Smart Women Have a Winning Offense

In the very near future, my Reiki Master students will be graduating from the month intensive training program with their Reiki Master certification. You might think that a Reiki Master program is all about learning the Reiki System of Natural Healing techniques and how to use them on others.

That doesn’t really cover it though. Reiki Master training is so much more – it’s an investment in yourself. Working with energy is working with emotions, mental habits and behavioral patterns, especially your own. If you aren’t clear about your own inner stuff, you’re not going to be able to facilitate healing on a Reiki Master level for someone else. Reiki Master training is truly mastery of yourself. (If you’re interested in studying with me, look here.)

It’s been amazing to watch these perservering students focus on self-care in the face of much homework practicing techniques on volunteers over the last five months. It’s been empowering to witness them discover inside themselves the capacity to do things they had never considered before. Even more powerful than their courageous acts of facing their doubts and fears has been seeing them begin to manifest the dreams they’ve held quietly in their hearts for a long while.

I remember back to when I first graduated with my Masters Degree in Natural Health and then later with my Reiki Master certification. I was burning with passion and ready to launch myself out into the world as a wellness practitioner to help others on their healing journeys.

This was years ago before the wellness industry became a hot topic, and I had no idea how to start a practice. It was many years of attempts with other jobs to pay the bills in between before I finally figured out what it takes to be a successful self-employed service professional.

It’s not what you might think.

It’s not being the best in your field or even knowing all the special business systems that self-employed entrepreneurs use.

It’s really all about your inner stuff.

Where you are emotionally, psychologically and spiritually affects your clarity of vision. You need a clear outer vision – how you feel called to be of service in the world – and clear inner vision – knowing and trusting yourself and being open to inspiration. That is what it takes to succeed as a service professional with dreams of healing and changing the world.

Without this clarity of vision, your inner fears, doubts and subconcious patterns are going to put up roadblocks and hold you back from living out your calling. They will trip you up and hold you back from being as successful as you desire.

And there is nothing better for getting really deep perspective on yourself than working with other like-minded individuals who are also pursuing their dreams. The inspiration of motivated, passionate, compassionate individuals who are clearing away the blocks in their path to success can create powerful healing and bigger dreams for all.

In the last year, I have been working with heart-centered practitioners and entrepreneurs, sometimes one-on-one, but often pulling them together into groups to collaborate and dig deep in working on their inner stuff. These individuals are moving forward with their dreams to be of service and change the world from a place of clarity and confidence. Over the summer, I will be sharing their success stories with you.

If you havea dream and a calling to be of servicetoo, but you don’t know quite how to work through your inner stuff, and if its keeping you from getting started or moving your dreams to the next level, one ofmy programsmay be for you.
 Smart Women Have a Winning Offense20349Smart Women Have a Winning OffenseRecently my children’s little league baseball team was defeated—badly. At one point, I looked at another mom and said,Please let the bloodshed end! After the game, the coach brought the team into the dugout to review what worked and what didn’t work. He began with a review of the other team’s performance. One boy piped in,They sure hit well when they were at bat. Another boy said,And they were good at stealing bases! This got me thinking about how Smart Women need a good offense to win this game we call entrepreneurship.

Your entrepreneurial offense is key to long-term success in your business. When your ideal client says,Yes, I want to work with you!, now you have the opportunity to shine. They are excited about the service that you’re going to provide them. However, this is the one area that can easily be overlooked in your business. When we get a new client, sometimes we forget about them because, well, now they are a client. You go out and begin marketing again to find another client and forget about the new client. Am I right?

This is where having a good offense is really important. You want to show them how great you are and give them the experience of working with anexpert. You want them to feel they made the best decision by hiring you to solve their problem.

Here are a few tips and solutions to help you put on a good offense with your new clients:

1. Build a solid relationship You want to consistently foster a solid, business relationship with your clients all along the way even after you complete your work with them. Building faith and trust with your clients is one of the keys to success in business.

2. Practice consistent follow-up this is easy to do but sometimes where the ball gets dropped. When someone becomes a new client, create a welcome packet or welcome letter that continues to remind them what a good decision they made. If you see an article that you know would be of interest to them, send it or email it. Set up a system in your business for follow-up so your clients don’t fall through the cracks. Recently, a client came to me because her current clients were not happy with her service. Once we took a laser view on the process she uses in her business when a new client comes on, it was clear that she needed to provide morehigh touch communication with them.

3. Keep your word if you make a commitment to your client, make sure you honor it. If you promise information will be sent out or a call will be returned, make sure that happens when you promised. This is where the trust factor can be strengthened or broken with your client.

4. Create special packages you can easily set yourself apart and shine with your client by doing this. Take an inventory of all the services you offer and create special packages or bundle the services together. I offer this to my clients and I know other women entrepreneurs doing this in different types of businesses and it’s working beautifully. People love packages. Don’t you love it when you receive those offers from your favorite getaway offering a weekend package that includes breakfast, dinner, and a massage?

Having a good offense is critical to getting qualified referrals from happy clients in the future. Creating trust with your clients can cause a dramatic increase in your business in a very short period of time. The next time you go to bat for a client, be prepared to hit it out of the ballpark!

Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you.

*****
2010 Joy Chudacoff

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Joy Chudacoff, ICF, PCC, is the founder of Smart Women Smart Solutions, a Professional Certified Coach to 1000′s of women, Motivational Speaker, and Entrepreneur. She publishes a weekly buzz generating ezine, Reflections On Life and Business for Women Entrepreneurs. If you’re ready take your coaching business to the next level, get your FREE Tips, FREE Report, and FREE MP3 now at http://www.SmartWomenSmartSolutionsCoaching.com .