Right now, open up your client list. Look at every person on the list and ask:
What would it be like to be stuck in a broken elevator with them?
Hours and hours in a teeny tiny box. Hours to chat about your dogs and who will turn up at your funeral. Hours to cry on their shoulder and hold hands as the elevator shudders.
Would you be happy to have them with you through this horrible time?
Would you be kinda so-so, neither overjoyed nor frustrated?
Or would you eventually try to strangle them with your shoelaces?
If you’re like most people you have a few of each.
What would it feel like to be COMPLETELY THRILLED by every single person you work with?
Imagine… being excited every time the phone rings.
Imagine… looking at your calendar like Scrooge McDuck looks at a solid-gold battleship.
Imagine… ending every day with a smile on your face and an inbox full of appreciation.
What would it take to get from here to there?
Clarity, and some really awkward conversations.
Roll On, Resonant Clarity!
First, you and I talk over Skype: a question-and-answer session about you and your needs. We’ll start by illuminating the shape of your Bestest People – the people with whom you produce your best and most joyous work, who make everything zing! with potential and energy.
Together we’ll refine your answers until you have one single Post-It note that captures your Bestest People perfectly.
(This isn’t the awkward conversation. In fact, this is a giddifyingly enlivening and inspiring one: the answers in your head become as clear as notes on a crystal glass as the inarticulate becomes articulate.)
End of an Era. (A Crappy Era.)
After you’ve had a bit of time to let the woah calm down, we’ll have a look at your current list and get out the big black marker. Who drains your energy? Who would you never, ever work with if they weren’t paying you? Who, in short, would you strangle with your shoelaces? On to the Adieu List they go.
We’re not just conjuring a list, we’re creating an action plan. For every single person on the Adieu List we’ll determine the best technique to gently let them go. Are there any contractual obligations? Do you need to get paid for something first? (That’s always the way, isn’t it: the ones you wouldn’t work with if they weren’t paying you are always the ones who don’t pay.)
Then we’ll formulate the best medium for the goodbye. A polite (and thrice-reviewed) email? A phone conversation within a clear framework? A note attached to a flaming arrow? (I know a guy.) We’ll make sure that your Adieu List are let go in whatever method causes you the least amount of stress and serves them best, too.
And I’ll support you through it, you bet. I know that this is a dread-producing process, because you care. I know that the hardest conversations will be the ones with the people you like, but don’t love.
So I’ll review email drafts, get you in the right mindspace before conversations, and role-play through practice sessions; whatever you need to bid the Adieu List… well, adieu.
Onward to Glory!
Now that the crazies, the I-like-them-but-they-drain-me crowd and the don’t-value-my-time-or-pay-their-bills team are gone, it’s time to build a new client list that rocks. We’ll work together on simple changes to start attracting the clients you’d work with for free. (Although, mysteriously, they’re the ones who are happiest to pay you. ‘Sfunny how that works.)
First we’ll review your marketing presence and see if it sings in the key of your Bestest People. It might be as simple as a few tweaks or as involved as a whole new website and branding package. Sound intimidating? It’s worth it. Remember, the result is a waiting list of completely magnificent clients who rave about you, respect your work, and pay on time.
Whatever you need, together we’ll develop a plan to accomplish it that works for you. Your time, budget, style and energy are mucho important, and a program of change (awesome change) has to respect them.
The Result
You bounce out of bed in the morning, ready and fired up to work with the most exciting group of individuals you know. Marketing is a breeze and a blast with new ideas for offerings sparking up almost every day.
You never thought you could have it so good.
It’s the best $1,997 you’ve ever spent.
