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What’s the First Obvious Action?
I was talking to a client today about how even finding the right phone number to call can make a big difference in whether or not we call to negotiate a bill or make an appointment. If we know the number we can stick it next to the to-do item in our list. We both…
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Slow is Fast?
I was talking to a client who wanted to slow down some of the things he was doing because he realized that trying to push harder was actually setting him back. I laughed (internally) when I heard that because I was a little late for that call so when I went to my computer I…
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“Is this the most important thing that I could be doing right now?”
“Is this the most important thing that I could be doing right now?” I started asking myself this question and find it liberating. No. I don’t have to read the fancy Sherlock Holmes books a friend gave me when I’d rather listen to the audiobook. No. I don’t have to read Made to Stick. It…
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What is the Goal? – and New List Schedule
Imagine this. You’re in the big city. You like going to cafes. You like being able to go for a hike and go out on the town in the same day. You have a freelance software development business and it’s going great. You’re making just enough to support the “big city” lifestyle, more or…
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Raising Prices
It occurred to me that I haven’t done an email specifically on resources for raising prices. This is what I and my clients have found useful for charging more while creating better outcomes for our clients: The Why Conversation by Jonathan Stark (11 min): https://podcast.ditchinghourly.com/episodes/the-why-conversation The Why Conversation helps you uncover a prospect’s underlying motivations,…
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Gardening in Relationship Businesses
Most, if not all, of our businesses are relationship businesses. I recently heard that those kind of businesses are like gardening rather than mining. In mining you mine for the precious resources and extract everything that you can from the ground until there’s nothing left. That doesn’t work in a relationship business. In gardening you…
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Listen Twice as Much as You Speak
“The best salespeople listen twice as much as they speak.” – Hormozi And it’s not only being silent, it’s how you listen. If you have ever played PACman, you may have an easier time of this. It’ll help you remember the PAC method by Matt Essam. P for Present. A for (No)-Agenda. C for Curious.…
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They believe nothing you say.
“They believe nothing you say, they believe everything they say. So I need them to say it’s a good idea, not me.” – Alex Hormozi* There’s a tendency to pitch when you want someone to sign up with your service. To tell them why it’s a great idea for them. And most of the time…
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Reader Feedback: Bad Labels
A reader is having trouble with the term “labels”. “I think I’m still struggling with the terminology — I feel like labels have a certain specific meaning in psychology (you attach yourself to labels that you give to yourself and other people, like “I’m a loser” or “she’s a downer”.) Is there another term that…
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Accusation Audits: Diffusing Objections Before They Start
One of my clients was in a bit of trouble with his boss. He had messed up, and needed to defuse the situation. You’re probably going to find what we did strange. We used a technique called an “Accusation Audit” to help him turn a bad situation into a good one. It’s stating negatives and…