I love change.I always have and always will. I remember when I was a kid, I would reorganize my bedroom furniture on a weekly basis. I loved the ‘newness’ of it all. We also moved a lot so ‘change’ became my friend. Not only did I not fear change….I craved it. Having said that…change is not always easy and it often requires a lot of guts!
And talking about guts…here is a gutsy woman making a gutsy move. Mavreen (our rock-star assistant) is making a big bold change in her life. She is saying goodbye to LeapZone to invest in herself. She is taking a leap of faith by going back to school and we are very proud of her. Margarita and I have made many bold decisions in our lives and we recognize how much courage it takes to leave what is safe and familiar behind to start something that is scary and new.
Mavreen, we want you to know that you will be greatly missed by us and by the entire LeapZone Community and we wish you a fulfilling journey of discovery, learning and creativity. 2011 would not have been the same, nor have been possible without you, and we look forward to having the opportunity to collaborate, in one way or another, with you again in the future. The friendship that we have created will be forever nurtured and cherished.
Here are a few words from Mavreen:
Dearest Leapers,
The last year and a half has been an incredible learning experience. I have been challenged, moved, and inspired which has lead me onto a new path. I am thrilled to be going back to school and building upon the experiences I have been blessed with, but I will definitely miss LeapZone and all of the people with whom I have connected. A huge thank you to Isabelle & Margarita for their generosity, support, and wisdom. You ladies are beyond fabulous and I love you both! I hope to stay in touch with you all and look forward to having our paths cross again at some point in the future. Best of luck and speak soon!
Thanks Mavreen for everything that you brought to us personally and to LeapZone. We wish you the best in your new endeavors and may 2012 be all that you want it to be…and remember that it’s much easier to do it, than to dwell on it! LOL!
Note to our Leaper Community
As you know, parting with a great employee creates a lot of loose ends. Both Margarita and I are taking this opportunity to simplify…simplify…simplify…everything from our value proposition to our business processes, client touchpoints, contact management system and everything in between. Why? To force us to keep it simple and to ensure maximum value for you. Having said that, I know that we will probably drop the ball a few times in the process despite our efforts not to, and we thank you in advance for your patience.
Hope you had a fantastic Holiday Break filled with great food and great moments with family and friends! Margarita and I are taking some focused Bubble Time this week to really work ON our lifestyle and business. It’s a great opportunity for us to get a lot done while slowly re-integrating into our schedules and daily rituals.
One key factor in preparing for a new year is to reflect and evaluate the previous one. It’s important to look into the eyes of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly to learn as much from it as we can and to recognize patterns so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
As Margarita and I are reviewing 2011 and planning for 2012…we are asking ourselves some tough but valuable questions and I thought I would share some of these questions with you, as they are powerful and important to reflect upon in order to raise the bar and move forward.
Investing 15 -20 minutes in this questionnaire will definitely prepare you for a great 2012. Here you go! Are you ready for 2012? https://leapzone.wufoo.com/forms/w7×3k1/
P.S. By filling this out before January 7th, you are automatically entered to win one full year of MyLeapTools.com*.
*MyLeapTools™ is packed with kick-butt tools, templates, strategies and methodologies that have greatly helped us, and our clients, take their brand and business to the next level. Each item comes with a kick-ass tutorial explaining how to best use it and what it will do for you!
I look forward to continue to be a part of your “virtual team” to help you raise the bar and take your business to the next level.
Enjoy and cheers to a kick ass 2012!
Isabelle
Catalyst at LeapZone Strategies
Host of LeapTV.com
We encourage you to take action, because a little goes a long way. We can all make a difference!
Want to help brighten the lives of some of Greater Vancouver’s neediest children?
Here’s how you can:
“Like” The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund on Facebook.
Go tovansunkidsfund on Facebook and hit the like button. For every like Telus donates $1 to Adopt-a-School and The Children’s Fund matches that. So every like = a $2 donation.
Check out the Children’s Fund web site at vansunkidsfund.ca for more ways to donate and learn about the needs of children in inner-city schools.
Adopt-a-School Donations of New Items
The Adopt-a-School project is aimed at collecting financial donations as well as providing a conduit so readers can immediately donate goods such as coats and shoes and gloves directly to those schools and students that need them most. For information on how to donate new items, contact Adopt-a-School at adoptaschool@vancouversun.comor call Adopt-a-School coordinator Kathy Anderson at 604-605-2654.
Leave a comment! Asking questions as well as sharing wins, challenges and experiences is not only necessary to growth, it’s also a great way to learn from your success community! (not to mention an excellent way to drive more traffic to your site!)
To learn more about how LeapZone Strategies can help you increase brand awareness and overall performance and profitability through business, branding and marketing strategies, fill out our free Needs Assessment Questionnaire today.
EXPERT GUEST: Dina Robertson of Codeshed Solutions – Leveraging SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and what it takes to make your website a lead-generating tool. PERFORMANCE TIP OF THE WEEK:www.Listorious.com
Chasing sucks. Prospects, clients, people who owe you information, drawings, money. I hate having to chase. Most of us have to do it–A LOT. Most of the time we go into the bottomless pit of voice mail hell to be tortured by the digital demons therein. Here is how to get your phone call returned more often. There are no perfect strategies that guarantee 100% response; even the IRS auditors don’t get 100% return calls. But you can do much better if you follow this approach.
Quick note: This skill focuses on getting a returned call from someone you have already met. Prospecting is a different skill.
Step 1: Tell the person what you want.
Calls that say “Call me when you get a chance” are relegated to someone’s “B” or “C” priority list. (When was the last time you were working your “B” priority list?). If your voice mail says “Give me a call back, I have a couple of things I want to review with you,” then you are never going on that person’s radar of must-do priorities.
Tell the person you are calling what you want right at the beginning of the call. Make certain your voice mail is not longer than 40 seconds- they won’t listen to it. What do you tell them you want? A document, a phone call, an email, a piece of information- whatever it is that you want, ask for it and ask for it fast. I’ll give examples below.
Step 2: Speak in terms of time.
Tell them:
* How long the returned call will take. (3 minutes, 11 minutes, “less than a cup of coffee” are all good increments)
* Must-talk-by date and time. Your message needs to say, “This call has to happen by….” And then give the date and time. End of day tomorrow, Friday by noon, this afternoon before 3:45pm. Success goes up if the window is later than 4 hours from now and no later than 24 hours from the point of your voice mail message you are leaving. If, by some miracle, you are actually talking to an administrative support person, the time issue is the same, just ask to book the appointment.
Step 3: Declare consequences.
To create urgency you need to declare consequences. Notice I used the word “consequences” not “threats.” Consequences are the natural and understandable outcomes of an action or inaction. You are telling the person you are reaching out too that if he does not call back to you this will happen. Factual and without emotion. Here are some approaches:
* Negative Option – If you do not hear back, you will assume the answer is “no” and you will act accordingly.
* Time expiration – If you do not hear back, time will expire on the offer and what has been offered will be rescinded.
* Delay of Progress – If you do not hear back, then the proposed date for start or end will not be attainable and will be delayed.
* Positive Option – If you do not hear back you will take that as tacit approval and will move forward with the previously agreed upon actions.
Examples:
* “Bill, this is Tom from XYZ. I need the final drawings we discussed by noon tomorrow in my email or I will not be able to honor the delivery date of next Friday. Please give me a 30 second call when you have sent them to confirm. Thanks.”
* “Sue, this is Joe from PDQ. I need confirmation of the wire transfer by end of business today or we will not ship. Please give me a call back by 4:00pm to ensure shipment. Thanks.”
* “John, this is Deirdre from Pinnacle. I only need 3 minutes to get the details from you I need to give you the proposal you requested. If we connect by noon today, you’ll have my proposal before you pack up to go home. Thanks.
* “Frank, this is Alex from Acme. A call no longer than a cup of coffee will sort out the issues you raised about the proposal. We have been out of touch for over a week- that usually means bad things. If I don’t hear back from you by end of day tomorrow, I’ll take that as a definite “no” and assume you are not interested in the proposal. Thanks.”
What you should notice is that
1) This approach takes a forceful and direct tone, rather than a subservient and weak tone.
2) The messages are short. People rarely listen to long, detailed voice mails. They scan, much like we scan our emails. They store the things they intend to listen to later and delete everything else. They rarely get to what they say and eventually it solves itself or they delete it.
3) Action requests, time frames and consequences are clear.
In order to make this exercise easier,write a mini script for your phone messages. Leave dates, times and specific requests blank so that it can be re-used. Have it in front of you when you are making your call so that you don’t stumble and veer off on a tangent and end up on the “B” priority list. Be prepared and get better results!
Got something to say?
Leave a comment! Asking questions as well as sharing wins, challenges and experiences is not only necessary to growth, it’s also a great way to learn from your success community! (not to mention an excellent way to drive more traffic to your site!)
To learn more about how LeapZone Strategies can help you increase brand awareness and overall performance and profitability through business, branding and marketing strategies, fill out our free Needs Assessment Questionnaire today.
I love change. I always have and always will. I remember when I was a kid, I would reorganize my bedroom furniture on a weekly basis. I loved the ‘newness’ of it all. We also moved a lot so ‘change’ became my friend. Not only did I not fear change….I craved it. Having said that…change is not always easy and it often requires a lot of guts!
