The first was Steve Wilburn (VA). A company that specializes in making awards and trophies filled out the 28 questions form through a chamber mailing campaign that Steve ran. They own a number of businesses, so they are struggling with this current business. Steve will be working with them on marketing and team, and re-structuring the business for future growth. The owners realized that with Steve as the business coach, they could look forward to finally taking a vacation soon! 

Way to go Steve!!

The second was Brian Baudean (GS) – he signed 2 new clients! An auto-body shop came to Brian as a referral from his coaching for a cause client. The owner needs to revitalize his business if he wants to keep up with a changing marketplace, as well as increase revenues and eventually expand. When Brian showed him the success experienced with recent clients, the owner was sold!

The other business is an adult daycare center. Brian first met the owner through his networking group 1 year ago. More recently, they spoke with a fellow BNI member who referred Brian. The owners decided to bring their business to the next level and signed up with Brian! They will work on getting the business to a point capable of running itself, and eventually, expand the capacity of the existing facility in order to increase revenues.

Congratulations Brian!!!

These stories from our own coaches go to show that with a little networking and referals, success can be made.

Thanks and have a great weekend everyone,

Doing these two things makes the difference between success in business and just surviving. And the same is true for all areas of our lives.

Most people have heard of the Pareto Principle, more commonly known as the 80/20 Principle. Roughly stated this says that in most businesses 80% of your business comes from 20 % of your customers.

So… when it comes to your priorities, 20 percent of your priorities will give you 80 percent of your production IF you spend your time, energy, money and personnel on the top 20 percent of your priorities.

When you do this you are getting a 400% or fourfold return in productivity. Think what this would mean in your business!

Every business person needs to understand the Pareto Principle as it applies to the areas of customers, team and leadership.

In the area of customers, it is vital to identify the 20 percent who account for 80 percent of your business. These are your “raving fans” and strategies must be put in place to care for them appropriately.

For your team, you must identify the top 20 percent producers. Spend 80 percent of your people time with these people to develop them to their full potential.

In leadership, take an honest look at the question “What do I have to do that no one else can do?” Remember a leader can give up everything except final responsibility. You can decide whether you will be reactive or proactive when it comes to the use of your time. The question is not, “Will I be busy?” but “How will I invest my time?” It’s not “Will my calendar be full?,” but “Who will fill my calendar?,” It’s not “Will I see people?,” but “Who will I see?”

Do this and watch your productivity and personal satisfaction rise to new heights!

There are a number of indicators that tell whether franchises are running successfully. One of the most telling metrics is franchisee satisfaction.

After all, if the franchisees are happy, things are generally running smoothly and profitably. In these cases, the system the franchise runs by makes sense and does what they are supposed to do.

ActionCOACH was ranked 31st in the latest Franchise Business Review in the large systems category for the most recent poll.

“This is an award we really strive for and we are proud to be recognized,” ActionCOACH CEO Jodie Shaw said. “No matter how great your system is, if your franchisees are not happy, then growth is not possible. Our franchisees are really our business partners, so the fact that they are happy speaks volumes to our business.”

• Understanding why people behave and communicate differently
• Understanding your personal communication style and how you are perceived by others
• Enhancing your overall communication effectiveness

She will discuss how the DiSC communication tool helps you to improve your discussions with employees, managers, customers and friends. It is amazing how much communication impacts our overall results!

Seating will be limited. Sign up today!

When:  Thursday, March 24, from 5:00-7:00 PM

Where:  Fairfax Innovation Center

4031 University Drive, Fairfax

Investment:  Complimentary

REGISTER NOW at www.actioncoach.com/judyfreeman and select the Events tab or call/email  Rhonda at 703-853-5594 rhondadimirack@actioncoach.com

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to potentially increase your average dollar sale?

1)    Are you ready to increase prices? To make a decision on pricing, you need to look at when you last increased prices, your competition and your costs. If your costs have increased substantially since you last increased prices, perhaps this is the right time to increase prices. Increasing prices is the easiest way to increase your average dollar sale.

2)    Can you offer complimentary products or services to your customers? Compare your business to a retail store. You see all those small dollar items at the cash register. It is the magazines, gum, candy, drinks or batteries that customers buy on impulse upon check out. This is a very subtle way of catering to the consumer while increasing the businesses’ average dollar sale. Think about what additional products or services that you can add or promote that will help the customer while increasing your average dollar sale.

3)    Do you provide a checklist that outlines all products? Many times, our customers aren’t aware of all the products and services that we offer. We can give them the options with their checkout, invoice or contract that will let them see what else we sell. It will be an excellent way to give them options to add new products and revenue.

4)    Are there new products or services that you should add to your company? Think about your ideal customer and what type of products they need. If they work well with your offering, you will add more value by adding to your offering!

Many business owners are afraid of increasing their prices. If you are meeting or exceeding your customer expectations, be confident and communicative with your customers in letting them know what is happening and why.

Make sure that your customers know the full suite of products or services. It is a way to increase their overall loyalty, too!

A good starting point is to remember these five levels of listening:

1.  Ignoring

The person’s state of mind may be thinking of self, personal issues and challenges. Therefore, we aren’t focused on the conversation we are having.

How do you know when someone is ignoring you?  There are nonverbal cues. They include yawning, eyes averted, looking over speaker’s shoulder or being distracted.

If you know that you are being ignored, you may decide to have this conversation at a later time. Alternatively, you may decide to put these comments in writing when the person can read them and respond to you at a later date.  When you are being ignored, the communication is weak and lacks meaning.

2.  Pretending

The person’s state of mind is still focused on own issues and thoughts.

While they may be fooling you with lots of nodding and other gestures, they are just pretending to be following the conversation.

If you think that the listener may be pretending, you may want to start asking them some questions.  By interjecting questions, you will force them to stop pretending and start listening.  That will require a more interactive listening style and more meaningful communication.

3.  Selective

The person’s state of mind is still focused on one’s self.  This person will selectively choose the bits of information that they take into account.  Often times, it is only information that has direct interest or benefit to them. They are often caught on emotionally laden words or buzz words.

The nonverbal cue for selective listening is occasional animation.  When they become interested, they will come alive.  You can choose to shift the conversation to the topic that is most interesting to them.  Concurrently, you can start asking them questions so that they fully engage in the conversation.

4.  Attentive

The person is in this state of mind when they are paying attention to the words and interpreting their meaning.  There is a focus on facts and particulars during this active listening.  They will be asking you questions for clarification and details that are of interest to them.

The nonverbal cues for attentive listening include good eye contact, leaning forward and nodding.  These cues demonstrate that the person is fully engaged in the conversation.

Having a conversation with an attentive listener is a meaningful process for everyone.  There is good exchange of information, and the communication process is effective.

5. Empathic

The person in this state of mind is paying attention with both sides of the brain, emotionally involved as well as understanding the words and their meaning. They are listening for the meta-message in the conversation.

The empathetic listener is listening for feeling and behavior, as well as for words.  They pay close attention to incongruities between verbal and non-verbal cues and use information to build rapport.  As the talker, you can tell that the person understands how you are feeling and you develop rapport with the individual.

By talking with an empathic listener, you will feel good about what you just communicated. The communication process will go deeper towards a problem solving or action oriented level.

How do you attract the awesome customers for your business?

The first step is for you to define who your ideal or best customers are. You can take a look at your best customers and determine what they have in common. This will give you a chance to categorize them:

• Where do they live?
• What’s their age range?
• What are their income levels?

Once you have identified your ideal customers, you can start developing your marketing plan to attract more of these customers. The easiest place to start is to consider a referral program for your existing customers. Given the law of attraction, your best customers will know other people like themselves. So, start by determining what would be the best way to get these customers to refer their friends and family to you. (Keep in mind; referrals are the most cost effective way to get more business!)

Next, you have got to determine how your target customers would look for a business like yours. Would it be on the Internet, newspapers or via other influencers? Once you determine the best ways to target them, you develop a compelling message that will compel them to take action and try your product or services. (When selecting your marketing strategies, think about the ones that will deliver the best results for the lowest cost. Then, test and measure your results so that you can evaluate the effectiveness of each marketing approach.)

By focusing on your ideal customers, your business will continue to flourish. It will take less effort to attract more and more of these people. You will have the opportunity to grow by offering those complimentary products and services which will increase your average dollar sale and overall revenues and profits!

For tips specific to your business, give me a call. We can tweak this approach and attract more of your ideal customers! I can be reached at Judyfreeman@actioncoach.com or 703-764-9861. More ideal customers are just a phone call away!

Here are a few facts: There are more than 600 million people on Facebook, more than 200 million on Twitter and more than 152 million people blogged in 2010. That is ALOT of people we could all be connecting to. We at ActionCOACH - looking for coaches, looking for clients to coach, looking for people that have what it takes to join the ActionCOACH community in one way or another.

The Marketing Team for GulfSouth and Virginia ActionCOACH has already delved into the depths of Facebook and Twitter, which brings us to the BLOGGING WORLD! Since this is our first (of many more to come), I wanted to take a minute and introduce myself and how I fit in with ActionCOACH. My name is Sunny Duggins and I am the marketing manager for the GulfSouth and Virginia ActionCOACH teams. I will be writing the blogs each and every week, so feel free to share any ideas or suggestions.

I will be blogging about all differnet topics - my goal is to teach you, educate you and inform you about ActionCOACH while showing you how passionately we feel about our ActionCOACH commuinty….and along the way I hope to learn something from all of you.