Over my many years of attending conferences, I’ve learned two simple tricks that make it much easier to keep both your own business cards organized, and all those ones you collect while you’re there.

1) Always have cards on hand. At a conference you never know where you might strike up a conversation with someone great…The bathroom, the hallway, the coffee stand, the elevator are all possibilities and you might not have your bag with you. So keep a few of your own cards tucked in that little plastic name badge pouch they always give you.  That way you always have one handy.

2) Make notes. If you’ve been to a conference you’ve surely had the experience of getting back to your office, sorting through everyone’s business cards, and realizing you can’t remember exactly who half the people are. This does not help you do great follow-up! So anytime you get someone’s business card, as soon as possible make a few notes on the back to remind yourself of exactly who they were.

In early 2005, Daniel Pink introduced his book “A Whole New Mind – Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age“. One of the points he made and exemplified is the power of using stories. It demonstrates how most minds work. That is to make a point, use a story. Stories are easier to remember because stories is how we remember. Mark Turner in his book Literary Mind says “Most of our experience, our knowledge and or thinking is organized as stories.” Stories can divert and amuse the listener. Facts illuminate and reveal.

In business, we need to build a reservoir of stories to share with clients, prospects, vendors and team members to illustrate the points we want to make to them.

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When it’s finally time to share with your prospective client the fee for your service, resist the temptation to explain, justify or in any way diminish your belief that it’s a fair amount.

Instead, I recommend you smile, take a breathe, let it out and say the amount. Then stop talking. Be comfortable if there’s silence. The client has to have a moment to absorb and process what you’ve share with them. If the amount is more than they budgeted don’t panic. Simply restate what the end results are that they wanted and let them know that investing at a higher level than they might have planned on means they’ll take the work seriously and get the results they really want.

If you’re relaxed and committed to them getting what they want, they’ll quickly relax into investing with you to get what they want.

I want to offer a quick business tip today for all you entrepreneurs, coaches and experts out there.  When you are meeting with someone who wants to know what you charge, don’t divulge that information in the first meeting.  Instead, find out everything you can about their business, their dreams, their goals and what is missing for them.  Then, set up another time to discuss your special offer for them.

I made the mistake recently of responding to a friend’s request about what I charge for my platinum coaching services and answering right away- while we were jogging no less!  Although I still believe she will will invest in my services, it was a wake-up call that I need to get better at waiting to present my fees.  Even when asked on the spot.

There have been many studies that try to answer the question “what makes an entrepreneur?”  Sometimes, a client will ask me “do you think I will be a successful entrepreneur?”  Here are some of the ways we are “different.”  Take a peek and see how well you match up!

• We have a different view about risk, luck, convention, and decision-making.  We take risks quickly and easily, because we “get it” that one doesn’t move forward by always playing it safe.  We tend not to believe in luck as much as we make our luck by following up consistently.  We don’t think conventionally, we think “out of the box” and see new opportunities with those fresh eyes.  And more than anything else, we are quick decision-makers.  We realize that money likes speed and decisiveness!

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Read Part One of How to Do Transformational Selling

Remember our couple who wanted the new $15,000 patio and outdoor entertainment area?  (See How To Do Transformational Selling, Part One).  I promised I would walk you through the steps of successful transformational selling and how it ties in to good customer relationships and collaborative marketing.  Here’s what can happen when you are set up to sell this way.

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Read Part Two of How to Do Transformational Selling

If you still believe that customers do deals with you because you are logically their best option, you are stuck in an old and inaccurate marketing model.  The idea that rational thought is the prime motivator of consumer behavior was proven wrong in the mid 1990’s.  People buy on emotion, not logic.  This is actually a great advantage to small businesses.  Why?  For the most part, smaller businesses can easily do a much better job of knowing their customers and the emotional triggers their customers have at any given time.  And once those emotions are known, smaller businesses can usually be more nimble and flexible in designing offerings to meet their customer needs.

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Last night I joined a few hundred people at a rally in Palm Springs, CA to protest the California Supreme Court ruling upholding Prop 8. Out of about a half dozen or so speakers — all who had great things to say — there were two that really stood out and captured the full attention of the audience.

One was a high school girl who gave a fiery and heartfelt speech (that girl has a real future in politics) and the other was a fellow who was just plain funny. I was reminded that we seem to learn more and retain more of what someone is saying when they make us laugh.

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When was the last time a client called your cell phone after hours or sent you an email at 8pm and expected an answer by 9pm or didn’t pay you per your agreement? Or a vendor or coach took a week to answer an email?
If this is happening, it’s time to either set, or reaffirm, your boundaries.

What are boundaries?

Personally, I like to think of “boundaries” as “the standards around which I manage my business”. For example:

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Write a 7 – 10 word elevator speech and say it out loud 30 times today.  Many people talk about a 30 second elevator speech but most people find that too hard to do.  It also makes people uncomfortable since it can seem so canned and sales-like.

So today, in a very concise yet provocative way, let people know what you do for others in only 7 – 10 words.  With your elevator speech, you will want to speak it not from the perspective of who you are but what you can do for your clients/customers.  Examples are provided below.

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