Take a look around and see what is not serving you.
Let me know if I can help. I am good at this.
Blessings and love,
Natalie
P.S. You can be one of the first to get my new Kindle version of Confident Business Communication Etiquette. We just went live with it this week. It is an excellent primer on what you need to be easily and quickly clear in your communication with peers, subordinates, prospects, bosses, clients and more and create profits and results, faster than you ever thought possible. Let me know what you think. Confident Business Communication Etiquette is the #1 in the series of 10 in the Confidence Series. Get my Kindle Book Here.