Seeing and seizing opportunities for your business in everyday life is learn-able. Let me explain what I mean with a story…
My client and his wife were suffering from a nasty cold for several days. Raw and local honey never failed to get them in back in health, so he made a trip to the local health store to buy a jar.
He chose the one he wanted and headed to the counter. He was surprised by what caught his attention when he got there. It was more likely he’d see something like this at a museum than a health store.
It was an old Macintosh. They were still using this big grey relic from the ‘80s to meet the modern needs of the business.
He had a thought…
At the time he’d been coaching with me for just over two weeks and was beginning to notice changes in the way he saw things.
He started identifying opportunities to solve problems and grow his business that he’d usually overlook or avoid altogether.
“Wow, that’s a really interesting computer, it looks really old…” was the ice-breaker that got him in dialogue with the cashier.
— “yeah, we’ve got a square and a new system in the back, but they can’t seem to get them setup for some reason.”
The cashier went on to say how the owner really wanted to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible.
So in a moment of courage he stepped in as the problem-solver and said “well, it seems like I showed up just in time. I run an IT Consultancy, and I’d be happy to help you with that.”
They exchanged details and the owner requested he return tomorrow for a consult. The next day, he showed up with a smile and listened intently.
He asked about the challenges they were facing with their current system, and got a solid understanding of what their needs were. He demonstrated, with confidence, exactly how he can help them solve their problem and have their needs met – just like I coached him.
He pulled out an order form from his briefcase, laid it on the table, and showed them where to sign to get started.
What was their response?
They signed up! A new recurring subscription service account was opened on the spot. In fact, they were so impressed with his service, they gifted him a big bag of natural remedies to take home AND asked him to return with a proposal for a new website project.
Now if you’ve ever met IT guys, you’ll know what I mean when I say getting clients isn’t one of their strong points. In fact, his behaviour throughout the whole encounter was “out of character” and well out of his comfort-zone.
He even said he was “really emotional” and “awestruck” at what happened as he narrated this story to me, yet he pulled it off. His business will continue enjoying the recurring revenue for months, even years to come from this one seized opportunity.
This brings about an important point: how many opportunities pass us by every day that go unnoticed and never get utilised because of our own fears and doubts?
There are literally millions of people out there in dire need of the very skills and expertise we have, yet continue to suffer because we fail to make ourselves known to them and offer our help.
Just like this health food store owner, not everyone will raise their hand when they need us and make an enquiry. We have to be the ones demonstrating leadership and reaching out to THEM.
And on the topic of reaching out, I invite you to