Recently, someone in my community emailed me to say that they were impressed with all that I do, but that it looks tough because they see or hear about me everywhere. You know, that wasn’t the first time I heard this.
Truthfully, when I first got my business started, it was tough. Why? I was doing things the hard way. You know, meeting with people then doing lots of calls, then waiting to hear back from them. Doing the networking, prospecting, and follow up – all manually. Yikes! No wonder I was exhausted.
But now, I have my systems doing the work for me. It made all of the difference in the world! It is precisely the reason that I brought in 25 prospects in a matter of days, filled my practice with 71 new clients in less than four months and continuously fill my prospect pipeline. That’s what taking a systems approach to profitability is all about. It pulls in your prospects automatically, systematizes and monetizes your business, so that you spend time on what’s most important in your life.
In a survey that I completed with 377 entrepreneurs, 49% said their biggest struggle was marketing and marketing systems. In that same survey, 35% said their second biggest struggles related to quieting the inner critic, balancing work and personal relationships, while seeking new business and motivating oneself to take risks. (It’s all of those things that are part of your Inner Entrepreneur.)
So, it got me thinking about all of those things that it took to get profitable in today’s marketplace. That brings me to my Special Announcement. I’ve been working on something really special for you and I’m getting ready to release the first of five free training videos to show you precisely what you’re missing in your business to pull in more clients, make more revenue, and spend time on what’s (or who is) most important. I know you’re going to get a lot from them. Stay tuned for a special announcement on the video series release!
Speaking of spending time with people in your life that are most important, last week I mentioned the great time I had when my parents came to visit. In a shopping excursion I took with my mother, there were some very interesting insights on how people make buying decisions and it has everything to do with how they are hardwired. I thought I’d share my insights with you in today’s article.
Enjoy this week’s business growth tip and high-content article below! Until next time…
Create a great life,
Lisa Mininni
This week’s high-content article:
Everything I Learned About Methodical Decision Makers, I Learned From My Mom
Whatever you’re selling, you must reach out to a decision maker. All kinds of selling techniques are used, but the bottom line is decision makers are people. They have identifiable needs, preferences, and even motivations for what they buy. They have goals, dreams, and hopes.
That couldn’t be truer when I recently took my mom out to look for a dress. Let me start by saying that my mother has impeccable taste. She puts great thought into her buying decisions. This particular dress had to be the perfect dress. Why? It is for her very first granddaughter’s wedding in August.
When we started off on this adventure, I knew it would take several days. Why? My mom is a methodical decision maker who toils a great deal about her decisions. She studies the most microscopic details before she buys and asks many people for their advice. She will need to try on many dresses and see many options. I, on the other hand, did not get that gene from my mother (that is, if the shopping gene comes from the mother’s side). I must admit that I’m probably one of few women in the world who doesn’t like to shop. When I do need to shop, I have an idea of what I’m looking for, I go in, get what I need, make a decision, purchase, and leave. But I know my mom, and she likes to go in, look at every rack, explore all of her options, try on those options, and think about it for some time. And then, and only then, after much deliberation, she will make a decision.
So when she asked if she could come for a visit and if I would go shopping with her for a dress, I knew that it would not be a one-day adventure. For those of you who know me, you know that I have over 20 years of experience with various behavior-based assessments. So I took my years of experience, and applied it here realizing that I needed to get out of the way of my mom’s decision-making process so she could make her decision. I’m well aware that my quick-style decision making can put undue pressure on my mom who is a methodical decision maker.
I was bound and determined to give my mom all the space she needed to make her decision. I took her to one of the finest stores in the area figuring that would be the best strategic move in securing a decision. We went into one of the finer stores and would you believe, there it was: the most perfect two piece dress. As she put on this violet colored top and then the chiffon flowing floor-length skirt, it fit her well and the color was perfect on her. While a two-piece dress (top and skirt) was not originally what my mom had in mind, the sales person assured her the skirt could be cut down with simple alterations at the store. Additionally, she could return it for a full refund if she found something else. In typical methodical decision-making fashion, my mom studied that dress and tried it on several times. I noticed that she was really studying the tags, but my mom tends to do that from her many years as a checker for a major department store.
I could tell something was still bothering her so we continued to look. I’m convinced that each store conspires to purchase the same dresses no matter where you go because two major malls, 10 stores, and 51 dresses later, there was a whole lot of -overlap from store to store. However, there was no other dress like the one she put on at the first store.
After two days of shopping, we went back home. She needed reassurance from my father and my husband, so she tried on the dress and got the reassurance she needed from them.
When my mother and father left to return home, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t put pressure on her to make that buying decision because I noticed she didn’t seem really excited about it. My mom gets really excited, almost giddy, when she makes a good buying decision. I called her up a few days later and asked her if I put pressure on her to make that decision. She said, “No, why do you ask?” I let her know that I noticed she didn’t seem really excited about the dress. I asked her if there was something wrong with it. She said, “Well, now that you mention it, I noticed that the tags had two different colors on them. The top said Violet and the bottom had another color.” Visually the colors matched, but it likely had two different colors on the tags because the fabric was different so the dye lots would have to be different.
Methodical decision makers have a natural tendency to look for discrepancies and try to remove risk by stockpiling all of the details. One out-of-place detail can turn a “yes” into a “no”. They are very thorough and think things through. This is an asset because they look at every possible scenario. They view this thoroughness as being efficient so they don’t have to do any rework later. Like all decision processes, it must be managed. When applied to a business scenario, this level of detail could also slow down a process and result in missed opportunities or delays.
Ultimately, my mom acknowledged that it made sense that the tag colors were different; but there’s still time between now and August to see if she changes her mind. After all of these years, I learn a lot from my mom. I couldn’t have asked for a sweeter, more generous Mom and spending time with her is priceless. Thanks, Mom, for being such a great teacher.
Have you met a methodical decision maker? How were you able to make it work with them?
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