I was lucky enough to be invited onto a Mastermind Call last week with Rich Schefren, who is very highly respected in his work with entrepreneurs in the area of The Theory of Constraints. Since then I have been reading some of his reports, and came across the following quotes that I wanted to share with you:

“The potential growth and profitability of my business depends on what I put into it.”
“The actual growth and profitability of my enterprise will be determined by the things that limit or cancel my return on that investment.”
“Only when I eliminate my constraints – the things that block my path – will my actual success rise to the level of my potential success.”

He then goes on to discuss three types of constraints that you can have in your business. The first being Rational Constraints, the second is Procedural Constraints and the third is Self-Imposed Constraints. It is this third constraint that I want to touch on in this article.

Self-Imposed Constraints – necessary conditions and rules that exist only in your mind!

What are the conditions and rules that you have placed on yourself, and how do these conditions and rules stop you from reaching your full potential?

We all have our stories, some of them are there to support us, some are there to protect us, and yes, some are there to hinder us. Is there a story that you are currently telling yourself that is in fact preventing you from moving forward? That is stopping you from being that one barrier away from success?

What is your story? Take a moment to write down the stories you keep telling yourself that are limiting you from reaching your full business potential. Once you have written them down, notice how you feel and ask yourself the following questions: “Does this story serve me well?” What is the purpose of this story for me?” For example: If I don’t change my story, I can’t fail. Nothing ventured, nothing lost.

Then decide which stories you don’t need anymore. Writing them down is one thing, getting rid of them is quite another. Deciding which stories no longer fit you can be as difficult as trying to cull your wardrobe! You know you should get rid of some of your things, especially that white double-breasted jacket with big shoulder pads that keeps staring back at you when you open your wardrobe each morning. It’s the same with your story: you keep it when you don’t need it any more. Some stories may have been with you for years. Despite the fact that they may be holding you back, you find them comfortable and familiar and you insist on continually telling them. Although, it is worth acknowledging that your stories sometimes hold you back as a form of protection, they may be there to stop you from failing, from making sure you don’t overload yourself or from gaining true success. However, if you want true success then you need to change your story.

Make room for a new story - one that will support exactly what it is you want in your business and in your life. Just as deciding to get rid of your old stories can be like culling your wardrobe, taking on a fresh story can be like restocking your wardrobe with exciting new clothes. So take a moment now and write your new story. Write it as if you are living it now. Once you are clear on your new story, start to tell yourself this story everyday. How does this new story feel? Does it serve you better?

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments here.

And if you are ready to move your business from ordinary to extraordinary, check out my Fast Track Success Program.
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I learnt a long time ago in business that conversion of sales
and leads is in the follow up. That a NO today, may in fact mean a maybe tomorrow; or a not right now, call me again in 6 months’ time - could be a Yes, I am ready to work with you.

Being committed to following up your prospects can be the difference between an ordinary business, and that of an extraordinary business. So here are my quick tips to help you follow up on today’s ‘maybe’.

Tip 1:
If you don’t have a Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) , put together a spreadsheet to track all of your warm prospects. On this spreadsheet, have the following headings as a minimum: Name, contact details, business, referral source and status update. Remember to keep this list up to date!

Tip 2:
Make a note in your diary to follow up any warm prospect within 90 days of your first contact.

Tip 3:
Follow up with these warm prospects but do so in a way that reflects you. Don’t feel you need to ‘sell’ in these follow ups if you’re not comfortable with that. It can be as simple as a ‘just checking in to see how you are’ call or email. I’ll be honest with you – I’m not comfortable with the push sell, but I am comfortable following up with warm contacts to see how they are doing, updating them on what I am doing & generally learning more about them. One thing that I also like to do is send potential clients useful information. So after I have learnt more about what is happening for them, if I see something that I think they may find interesting I will send it off to them.

Tip 4:
Keep following up within every 90 days until your lead becomes a client or your NO becomes a definite NO.

Here’s an example of how this worked for me - when I was consulting to large organisations, I made contact with a woman in one of our largest FMCG companies, (let’s call her Joan). When I called her for the first time, I got a NO, so I placed her on my warm follow up list and every 90 days I would ‘check in’ to see how she was doing, find out what was happening within the company and update her on my products and services. These calls lasted for no more than 5 mins. After about 14 months from our initial call, my phone rings one morning and it is Joan on the other end, letting me know that it is time for us to work together. So finally after being persistent and checking in, I landed a project with this company that was worth well over $100,000. One of the reasons that she called me was not only was I qualified for the project but I was the only person who was consistant with my follow up. So this taught me a very important lesson about the value of following up.

Feel free to share your tips here, around what you do to follow up your warm contacts.

And if you are ready to move your business from ordinary to extraordinary, check out my Fast Track Success Program. 
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I have a passion for running.  There is nothing more that I love to do, than get up in the morning and be out running as the sun comes up.  It’s my time, when I can plan for my day and let my mind enjoy the quietness.  Over the years, I have met girlfriends on many of these runs.  Running with my girlfriends is always fun and relaxing, although at times quite challenging.  The challenge comes from us wanting to push each other to run harder, run faster, or run longer. It’s our own little private competition to check out how the other one is doing in relation to their running.  You might pick up the pace a little or decide at the last moment to run for a bit longer. It's here you get to see if they are getting stronger, or if they are able to run that little bit faster.  This is all-important information for the next time you run together or when you're competing together in a race.

 

One of the things I have learnt from running with my girlfriends is the importance of understanding and embracing your competition.  Competition is NOT a dirty word.  In fact, seeing your competitors as rivals is potentially destructive in the world of business.  But as savvy entrepreneurs we understand that a better approach is to build alliances with your competitors and let them assist you in becoming bigger and stronger.

To do this you need to:

 

• Know who your competitors are,
• Find out what you can about them,
• Actually develop a relationship with your competitors, and
• Be prepared to cooperate with them when necessary.

 

Some steps you can take to understand your competition are:

1. Block out some time to research who your competitors actually are.
2. Once you have identified your top 10 competitors, look through their sites and get a feel for the language and words they use to describe themselves and their services.
3. Look at what their clients are saying about them.  What are the results and benefits their clients receive, and how does this differ from your results and benefits?
4. Take a moment to consider how their product or service differs from yours.

So as in running, let your competition make you better, stronger and faster.  If they are beating you, take the time to try and figure out why.  Aim to understand what they are doing, and then understand what you can do to improve your products and services for your business and your clients. 

 

If you want to get ahead and understand who your competitors are and how you can use this to your advantage, check out my Fast Track Success Program.  This is one of the first things I have my Fast Track Clients undertake when we begin working together

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