What do you do when it goes quiet?

Guest Contributor: Chris Barrow
Chris' Posts - Chris' Blog


One of greatest fears as a newly-trained business coach (that's the mid-90's by the way) was created around the concern I felt when clients either didn't contact me or make any demands on my time and ability.

"After all" I would tell myself "they are paying fees and I'm doing nothing to earn those fees."

Over time, my fear would settle into a deep paranoia - convincing me that it would only be a matter of time before the clients rose up as a body, accused me of being a charlatan and asked for a complete refund of fees.

So I found myself reaching out to them, asking "why haven't you called or emailed me. Why didn't you send a weekly email report, why didn't you join our bridge call?"

I find myself repeating this pattern in the context of our 2007 Dental Mastermind group - 18 principals paying £6,000 each for quarterly meetings, weekly email reports, a monthly call-in day (30 minutes on the phone with me), unlimited email access to me, an on-line forum and a monthly bridge call.

Surprise, surprise.

1. All 18 attend the quarterly meetings;
2. Maybe 20% bother to send any email;
3. Maybe 20% bother to complete a weekly progress report;
4. Maybe 20% attend the call-in days and bridge call;
5. Maybe 10% (!) have bothered to access the forum and post questions or answers.

So my paranoia began to settle in again a few weeks ago - OMG, they are all going to cancel!

But they don't and they won't.

Because they are getting what they want - rather than what I want to give them.

1. 80% of them are perfectly happy to invest £6,000 in quarterly meetings and a very occasional email or call;
2. 20% of them like to dip their toe into one or more of the extra services;
3. And my work schedule is delightfully clear - helping me to help those who need me NOW.

So if I were starting this year's group again - I would still offer all of those knobs and whistles - but I would manage my expectations as far as the take-up is concerned and make it very clear at the start that, like a gym, the facilities are there but if you don't use them, there are no refunds - not that anybody has ever asked for one.

When it's quiet they are happy - they will soon tell you if they are not.

And every now and then there will be evidence that they do actually see you as their coach - such a Saturday morning, when one of my Masterminders called me in dire straits because 2 important team members had resigned on the same day and he was feeling abandoned.

I had a 5-hour drive and a hands-free phone - he had a crisis - we chatted for an hour - and I probably made my year's fee in that call.

Are You Alone?

Often in business there can be the assumption made that people who do well have done it alone. We have been trained to think that the CEO has all the answers and should not need to ask for help.

In reality, however, the opposite is usually the case. Business owners who have the greatest success are usually the ones who admit that they do not know everything and look to experts and their peers to get advice and support. This is the power behind the Mastermind Groups.

The Essential Business Coach blog touched on this issue in a recent post:

In his work, Napoleon Hill talks about what he calls a 'mastermind' group. This mastermind group is made up of like-minded people who meet to talk about business concerns and find their way through in achieving business outcomes.

In this way, the most successful business people always have people around them. They have trustworthy people around them who enable them to think through the problems that they face and help them hone their business ideas.

You do not have to be alone in business.

Get the right people around you that you need to succeed. Get yourself a business coach and a range of mentors who will help you with your business success.