What can you do to ensure you’re a great client? In this episode I share the combination of six steps that help people get better results (particularly in business). You can use this list for your clients too, ensuring their results improve.
By listening [and taking notes], you’ll learn:
Enjoy!
Resources:
If you’d like to work together with me as your 1:1 business and marketing consultant, book a call here.
What can you do to ensure you’re a great client? In this episode I share the combination of six steps that help people get better results (particularly in business). You can use this list for your clients too, ensuring their results improve.
By listening [and taking notes], you’ll learn:
Enjoy!
Resources:
If you’d like to work together with me as your 1:1 business and marketing consultant, book a call here.
Hey guys. Welcome to the podcast. Super excited to jump into this episode today.
Shannon Stone:Today, we are talking about great clients getting great results, and I've got six areas that I will run us through. Whether you are a client of another business or a service provider, or you've got clients yourselves, these are going to be really important and helpful to one in your position. Get more out of the things that you do invest in. So when you are a client, and also when people work with you as well, I think it's great to take personal responsibility on both sides of the fence, whether you are the client or the service provider, and sometimes it's these particular things that I'll share with us today that add that little extra. To say, the strategies or the implementation work that you do, whatever it is that you actually do. There's the doing, the do, and then there's also the things that help to produce the results as well. So I've got six different areas that I'll run us through. Having been a client myself of many different things over the last almost nine years in business, as well as working with hundreds of many different things over the last almost nine years in business, as well as working with hundreds of many different clients, I've definitely seen what can help to facilitate greater results, and so, the more that I witness different things that are working, I want to bring more of that to the forefront so that everyone benefits from it, and part of why I want to bring this to the podcast here today so that, whether you're a client or you're a service provider, you can add these things into your repertoire and you can get greater results as well as help facilitate greater results as well. So let's jump into it.
Shannon Stone:So the first one is around your goals. So being a business and marketing consultant, helping businesses to grow their business, it's a very goal orientated type of work that I do, and it's one thing for someone to say I want to grow my business, but it's another thing to have a very clear and meaningful goal, and you really do notice the difference when people don't have that clear or meaningful goal. So I do spend a lot of my time with people to work out what is that goal and get really granular with it, working out what are the reasons they want to actually achieve this and get them really connected to it. Because once we start presenting ideas and strategies and all those kinds of things, it's not that they're not going to be insignificant, but they're going to hold more weight if they're attached to a particular goal and that goal is made very, very clear. So number one is having a very clear and meaningful goal and also reminding yourself of this often, whether it needs to be a daily, weekly or monthly basis, whether it's every time that you run through your strategy or run through the actions that you need to be taking, or why you're even doing any of this. Coming back to what the goal is is something that's really going to anchor you and anchor your clients as well. So I do encourage spending time and regular time as often as needed to work out that goal, update that goal, get clarity on that goal and updating it if and when is needed as well. So the goal is really important because to me, especially in business, like what matters if we haven't worked out what the goal is, we have no direction or no vision of why we're doing any of this.
Shannon Stone:So number one is always the goal. Number two, why great clients get great results is they take action. Oh, my goodness, we've definitely heard this before, but just staring at a goal doesn't make the goal happen. Or just talking about a goal doesn't make the goal happen. Or even just talking about the ideas and strategies doesn't make anything happen at all. So we have to definitely take action. But one thing I want to share on taking action and why it's almost critical for particularly my clients who are businesses, it's important for them to, one, take action but two, to make progress. Because if they're not making progress, we're going to keep talking about the exact same things or keep dissecting the exact same thing, and when someone starts to make progress, then we get to solve old problems, solve new problems, come up with new solutions rather than just staying in the exact same place all the time. So the onus has to be on both parties around someone taking action and making progress.
Shannon Stone:But I think it's really important if you feel like you know week to week whoever you're working with. If it's a coach or a consultant and you're talking about the same things, it could be because you're not making progress. And so you have to ask yourself how can I make progress? If it's a sales, marketing, lead generation, where you're trying to take on more clients, what do you need to be doing there? So you have more conversations and it's okay if you fumble and if you make mistakes that's part of it. But if it's the same situation week after week, you're not making progress. So it's important to make progress because this is what puts your investment. This is what makes your investment even worth it. Otherwise, you know, however long you're working with the person, you're going to just talk about the same things over and over. So if you are the client, think about how can I make progress? So I'm not just focusing on the exact same thing. Do I need to take more action or different action, or talk about the type of action I'm trying to take, but I'm not taking? So action is really important, because goals don't happen just by staring at them or talking about them. We do have to make progress on them.
Shannon Stone:Okay, number three is this rule that I have 100, 100. So in any kind of relationship, whether it's personal or professional, we can't bring half of ourselves to make a whole. You can't bring half of yourself, 50% of yourself, and I bring 50% of myself, and together that makes a whole. That is actually not a whole. That's like two halves still. So in any kind of relationship, professional, in this situation, you have to bring all of yourself, 100% of yourself, to the situation, and your client, or you as the client, has to also bring 100% of themselves to it as well. And there's a lot of different reasons for this, but I believe in the beauty of working together and in the work that I do.
Shannon Stone:I'm not an expert in everyone else's business, in your industry, in why you started your business, I ask all these questions, definitely, but you, at the end of the day, as the business owner, are always going to be more of an expert than any type of person that you hire into your business. So you have to realize that you hold so much weight and when you get the right person on the other end of the line, bringing their 100% and their area of expertise. That's when you have a hole. So I always encourage that you tell me about your industry. I will ask you certain questions to pull out the information that I need so that it makes sense, my job easier and it gets you better results.
Shannon Stone:But it starts with the idea that you need to bring 100% of you and know that that 100% that you bring your expertise, your experience, your knowledge of your business, your industry, the type of people that you work with. There is so much gold there and the onus is just not on one person to kind of pick up the slack or just to come up with the ideas and strategies. So I believe in growing a business from the inside out and you being the business owner. That starts with you because you've been there from day one and, just in my case, coming in as a consultant, I am an external third party person which there are plus sides to that. It's someone with almost a very removed state from that business which there are a lot of assets to it. But yeah, coming back to the idea that it's 100-100, we have to work together. You bring your expertise, I bring my expertise and that is a really great way to get results. It might actually be my favorite step, because when I see the results my clients get or some of the ideas and strategies that we come up with, like I could come up with the ideas on my own, but it's so much better when we talk about certain things and we come up with them together with 100% of you, 100% of me, and that together produces incredible results. So that is number three 100 and 100 on both sides.
Shannon Stone:Number four is trust 100 and 100 on both sides. Number four is trust. So when you engage in someone or someone's engaging in you, there has to be a pretty strong level of trust, I would say, in order to help produce the results. Particularly in, I guess, in my kind of industry, where it's business development, it's sales, it's marketing, it's a lot of growth-based activities, you have to have a level of trust. For example, some of my clients we do hit go on some pretty big, scary things at times. Maybe it's something they haven't done before, maybe, and it could be strategies, it could be hiring team members, but at various times there's times when they have to take a leap of faith and so they have to trust in me and also in themselves that they are doing the right thing and they do have the right support there.
Shannon Stone:But also in trusting, I think, people have to be willing to also make mistakes and things going wrong. Because when you can almost like just accept that this might not actually work out, but I'm going to try it anyway, at least you're not blindsided if things weren't to work out and just like the counterintuitive side to that is just because you've almost settled that idea that things could go wrong, but I am willing to try this anyway. You end up with greater results because you've explored all the things that could hold you back, all the things that could slow you down, and so you go at it with full force. And when you go at things with full force, without holding back, without being afraid of what could happen, because you've confronted what could happen, you will get greater results. So having that trust there is really important.
Shannon Stone:So trust in yourselves, trust in your actions and trust in the person that you've hired to help you as well. That is number four. Number five is honesty. So being open and honest with yourself, with the person that you're working with, around two things. What is working, I think, being honest around. This strategy is really working. I really like this. This is really working for me. And then also what's really working. I really like this. This is really working for me. And then also what's not working. So if certain things aren't working or certain ideas, or whatever it may be, are not aligned to you, that is perfectly okay. You just need to voice it. You just have to be honest about it With this as well, with honesty.
Shannon Stone:I think asking for what you need is really important too. So maybe you're someone who needs an extra layer of accountability, or there's certain areas that you feel you fall short on, or maybe you feel there's certain gaps in that service provider. Maybe their skill set isn't strong in a particular area, and that's okay. It's important for them to know that from you, and it's important for you to share it so that you can overcome it and create a solution there. The other thing I find around being honest and how this is really important is just asking for what you need. So and it might not, you know you might not get the answer in that particular conversation, but you could say here's the things I'm really struggling with. We don't have to have the answers today, but I would like to work out how we can create these solutions. This is something that I find hard, this is something that is difficult, this is something that isn't working. This is a big pain point in my business. This is a recurring problem, all those kinds of things. Just be really honest about it. The more that we can be honest, put things on the table, the better things become.
Shannon Stone:So that is number five, it is honesty, and number six is more like an attitude. So it's around being positive. So I find and this is something I really reflected on what is it about people that get great results and positive and great results faster as well? I find it's clients that have a positive energy, they are optimistic, they are learners. They will use their business and actions as feedback to learn and to keep going and keep growing. But it comes back to, I think, having that positive attitude, that positive energy to things, and just saying I want to try this, I want to see what happens and I will keep going based on whatever feedback I get from it. So positivity, I find, is quite underrated. But I also reflected on this because I've seen the flip side, where people can be quite negative or pessimistic about various things in their business and that will just shoot you down before you even get started. So, on the flip side to that, it is around being positive. So that is number six. So I'll recap them before we start to wrap up this episode.
Shannon Stone:So number one is the goal. So have a clear and meaningful goal. Number two is to take action and make progress. It's really important for you to make progress so you can keep solving new problems. Number three is the idea of 100-100. So 100% of you, 100% of me, and that's how we have a whole. We bring all of our expertise to the table, not just some of it. Number four is trust. So be willing to make mistakes, but also lean on that person that is there to guide you and trust yourself as well, whether they're big, scary things. Number five is honesty. So being open and honest about what's working, what's not working, what you need, accountability, all those kinds of things. Number six is being positive. So having great energy, being positive, being optimistic, being learners about your business and the experience that you're in, whatever it is that you're engaging in.
Shannon Stone:So they're the six areas I find that help clients to get greater results. Now, do clients of mine have all these things when they start working with me. Yes and no, so they may have a lot of these or they might have a lot of these or some of these in some capacity, but I always find that these areas or these skills, they do get sharpened and developed and strengthened as we work together. Because as much as I am a consultant to dive into a business and bring ideas and strategies and figure out what's working, what's not working and all those kind of things A big part of what I do as well is bring perspective shifts and reminders to people around just the way they should I don't know if I want to use the word should, it's pretty strong but the way they should or could be looking at things in their business.
Shannon Stone:For example, I had a client who was doing really well in her business and I always love to kind of push and see well, can we turn well into like much greater than that? And one of the things that I found was, after listening to some of her sales conversations, I found that I guess a gap was she was almost glazing over the impact her work does or the impact her business has to her clients. And so because I was able to tune into some of those sales conversations and have a listen, I was able to realize and just ask the question or just give that reminder of do you know how important the work is that you do and how much this impacts the person that is hiring you as well as the ripple effect it has on the people around them. And just that little reminder was quite a catalyst in that particular client's business and, you know, not just for the fact of it was a reminder to make her, to show her again how important her work is, but it also had an impact on her revenue, had an impact on her conversions and the people that she would work with. They're more willing to sign up. So we saw all of that uptake. So yeah, as much as I can share the strategies and all those kinds of things, I also love to share little reminders when I see them, or little perspective shifts. It's kind of like that positive attitude. It's like how can we be more optimistic about what is happening here? And just sometimes with that we get far greater results.
Shannon Stone:Okay, to wrap this up and bring this home, the action step that I have for you is to ask yourself how you can be a better client or a greater client? You might ask yourself what can I do to help? Make sure that you know I help us to get greater results in whatever situation that might be, and it is taking that personal responsibility. So ask yourself, maybe it's a situation you've been in before or currently, or you're planning to engage someone, but ask yourself, how can I be a great client? Because we all have our strengths, we all have our weaknesses. There might be something particular about yourself and your situation and your business that you can reflect on, take more of that personal responsibility and bring more of that good to the table when you work with someone.
Shannon Stone:A couple of examples I have for you is maybe with your accountant, for example. Maybe you need to start asking questions of your accountant and maybe you also need to figure out what are the questions I should be asking of my accountant. So maybe I've got a better understanding of what's happening in this accounting space in my business, or so that I've got a better you know, grasp, a better finger on the pulse of what is happening. So maybe there's some of the things with your accountant if it's a coach or a consultant, maybe it's the idea of 100-100. So are you bringing 100% of yourself to the table so that they can also bring 100% of themselves too, and I find often that is around the expertise that someone has in their industry, particularly in the work that I do. I know my clients are incredible experts, whether they admit it or not, but they're very well-versed in their industry and I want them to bring that to the table. I want to encourage they bring that to the table, because that's bringing all of them so I can apply my skillset, my areas of expertise, and they will get far greater results because of it.
Shannon Stone:Another example that I have for you say, you went to an event. I went to the Diary of a CEO event over the weekend with Stephen Bartlett in Brisbane, and what I reflected on with this is that if you go to an event, are you scheduling in time with yourself afterwards, or whoever you went to the event with, to debrief, to review your notes and to work out what action are you going to take from that event? It's just this whole onus and this whole idea of that personal responsibility that we can get greater results from the inside out. We don't always have to be out there looking all the time. It starts with us. So that is what I have for you today.
Shannon Stone:I hope you found this useful and think of this for yourself as a client, and also think of this as an experience for your own clients as well. How can you help facilitate them to get greater results? And sometimes it's communicating some of these to them as well. Maybe it's adding it into your onboarding or your induction phase.
Shannon Stone:When clients start to work with you or, you know, recreate an onboarding experience if they've already working with you to say, hey, I've been thinking about some things that help a lot of my clients get greater results and I'd love to share them with all of my clients. And here they are, run them through that. I'm sure they're definitely going to appreciate that. So that's what I have for you today. I hope you have an amazing day, an amazing week, and I'll talk to you again very soon.