HOW YOUR BLINDSPOTS AFFECT YOUR BUSINESS
You’re partially blind. We all are.
No matter how aware or intelligent we are, we don’t always see ourselves or our situation clearly. We all have preconceptions, assumptions, and blind spots that get in our way. It’s part of being human.
This partial blindness can have big repercussions on your business. You may be unaware of ways you’re holding yourself back. You may also fail to see opportunities that are staring you in the face. Like my client, Brett.
Brett is a college professor and author with a national reputation. He is regularly invited to give talks to all over the country. He’s a heck of a nice guy, and until recently, he adjusted his fee to accommodate every request to speak.
He told me he needed to do as many talks as possible to supplement his income so he can keep his three kids in college. The problem was: he was traveling all over the country and the talks were interfering with his other work and his family life. Not only that. He also went through a great deal of anxiety every time he had to quote a speaking fee. Would it be too high or too low? He made up a fee each time based on what he thought the people hiring him would be willing to pay.
I suggested that if he raised his fees, he could do fewer talks for more money. Initially he resisted my suggestion, because he didn’t want price himself out of the market or be seen as a ‘price gouger.’
I reminded him of his objectives: make enough supplemental income to meet his family’s needs, and spend more time at home. I pointed out the simple economics of the situation: to make more money with less effort, he’d need to charge more. I told him that if everyone readily accepted his fee, he was charging too little.
I worked with him to come up with a fixed fee schedule. He raised his average fee 35%. This took the guesswork out of his pricing conversations. I also coached him to get over his fear of being seen as a price gouger.
Guess what? His pricing conversations have become much easier and roughly 70% of organizations have accepted his new fee. He’s now traveling less and making significantly more money.
The point is: we don’t see what we don’t see unless someone points it out to us. My client was too close to his situation to see how his assumptions and fears were getting in his way. He also didn’t recognize the opportunity to make more money by working less.
Time and again, I’ve seen that people achieve greater heights when they have the right kind of support. One of the big benefits of coaching is having someone in your corner to help you get out of your own way and seize opportunities that you don’t see.
If you’re ready to explore ways you can improve your business and become more profitable, I offer a complimentary strategy session to discuss your situation. Just send me an email at Phil@CoachPhil.com.
