And, the restaurant they had agreed to meet at, had closed two years before!

Whew!  They did find each other, on the corner on longer inhabited by the restaurant.  How?  One looked up the email message on his phone, called the main office number of the other (which was in his email signature), and got the mobile number from the office’s out-going message!

All was well that ended well.  But this sorry tale urged me to write one more list of tactics on business etiquette.  Here it is:

• When setting a meeting with someone you don’t know, request the mobile phone number in your first communication, and offer yours.
• When setting the location for the meeting, first verify that meeting place is available on the day you schedule (not closed for private function, not out of business, etc.)
• Keep the email or calendar alter live on your phone until after the meeting, and include all details (location address, parking options, mobile phone, and names of other attendees).
• Re-confirm all meetings the day before, no later than noon. Re-confirm your cell number.  This can be as simple as forwarding the email that set the meeting place, time and mobile phone number, with a note that says, “Re-confirming — still o.k. for you?  Please reconfirm.”
• Always include a signature on your emails:  it is only basic courtesy to leave your contact information.  Include at least your phone and/or mobile phone.  You can also include other ways you like to be reached when you are away from your office.
• Leave your cell phone number on your out-going message on your voice mail, if you have more than one phone.

In preparing for meetings, pre-select several places that you know that are good for meetings (that are: is quiet enough, allows you to sit long enough, has available parking) in various parts of town, especially if you live in a big city and you both must travel to meet up.  Keep a list of these places, with details on their location, their local phone number and their URL or Yelp link.  This will allow you to cut and paste the information into your email when suggesting a meeting place, as a courtesy to your guest.

Yes, this sounds like simple planning and administration, but it will smooth out your busy day and reduce your angst.  And it shows respect for your time and your guest’s time.

Many of these creatures of the night snigger at us to create or sustain a context of scarcity and fear.  Maybe we learned it as children.  Perhaps in our early careers we over-reached and were rejected in our bid for work, or told to “learn your place.”

I hear the whispers of these demons from my clients — and every one of my clients is established and successful and making excellent revenues.  But the whispers are still there.  And they confide in me about the demons.

“Who is going to pay me that much money for this work?”  (The client never asked about the price).

“Don’t you think the total package-price of services is too high for this prospect?”  (You don’t know until you ask.  Trust your prospect to object to the price if it is too high, and negotiate with them if you want to, when you have more information.)

“What if we structure the program this way and they only want to do half of it?”  (That would be fine, as you will have protected your profit margins in the core pricing, and the client can increase the scope of work later.)

I understand better now, how much effort it takes to shift your context to one of deep self-value.  Quietening those demon whispers is a work of years of diligence.  It took years to embed that context into your world view, and it may take years to shift it.

But you can do it.  It takes courage to defend your value:  to say no to prospects that are not suitable as clients, to refuse speaking engagements that do not contain your target audience, to ask for more payment as the scope of work exceeds the boundaries of your agreement.

And if you consistently assert your value, and then notice what happens (and what does not happen), you will have new information about how the world sees you, and respects you.  Make a note of it every time — write down (briefly) the prospect or client, the situation, your dread, your handling of the issue, and the response you received.  Years ago, I wrote up a page on “What I learned from working with XXXXX” when a consultation had gone really wrong.  I learned a great deal from those notes about carefully screening my prospects before beginning, and about insisting on rational deadlines for deliverables.

So, take some care — with yourself first, and then with your prospects and their expectations.  And pay attention to the results of your standing up for yourself, your expertise, and your pricing.  It is the only way re-train your context for the future.

That made me mad (at myself).  Then two of my clients reported doing the same thing — focusing on the less-important promises and neglecting the more meaningful work deadlines, then rushing to catch up.

Bad stars?  Over-zealous networking?  Too-generous offers of favors?

So often I tell myself (and my clients),”You don’t have to raise your hand.”  Or, “when making an offer that is a favor, set a reasonable and extended timeline of expectation, to allow your priorities to be completed first.”

Of course, sometimes we just get into “administrivity head” and want to clear up our lists… even to the detriment of our real deadlines upon which our business depends.  The administrivity head is useful for those tasks you may despite (like filing, and handing insurance issues, and cleaning up your blogpost categories), or which pile up behind your desk and make a clutter you cannot escape, and which worries you that you have forgotten something important in the pile.

But, better to devote a half-day to cleaning up those messes, and fulfilling those favors, after the business-critical work is done, when you have no immediate deadlines.

One of my clients actually scheduled himself 3 hours next week to handle the “follow up” outreach he had missed doing this week.  Separate from his two-hour block of time he has on his calendar for end-of-week administration.

I bet this sounds really creepy at some level, scheduling in the miscellany that needs to be attended to.  But the miscellany needs to be done.  And the scheduling works.  And you can do it with a clear head, because the business deliverables are done.

I’m going to try it out, again.

Steve Jobs once said:  “Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.”

Now, that customer may be your client (for your service business or consulting practice), or a consumer or enterprise purchasing your product lines, or your shareholders if you are heading up a public company, or some combination of all three (if you run a public company that offers both products and services).

Keeping your focus on these mandates will likely ensure that your business succeeds.  Why?  Because revenue “covers a multitude of sins” as my father (a successful entrepreneur) liked to say.  Profitability covers even more errors and experiments. Top line revenues and bottom line margins allow you to create new products, adapt to changing market wishes and demands (including product life-cycles and pricing), and hire the best minds and skills in your industry to carry the business into the future.

Erik Lidow (1912-2012), founder of International Rectifier, the first power semi-conductor company (founded 1947 and still going), used to tell me that the purpose of innovation was to build companies to create jobs for thousands of workers, and to build products that made a difference in the world.

This begins with keeping in touch with your customer(s) — all of them — and listening, and hearing, and adapting to what you are hearing, so you can build not just a business, but an enduring legacy.  Drucker, Jobs and Lidow did.

For your clients to value you for the long-term, for you to become an essential trusted advisor retained to solve problem after problem, to support the company’s next transition and the next, you must embed your value as well as your results into the mind and memory of your client.

Value is rarely specified beyond deliverables.  In meetings with the teams you are supporting, no one tends to remember whose idea was pivotal and strategic.  Some consultants don’t concern themselves with getting the credit for that leap of judgement that moved the team to the solution, so long as the solution gets implemented.  Your client may not even be in these meetings to witness your expertise. And most folks will miss the subtleties of your contributions, even though these are very clear to you.

So it is important to blow your own horn a bit.  And you can be subtle in its delivery.  The entire team doesn’t need to applaud you, or even recognize your contribution.  But the person who signs your check and offers you the next consulting project needs to be aware of your contributions and your value, so you need to tell him or her.

One way to handle this is a simple, old-fashioned concept:  write a regular report on the work you have accomplished to the person who controls your contract and payment. Even if it is not expected or requested.  Many consultants, particularly those embedded in a team for part of their time, skip this step, as the team moves forward together.  But you are an outsider, and you are vulnerable to a shift in priorities or a new hire on the executive team, or a downward trend in revenues.  You will likely be the first to be terminated, before any employee.

The report can be a simple set of bullets identifying what you have accomplished and contributed in the last month, set against the goals of your contract.  In this format you can assert that you offered that strategic leap, and how that led the team to its next level.  You can remind your client of all the activities you commit to reach those goals.  Also, these reports will stand to defend you against any internal political hassles and external law suits, and will gain you the appreciation of the executive who must justify your fees to the compliance authorities.

Your client may appreciate your efforts and your presence.  But appreciation is not the same as a deep understanding of the value that you offer (and can continue to offer) to the team and the company.  And that value is the basis of your ongoing engagement with the client and the company.

I admit to having my grandmother’s etiquette, from which I cannot escape, and frankly, don’t want to escape.  That means I respond in a respectable time frame with courtesy to all communications, including requests for my time and attention even from students and followers and others who will never be clients, from around the world.

It means if I accept a connection on Linkedin, I look at the profile and send a short message to that person as I connect with him or her.

It means I answer emails from distant colleagues, audience members and others as soon as I can on my priority list.

I am as busy as the rest of my professional cohort.  So of course I prioritize:  client and family requests come first, and everyone is asked to let me know the urgency of the request, prospects next, then colleagues and other professional contacts after that, and personal correspondence at the end of the day or week, if appropriate.

My clients tell me that their relationships with their virtual assistants, web techies and others often begin well (when they are new clients for these workers) and then the communication deteriorates.  This is true even if a good working relationship has been established.  I wonder at this (and yes, I have experienced it too, and I make strong relationships) and cannot find an understanding for this behavior, which seems just lax and counterproductive to me.  Why ever would a freelancer alienate a respectful paying client?

Perhaps it is in the nature of virtual work, or a general lack of discipline among freelancers.

But it isn’t only these freelancers.  To be efficient, I often offer a colleague or a prospect two or three days/times when we can connect (by phone, Skype or face-to-face), and I will sometimes not get an answer for a few days.  Meanwhile I am holding open those times for this meeting, because I offered them.  This makes a mess of my calendar and other planning.

So, I have started a new way of approaching this:

• If I do not get a response within 30 hours (this is a working day and a morning), I free my schedule and wait to hear back, then let the contact know what times are now available.
• If my virtual helpers do not respond within two days (for a non-urgent request), I ping one more time, and then move on to find someone else to complete my request.
• I keep several sources of support available at all times.  I collect them, vet them, and stay in touch with them.  It may be a hassle to switch teams, but the work gets done.
• I keep notes on how my various clients like to communicate, and I reach them the way they prefer — by email, by text, by Skype, by phone.  One client only responded if I asked a single question with a yes or no answer in the subject line of an email.  I learned this quickly and we worked together long distance for many years.
• When my husband’s kids don’t answer email, I ping them on Facebook and get an answer right away.
• Years ago, one of my (really old) elders remarked, “What could anyone possibly talk about for an hour between Boston and Los Angeles?”

The world has changed how it keeps in touch, and we each need to adapt to the all the options, the preferences, the generational differences, and the “not-so-good manners” of those around us.  But we can set the boundaries that let us move on with our work and our lives.

As he would be foregoing his salary, and supported a family, I asked what his wife thought of this new adventure.

“She’s supportive,” he said.

“How so?” I asked.

“Well, I spend a lot of time both working and commuting, and, with the kids still in elementary school, she thinks I may have more time to be at home.  So she likes that idea.”

I must admit I sputtered a bit.  Unlike some of my clients, this man had never headed up a start-up venture, although he had some knowledge of how they worked.  So he actually hoped his new practice would ease some of his time constraints (entrepreneurs building their start-ups never think this).

Maybe.  But not likely in the first years — at least the first 3 years, is my guess.  That’s a minimum time to establish any new practice (or start-up company).

And there are other ways of “not being home.”  Your kids are telling you over dinner about their field trip, and you are checking your phone for an email from that client who was supposed to phone today and didn’t (and did not send an excuse either).   Or your wife tells you some major repair is needed, and your Payables are not up to date, and cash has become tight, even if pending Receivables are fine. So you are not listening well.

Or, the newness of being in “freefall” — well paid but with no secure revenue flow or yet-solid pipeline — has you distracted and thinking about the business every minute, leaving no real focus on the family or the non-business parts of your life.

Of course this can be controlled.  You can set boundaries on working weekends, and stick to it.  You can choose to do more networking and prospecting during the day (breakfasts, lunches, daytime group networking meetings) and be home most evenings.  In fact, you can learn to control your involvement and focus, but that takes guidance and time.

But you must assume that your human nature will propel you, for all good reasons, to become somewhat obsessive if you are beginning to build your practice.  And, you should make certain your life-partners (mates, spouses, kids and other family members) are truly on-board with your new direction.  Remember that they will take up the slack as you venture forth, in all the tasks you abandon, as well as in their aloneness while you are gone (physically or emotionally).  Real support, like real balance, is more difficult to obtain than you may first think, and takes training and practice and a willingness to find it.

Getting work while doing work

The first rush of success (or your current rush) is thrilling.  Sales are up, new prospects are filling your pipeline, a new and challenging consulting gig is just starting, and you are being invited places and becoming known.

As always, you must be careful what you wish for.  Of course we want this success, and this very success will threaten your discipline with the best of excuses.

One of the first disciplines that gets lost during a rush of business is the consistent structure of seeking the next new work while you are busy fulfilling the work you just closed.

I see this phenomenon year after year, especially with new or growing companies and consultancies.  The excitement of the new work takes over, and balance is lost.  In the focus to do excellent work, the prospecting and marketing that will fill the pipeline is forgotten.

Real paying customers, strategic partners and new clients fill all your waking consciousness.  This success implies the next success (except that it doesn’t imply that — it simply offers you a chance to create a satisfied, hopefully testimonial-writing success story and perhaps a referral).

The consequence of losing your balance and forgetting to create new prospects in your pipeline — a serious down-draft of no work, no customers, no sales, no gigs — can easily cost you your profits for the year.  In this vacuum, you must scurry to catch-up, to re-build, to start again to build the visibility and momentum that brings the new work.

The discipline to continue to prospect, market, network, speak and publish is critical to working smarter.  To keep your balance, you must continuously create visibility for your venture. Prospecting while you are busy working, and creating outreach through networking, speaking and publishing, will make certain your pipeline is filled, and that new opportunities arrive in a steady stream.

Setting boundaries and saying no

None of the working-smart tactics are of much use if you do not set your own boundaries of what you will and will not do.

If you allow your schedule to be compromised consistently (see #1 Time Management http://bit.ly/zZttas ), you will return to the inefficient and stressful putting-out-fires style of management that hurts you, your workers, and your bottom line.

If you assess that an opportunity is likely to be low-margin or no-margin or high-maintenance (see #2 Watch your Margins http://bit.ly/xZFBy8 ), and you pursue it anyway, rather than refusing it or avoiding bidding for it, you will again return to inefficient and stressful experiences for you and your team.

We are not trained to say “no.”  We are trained to “be polite,” to “not rock the boat.”  We are all trained to avoid conflict.

And yet, the ability and discipline to say “no” will return your profit and your balance to your venture.

You can say no and still be polite, especially if you apply your assessment of the opportunity early, before anyone else’s expectations are set.  You can learn phrases that work to put aside any low-margin work.

• “Thanks, but we don’t have the available resources to handle this project to the best of our ability at this time.”
• “Yes, thanks, we will see if we can match that bid, and if we can, we will get back to you.”
• “I appreciate your interest, but I am overbooked with deadlines for the next 3 or 4 months, and couldn’t give you the attention you need during that time.  I would want to do an excellent job, and right now I can’t promise that.”

This boundary-setting is part of each of the other “working smart” elements: setting meeting schedules, sticking to your structure, scheduling your buffer time and your organization/private time so you are most efficient every day, and assessing, then turning away work with minimal margin.

These disciplines are not learned overnight.  They require practice over time.  But if you try them, and remember to notice the results, you will find that these approaches work and that nothing as dreadful as you imagined actually occurs when you say no.

After awhile, all these tactics are embedded in your business dealings every day, and you find a better balance, and a better bottom line.

Watch your margins

I have seen my clients commit time and resources to the pursuit of opportunities (customers, clients, sales, deals, gigs) without assessing the value of the return they will receive on that investment.  It is as if all opportunities were created equal, each deserving the same attention.

Not true.  Some work you should turn away immediately, no matter how much you may need the revenue.  Some work returns nothing, and drains you of resources that could be focused on getting high-margin revenue.  You need to identify that kind of no-margin work very quickly.

Now, folks trained in sales, particularly with compensation based on profit margin, are experts at assessing where their best rewards will be found.  But many of us are not trained to think this way, and need some simple systems to assess a good prospect from a bad prospect — whether that is a sale, a client, or a customer.

To begin, this can be done simply.

• Define your ideal target customer, client or deal: what industry, what company size, who is the check-signer, how much will they buy, using what deal-terms, and how much effort does it take to close? From this ideal profile, you can determine what margins you will gain by closing this deal.
• Carefully assess the deals that may not return you any profit margin (or a very low margin).  This may be a high-maintenance client who demands more time than your retainer allows, or a product customer who needs multiple proposals or bids to win a narrow-margin deal. It could be a strategic ally that offers you access to an adjacent marketplace, but needs too much re-configuration of your product (at your cost) to make the deal worthwhile.
• Create a system, or just a profile or checklist, of those criteria which represent both your best and worst margin opportunities, and review each new client, customer or deal against this profile at each point of effort. Just begin —  you will learn more from this new context and you will refine the system as you go along.

With these tools, and a bit of discipline, you can sort which opportunities to follow and which to reject.  The secret is to apply these tools at the beginning of the sales cycle, not half-way or most-of-the way through the close.

When your assessment tells you the profit-margin is low, then avoid, refuse, or stop bidding on those opportunities which show you a limited return on your investment of time and effort.  These low-margin deals will deplete your resources and interfere with your closing the high-margin deals.