Tom Rauch

Client Loyalty

How client loyalty “happens”

Turning just a couple of paying clients into loyal and raving fans of your business can do wonders for your profitability, as I showed you in this brief video.

The question is this:  how do you go about turning clients into active promoters of your holistic practice?  Companies that have – both large and small – follow these simple guidelines consistently, day-in and day-out.

First, they see the world through the eyes of their clients.  Every business has a set of solutions (products and services) to solve a client problem.  But when those solutions don’t fit the client’s experience  a huge and costly disconnect appears.  Businesses with many active promoters know that they must truly understand their client’s reality, and that it’s always changing.

Second, businesses that have high client loyalty make it easy for customers to do business with them.  They anticipate needs.  They offer options.  They listen.  They change their minds when they see that a policy or process really isn’t working.  They take care of the little things – the thoughtful amenities – that add up to huge value in the eyes of their clients.

Third, they tell the truth.  Businesses that grow through referrals (because they have many active promoters) say when they can help, and when they can’t.  They also tell their clients about other businesses that may be a better fit for them and their needs.  Businesses that turn down business – for the right reasons – engender a lot of loyalty and engagement.  Truth telling in business is the real bottom line, because it builds trust, and the strongest relationships are always built on trust.

Bringing client loyalty into your practice

Those are the guidelines.  Now, if you really do want to increase the loyalty of your clients, I recommend you do these things:

Think about what your client needs to do (or be) to take full advantage of your product/service offering.  Do they need to gain support from the people in their lives (family and friends) to make the changes necessary to lose the weight, eliminate the pain, ease the condition?  Is there something in their daily life that many times gets in the way of them following through on the plan you create with them?  What can you do to help them address these issues?  Businesses that really understand their client’s reality are usually the one’s that end up with much higher client loyalty.

Also think about how easy it is to do business with you.  Take a step back.  Look at your business and operations from your client’s perspective.  Would YOU want to fill out all that paperwork?  Would YOU find YOUR program engaging?    Sometimes we hang on to procedures and processes in our business that we like, or have always used, or a teacher/mentor told us that they were the best available.  But if they are burdensome and unappealing to your client – do you really need them?

Finally, clients want to hear the truth.  They want to know when you don’t know.  They want to know if you are the right fit for them and their health condition and issue.  They need to know what’s really holding them back from getting what they really want in life.  You are in a position to help them hear that truth – gently, respectfully and clearly.

A fun exercise to get you started…

Here’s a fun exercise to help you create even greater  loyalty among your paying clients:

Think about the two or three businesses that you have recommended (and continue to recommend) to family and friends.

• What do these businesses do that sets them apart?
• If you can think of two or three , what do they all have in common?

You might find that your own experience as an active promoter of a business (or two or three!) will help you create active promoters in your own.

I invite you to share your experiences as a loyal and raving fan with our growing community!

Who’s the Best Boss (or Teacher or Coach) You Ever Had?

Was it your fourth grade teacher?  A high school tennis coach?  A college professor?  Your boss in your last job?

Whoever it was, think about them for just a moment.  Take yourself back to some of the more memorable interactions you had with them.

When I think of the best teachers, coaches, bosses I’ve had, I remember several things:

First, they knew their stuff, whatever it was.  They were experts in their field, and had a way of explaining things that were simple, direct and actionable.

Second, they got “me” — they understood my opportunities and challenges, those things that made me unique and different.

Third, they held me to a higher standard — my own.  They saw in me great potential to do good work and give something of meaning back to my community.  They never compared me to other employees or students or players — they asked me (in their own way) to live up to my own potential.

Your clients come to you looking for help, whether they are addressing a health issue of unknown origins, or a very specific health condition that’s been identified but won’t go away.  Either way, they are — whether they will admit it or not — scared that this issue or condition will become permanent, a part of their life, part of their identity forever.

But when people find themselves in the presence of ‘greatness — the kind of greatness we have ALL experienced in the best bosses and teachers and coaches we’ve ever had — something miraculous happens.  Because we believe in them (because they believe in us), we begin to believe in ourselves.  And when we believe in ourselves, our healing not only begins, it accelerates.

Don’t you want to be the best health/healer/holistic practitioner your current and future clients ever had.  That when I ask them “who’s the best boss/coach/teacher they ever had?” your name comes to mind?

By knowing specifically what that person did, you can model their approach, and begin to (or make more consistent) the belief they brought into your life and remains today.  Honor their legacy by making it a part of your practice.

I invite you to start by paying a homage to the person you thought of when I asked the question at the beginning of the post:  “Who’s the best boss or teacher or coach you ever had?” — and — share with us what they did (specifically) to make them the best.

By sharing your story about them, you not only honor their gift to you, you can start bring their methods into your practice AND help other practitioners learn what it takes to be the “best.”

Things that Make Your Target Market Go Hmmmmm…

NOTE: Read “Targeting Your Market” and “Doing the Demographic”

In my previous two posts, “Targeting Your Market” and “Doing the Demographic,” I encouraged you to think about your target market from a slightly different, less-traditional perspective.

Health Condition vs. Health Issue

I believe it makes a lot of sense to think about whether you want to focus on a health issue or a health condition.  Health issues, as I explained, tend to be less specific — a client just feels run down, or they have a pain that their doctor can’t identify.  A practitioner who focuses on a health issue is going to have to do a lot of detective work, ask lots of questions, run their clients through a couple of tests before they can identify the root cause.

A health condition on the other hand, is something that client has (correctly or incorrectly) identified and is now actively seeking to address.  These clients have either been diagnosed and/or confirmed through their own research and intuition that they have a specific and known condition — an autoimmune disease, Lyme disease, lupus.  A practitioner focusing on a condition will still need to do some digging (asking questions, etc.) but they are going to start down a particular path with their client at the beginning of the engagement.  This practitioner may discover that their central challenge is helping their client understand they really don’t have lupus, but something else and/or get them to change a treatment protocol that isn’t helping but has become “safe and familiar” to their client.

So, deciding whether you want to work with an issue or a condition is important, and should reflect your preferences in terms of working with different clients — do you prefer helping people discover the root cause of an unspecified health issue, or do you like working with people who know what they have?  Again,  these are two very different clients.

Demographic profiles: age and gender

In the next post “Doing the Demographic” I pointed out the importance of knowing the demographic profile of our client — especially gender and age range.  I encouraged you to be honest about whether you prefer working with men or women, because marketing to them is very different.  Also, I think it makes a lot of sense to think about the needs and expectations of your target market as way of knowing what age range to focus on.

Writing a preliminary profile of your target market

After reading those two posts, you should be able to write a preliminary profile of your target market that sounds something like this:

I prefer helping men between the ages of 40-48 who are in need of clear, factual information about BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia) and expect to have a simple., focused and effective plan that helps reduce this health condition’s impact on their lifestyle within a three month period.  They also need and expect on-going support from a well-trained holistic practitioner to monitor the efficacy of their plan which they are now self-managing.

or, you could write a profile that sounds like:

I prefer helping women between the ages of 22 and 29 who are suffering from a range of health issues that center around frequent loss of energy.  These clients need unconditional support and understanding (many of have been told by their doctor that “it’s all in their head”).  They expect to have a practitioner who listens well, is patient, and understands that their issue will be most effectively resolved by strengthening the mind/body connection.

So far so good, right?  You can be even more detailed in this preliminary profile, adding additional needs and expectations (e.g., young women who are preparing to have a family).  Keep in mind that the more needs and expectations you build into this profile, the narrower your market.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing!  But you also don’t want to be so specific that you end up with 10 people in the world who have that health issue or condition!

Final note before we move on:  You may want to be specific in your profile description about how long they have had the issue or condition.  Do you want to work with people who were recently diagnosed with a condition, or have had it for many years?  Same condition, but the clients will have very different needs and expectations depending on how long they’ve had it.

Things that make your target market go hmmmm….

This next step is the most important — and most creative — piece in your analysis of your target market.

You want to come up with a set of facts or insights that this target market you have identified will find interesting.  Interesting enough to click on whatever call to action button you have on your website.

Let me explain, but first I need to back up.

When your potential client (that male between 40 – 48 with PBH) goes searching for information on the web, they are going to be bombarded with information about what they should be doing (and not doing), taking (and not taking), thinking (and not thinking).  Much of the information won’t be relevant to them, or they won’t find it useful or understandable.  Some of it will generally make sense and seem “good enough” to act on.

Your opportunity is helping them see their condition from a perspective they “get” (because its written specifically to them and about them), and goes one better than the “good enough” information that’s already out there.

You want them to say (or think): “wow, somebody understands me…” Maybe its something about their embarrassment about having it in the first place, or that its an “old guy” disease or its affecting their relationship with their spouse or partner.

You also want them to say (or think): “I never thought of it that way before…”

You know, the things that make you go…hmmmm….

People love having their curiosity aroused and satisfied — just like the proverbial cat.  People with health conditions or issues are actively seeking; 1) someone who gets them (not just their condition or issue) and 2) has a unique insight or perspective or process that they HOPED or FELT INTUITIVELY that existed but were worried that didn’t exist or that people would think they are nuts.

Does this make sense?  I hope so.  Because this is what’s going to make you highly attractive to your target market.  They are going to be inspired and motivated to click on your call to action button on your website which hopefully leads to a phone conversation about their condition or issue, which then leads to you landing a new client.

But it all starts with appealing to a very human desire (enabled and facilitated on a massive scale through Internet search engines) to discover new information about a condition or issue that they are actively seeking to resolve.

Think about it as a client yourself: don’t you just love coming across a website posted by a professional, well-trained authority who says (in effect): Hey, you’re not crazy.  I get it.  I get you.  Let’s work together using a plan and a process that’s worked for other people just like you.

Getting your target market to say/think….hmmmm….I never thought of it that way is a key piece in your development of a busy, thriving holistic practice.

Doing the Demographic

Read me first

Have you been to the US Cesnsus Bureau website lately?  Wow.  Talk about a boat-load of data!  I remember using census data about 10-15 years ago in conjunction with mapping software to market analysis for my clients and students.  Fascinating stuff.  Well, for a guy like me who loves turning raw data into (hopefully) useful information.

(If you want to get a really comprehensive view and definition of “demographics,” click here to see what demographic data the US Census Bureau collects.)

Gender: your first cut

When targeting a market, I like to begin here, at the “top level” of a market using the most reliable data I can find (usually census information is very accurate).  So I”ll first think about the age and gender of the people I want to serve.  For me, I like working with both men and women, but most of my clients tend to be women, probably because most of the holistic practitioners who work in private practice are women.  In corporations, when I do leadership coaching, I usually end up working with men (because — for a variety of reasons, not all of them clear or fair — men tend to be over-represented in senior management positions).

Sometimes the market is defacto skewed towards one gender or another which is something to keep in mind because marketing to women is very different than marketing to men.  (Explaining those differences is beyond the scope of this post; I’ll write another post on the subject later).  But — for now — you do need to decide which gender you are MOST comfortable working with on an on-going basis.  If the market you are trying to reach is outside your “gender comfort zone,” don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll figure it out later.  Be honest.  If working with men in your discipline isn’t all that comfortable, than just say so, and market to women.  Bottom-line: select a market (or market to a segment of a market) to the gender you are most confident working with, based on the results you’ve gotten with them, and where you believe you add the most value.

Age range: your next cut

Age is important too.  Full-time, professional marketers have age ranges that they use to bracket a market.  One of the most lucrative markets right now is men between the ages of 18-34.  Why it cuts off at 34 is a bit of a mystery to me, but I suppose they had to have some upper-bound to make the range meaningful.  Don’t fall into the trap of saying (or believing) you can help “anyone at any age” with a specific health condition or issue. People have different needs at different ages.  They value different things, they have different self-images and goals and expectations for their lives.  They are approaching different significant life transition points; they see their past differently and are looking forward to a different future.

I would also recommend you don’t define the age-range of your target market too broadly (18-34 seems to me too broad for the kind of work holistic practitioners do) or too vaguely (“middle age” or “boomers”).  In fact, I think it makes A LOT of sense for a practitioner building their business to focus more narrowly than broadly.  Here’s why:  think of our target market in terms of their needs and expectations when defining your age range.  Answer this question:  What (not “whose”) needs and expectations have you served best in the past?

Focus on needs and expectations

For example, have you been able to help people who needed lots of information about their condition or issue to help with their healing process?  These people may have also expected you tell them exactly what they need to do throughout the engagement.  Other practitioners may have experienced just the opposite: they have been most successful with clients who don’t need much information, but they do expect to get options so they can make the final choice.

Then ask yourself: where are these needs and expectations most likely to be found? in which age group?  Teens for example are the ones most likely to need a lot of information and told exactly what to do.  People in their middle years (40 – 50) like options.  If you are someone who likes giving lots of instructions and plenty of information, you might want to consider marketing to a younger crowd.

Up next: beyond demographics

Demographics are good for a first cut of your target market, but marketing through demographics alone isn’t good enough.  You have to take those numbers and massage them further, which I’ll show you how to do it my upcoming posts.

The Business Case for Building (and Selling) Information Products

There are six  good reasons for you to build and sell information products.

• First, you can create them with little or no overhead, depending on the complexity of your product of course (more on that later).
• Second, you can distribute them at little or no coast, especially if you sell them over the Internet, where your clients can pay for the product using on-line systems (like PayPal) and download it immediately.
• Third, you can establish yourself as an authority in your field — there’s nothing like having a book, or guide or training program that YOU put together that other people find helpful.
• Fourth, when you put together a product you are most of the time “teaching back” what you know about your discipline to a less-informed audience. This process inevitably forces you to organize your ideas and knowledge in a cogent, coherent and systematic way. I’ve learned a lot about what I know by having to teach it to someone else.
• Fifth, an information product can open doors to additional opportunities for you and your business. If your clients like this product, they will inevitably ask “what’s next” or “how do I do the next step in the process?” which — guess what — can be another information product you create.
• Sixth, good information products are tough to imitate. If you and I sell the exact same product (a DVD made by someone else for example) how are you going to generate more sales than me? By doing a better job marketing, or having better strategic alliances, or more eyeballs landing on your site than on mine. But if I create a unique product that meets the need of a specific market, you are going to have a hard time getting people to switch over to yours.

So, lots of great reasons to create an information product, and obviously lots of people have started to take advantage of the enormous potential profits. But does everyone who creates and sells an information product profitable?

Information products and profitability

Well, no. Creating information products sounds easy, but harder than you think. I know. I’ve been working for months on a product — Client Centered Coaching for Holistic Practitioner — that I thought would take weeks. Wrong.

Wrong. Wrong, and wrong again.

I remember Bill Gates saying before he wrote his first book “The Road Ahead” that writing a book couldn’t be all that hard. And you know Bill — he’s a pretty smart and determined guy, so maybe he was right? How hard could it be? Well, even Bill Gates learned the hard way that writing a book is WAY harder than it looks. A humbling experience for the Richest Man in the World!

Now, you may not be writing a book, just a “simple” product that you want to sell for $19.95 on your website. Maybe its a guide, or a demonstration or a training program to help your clients (or potential clients) do something better, faster and cheaper. A product that adds value beyond its price point in the eyes of your clients — which is why people buy stuff in the first place. Maybe even a product that generates a “buzz” in your target market because happy and highly satisfied clients are raving about your product.

Sound good? It should, because if you get it right, you can make a lot of money have a lot of fun in the process. And learn a lot about your discipline, your target market, and most important (I believe) about yourself because building one of these products takes creativity, persistence, patience and persistence. Did I say persistence twice?

In upcoming posts, I’m going to breakdown the process I used to create my information product to give you insights on how to do it, and know what you are getting yourself into. My product might be more ambitious than the one you are contemplating, but I think anyone who is thinking seriously about creating an information product will learn valuable lessons from my experiences.

Stay Tuned!

Targeting Your Market

You know that “finding a niche and serving it well” is a key ingredient in making your business successful.  Wildly successful.

There are a lot of reasons why targeting a specific segment in a market makes sense:

1.  When you focus, communication is so much easier.  You can use more specific, targeted words, images,and experiences to get your story out.  If you are target middle-aged, over-stressed middle managers who work for mid/small sized technology companies, you can speak their language — directly, specifically, engagingly.

2. Serving a targeted market allows you to develop routines and processes that don’t need to be reinvented for each new client.  If, for example, you create a program that helps busy Mom’s keep track of their diet plan — and that’s the market you are focusing on — you can use that system for each new Mom you take on as a client.  But if you are trying to serve busy Mom’s AND stressed middle managers AND teens with body image issues AND people with easting disorders — well, you’re going to have re-tool your system for each of those clients, because they have very different needs and expectations.

3.  Better to be a big fish in a small pond, especially as a solo practitioner.  By focusing on a target market, you can be one of the top recognized authorities in your field.  You avoid competing with the “superstar” health experts who are doing a great job educating the public about health choices through powerful media channels, but they also tend to drown out other practitioners who lack their marketing muscle.

So a target market helps you get your message out, build efficiencies into your program, and become a recognized authority in your field.

What’s less obvious is how you find a target market in the first place.

Here’s how to get started:

Begin your first cut of  market segmentation deciding if you want to deal with  health issue or condition.  Let me explain the difference.  A “health issue” is something like stress or a lack of energy or a general feeling that health issues have been neglected.  Many times people won’t have a health condition (more on that in a second) but just feel they need to be doing more to live a healthier life.  A health condition on the other hand is very specific: metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, Type II diabetes, fybromyalgia, another autoimmune disease.  This person has been diagnosed (correctly or incorrectly) with a specific condition that you help them heal holistically.

Now, it may be that your client with the “health issue” (general, non-specific) does have a specific health condition (insulin resistance/pre-diabetes) but either they don’t know that, or they are in denial about it.  In other words, they have no accepted that condition as part of their personal identity.  Someone with a condition that has been diagnosed — and they accept that diagnosis — becomes (in varying degrees depending on their personality) part of who they are.

As you can see, deciding between a health issue and a health condition is important.  A client with a health issue is going to need a different approach than one with a health condition.  People with issues tend to need a lot of education before they buy a product or service.  People with conditions, on the other hand, tend to be more focused consumers and are more likely to compare and contrast their choices more systematically.

Both types of practices are extremely rewarding.  But its tough to both when either you are just starting out as practitioner, building your practice, and its just you alone running the business, or both.

Up next: Doing the Demographic!

Are you leading YOUR league?

Professional baseball players who can hit the ball hard and consistently well get paid a lot of money.

You’re a professional, right?  Probably not a ball player, but you do get paid to do something.

What’s your equivalent of hitting the ball hard and consistently well?  Delivering on your sales figures?  Eliminating costs?  Bringing in new business?  Creating new products and services?  For me, as a business coach, its about marketing myself and getting results for my clients.

Am I leading the league?  Definitely not.  There are coaches out there who do way better than me.  But I would someday like to lead the league in my equivalent of hitting.

What does it take to lead the league in hitting, versus being “pretty good”?  I know, it sounds like a lot.

Let’s take a look at Billy Williams who used to play for the Chicago Cubs (and Oakland A’s!).  Billy was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1987.

Billy also led the league in hitting in 1972, when his average was .333.  The next year, he played about the same number of games (156 in 1973, 150 in 1972 ) and — more important — had about the same number of at-bats (576 in ‘73, 574 in ‘72).

But in 1973, the year after he won the batting title, he hit .288.  Don’t get me wrong, that’s a solid number.  But no one is going to lead any league hitting .288.

So how many hits separated Billy from winning the batting title in ‘72 and doing pretty well in ‘73?

Put away your calculator.  It was 25.  Twenty-five hits.  Over a 153 (on average) game season.  Over 575 (on average) at-bats.  Twenty-five lousy hits.  That’s one extra hit every 6 games. One (1) extra hit every 23 at-bats.

Wow.  When I broke it down into those numbers, I was floored!  I guess I thought to lead the league you had to get at least one extra hit every game.

And that’s exactly my point.  We psyche ourselves out of doing what it takes to be league-leading in our profession because it looks too hard, or it will take too much effort, or the people who do it are specially blessed with super-talent we don’t possess.

Right.  We don’t do what great hitters like Billy Williams do which is stay focused over the long term. Do all the little things that add up over the course of a season.  Instead, we drift.  We get distracted.  We forget the bigger picture.  We don’t stay sharp through training and coaching and learning from other players.

Try this simple exercise:

1.  What’s your equivalent of hitting the ball hard and consistently well?
2.  What’s your current batting average?
3.  What would a “league leading” average look like?

I believe you will find that its doing one or two small things consistently that gets you from a mediocre batting average to leading your league.  Don’t boil the ocean when it comes to figuring out how to take your business to the next level.  Keep it simple to perform like a league-leader.

(You can also find this article at: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Rauch)

Resiliency

What it is we mostly know; “resiliency” is a familiar word.  How we acquire it and maintain it — especially during troubling, uncertain times — is another matter altogether.

Being able to bounce back from life’s adversities is one of the keys to a successful and fulfilled life.  When we can not only get up off the mat after being pummeled by one of life’s body blows, but emerge wiser, stronger, smarter, more caring and empathetic, we experience a tremendous victory.  Perhaps showing resiliency is the closest we’ll ever come in this life to being re-born.

Why are some people resilient and others not?  Some people may be resilient, but inconsistently: they recover from one set back but seem to never shake another.

Researchers are finding some evidence — far from conclusive — that the structure of a certain gene that affects serotonin levels in the brain  (5-HTT) may account for the difference in people’s ability to “bounce back” after a traumatic event. Other researchers argue that (in the case of an abused child), he or she “still needs the ingredients that promote resilience — adults she can trust, the reinforcements that make her believe in herself.”  (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/magazine/30abuse.html)

In other words, brain chemistry and genetics may play a role in helping people be and stay resilient.  But without the proper social support, even the people with the strongest predisposition to resiliency may have a very tough time persevering.

So, a couple of things to think about:

1.  if you are in need of some “resiliency training” because you’ve experienced a loss or a set back, reach out for help.  Get around people who you trust and can reinforce in your basic goodness, the things that make you whole and complete and valuable.  This can be particularly hard for men, who are conditioned to believe that they have to “tough it out.”  Drop the story.  Reach out and ask for the help and support you need. You might also try some specific training suggested by Karen Salmansohn who’s written on the subject of resiliency, especially as it relates to career transitions:

If you find that you are stuck in negative thoughts try this. Tell yourself you are only allowed three negativity appointments of three minutes each in a day. Space them a few hours part. So if you felt negative at noon, don’t let yourself feel negative until 3 p.m. Use procrastination on your negative thinking.

(http://shiftingcareers.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/training-the-mind-for-resiliency/)

2.  The other side of the coin is helping others become more resilient.  If you know someone in your community who could use a trusted friend to help them bounce back, why not let that person be you?  Don’t ignore the reality of the circumstances that brought them to a place of need.  That situation has to be looked at candidly, objectively, and with a great deal of compassion.  At the same time, help them see all their good qualities too.  Don’t  tell them that they’re great, help them show themselves how great they are.

By lending this kind of support, you will grow too, and be part of the miracle of resiliency that can grow in each and everyone of us, everyday.

Deep Survival

From the book “Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why” by Laurence Gonzales

The principles (I learned about wilderness survival) apply to any stressful, demanding situation, such as getting through a divorce, losing a job, surviving an illness, recovering from an injury, or running a business in a rapidly changing world.

Its easy to imagine that wilderness survival would involve equipment, training and experience.  It turns out, at the moment of truth (when a crisis hits), those might be good things to have but they aren’t decisive.  Those of us who go into the wilderness or seek our thrills in contact with the forces of nature soon learn, in fact, that experience training and modern equipment can betray you.  The maddening thing for someone with a Western scientific turn of mind is that it’s not what’s in your pack that seperates the quick from the dead.  Its not even what’s in your mind.  Corny as it sounds, its what’s in your heart.

Amen.

So you may not be in “deep survival” mode right now, the way Gonzales defines it (being lost in the wilderness, adrift at sea, etc.) but the lessons he learned from his experiences are applicable to the financial meltdown we are all facing today.  People are losing their jobs, their homes, their self-esteem and identity.  Worse yet, the “map of the world” for many people has changed dramatically.  Once familiar and supposedly stable institutions have failed us, and will continue fail as the economic crisis works its way through a broken financial system.

Gonzales does an excellent job describing the shared qualities survivor’s possess:

1) They recognize that their world has changed; even though they might be the world’s best mountain climber, situations can change dramatically and quickly.  Many people who don’t survive — as it turns out — try to make this new world look exactly like the old one.

2) Survivors maintain an open mind, a curiosity about what’s going on outside in the external environment, but also what’s going on inside of themselves.  They don’t panic, but they also don’t take things too casually.  They above all resist the temptation to impose old modes of operation that were successful in the past, but given the new environment will very likely get them killed.

3)  The people who survive being lost rely on these qualities: humility, commitment, empathy, imagination, and total commitment.  He also makes the case — which I know sounds weird — that the struggle to survive can be laced with joy, humor and gratitude.  He has plenty of stories of people who found themselves, at their concentrated core, when they lived through terrific ordeals.  In surviving, they began thriving.

The place you are now may be exceptionally stressful.  It is for a lot of people.  Do you want to come out of this experience the same way you went in?  Or do you want to use this as an opportunity to make you stronger?  More compassionate and empathic?  Less anxious and more calm?

If you do, be prepared to throw out some of your tried-and-true methods for managing your life.  Some mental models will still work, but others won’t.  Relying on out-dated, ineffective models may prolong your stress.  Why not take some time to figure which one’s you should keep and which you should modify or discard?

Step #3 (Program Design) — Going Virtual

The Business Case for Building a Virtual Practice

I have been receiving more and more requests from holistic practitioners about what it would take for them to build a “virtual” practice.  The advantages to having a successful virtual practice are pretty obvious: 1) cost-savings alone; you don’t have to have a fancy office in an easy-to-get to location, since your coaching (by definition) can be done from your home/office or (virtually!) anywhere you have a reliable phone and Internet connection; 2) top-line revenue generation; virtual coaches have a reach that extends way beyond their physical/geographic location; 3) less-wear-and-tear for everyone since there’s no travel involved.

I am not the smartest business guy in the world, but I do know that when you find a solution that could potentially lower costs AND raise revenues, even I know it bears further investigation!

Virtual coaching is no slam-dunk.  Since you lose the advantages that come with face-to-face meetings (reading body language, physically examining your clients) a virtual holistic practitioner has to have (or develop) outstanding listening skills.  Programs must be highly structured — even more so than face-to-face sessions — because clients are more likely to think of a virtual practice as a “package” rather than as a “person.”  Practitioners also have to be confident that they can deliver meaningful results for their clients without the benefit of seeing them eyeball to eyeball.

Why Virtual Coaching Works for Me

I am a convert to virtual coaching.  Before, I used to believe that all “real” coaching HAD to happen face-to-face.  I’ve since learned that GREAT coaching can happen over the phone and through email.  In fact, some of my BEST coaching has happened this way, and here’s why:

1.  Clients show up; they miss far fewer meetings because they don’t have to travel to see me, or me to them.  Sometimes (I think) clients don’t want to meet with me because they just don’t feel like cleaning up their office or home, or meeting me in my office, or — they just don’t feel like dealing with another human being that particular day.  Yet when its a phone-only session, they can be in their sweats or never leave their office.  When it comes to compliance, convenience matters!

2. I can take better notes as I talk with my clients over the phone; I can take notes during face-to-face meetings, but it feels (to me) a bit awkward.  On the phone, I can scribble away madly and keep scribbling after we hang up.  Taking good notes, especially at the beginning of an engagement, is critical to getting to the root cause of a client’s condition or issue.

3.  I can see more clients in a day (or week) when I coach over the phone — which is good for my practice, but also good for my health.  Here’s what I mean: it’s easier for me to “switch off” after a client phone call.  When I see someone face-to-face, their presence lingers and its harder for me to shift gears.  When I can shift gears more easily, I’m more ready and present for my next client, so they get the benefit of my full attention.

4.  Calls end more promptly.  When I’m meeting with clients face-to-face, there’s a temptation to run a bit long.  In phone meetings, I always seem to end right on time, and it feels like a whole, complete and helpful session.

Challenges Encountered

But virtual coaching has some obstacles too: Lots of information can be gleaned from facial expression and body language.  Some holistic practitioners insist that MOST of their understanding about a client and their issues comes from their intuition that relies entirely on their visual reading of their clients.  For others, especially those who do hands-on work, the physical presence of the client is an absolute requirement.

Nevertheless, if not ALL coaching happens over the phone, I would encourage you to see if maybe MORE of it could.  Some holistic practitioners will no doubt set up hybrid programs where the first 1-3 sessions happen face-to-face, the next 5-6 over the phone, then the last 2-3 in person.

Ten Lessons Learned

Here are some lessons I’ve learned about virtual coaching, or coaching at a distance:

1.  I have to be organized; keeping my notes in order and in sequence is critical.  I have to be organized with face-to-face meetings as well, but organization counts even more in my virtual practice.

2.  I have become much more conscious about my listening-without-seeing skills.  One thing I learned is that using “silence” over the phone can be very powerful.  Sometimes I just let a question “sit” out there — which can be uncomfortable, especially since I can’t see that my client is just ruminating, but I’m learning the power of a silent moment.

3.  Using a land line is a good idea.Cell phones, unless they are absolutely necessary are still (for me) too likely to lose their connection.

4.  Eliminating distractions!  Unless I have to be in front of a computer, I’m not.  I like being in an open space so I can pace (when I’m not taking notes).

5.  Be mindful of time-zone changes.  I have missed a couple of calls just because I didn’t do the math right.

6.  Email is your friend.  I use email all the time to follow up with clients.  I also ask them to email me assignments 24 hours before our session so I can review them.  But email should not become an excuse to spam your clients with a whole lot of information that YOU are SURE they will find incredibly helpful.  Especially at the beginning of the engagement, just let them focus on a couple of significant issues and assignments.  Sending them a lot of information — no matter how well intentioned — is just bound to confuse and distract them.

7.  Learn the art of the respectful “interrupt.”  Since clients can’t see you, they don’t know that you might have  a question or that you want to redirect the conversation (which can be done more easily through body language).  On the phone, you need to know when to insert yourself back into the conversation, and what to say when you want to get your client back on point.  This takes time and practice to perfect, but if you are aware that you need to build this skill, you are already half-way there.

8.  Doodle.  I don’t know if you are a doodler, but it helps you focus on the words and tone and inflection you are hearing over the phone.  Look back at your doodles before the next session and you’ll see patterns emerge that will help you get to root cause with your client.

9.  Send a “ping” via email every now and then, just to check-in and say hi.  If your client had a significant event in their life (son/daughter getting married, etc.) send a note asking them how it went.  Or just when your intuition tells you its time for them to get a “ping” from you!

10.  Structure your program — be clear about who you are, who you serve and how you do it. and what they should expect from you (and from themselves) in your program.  Remember, these folks will be at first buying a package since they don’t have a chance to get to know you as a person.  So the package you offer needs to be as clear and as personal and personalized (to them) as possible.

Need help building a virtual practice?  Let’s begin today!