Coaching a Friend Back from the Brink of Disaster: Tips You Can Use to Help Yourself

A while back a competitor, someone I consider a “friendly competitor” (someone who does what I do, does it well, and agrees that there’s plenty of business for everyone – “Abundance Mentality”) came to me with a surprising problem. He told me his business had been suffering greatly “due to the economy” and he was nearly bankrupt and seconds away from closing down his business. While some might secretly rejoice at the thought of a competitor going out of business, I was saddened. He’s one of the “good guys” and my heart went out to him, especially when I realized it could just as easily be me pouring my heart out to him instead of the reverse. He asked if I had any ideas on how to turn things around, and I did. I hope that your business isn’t suffering, but if you do find yourself struggling to make quota, struggling to “stay alive” perhaps the strategies we came up with for my friendly competitor will help you too. By the way, just so that you’re not in suspense, the story has a happy ending!

We began with a conversation about what he believed to be the problem…the economy. It didn’t take very long for him to realize that the economy is coming back. Slowly, for sure, but person after person that I speak with tells me their business has seen substantial improvement over the last 4 to 6 months. My friend realized that his “story,” which he’d told over and over to anyone who would listen, became the “truth” for him. “I’m doing everything I can but no one is buying. I can’t even get meetings.” The story we continually tell ourselves becomes the truth for us too. I suggested he change his internal voice to be more optimistic. To replace his current story with, “The economy is turning around and my customers once again have a need for my services and the budget to pay for them.” He didn’t even have to believe it…simply to replace the current story in his head, every time he realized he was telling it to himself, with a “better” story.

What story do you have in your head? Is it serving or crippling you?

Next we analyzed where his business traditionally came from. After some thought he told me that “before the economy went south” he got the majority of his business through word-of-mouth, referrals, speeches and (occasionally, when he needed to) cold calling. On further discussion he finally admitted that he had received almost no inquiries or referrals for the previous 12 months and had given only one speech. The obvious question, which I then asked, was “So, how much cold calling have you been doing.” The shocking answer was, “To be completely honest, none.” I was stunned. His business was in a shambles and he wasn’t doing the one thing that was almost completely in his control, and if done properly and in sufficient amounts, almost guaranteed him a slew of appointments. When I asked why he wasn’t picking up the phone a dialing, he told me, “I hate cold calling, Jeff, and I know you do too.” While it’s true I hate cold calling, I hate starving worse. I hate going out of business worse too. My friend, however, was stuck…paralyzed really. The answer was clear.

Together we put together an action plan and schedule. Each day he would find leads and cold call businesses. He would also quadruple the amount of networking he was doing, and do it with a smile on his face and a better story than then one he had been telling. I suggested that when people asked him how business was, his answer should be an enthusiastic, “Unbelievable!” Even though his business was currently unbelievably bad, his answer would be honest while still allowing him to sound positive. What story are you telling your referral partners? While they might want to help you, almost everyone is cautious about giving referrals to their valuable contacts to someone who is in a bad way, especially if their attitude is down. We developed a list of organizations he could contact to try to develop speaking engagements. He was slightly optimistic but not excited about the thought of all the rejection he expected to be facing. How about you? Does the fear of rejection keep you from doing the activities you don’t want to do, but know you need to, in order to bring you success?

Finally, we implemented tracking systems, so he could track and analyze his activity as well as a daily coaching call with me. The call would be a daily check in to report to someone (me) on his activity for that day and the results. He had been “hiding” for too long and together we were going to expose his activity, or lack of it, to the light of day. The calls weren’t always happy because I’m not a hand-holding coach. When his activity was at the levels we agreed upon I congratulated him and got him to commit to the same amount the next day. When he didn’t do what he said he would do he got the “kick in the seat” that each of us sometimes badly needs. What about you? Are you hiding out and hoping that no one notices your lack of the “right” amount of activity? What about your manager (if you have one)? Do they manage you by your activity (as they should) and do the simply look at your results? If so, you need to find someone who will hold you accountable…someone who knows that once you analyze the right amount of activity for yourself that your sales life becomes that much easier. Once you figure out what daily activities will result in the right amount of meetings and sales, all you have to do is do that activity, each and every day. Do you know the right activities for you? Do you do them? Do you have someone who will hold you accountable when you “slip up” and don’t do what you know you need to?

It took just four months, much of it with my friend hanging on by the skin of his teeth, but the turnaround has been “miraculous.” I put the word miraculous in quotes because it wasn’t really miraculous…I fully expected it to happen. All he needed to do was to stop waiting for the heavens to open up and provide, and to take the massive action that he already knew he should have been taking.

If you’re struggling, find someone to talk with. Stop hiding out. Take MASSIVE action now and you too will reap the rewards.

Make It Happen!