Getting outside your comfort zone

One of my clients has recently completed an extended trip away from home, visiting with 4 of his top consultancy clients and spending quality time with them – first delivering some project work – second asking them what their greatest challenges are right now. From these 4 conversations it has emerged that they all face a similar challenge in training a specific group of their sales team on lead conversion. Thousands of dollars are spent on lead generation and the weakness of their conversion systems (maybe even absence of such systems) is resulting in high acquisition costs and low sales. My client was inspired to recommend a coaching school (one that as yet he has not created) to provide an environment in which these employees could be trained, consulted with and coached – to improve their skill, to provide ongoing accountability and to create a tribal community in which they can share successful techniques and debate common challenges. Needless to say, the initial 4 clients want the school right away and are prepared to pay handsomely for it. My client’s revenue targets for the year are looking more achievable by the day and we are now starting an exchange of emails on how his new “school” will be structured. He is one happy and motivated bunny. Isn’t it amazing – the same client has been worrying for a year about how he was going to transition from an exhausting consultancy career to a more balanced coaching practice. He has thought about it – and discussed it with me – over and over again. No conclusions or action until now. But once he got “outside” – into the world of his clients – and asked them what was bugging them – a ready made coaching school appeared before his delighted eyes. Coaching tip: You can only see opportunity from outside your comfort zone. And Dan Sullivan is correct (again) – the objective of a business is to make a profit – but the purpose of a business is to solve somebody else’s problem. We just have to ask what their real problem is.