Masterclass: Covid Client Connections

Well, hello everybody. Here we are right on 12 o'clock. So I wanted to say thank you to you all for coming along. That's really fantastic. We've had— this has been quite an interesting topic, so I'm really looking forward to going through this with you. Now, Zoom has just changed It's security, so people will come into a waiting room. So I might have to pause and let people in if they come a little late. So I just did want to let you all know that so that you aren't thinking, what is she doing? So thank you very much for coming along, as I said. And I really love to start on time, but I might just wait a couple of minutes and then we can kick off. So I think one of the really interesting things that I've been seeing with this COVID crisis or whatever you want to say. There's such a variety of different things that are happening for different people in different businesses. And it's such a fascinating— or will be a fascinating thing to look back on and just see what these different businesses did or different people did to be able to Survive and thrive in this environment. And I think there'll be some great lessons for us all in that. So, but I suppose my focus isn't on looking backwards. My focus is very much on looking forwards and about what we can do right now and just perhaps giving you a little bit of food for thought. About— pardon me— what you can do a little differently to what you've been doing. So we might start. So thank you for coming along. I'm going to be running through a presentation and then I'll have plenty of time at the end for questions. So for those people who like to ask questions as you go along, please feel free to pop them in the chat or write them on a And then at the end, those people who've put them in the chat— and so this is me encouraging you to do that— I'll go to those first, and then if we've got time, we can open up to other people. But questions are a really great way for you to get the best investment out of me. So you're investing your time in here, I'm investing my time, and if you want the best investment out of me, you need to ask questions. Out of that, then please ask questions. After today, I will be sending everybody a copy of the recording and also a worksheet just to prompt you on some of the things that we're covering today. And again, you will notice from my presentation that I'm very much an action-oriented person. So my, my hope Is that each one of you takes at least one thing and does something with it today. So for those of you who don't know me, I happen to have been in and around the sales game for 24 years. I turn 50 next year and I'm hoping to go to Paris. So let's get the international travel happening by then. But the truth is, I love selling. I love connecting with people. I love solving problems. I love being curious. But for the last 9 years, as well as selling in my own business, I've been actually helping people understand the hidden rules and psychology of what actually happens Underneath sales. So what's happening in your psychology? What's happening in your client psychology? And how do we get those things hopefully to move in conjunction so that you can be better at selling, or at least understanding what's going on when you're talking to clients? So my goals for today is really to show you that now is the time for you to be really looking at your clients and getting up close and personal with them. So we want to— I want to talk to you about why I think that's important. So that might be obvious, but for some other people, that might not be so obvious. Either way, we'll cover that off. Um, I want to think about who you should be contacting because it's not just the obvious people. And then I'm going to talk about what are the mechanics of actually doing that. What— how should you do that? And that will then talk about your message and mediums and hopefully the results that you will get out of that, or what to be looking for. So that's what we're doing today. So let's kick off. Okay. So Simon Sinek, for those of you who haven't seen his TED Talk, do yourself a favor and have a look at Simon Sinek, S-I-N-E-K. And he wrote a book called Start with Why. And I think that's a fantastic idea. So the truth is, when there's a crisis, people react in different ways. They— some people freeze, some people run away, some people fight, and we all react differently. And the reasons that we react that way are too long to go into. In this short time that we have here. But there's a whole lot of psychological reasons that people do that. So the truth is that until we find ourselves in a crisis, we actually don't know how people are going to respond. And often it's the people that you don't expect that are the most surprising. Obviously, that makes sense. But, you know, there's some really unexpected behaviors and things happening. Some people shine, some people don't, and everything in between. As well as this, we all make assumptions. We make assumptions that people aren't working, are working, are busy, aren't busy, are coping, aren't coping. And assumptions are a really dangerous thing because assumptions are just basically figments in our mind. They, they have really no basis in reality. And so they can be very dangerous. And lastly, and I wrote a blog post many years ago called What Your Mother Can Teach You About Selling. And it's just polite, isn't it? It's a nice thing to do to reach out and connect with people that we know at a time of crisis and check in. So do what your mother says. Okay, so who? Obviously customers. That's really important, but also key suppliers. Key people in your, in your chain or in your environment. They might be competitors. They might be people who, you know, if you're selling bedding, they might sell sheets. I just think that we can broaden who we're thinking about. I want you to think about, rather than customers and suppliers and those sort of labels. Who can you help? And who can help you? And I think that's 2 really good frames to just think about having both of those in place so that you can go ahead and, and, you know, think about it more broadly than the labels that we typically use around customers and suppliers, etc. Et cetera. And so I just want you to rethink who you have contacted and who you should be contacting, and just think about that a little bit more broadly. Okay, so for the people who are new to FRAN, you will This may be new for the people who've worked with me before. These are the 3 tenets that I work with across pretty much everything that I do. So when I'm working— when I'm working with people, we have to start with mindset. How are you feeling? How are you thinking about what's going on? What are your assumptions? What are the things that you're putting out there or wanting to put out there? So first and foremost, we've got to get that mindset right. We've got to be thinking about the right things because if you're— let me give you an example. If you're thinking, oh, I don't want to bother people, see how my body moved and I crunched up a little bit because I want to be smaller physically because I don't want to bother people. Oh, is it okay? And my voice is more timid. If I know that I've got something of value, then I stand up, I sit up straight or stand up straight and my voice So if you're picking up the phone, or even on Zoom, your posture, the tone of your voice is really, really important. And this is a subtle, subtle thing that why mindset is so important. So I'll go into that in a little bit more detail. And then I'm going to talk to you about activity, what you should be doing. So once you get your mindset right, you can do the right things. And then I also want you to reframe or rethink about results. But let's run through those things now. I love this picture of the brain because I think it looks like mine. Frightening, isn't it? So when I think about mindset, I think about how am I approaching this? How is the other person approaching it? What are the assumptions? Because we all make assumptions. And what I encourage you to do is if you are looking to have a tricky conversation with someone or you're a bit unsure, just think about it. Put it down on paper. How are you feeling? What are you thinking? What do you think the outcome is going to be? What do you think the other person's thinking and feeling right now?

So—

Oh, sorry, I've just pulled up the chat. Marion's just saying, yes, that's me not bothering people. Yes. So, so I want you to think about— pardon me— your mindset and their mindset and where you think or assuming they're coming from. Then instead of making them statements— well, you can make your mindset a statement because you know that, but instead of making the assumptions that you have about other people a statement, I just want you to turn them into questions. And that will be a great resource to when you're actually having that conversation with them. So the other thing about what we're thinking is that words— that the words that we convey are actually only 7% of communication. 7%. So 93% of communication is body language and tone. And so that's why when you're thinking one thing but saying something else, people see through it and people, and people know. Now, they might not know exactly what you're thinking, but certainly they, they get a feeling that, oh, it's just not quite right. What What they are seeing with their eyes, what the body language and all the tone in your voice is not the same as the words that you are using. And when there's an incongruence between those things, people won't trust you. The next thing I'd like to talk to you about is activity, and this is one of my favorite equations. Now, I didn't come up with this. Some smart Harvard dudes did. Then But the trust equation— trust has an equation, and lots of people don't know that. And this is actually on your activity sheet that I'm going to send out for you, just to really have a think about how you build trust. So I'm just going to run through the 4 elements there for you. So the first one is credibility. Credibility is relatively easy. to, to have and acquire. It might be your qualifications. It might be a club you're a part of. It might be that, you know, you're wearing a white coat if you're a doctor. So credibility is, is relatively easy and quick, and it's often external, from an external body. Reliability has 2 elements to it. Often people think about reliability is Doing what you say, and that's right, it is. But what people often miss is saying what you do. When we are working in our business and doing things day in, day out, time and again, time and again, our patterns of behavior, our patterns of working on clients, with clients, is second nature to us. So we assume that other people understand that. And so when someone says, oh, well, I'll get that to you. There's a, there's a gap there. They haven't said when and how. And so there's a really simple fix to that, and that is to say what you do in detail and then to back that up with doing what you say. So a great example would be if you're having a conversation with someone and they've said, Let's say they've expressed some interest or you've said to them, look, I can help you with JobKeeper, I can help you with XYZ. What I'm going to do is put together an email for you. Look, what I'll be able to do is— look, I've got appointments till about 2 o'clock today, but so I'll get on to that this afternoon. So expect it from me before 4 o'clock. So here you are managing their expectations because here's the rub. If you don't tell them the date and time and manage that expectation, they automatically in their brain have set a time for which they expect that. And if you don't meet that, they will think that you're unreliable. So that's a really good reason to just add that little step. And that sense of— and particularly at a time like now, that sense of surety and trust and and really being super clear about what you do, when you're going to do it, will add so much to that trust quotient for you. The 3rd element of trust is intimacy. So that doesn't mean holding hands with your client and skipping down the street, but it does mean getting to know them on a more personal basis. So one of the rules that I really hold strongly with intimacy is you've got to give to get. So if you are reserved and don't share things, then very likely the person that you're talking to will, will do the same. Equally, if you turn around and maybe tell a story about your kids or your home life, or obviously it's got to be something that you're comfortable to talk about, then the other person will reciprocate. So if you want to build intimacy, you've got to look at what you are prepared to tell other people, how you display that. And when you think about that, I want you to think about that obviously in the words and things that you're talking about, but also your body language. Open, clear, hands above the table body language. Now, one of the funny things that I just reminded myself of is hands. I remember years ago listening to Alan Pease, who's a body language expert, Australian, and spoken all around the world. He's very funny. If you ever get a chance to see him speak, he's very funny. But he was talking about hands. Well, the reason that hands are so important being open palm up is because that shows that we've got no weapons. And it actually goes back to, you know, when we were cave people. And, you know, we had to make judgments really, really quickly about the other person. So basically, by having your hands in sight and open palms, it's very quick and easy for the person in their brain to think, oh, there's no hidden gun or knife. And I know that seems a bit crazy. Talking about that from suburban Australia, but it's still the truth. Irrespective of, you know, the fact that we don't really carry knives. Well, most of us anyway. So they're the 3 elements that build trust: credibility, reliability, and intimacy. Now, what destroys trust or diminishes trust is what we call self-orientation. So that's basically looking after yourself. So you think about a conversation you've had with someone and all they do is talk about themselves. You don't really trust them, do you? When people talk about hungry salespeople and all they can see is the dollar signs going through their eyes, that creates distrust. But distrust can also be assumed. And it can also be structural. So I thought I'd use the example of if you are Westpac, if you're the CEO of Westpac, you're not going to take an important contract to the suburban lawyer, even though he could very well do the job, because there's a perception that he isn't the right person. And I think that brings me to my last point on trust. Whilst these words are about things— credibility, reliability, intimacy— the truth is that the whole trust equation is about perception. So how do your clients perceive your credibility? How do they perceive your reliability and perceive your intimacy? And one of the things to think about with this is that that will obviously differ with each person who's looking at it. So you can certainly put things in place that's the same for every client, but because it's based on perception, that will change. Okay, so the 3rd element that I look at— the first one was mindset and thinking about what you're doing in the right way, having the right mental approach. Secondly, the activity. And a lot of the activity, particularly when we're in a time of crisis or confusion, It's all about building trusting relationships. And so that's really why I focused on that trust equation. But the third thing I want you to think about is while you're going out and doing all of these things, I want you to reframe what you're thinking about with results. Often when, particularly with salespeople or perhaps people who are thinking about selling, they'll focus on the end result. They'll focus on the thing that they want to achieve. You know, is the dollars or the signing or the whatever. Can I please encourage you not to? Because very often, if you're focusing over there somewhere, you trip up on what's right in front of you, or you miss some beautiful things that are right in front of you. And that is true in life. And that is true in conversations and sales. So I really, really want you to be present. And in order to do that, I help people reframe results. So when you go to reach out to a client, the purpose and the result that you're looking at is simply to reach out. That's it. And then if you have a conversation with them, the purpose and the result from that is to learn more. And then if there's another step that comes after that, well, the purpose and result from that is for them perhaps to learn more or whatever the next step is. So I just want you to slow down your thinking and bring it into the present tense when you're thinking about client communications. Okay, so now let's get into action. For those of you who know me, you know that I love activity. And one of the reasons for that is because the sales discipline, which I have been in for 24 years, is very much about doing and talking and saying and not, not so much about digging through the past. So it's very forward-thinking and it's very action-oriented. Often people will, when I'm describing this, I'll say to people, now listen, or people often say to me actually that sales and marketing is the same thing. I'm like, no, it's so not. Marketing is about getting everything perfect and then releasing that, like a website or something like that, or a brochure. Sales is about taking whatever it is that you have now and going and talking to someone. So that's why I love activity. So we'll be, we'll be digging into activity now. Okay, so Here's a good framework for conversations that you're going to have with clients. It's called you, me, and the next step. Now I use this in conversations. I use it in meetings, emails, web copy, you name it. I, I use this structure all the time. So the you component of this isn't you, it's your client. It's the other person. What do you know about them? What do you need to know about them? It might start with a question. If I'm doing a cold call to someone, I'll often start with, so I know that you're a member of BNI. I know that you're the CEO. I know that because I'm making it about them. Obviously, when you're talking to your existing clients, there's more that you know about them than I know about someone I've never spoken to before. But I just want you to anchor everything around them. So the perfect way to start with this type of conversation around what's going on at the moment is, oh, look, it's the end of month where we've had a few weeks of experience now with this new normal. Tell me, What's the experience been like for you? So given that we're at the end of April, that's a great conversation starter, and it's very much centered on, look, I know that you're going through this, and I know that we're in this together, but what's the experience like for you? And when they answer, I really want you to take on the mindset of curiosity. If I'm having a half an hour meeting with someone or hour meeting, this you component really should take up 75% of the meeting. Getting them to talk about them, getting them to understand, or getting you to understand where they're coming from. Think about— and you know what I know about these conversations is often as you're having them, those little assumptions that I talked about right at the beginning will pop into your head, and that's fine. There's no problem with assumptions. The problem is what you do with them. So when you have an assumption, what I would want to do is turn that into a question. And so instead of saying, oh, I suppose you're busy now, which is kind of like saying— anyway, I would say, so tell me, have you been busy or not busy? Or, you know, tell me what's going on. And then they They might say, oh, well, we've been— yes, we've been busy. Oh, in which areas? Is it exactly the same, or have you seen some changes? So I want you to dig. I want you to be curious. Your job in this role is really as a journalist. Just imagine you're the best journalist in the world and you're going to dig to really find the answer. So that's what I really want to encourage you to do. So then the me component is about tying in what you have heard from them to your story. So let's say they said that they had been busy, then you could say, oh yep, I've been busy too. And what I found is— and so then you get to share some information, but it's not information. That goes from A to Z of all the things that you know. It's information that's absolutely relatable to the things that you've just heard. So when we're in that you component, the 75% component of the meeting, you're doing listening, listening, listening, really attentive listening, and really listening not just to their words, which we said right before was 7% of communication, but what's their body doing? Are they looking at their watch? Are they wriggling? Do they look comfortable, uncomfortable? Do they look happy? Do they look sad? Are they curious? Are they exhausted? Have a look at everything that's going on. And lastly, once you've kind of talked about you and what's going on for you, there may or may not have been some outcomes. From this meeting, some opportunities that have popped up. So if there have been, then please say, oh, now listen, you mentioned such and such. That might be something that I can help you with, or that might be something that I know a person who, who does that. So that's the time to move on to the next step and to be deliberate and reliable about that. So you say what you're going to do. When you're going to do it and when, when you're going to do it by, or how you're going to do it. I'm sorry. So it might be email or phone call or whatever it's going to be. So those things are really, really important in that next step so that you're always coming back to building that trust and the trust relationship, trusted relationship that you have with your clients. So when I think about understanding your clients, often people think about the demographics of them. How big are they? How many employees? What's their turnover? Anyway, I don't need to keep going because I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. But instead, I would like you to think about your clients as what questions do they have? What makes them tick? What excites them? What are they interested in? And what are they scared of or alarmed by? And so what I'm building there, rather than a demographic situation or a profile, is much more of a psychographic profile. And the reason that I'm really interested in doing that and teaching you and getting you to do that too is because when you encounter clients that are great to work with, they often come from different industries or different demographics, different sizes, different turnovers. But I bet your bottom dollar There's much more commonality between these 4 elements. And that's why it's really important to do. And so then you can use this as a tool for actually asking deeper questions. Asking about what they're curious about, asking about what makes them tick. What, what, what they light up with. And what they're cautious of. So I want you to go deeper. So when I work with customers around selling, one of the key tools that I help them with are roadmaps. A roadmap is a really simple way For spacing out a journey and sharing what that journey might be like with your client. And it's particularly in a time when things are a little uncertain. Having something that is certain is really fantastic. And we all know that relationships are a journey. And I think what's really important here is to partner with them and be clear about what you're doing and how you help. Be clear about what information and expectations you have of them, because in beautiful adult relationships like we all want with our clients, it's not a subservient relationship. We're not the master and they're not the slave, or the other way around. It's actually a clear, open, honest, deliberate relationship. And so by building a roadmap that asks the right questions and tells the right information, you give everybody in that relationship the best possible chance of actually sharing the things that are important to each party and then delivering on those in a way that both parties love. Equally, I want you to be clear about what you want. What do you want from this relationship? Is it, you know, what does a successful relationship look like in your business? And there's nothing wrong with asking for that. And actually, your clients will love you for it because when you're clear about what you're doing and clear about what you expect, both parties can actually deliver on that. It's when we get confused or we think that we can't ask that because They're a client, or we can't do this because— well, maybe you just can. Now I said here it's okay to be fuzzy, and what I mean by that is none of us know when the restrictions are going to wrap— come up. None of us know exactly what's going to happen next week, next month. So it is fuzzy. We are in a fuzzy land. At the moment. And so what I want you to think about with your relationships with your clients and your connections, your communications, is let's think about what that— what the continuity and rhythm of what certainty can we deliver now through our communications that actually help that. So what I mean by that is, let's say that normally you would call a client every quarter. Well, now you might put a call in every month. And so again, what I want you to do is invite that. I want you to be explicit about that. I want you to say to them, listen, none of us know really what's going on. How about we touch base in another couple of weeks? How about we touch base in a month? And, and just get that continuity happening so that we don't leave people for too long Sitting on their own wondering who could help them. So obviously, as we go and approach different people, whether they're existing clients or new potential clients or people that you meet in the street, we're going to say these things a little bit differently. But there are some great similarities here as well. With existing clients, obviously you can lean into the relationship that you already have for them, but think about how you could build a roadmap to improve that relationship, to deepen the relationship with them. With new clients, having a simple model that helps them understand what you do— I'm just quickly looking here because I did have one on my desk. Oh, found it. Like this. I'm not sure if you can see that. But this is something that I use, and I've got different versions of it depending on who I'm talking to, that just really helps them understand the 5 steps that I go through when I'm working with someone. And that's a way to be clear and concise and It's also a piece of physical evidence that you can leave with them that they can look at and share with other people. So there's so many ways that we can think about how to have more clarity in our conversations so that we actually are delivering meaning and something that's useful to the other person. And I think, you know, people that you meet, you know, one of the things that I'm really encouraged by with all, you know, the isolation, the COVID is You might not know it, but I'm the sort of person that walks down the street and says hello to everyone. My kids say to me, Mom, do you know them? And I go, no, but I do now. So I'm that person. So I know you're all going to cross to the other side when you see me now.

That's okay.

I understand. But one of the things I've been really encouraged about is that in the neighborhood, walking down the street, everyone is saying hello to everyone. Everyone is saying How are you? Hope you're okay. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And you know what? I just— I think that's so great, and I really hope that that is one thing that continues after all this craziness is gone. But just think about— there's actually a great book called The Go-Giver, and it's the story of a man who learns that It's not about going and getting what you want, but it's about giving other people what they want. And I don't know whether you've heard of Zig Ziglar. He, he was a very awesome salesperson and trainer and American with a name like that, Zig Ziglar. And I was very lucky to see him whilst he was still alive. And it was actually the first sales event that I ever went to when I first started selling 24 years ago. Anyway, he said, you will get everything that you want as long as you help other people get what they want. And I think that's such a beautiful summary of that. So I want you to go out and look what you can give, what services you can provide, and equally go out and look for people who can help you with what you need. And think about how you can help others by asking for what you need and want. Okay, so here's my connection program for you. First of all, mindset. I want you to be clear about what you are looking for. So what is it that you want to say? I also want you to think about who it is. Who can you help? Who do you need help with? Who are the people that you love helping now? What are their psychographics? What are the things that draw you to them? And what are the things that they get out of that relationship? Once you've done a little bit of work on that, I want you to go out and ask and build. And what I mean by that is really, once you've built a picture of who you think your clients are and the value you think that they get from you. And this might be potential clients or even people in the street. I want you to go out and test it. That, my friends, is just a hypothesis. Until you get out and ask and build on it and create it in a, in a really meaningful way, it doesn't really have substance. It's just an idea. The only thing that brings ideas into reality is activity. Oh, I should frame that. That's a great quote, Fran. Sorry, I do crack myself up. But it's true. So it's great to have a hypothesis. It's great to do that background work, but it's even better to take it out and get it validated or refined or improved in front of the very people that you're serving. And the beautiful thing about that is it's also a really vulnerable thing to do. It's a really open, honest, intimate, clear thing to do. And so this activity will help you build trust. And the funny thing is, when you do this, you build— you build more trust in you. You build more trust and understanding in what you do through the eyes of your clients. And really, at the end of the day, the results that I want you to focus on is first and foremost clarity. I want you to be clearer about who you are. I want you to be clearer about the value that you bring to the community. I want you to be clearer about what it is that you're— the questions your clients ask, what interests them, what makes them tick, what they're excited about, what they're fearful of. And I want you to know how you address those things. And then I want you to check that in with your clients and know that that actually does address that for them. So what you're building here is a beautiful tapestry, not just, you know, a 2-dimensional, we do this for this person, but actually a deep understanding of why it is that people buy from you and what it is that you get out of it. And this whole process is one of discovery. You will learn things about yourself, I promise you. And you will also learn things about your clients. You will find new opportunities, and you will find that things that you thought were opportunities weren't really there. But that's all part of the game. That's all part of the discovery process. So, Frances, So as you can tell, I'm a little bit passionate about what I do, but let me ask if there's any questions. So people can either— we don't— I don't think we have any questions in here. Just comments. About things which I think I've already read out. Oh no, and so Margaret and Jenny are talking about meeting their neighbors and having better conversations and eye contact and things, which is fantastic. But please, does anybody have any questions? Maybe you're furiously typing away. Or you can feel free to unmute yourself and ask if that's easier. Yes, it would be easier. Hi, Marion, how are you?

Good, thank you. How are you? I just started typing, but I think it's easier. I am very fearful— maybe I'll turn the video on as well because of my hands.

Hi, Marion.

I'm pretty fearful of contacting people when I haven't had contact in a while. Like, like for instance, one of my clients, I've, I've been thinking about her all the time, but I was scared to contact her because I thought, oh well, maybe she's depressed, maybe she's Busy, because it is a period where you can be busy with other things.

Yes.

And so I haven't contacted her.

So I think the simple answer to that is really just to put that context in for people. So I would say something like, oh, hi Mary, you've been on my mind. I've been thinking about you. Sometimes I look at what's going on, I think, oh Mary, you must be so busy and other times I'm not sure. Anyway, I just wanted to reach out and check in and see how you are. That's it.

Thank you.

So just simple, simple, simple. So often what we forget to do is, is to share our thoughts and to share our ideas and And there's nothing wrong with doing that. And let's think about it. So Mary's going to read this email. Let's say she is depressed. She's going to go, oh wow, Marion was thinking of me. That makes me feel good. That would make me feel good.

Yeah. Okay.

Okay. So, or let's say she's busy. And she's still going to think that. She's still going to think, wow, Marion, thank you. You must be busy too. Thank you so much for reaching out to me. You know, so I don't think— it's not like you're saying, right, you need to buy from me today. Yeah, you know, why haven't you sent your credit card details over? So you're not asking for that. So this is where exactly, you know, your mindset. So you need to think about, I'm going to be curious, I'm going to be open, I'm going to be sharing, I'm going to share what I've been thinking. And then I'm going to ask a question. But you're making that thinking about her. I've been thinking about you, Mary. I've been da da da da da. It's your thoughts about her. And then the me bit is, so I want to know how you are.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I know we've talked about, you know, doing a project later on, and, you know, I'm still open to talking to you about that. So, yeah, so absolutely, Marion.

Look, it's when you are an introvert, I guess it's a bit— yeah, it is just scary.

Yeah, but it doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be. So, if you think about it as just reaching out to touch base rather than asking any questions per se, And just sharing your context, then I think if you try actually writing that, it would flow quite easily. Often it's the trepidation is about starting, but once we start, we get it much, much, it's much, much easier.

Thank you.

So Margaret's just saying she absolutely agrees with you because we were all having these assumptions before we pick up the phone. They're too busy. And, you know, the way I often describe it when I'm coaching people is, you know, they're too black, they're too white, they're too green, they're too purple, it's too yesterday, it's too tomorrow, it's too whatever. Whatever, just pick up the phone or write that email.

Yeah.

So, you know, the funny thing is, I remember someone saying to me, and people in sales always have these things, never call on a Wednesday afternoon, don't call on a Monday morning. Whatever. Some of the best deals that I have done on late on a Friday afternoon. So to me, if it's in my mind, I'm in the right mood, I'll pick up the phone. You know what, worst case scenario, I leave a voicemail. And the other tip that I would give on that, if you are in the process of working with a client, is when you're actually talking to them, make sure you set up the next meeting. So that you don't have that intrepidation. So it's the simple— so that's back to the you, me, and the next step. So you're talking to them and you say, thank you so much, Mary. It's been great to have a chat with you. Listen, we talked about da da da da da. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to get some information to you. I'm going to do that today. And given that I do that, when should I call you?

Yep. That's, that's a good—

And then they say Thursday, you say, great, what time? Yeah, they say 10 o'clock, you say, fantastic, can I help you by putting in a calendar invite? So see how it just takes— and then when you go to call her, Mary, on Thursday at 10 o'clock, you're not fearful. You've got an appointment. She's agreed. There's— it takes all of that fear away.

Because I tend to contact people and ask them how they are going and that, and I kind of expect them to ask me, yes, I want— I'm such and such, I'm nearly ready with my book or whatever it is, and then I want to work with you. So I kind of expect them to say that, which I'm always disappointed that they don't.

No. Well, but here's the thing, right? So when you're selling, because you're effectively selling your services, right? Yeah. You've said to them, let's dance. And you've said, here's what the dance looks like. It's a foxtrot. We're going to do it to this music.

Da da da da da.

And now you're waiting for them to take the first step. Well, that's not how dancing works. You're leading. So you actually have to lead the dance. So you just— and that's why something like this with the steps on it in a pre-sales thing would be really helpful for you, Marion, because you could just say, right, we're going to do this and then this and then this and then this.

Yeah.

You know, and this is where we're up to. And so that type of thing would be really helpful for you. So it's helpful in those individual circumstances. It's also really helpful in a team so that you've got some sort of continuity around how different individuals within the team actually talk to clients. So yeah, absolutely. So there's some great gems for you, Marion.

Dancing. Thank you.

Dancing.

Thank you.

Does anybody else have a question?

No?

Yes? No? Yes? Just while I'm waiting, I will just tell you a little bit about a new project that I'm working on. It's called Project Mars. So if getting more structured and intentional in sales is something that you want— and by sales, I mean any conversation with clients— Then please reach out to me. I'm running a thing that I call Project MARS. So that stands for Mindset, Activity, and Results. And basically it runs over a 3-week period and we get to focus on whatever it is that you need help with right now. And we focus on getting the right mindset and thinking about it in the right way. Doing the right activities and what that looks like and also sounds like. So you get the right tools and words. And then thinking about how we measure those results and how we track that over time so that we can continuously improve it. So if anybody is interested in that, please reach out to me and I will send Some information on that as well. Also, Margaret has just asked in the chat about whether the recording is coming through. Yes, Margaret, I'm sending everybody who attended, and also those naughty people who didn't attend, a copy of the recording and also a worksheet to help them kind of apply what we've been talking about. So any more questions? Yes, no? You're all so quiet. Will I have to pick on someone? Come on, we've got 5 more minutes of Fran time. Might as well get you the most out of me.

I'm just thinking.

Okay, me again.

Do you have a favorite contact means? Which means for me, do you think it is Video call, call, or email, kind of, or telephone call, which I never do anyway because I hear badly. But—

Right, so my advice— yeah, so because only 7% of communication is actual words, that's my least preferred medium. So particularly if you're confused or you're asking questions, really the best way to do that is face-to-face because you're getting— and I mean real face-to-face, not, you know, ISO Zoom face-to-face. So the best way to do is face-to-face because you get all of their body language.

Okay.

And yeah, so then Zoom or some sort of video conferencing or even FaceTime is another option. And then Phone, but if you've got— if you have trouble hearing, then yeah, maybe that's not the right thing for you.

And email, are you—

are you—

yeah, how—

Because I follow things up. I like to follow things up with email.

Follow up. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

So reiterating things. Yeah. So Tracy says, I'd love a bit more on how you differentiate Differentiate between sales and marketing. Yes. Hang on, I'm just reading another comment. Do you take— Margaret, I can't understand what you're saying, so I'm just going to ask— answer Tracy's. Just want to reread that. And maybe let me know. Tracy. So Tracy asks for a bit more about differentiation of sales and marketing. Absolutely. The process of marketing is really what I call herding. So if you think about what marketers do is they look at market stats, they look at customers, they look at similarities, and it's all about grouping. Grouping people into a commonality. So that might be psychographics, demographics, or anything in between. Really, if you think about herding sheep, then that's, that's what marketing is. Marketing is getting people to move in a general direction. What selling is, is once that person has come in that general direction, it's the salesperson's role to say, Right, that person needs this technique. That person needs this technique. That person needs this. This person needs that. So it's much more applied. So they often use the same sorts of tools, but it's done very differently. So it's in the activity because it's applied to the individual. So selling is about getting that person who's in front of me to say yes to what I want them to do. And I know that sounds like manipulation, but if, if you're doing it honorably, then what you want them to do, you honestly believe is the best thing for them. So does that answer your question, Tracy? Does that help? Great. Fantastic. And I've done some great work with With Tracy, and part of what we did, Tracy, with you was we kind of built those— let's call them marketing structures about how people work with your people internally. I mean, with their client, with your people, your speech pathologists work with the clients. But then it was up to the individual to sell that and to use that and apply that to the individual call. So that's where I would differentiate differentiate marketing and selling with what we did for you, Tracy. Margaret. Hi, Fran.

Good afternoon, everybody. Sorry, I just typed that from my head. Okay, so you've got all the sales techniques, you know, you've got your skill sets there and you've done the learning and education. Is there anything though, just say you suffer from anxiety or that initial hump to get on the phone, is there any A bit like a samurai warrior before they go into war or battle. And, you know, they meet as a group and they chant or have certain words they process their brain with to say, right, you know, you can do this, you know, get on that phone, get over that.

Love it.

That kind of thing is what I was trying to angle on.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's be honest, those sort of group mentality things do work often when you're in very high sales environments or sales-focused environments, they'll have a bell. So when people make a sale, they go and ring the bell. When there's teams of people— I remember a CEO asking, saying to me, oh, Fran, maybe we should put on a bell. I said, sure, and then I'll leave. I said to him, I'm not Pavlov's dog. So anyway, he decided not to do that. Very wise decision. But I would say to you, Margaret, and to everybody listening, do what makes you feel good. So when you feel good, when you feel good about yourself— so it might be— so I keep a file of nice emails that people have sent me, and if I'm feeling crappy, I'll go and read those. And here's one to add to the list from the beautiful Jenny. Fran, this really explains sales the best I have ever heard. It puts it in a very positive light. So I collect those sort of things. So if I'm nervous about picking up the phone, and yes, I get nervous about picking up the phone, I will read those sort of things. The second thing you can do is make sure you do your research. So if, if you haven't spoken to this person for a while, do some Google stalking. Have a look at their Facebook, have a look at their LinkedIn, you know, honor them. with effort to do some research so that you're not just going, oh, so you're still working at blah blah, and they left there 12 months ago.

Yeah.

So that will help you feel better as well because you're armed. It's kind of like putting on your armor, doing your research. But sometimes people spend way too long on that research, and that's just a fear mechanism. They're just hiding behind the research. So if you fear that that's you, just do You know, give yourself 10 minutes. And then lastly— pardon me— and then lastly, Margaret, I would say to you 2 things. One, there's a great methodology called 5-4-3-2-1, the 5-second rule, a book written by Mel Robbins. And basically how she discovered it, and she's done a lot of research into it now, and she's done a TED Talk on it actually. But anyway, She was thinking about getting herself out of bed in the morning, and she was thinking about NASA, how they count down. And actually what she discovered is when we count backwards, it actually moves to a different area in the brain. So the psychology is that if we— that when we're fearful, we're in the limbic brain, which lives at the back here. It's the reptilian brain, the flight and fright. So it's very hard to pick up the phone when you're in the reptilian brain.

Mm-hmm.

So by saying 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and then doing whatever it is, you're actually pushing the brain energy into the frontal cortex, which is actually where we make good decisions and new information. And so the frontal cortex— and so it actually opens up your ability to, A, do it, and B, be open to the response to that. And then the last piece of advice I would give you is if you do find this frightening or fearful, do them in chunks. So the reason I say that is we never say to a toddler that falls over, oh my goodness, you're never, you're never going to be able to walk, you idiot. Do we?

Yes.

And yet, and yet, as adults, when we try something new, We are scathing on ourselves. So just stop it. We are allowed to fail. We're allowed to stuff up. We're allowed to be, you know, just get off the phone and go, oh my Lord, that was the worst call ever. That's okay. But pick yourself up, get back on the horse and do them in blocks. Because if you do 5 or 10 at a time, you will get progressively better. And when you're getting better, that makes you feel better. And so then you get better because it improves your mindset, which improves The words that you choose, which improves everything.

Thank you. Yes.

So we've gone over time now. Yay! You got the most out of Fran. Well done, everybody. And Anna, the beautiful Anna James, is saying that there's a great book called The 5 Second Rule. Yes. And it's by Mel Robbins. And I'll put these things onto Onto the, the notes. Do, do I teach motivation? Um, I don't know. I motivate people to sell. I motivate people to connect with their, with their clients. So I suppose I do, in a sense. But yes, I just love people, Jen, to be honest. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you all for coming along. So great. Yeah, I've really, really enjoyed this time together, and I look forward to helping you. And if anybody's got any questions, please just reach out to me. I am here to help you. And have a wonderful afternoon.

Thank you, Fran.

Pleasure.