An ActionCOACH will help you cross the finish line a winner.

The Moment Of Truth
Well, it’s quite funny really, because it all began when my husband and I met an ActionCOACH at a bed and breakfast over in the Wairarapa, and we just got talking.

And then about a month later we got in touch again. I called him and we just worked it out from there. I had used a business mentoring service in the past, but I found I wasn’t getting out of it what I needed to. I think it was structured differently from the way ActionCOACH works.

ActionCOACH helped me understand that I was providing value to my customers, especially over time, as I’ve learned more and more, and now it’s pretty hard to stump me in IT areas. I needed to really get over that emotional hurdle; that what I did was actually of value to my customers. And I needed to start charging for things I was previously giving away.

My ActionCOACH said he actually bumped into a customer of mine who said I provided an amazing service, but never bothered sending an invoice.

Well, that said it all to me.

ActionCOACH helped me understand that what I provide, in terms of a service, has value to my customers.

I’ve just hired an employee. ActionCOACH helped me with that too.

My coach helped in terms of how, because when I started my business, I thought I would work completely on my own. But it soon got the point where I was going to have to start looking outside, otherwise I would have to close the business because I couldn’t do it all. So he helped me understand, well, if I was going to hire someone, whom did I need? You know, someone to clean the house, or a technical support person? Or should it be a salesperson? So he helped me identify the type of person I needed. He then gave me lots of advice on how to structure the employment contract so that it works for me as an employer. This was great because many employee’s contracts, as you know, are very much in the employee’s favor. He gave me a lot of hints and techniques in terms of how to structure the employment contract.

And when I had my lawyer review the contract, he thought it was brilliant!

Before coaching started, I didn’t even have a financial target. So once we got started, ActionCOACH talked to me about the four quadrants; about things that are urgent, things that are important, things that are not important, and things that are not urgent.

And I spent a bit of time looking at how I was spending my time. Turns out I was doing many things that were not important, but urgent. And those things tended to be customer’s demands. What I needed to do to make the business run better and more profitably was to reassess all this. So I’ve changed how I spend my day.

I’m still not saying I’m doing it right, but right now I’m just trying to make it day-by-day, while all this other stuff is going on. But what I can see is the light at the end of the tunnel, whereas before I started coaching, I couldn’t even see that.

Our plan tends to be a bit of a moving feast at present. One of the things I agreed to in our last session was that I would go back through my previous goal sheets (that I fill out prior to having a coaching session) to see if they’re still valid.

If I haven’t achieved them, I’d decide if they’re still important, and if so, I’d actually put a time on them.

Here’s another thing ActionCOACH helped me with: I actually “resigned” a customer!

I sacked this customer I didn’t want to work with any more. And it was so hard! Man. I thought, “I owe it to them” and my ActionCOACH said, “But you don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

In the end I’m so glad I did, because they got into all kinds of trouble and are now out of business. I’m so glad that I wasn’t part of all that trouble they had after I resigned them. And I think that they were probably shocked receiving that letter from me; hearing that I didn’t want to work with them anymore.

My ActionCOACH held my hand (not literally) through this whole process.

I mean, I was shaking as I typed the letter, and shaking as I put it into the envelope, but you know, he just said, “You just have to do it. Do it.”

And I just closed my eyes and put blind faith in what he said. In the end it was very right to do it.

And now, I could do it again if I have to.

He taught me that if you can do it once, you can do it again. He often says you get the customers you deserve. And that’s one thing that I’ve found really valuable to keep in my mind. When I look back at the customers I have now, I just appreciate them all so much because I think I’ve started to attract, or draw, those people that I want to have as customers, instead of just having a customer for the sake of having one.

So, by ActionCOACH saying, “You get the customers you deserve,” it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy …