Monica has been a member of our Magnify Your Message Action Circle for about a year and a half.

One of the things she sensed at the end of the year was that she needed more rest, and she made the bold choice to take a solid two months off. Because the Action Circle is affordable she felt she could be part of the program and still take that time away. She didn’t shut her business down, she continued to see clients in January, but took February off completely.

Coming back in March, she had renewed energy but very few clients. She came face to face with hat familiar concern of “how am I going to get new business?” What was new though, was her determination to do her business a different way. She was tired of the pattern of feast or famine. Of wearing herself out trying to do a variety of outreach approaches. The old way, sh felt scattered and unfocused a lot of the time. She would run into overwhelm, which led to needing the rest! She knew she needed to do something differently.

So here is what she did. First, she started asking herself a key question we emphasize in the Action Cirle — “how can I make this as easy and as simple as possible?”

Instead of doing a menu of outreach activities, she choose instead to focus on organizing a monthly introductory talk, something she’d done before, but to step more fully into making more of it as a sales opportunity. The sales piece was something she had been avoiding for a very long time but she realized that gaining more comfort with this was key to getting people to sign up.

With the help of a special training we run within the Action Circle (a multi-week e-course/challenge called Simple Steps to Get More Clients), she felt some opening to learning how to sell well, knowing that there was a way to do it respectfully. With this new confidence, she brought more focus to her sales energy, both during her introductory talks, which she really wasn’t doing before, and during the sales conversation. She no longer was shying away from asking for the sale.

What really connected for her was when she realized a sales conversation could be similar to a session with a client. In a client session, she knows she is there to support the client, to give them the best outcome, and to work with them in a way that would be helpful. When she started to think about the sales conversation in those terms, she realized, “I am the person they are leaning on in that conversation, they are looking for help! My job to make the best recommendation.” That gave her the confidence to speak more clearly to how she saw her work could support them.

Monica admits that she still finds the idea of “selling” a bit off putting, What she tells herself is “I am not really selling, I am serving, I am offering something that would be beneficial.”

What’s also made a difference for Monica and managing her energy is this distinction of development vs. revenue actions. Now she asks herself, “What can I do this week that has the potential to generate revenue?” That practice was huge for her. She realized that in the past she used to fill her days with writing her newsletter, updating her web site etc. She kept really busy but clients weren’t showing up as a result. Now, she focuses on getting in touch with past clients, following up with someone who has contacted her, looking for the next opportunity to get a new client. She says, “Even if it’s one thing to move myself in that direction, it feels like a real shift in mindset.”

The results? May was the first month she’s had a steady stream of clients every week at about the level she wants. She brought on a record number of new clients. April was pretty good but May was even more. And keep in mind, this was on the heels of no outreach in January, and taking February almost completely off!

Here’s what you can learn from Monica’s story:

• If you are tired or depleted, resting can be part of your business plan.
• If your business feels overwhelming, keep asking: how easy can I make this?
• If your business feels overwhelming, do fewer outreach efforts, but focus on making the ones you do more effective.
• Start to see your selling conversations as service conversations.

You can learn more about Monica at www.monicamilas.ca .