Respected. You can't lead a business well and aim to be liked. Giving everyone the afternoon off and doubling their pay doesn't make sense for the business but you'd be well liked!

Chris Marr

November 30 at 07:56pm

This question alone can eliminate scope creep, clarify conflicting priorities and prevent unmanageable workloads. You can use it with clients, your boss, and even with yourself! What I love about this question is that, if you use it in a genuine way, you aren’t saying no — you are helping everyone, including yourself, to make sure we’re doing the right work, and our best work. Your boss comes to you with a new idea. You say: “How does this new request stack up against everything else in terms of priority? What would you like me to de-prioritize in order to prioritize this?” Client comes to you with a new request. You say: “Looking at the scope of the project, is this new request more of a priority than the work we’ve already agreed to?” Someone comes to you with an opportunity. You ask yourself: “If I say yes to this, what am I saying no to?" Enjoy! PS. Subscribe to Coaching Question of the Week on LinkedInPhoto by Wonderlane on Unsplash

Chris Marr

November 23 at 06:57am

Hey! You're getting a sneak peek at a portion of my letter that will be out on Thursday. You can subscribe to the full weekly letter here. The question I'd like you to address in the comments below is: What can we do differently that will increase the respect and desire our clients have for us and our work?**START** “My soul no longer has that piquant activity conferred by desire…Oh, we shouldn’t delude ourselves - pleasure isn’t in the fulfillment, but in the pursuit.” - Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais “The grass is always greener on the other side.” We’ve all said it a hundred times. It’s human nature to look over the fence and desire exactly what you don’t have. We all find pleasure in spending time imagining the other side of the fence. At the same time we complain, gripe, and take for granted what we do have. And this is happening every single day in your agency. Think about the clients who object, slow down the sales process, pause, and ultimately never buy. The clients who think they’re done, but they’ve still got a lot of work to do. The clients that end their contract early and hire your competition. All of them, to some degree, lost their desire for you and the work. They started taking you for granted, and over time the value and respect they had for you diminished. Hard to hear, I know. And that’s why you must lean into the human nature of ‘the grass is greener’ and make it so that you’re something that your clients desire, but can’t easily obtain. Your client looks over the fence, they see you there, but they have to work hard to get you. This inspiring example from Mad Men will help paint a picture - go ahead and watch it right now (~2 mins). If you can’t watch it, here’s the gist: The creative has just been pitched to the client, and the client immediately comes in with an objection. To counter, Don Draper concludes the meeting, forcing the client to either accept his expertise or walk out the door. In Pitch Anything, Oren Klaff calls this the ‘Prize frame’. Don knows the value he brings. Instead of Don feeling like he has to convince the client to work with him, it’s the clients that have to convince Don that they aren’t wasting his time. The client must win you over, which is the opposite of what’s happening in most agenciesWe spend our time and energy convincing our clients to work with us. And so it’s no wonder that respect, value, and desire diminishes quickly. Not only are we making it too easy for our clients, we’re also making them the prize! Of course, the way you do this is keyIt shouldn't be done in an obnoxious or manipulative way. Rather, in a way that encourages your client to step up and get out of their own way so they can make a good business decision. If you’re truly honest with yourself, you know there’s little value in trying to convince someone to work with you that doesn’t believe in the work you are doing. So it’s up to you to value yourself and your work, to protect yourself and your team from taking on a troublesome client. One of my favorite questions to ask in the sales process is “What gives you a sense that you’re a good fit for They Ask, You Answer?” Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is just a selling technique. Create an element of ‘the chase’ throughout your work, too. We know that respect and value diminishes as soon as people get what they want, so your client should never feel like they completely own you. Dangle in front of them what is unattainable. Play to their desire. You are the prize. You are the talent. You are the greener grass.**END** So, What can we do differently that will increase the respect and desire our clients have for us and our work?Jump into the comments with your thoughts and ideas 👇🏻Chris. Photo by Ochir-Erdene Oyunmedeg on Unsplash

Chris Marr

November 16 at 06:31pm

The sole purpose of coaching is for the coach to 'coach' the best out of a coachees, so I'd go as far as saying that any form of coaching that doesn't equate to a coachee being equipped to deliver upon their own strategic aims - is little more than service provision. Great question Chris!

Chris Marr

November 9 at 05:56pm

How many of your clients can you honestly say have become the most trusted voice in their space from outsourcing their inbound marketing? If the answer is none, then you would find yourself amongst the majority of people I have ever asked this question to. When Marcus Sheridan partnered with Bob Ruffolo four years ago, the inbound marketing agency model changed forever. Bob and Marcus realized something: the companies that were getting the best inbound marketing results were not the companies that were paying an agency to do their marketing. Instead, it was those who had been coached and learned how to do it well for themselves. Since this discovery many years ago, we’ve spent all our time, energy, and resources refining a new business model for inbound marketing agencies. We now have multiple teams of certified coaches here at IMPACT who teach organizations all over the world how to take total ownership of their inbound marketing. We completely transformed from a traditional inbound marketing agency to focus completely on sales and marketing training. The result? Not only the best inbound marketing case studies we’ve ever seen, but all-around better clients and a better working culture for our people here at IMPACT. We’re all doing our best work yet. What’s even more valuable is that our clients are set for long-term success with inbound marketing. They will never again have to rely on an outsourced marketing agency. Why am I sharing this story with you? Perhaps the most important job that inbound marketing agencies want to do for their clients is to help them get better results in the most efficient and effective way. Deep down we know that 80% of the work we do would be done better by our clients than by us, and we also want to be the ones to teach them a better way. We also know that outsourced marketing is becoming more competitive and less valuable to the market. It’s becoming more difficult to make a profit and build a successful inbound marketing agency in the traditional way. And so my challenge for you today is to think about what the future of your marketing agency looks like. Like us here at IMPACT, do you believe that the future success of inbound marketing agencies is a coaching and consulting business model, and if so, what are you doing to bring about this change?As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas and questions in the comments below 👇🏻DFTBA!Chris. PS. If you want to learn more about how we did it, 👉🏻 Join IMPACT CEO Bob Ruffolo for a three-day workshop and learn how to scale up your agency

Chris Marr

November 3 at 08:33am

[An excerpt from issue #8 of my weekly letter, and if you're not on the list to get the full letter every Thursday, you can subscribe here]*** I used to be a people-pleaser. This was a behavior that was hurting the success of my clients, the success of my team, and ultimately the success of the business. I was holding everyone back, including myself. I needed to change the type of relationship I had with my clients. They were in control. They were calling the shots. The truth is, even though they never explicitly said it, my clients knew that they weren't getting what they needed. They didn’t want a passive order taker, they wanted to be challenged. I know agencies struggle with this. For me, this is what it looked like:  I said yes to requests I knew we couldn't do, or couldn't do well  I said yes to projects that I knew would fail (or I made myself sick trying to make them work!)  I let clients make mistakes and bad decisions that would hurt them in the short and long term  I said yes to bad fit clients and their bad behavior  I felt like I couldn't say no to the clients. We have to ask ourselves: What negative impact is this having on our people, our client results, the growth of our agency? It’s time to step up and challenge our clients. Make it clear that we’re willing to walk away if we don’t think true success is possible. Now, years later, I've turned my past weakness into a strength that helps my clients:  I ask the difficult questions others struggle with  I call out the mistakes they are making  I'm not afraid to say no  The result? Our clients step up and prove to us what they are capable of. They become better, more successful clients. I’m not saying it’s easy to do, but it’s for the best. For everyone involved. Questions to get you thinking:  Where do you need to be more firm with your clients?  In what ways do you let your clients detrimentally dictate the work?  What do you need to do to be better at saying no?  As always, I'm looking forward to you sharing your thoughts in the comments 👇🏻 DFTBA! Chris.*** PS. This is exactly what I coach people like you to master. I’ve got spaces opening up for my program starting in January. Find out more here.

Chris Marr

October 26 at 06:57am