Over-sharing has reached epdemic proportions

If you think the national obesity crisis is bad, then read on to find out how we are over flowing more than our jeans. Over-sharing personal information has reached epidemic proportions. This mouth-on-speaker phone phenomenon is destroying businesses faster than a speeding bullet. It’s like a cancer that slowly spreads and eventually takes you out.

You are especially at risk if you render any type of ongoing personal service. Hair stylist, estheticians, personal trainers, massage therapist, front desk staff, financial planners, to name a few, are ranting and raving, complaining about their personal lives to their clients to a degree previously unknown. Not only are they bad mouthing their significant other and family members they are often guilty of annihilating the very business they are working in or for. They hold no secrets when it comes to even the most intimate health problem. This massive unburdening to clients is totally inappropriate and is often the reason why client don’t come back.

Your clients are NOT your friends.
Personally, I have heard detailed stories about romantic  relationships with no intimate detail left out, domestic violence, extreme religious view points, drug or alcohol abuse issues, problems with teenagers, cheating spouses, financial and credit problems, and the list goes on. The “ick” factor increases when I know and have business or personal relationships with the person they are targeting.

Your clients will settle for less
Have you ever had a client leave and go to another provider who is not as good as you are? Over-sharing may be the reason. We will take a lesser service for a better experience. For example, I will take a good haircut over a great hair cut if it is served up without a cocktail of misery.

When I am paying for a service, I expect to have your full attention. End  of story. If you need to download, unload, or otherwise commiserate, please do so on your own time with an appropriate person. Note to self: this is not your client.

The Bartender Business Model
There is an easy example to keep in your mind, bartenders; The old school kind. People often go to their local bar to “drown their problems.” The stereotypical bar keep listens, gives the occasional nod and pours them another drink.  In any movie or TV show have  you ever seen the bartender unload on the drinker? No. The bartender knows the job is to serve drinks. Can you image going to a bar, ordering up a beer, and having it served up with the comment, I am sorry this took so long, I just got off the phone with my boyfriend, well, former boyfriend, see he just broke-up with me. Can you believe he did it over the phone?! What a pig! Just the thought of this comment should make you cringe. And yet this, is the type of over-sharing that goes on all the time.

Bartenders know it’s a one way street. Clients may choose to over-share, but bartenders know their place. Their place is to serve their patrons drinks. It is not to serve up their problems. They know it is not about them.

If you are not getting repeat business and referrals are few and far between, you may want to look at your interactions with clients. It may very well be something you said.

Do you think over-sharing is an issue?

The Foolproof Technique for People Who Can’t Stand Introducing Themselves

If you can’t stand to answer the question “What do you do?” keep reading. Here is an easy-to-remember, easy-to-use technique that is conversational in nature. It gets the job done with only three lines.

First start by stating the problem you solve. The line starts with “You know how (insert problem)? in the form of a question.

The second line starts with “What I do is (insert how you solve the problem.)

The third line starts with “I’m a (insert your job title.)

Put it all together for a foolproof self-intro that works every time; Perfect for those who can’t stand introducing themselves.

Examples:
You know how many young couples dream of buying their first home?
What I do is provide first time homeowner financing to make that possible.
I’m a mortgage broker.

You know how big brands like Starbucks and Target have great visual branding?
What I do is great visual branding for people.
I’m a personal branding coach, specializing in all things visual.

You know how many people struggle with their weight, or have backaches and knee problems?
What I do is relieve pain and reduce weight with strength training, which creates an improved physical condition.
I’m a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach – a personal trainer at the highest level.

 Why it Works
The first sentence gets the person your speaking (your audience) with to “go along for the ride.” After the first sentence that is in the form of a question you should get a confirming nod or a “yeah” showing that they are “with you.” They will “get it” if you have used a highly relatable problem.

The second sentence, states in an easy to understand way what you do. The second sentence “pays off” the first sentence.

The third sentence gives your official title and reinforces sentence two.

 A Few Tips:
When you use the same word(s) repeatedly, it makes it easier for your audience to understand. The more they “get it” the more likely you are going to hear those three little words, we all long to hear “tell me more!”

Avoid acronyms, or if you use them, explain them. A variation on the last part of the second sentence of the first example might be: I’m a CSCS, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach. You never want your audience to have to guess at what you do.

Remember to keep it simple. It should be simple enough that your average 12 year-old would “get it.” You can always elaborate on what you do.

Be prepared for success by having a few business cards in your purse or pocket, you very well may get asked for one!

The Super Simple Secret of Values

When signs or other graphics are hard to read it is often because the VALUE of the colors are too similar.

 Value is a term used to describe the lightness or darkness of colors.

 If you take a color image and convert it to a gray scale image you can easily see what the values of the color are. The same is true when you make a B&W xerox copy of a color page.

 When signs or other graphics are hard to read it is often because the value of the colors used are too similar.

 Look at the example above. You can see they have used two very different colors – red and blue. When the photo of the sign is converted to a gray scale image (the image on the bottom) you can see how similar the grays are.

 If you keep this super simple concept of values in mind when you are putting together your next document, flyer or presentation it will be more attractive and much easier to read.

It is all a matter of lightness and darkness!

What Can You Do to Solve the Problem?

Most of the time people are more than willing to tell you what can’t be done and why it can’t be done, specifically and in detail. However, the same person doesn’t offer up any solutions of what CAN be done. Or worst yet, many people are willing to accept, without a protest or contest, defeat.  This “Oh well!” attitude is expensive. Are we all really that willing to give up at the first sign of difficultly? Are you? Do you ever ask yourself what you can do to solve the problem?

When you live in a deadline driven world, like I do, where excuses are not acceptable you learn to be resourceful. The magazine doesn’t care that the client changed their mind fourteen times, they still need the art for your ad before the deadline. If you don’t want to pay for a blank page, you had better get your art in.  End of story.

This willingness to give up is even more baffling when you consider the plethora of resources we all have available at our fingertips. If there is even a hint of a solution, a quick internet search will confirm or deny the suspicion. Chances are the problem you are having, others have had too.

The next time you find yourself explaining to your clint, boss, husband, child, mother, vendor, what you can’t do. Take the next step and offer up what you CAN do to solve the problem, make the situation better, make things easier in the future, etc. Better yet, offer several solutions, with details and options. You’ll be the hero, even if they don’t act on any of them.

Being a problem solver will make you more valuable, and you may even be called a lifesaver!