So, Here's My Story... - TopPodcast.com

Latest Episodes:

Ep10: Two Tickets to Paradise Aug 15, 2017

Show notes

Have you ever had someone throw up a barrier when you are just trying to determine if you want to work with them? This week, Eliot and Jodi talk about how a $50 charge at a travel agency might relate to your business.

Why is that important for business?

Sometimes, businesses value their needs to the exclusion of the needs and expectations of the new client, and in so doing, they establish the first step in a new relationship as a barrier.

There is a fear that if you give away, you will go down a slippery slope of giving it all away. But often the thing you do to protect yourself from something puts you on the fast track to that very thing you were trying to avoid.

It might seem like a good idea to establish a policy that protects you from someone who will pick your brain and then not use your services; however, at the same time, that very policy may act as a barrier to the very customers that you are looking for.

This isn’t about creating a policy that will protect you. It is about figuring out the generalized emotional state of potential clients. It is about asking yourself, “What would smooth the road between my client and saying yes?”

Part of the issue is the blurry line between the sales process and the service process. Staying focused on their emotional experience and needs helps you to avoid policies that create barriers in order to solve a problem you are experiencing.

In this wonderful article, “Using Customer Journey Maps to Improve Customer Experience,” Adam Richardson (@Richardsona) explains how you can map out your customers emotions so that you can pre-calm fears and assuage periods of uncertainty or anxiety.

If you can’t find the empathy for your clients and what they are worried about – which, frankly, might be you – you are missing a huge opportunity.

It is important to understand your clients’ needs and expectations, and to smooth their anxieties. And it is also about having confidence in the value you provide, and your ability to convey that value. And trusting that you know where to draw the line where to stop giving for free, and that if they don’t get the value, it’s okay.

Some key things to remember:

Are you addressing their fear or yours?
Where are you skittish as a buyer, and are you overly protective about that part of the sales process in your business?

What’s YOUR story?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode, or other business stories you’d like to share.

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Ep09: We've seen your hustle. Let's see your Hooky. Aug 08, 2017

Show notes

Nutrition and business – how much do they have in common? This week on So Here’s My Story, Jodi and Eliot talk about the importance of taking a break, in nutrition, and in business.

Why is that important for business?

In nutrition or in business, there is a level of performance that yields results, and a level that means almost identical energy output, with diminishing returns. It is often better to take a week off and come back at full focus than to continue to work at a capacity that isn’t working. It’s important to play strategic hooky. So why don’t we?

There is almost universal buy in on the smaller part of that picture – we know we get our best idea in the shower or walking the dog because of the mental break. But where people tend to get off the boat is making it strategic, because that seems like an abdication of responsibility.

But everything – from yoga to nutrition to exercise – has built in ebbs and flows, and it is in the rest period that you actually gain the strength. It is counterintuitive, but it’s in the period of not doing that you actually make the leaps forward.

Everyone tells the story of the lumberjack stopping to sharpen his saw, but when the rubber hits the road, most people don’t have the courage to actually live that story.

It’s even more insidious than “that’s how we’ve always done it” – this is perfectionism, and this is pride.

Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough. Julia Cameron

When they do studies, people are often completely mentally exhausted, and also completely unaware of their cognitive degradation. By the time you are feeling exhausted, taking a break is the most important thing you can do, but it often feels like the last thing you can do.

Your brain is not meant to run marathons; it is meant to run sprints.

If you build a routine, and schedule your downtime, it makes it strategic. You also need to set up your company culture to value clarity, and not penalize people for seeking it.

Not stopping is often a point of pride, and that value can be very misguided.

Taking a break can be the most responsible thing you do.

What story do you have about playing strategic hooky?

So we told you our story – now it’s time to tell us yours!

Go to SoHeresMyStory.com and share your story.

Want to Connect?

You can connect with us or tell your story…

via our confidential toll free line at 1-833-83-STORY

Email: talktous@heresmystory.com

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Twitter: @SHMSpodcast

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Review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to the podcast. Or visit our Patreon page. (http://www.patreon.com/SHMSpodcast)

Ep08: My Safeword Is Cinnamon. Aug 01, 2017

Show notes

Why would you need a safe word in business? This week on So Here’s My Story, Eliot and Jodi talk about clients we don’t love.

Why is that important for business?

What do you do with clients that you feel like you can’t do your best work with? First, you have to know what IS a good client, so you can figure out when a non-ideal client shows up. Sometimes, we lack the courage to disappoint.

We can get better at it if we get better at acknowledging the economic realities and responsibilities of a business. Sometimes we take these clients on because of those pressures. But the opportunity exists when we take these clients on because we haven’t crystalized what a fit is enough that we can say it out loud.

Creating a “Go/No Go” chart can be helpful for this kind of clarity, and this episode talks about how to come to those decisions.

Like when your wheels are out of alignment in your car and the steering wheel pulls, you can also feel that pull to say “yes” every time you respond to a request from a client that isn’t a fit.

The better a business is at framing the concept of “if…we’re not your guys”, the better that business will do. If the culture isn’t so clear that nobody says “I don’t want to work there”, it probably isn’t clear enough. The same can be said about the clients you take on.

Part of this is getting clear on deal breakers. If someone is a 9/10 on a checklist of assets, they can still be a bad fit if the 1 is a deal breaker. A great litmus test: “If you do this, what would make you call me in 6 weeks begging to leave?”

What client have you regretted taking?

So we told you our story – now it’s time to tell us yours!

Go to SoHeresMyStory.com and share your story.

You can connect with us or tell your story…

via our confidential toll free line at 1-833-83-STORY

Email: talktous@heresmystory.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHMSpodcast

Twitter: @SHMSpodcast

Want to support us?

Review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to the podcast.

Visit our Patreon page. (http://www.patreon.com/SHMSpodcast)

Ep07: Just Say... THAT. Jul 25, 2017

Show notes

Just Say… THAT

What could parenting anger possibly have to do with business? This week on So Here’s My Story, Eliot and Jodi talk hard conversations and, somehow, Sam Shepard (except, she REALLY meant Sam Elliott!!).

Why is that important for business?

You know those moments where something happens that makes you mad, but you know there is no satisfying outcome? It can be so hard to walk away, like you are giving a victory to the other side. How do you just STOP being angry? Whether it’s about your kids or about your work, it can be hard.

But sometimes the value of these conversations isn’t a solution; sometimes it is simply about being heard, and seeking to understand. There might not be a satisfying outcome, but it may still have value.

There is a lot lost when you try to play out all the versions of a conversation, and then decide to not have the conversation for all of those imagined reasons.

The temptation is to make it a binary choice- either I swallow this, and I carry this brick, or I hurl it with lethal force at someone else. But there are other options.

We are really bad at predicting other people’s intentions. Sometimes, just being curious relieves the problem without conflict.

When your sense of value feels threatened, you have the same biological fight or flight response in your body and brain as if a tiger walked into a room. You can’t not have the response, you can only get better at dealing with it. Sometimes, it is enough simply to identify that you are triggered.

Susan Campbell in her book Saying What’s Real talks about how most of us communicate to get or avoid a certain reaction. But that’s actually controlling. An important part of being a leader is being able to look past the surface conversation and see what need is trying to be met.

What bricks are you carrying? So we told you our story – now it’s time to tell us yours! Go to SoHeresMyStory.com and share your story. Want to Connect? You can connect with us or tell your story... via our confidential toll free line at 1-833-83-STORY Email: talktous@heresmystory.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHMSpodcast Twitter: @SHMSpodcast Enjoy this podcast? Review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to the podcast. Or consider joining in our Patreon page. (http://www.patreon.com/SHMSpodcast)

EP06: Ever Been "Business Depressed?" Jul 18, 2017

Show notes

This week, Jodi and Eliot talk about how motivation and routine are linked, and what filing cabinets and pit stops on a race track have to do with business.

Why is routine important for business?

When we are especially busy or stressed, it is easy to forget to do, or convince ourselves we don’t have time to do, the very things that keep us centered. And it is only in returning to those routines that we find ourselves able to navigate the work effectively again. Even though absolutely nothing might change, the way you see those things in your business or life changes.

Interestingly, the things we tend to skip when we are busy are literally the things that help our brain to work its best – down time, sleep, exercise and good eating. These are critical for your work, yet the things that you often cut first. It is also crucial to “be around people who remind you where the spark is”. This spark is the beginning to becoming centered and returning to a comfortable head space.

You have to be able to step outside of the experience you hate having and contextualize it. Clues that you need to recalibrate before continuing can be when it feels hard or slogging or like nothing is fun, but you have to learn your own cues.

Far more harm is done than good by stepping over our own vulnerabilities. “You need to not only understand your own “low fuel” indicator, but also what fuel goes in your tank”.

What about you? So we told you our story – now it’s time to tell us yours! Go to SoHeresMyStory.com and share your story.

Want to Connect? You can connect with us or tell your story… via our confidential toll free line at 1-833-83-STORY Email: talktous@heresmystory.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHMSpodcast Twitter: @SHMSpodcast

Want to support us? Review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to the podcast. Visit our Patreon page. (http://www.patreon.com/SHMSpodcast)

Ep05: Christmas in July...? Jul 12, 2017

Show notes

Christmas in July…

We know – Christmas is a weird topic in the middle of the summer. But this week, Jodi and Eliot explore what Christmas traditions share with business structure, and what to do when neither are making magic any more.

Why is that important for business?

As kids, it feels like anything can happen during the holidays – it is a magical time. As adults, we often try to recreate those feelings by doing the same things over and over again. We end up creating the opposite of “anything can happen” magic in our effort to recreate it.

It got me to thinking - where is structure and tradition valuable, and where is spontaneity and improvisation valuable? This balance comes up all of the time in business.

If you are going to have rules, make sure they are your rules. You have to figure out what metric you actually judge great work by. Make sure they help you move towards the company you want to be and the service you want to have. Where is there space for you to re-organize or re-structure the rules so that both you and your clients’ needs are met?Where are you saying “well, that’s how we’ve always done it”, and is it serving you?

What is it you are ultimately seeking and is the structures of your business (or your Christmas) meeting that need? It’s like the classic business story:

Two managers are talking about training their employees. The first asks, "Yeah, but what if we train them, and they just leave?" The second responds, "What if we don't train them, and they stay?"

If you removed all of the rules and started from scratch, what would you put back in?

Resources Mentioned

The Disciplined Pursuit of Less from the Harvard Business Review

What about you?

So we told you our story – now it’s time to tell us yours!

Go to SoHeresMyStory.com and share your story.

You can connect with us or tell your story…

via our confidential toll-free line at 1-833-83-STORY

Email: talktous@heresmystory.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHMSpodcast

Twitter: @SHMSpodcast

Want to join the Patrons Circle?

Review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to the podcast.

Visit our Patreon page. (http://www.patreon.com/SHMSpodcast)

EP04: How can a couples' massage POSSIBLY leave you cranky...? Jul 05, 2017

Show notes

How could a couples' massage possibly leave you cranky...?

What do couples’ massages and unfulfilled expectations have in common? Probably not what you think! This week, and Jodi and Eliot talk about how a clear process can be just as important as a clear promise.

Why is that important for business?

Sometimes, no matter how good the product or service is, disappointment can still overshadow the experience when expectations aren’t met.

Often, this is an issue of operations knowing what marketing is doing. And sometimes it isn’t a communications issue, it is a clarity issue.

It can be even more of a challenge to get in front of expectations that you don’t even know to expect.

What is clear is that there is something refreshing about setting authentic expectations – you don’t need to fluff up your promises like Ginsu knives for the promise to be compelling.

If you know where people might be extra hopeful, or scared, or not know, then you can think about how you can address that before it happens.

So often we are so focused on the problem that we have a solution for, that we don’t think about the thoughts and expectations that go through a client’s mind during the process. Sometimes, those fear are even more pronounced than the problem that brought them to you.

Figuring out the process is one thing. The next level is to make sure it becomes part of the culture and operations of your company.

It is so important to look under that rock of mismatched expectations.

What about you?

So we told you our story – now it’s time to tell us yours!

Go to SoHeresMyStory.com and share your story.

Want to Connect?

You can connect with us or tell your story…

via our confidential toll free line at 1-833-83-STORY

Email: talktous@heresmystory.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHMSpodcast

Twitter: @SHMSpodcast

Want to support us?

Review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to the podcast.

Visit our Patreon page. (http://www.patreon.com/SHMSpodcast)

Photo Credit: Blackberry Farm Flickr via Compfight cc

Ep03: When Leadership = Looking Dumb? Jun 27, 2017

Show notes

When Leadership = Looking Dumb?

“Are we weird?” is the topic at hand this week, and Jodi and Eliot talk about how a lot of business people feel that they should have the answers to all of the business questions that pop up.

Why is that important for business?

Because leadership is this wild vat of uncertainty, and almost every day, people want to know if their problems are weird.

But here’s the thing: leadership doesn’t look like knowing the answers. Knowing all of the answers is usually about wanting to look good; it takes courage to ask the questions.

Jodi quotes Julio Olalla from one of her favorite videos (http://bit.ly/2s9kehH) as saying “knowledge is a love affair of answers. Wisdom is a love affair with the questions…”

You earn the right to give direction by not having the answers and asking the questions.

The reason that people and companies need leadership is that there are nuanced complexities that have to be navigated, and you can’t see them until you ask the questions.

Sometimes the best thing to say is “tell me what you know”.

And sometimes, in that emotional insecurity, there’s a reluctance to admit sameness. Often, your problems are not as unique are you think they are. Like a teenager, business people are in this tension between standing out and fitting in – you want to know your problems aren’t weird, but you want to be different. The same push-pull exists between wanting to be on your own, but not; being captain of your own ship, but still being part of a loosely defined fleet.

You can connect with us or tell your story…

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Email: talktous@heresmystory.com

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Twitter: @SHMSpodcast

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Ep02: Rule Number One Jun 21, 2017

Show notes

Rule #1

What do a parking ticket and a cashier’s cheque have to do with business? This week, Eliot and Jodi talk about the importance of not making things complicated for your customers, and the difference between process and outcome.

Why is that important for business?

The confused mind says no.

Having a catalog of options is great, but it still needs to be easy for your customers to choose.

Sometimes, in an effort to make it so each individual in your marketplace finds that custom fit, you make every individual in your marketplace paralyzed with indecision.

There is a certain complexity that comes with being out of touch with what the end user is going to need and want; that complexity is often the result of being too close to your offering. Great ideas tend not to survive their first encounter with the market because of this.

And sometimes, the problem comes with creating global rules to one instance of a challenge; strapping a solution on a problem without thinking about the unintended consequences. Think: is this a situation that needs a policy versus something that just needs a conversation?

Share your story

So we told you our story – now it’s time to tell us yours!

Go to SoHeresMyStory.com and share your story.

You can connect with us or tell your story…

via our confidential toll free line at 1-833-83-STORY

Email: talktous@heresmystory.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHMSpodcast

Twitter: @SHMSpodcast

Want to support us?

Review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to the podcast.

Visit our Patreon page. (http://www.patreon.com/SHMSpodcast)

Ep01: Seriously? We're starting with a Pee Your Pants story...? Jun 09, 2017

Show notes

Pee my WHAT? What does peeing your pants have to do with better business? This week, Jodi and Eliot talk about the importance of sharing those vulnerable stories that businesses need to tell.

Why is that important for business? There’s this weird counterintuitive perception that people don’t want to share those stories. And peeing your pants might not be the story that you are going to lead with the first time you meet someone (in theory). And yet what is also true is that given a moment where someone else is sharing their story, suddenly other people want to share. That is at the core of what we are getting at with this podcast. That safe space, where people can share their worst stories, can be created by the fact that the first person shared their own. There is safety in numbers. People are dying to tell these stories, and creating that safe space doesn’t take a lot of work, it isn’t magic. Our acknowledged shared humanity in sharing goofy embarrassing stories made even more vulnerable things easier to talk about.

How do I start these conversations? To really get this idea of how one person can create this space, you really need to watch this Derek Sivers video on how to start a movement in 3 minutes or less: https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement#t-52060 The first follower is what turns the Lone Nut into a Leader. We want to be the Lone Nuts of telling these business stories. And of course, we wouldn’t expect you to go it alone. So we tell our own Business Pee Pants stories in this episode (and probably future episodes!)

Share your story… So what is your business version of I peed my pants story? The story doesn’t have to end well or be tied up in a bow; it can be something you are worried about NOW. What you are feeling, what you are thinking, what concerns you, the deepest darkest fears that you have that might be paralyzing you and causing you to spin in circles: these are the stories that so many of us have in common. We want to hear!

So here are several ways you can connect with us and share your stories (and if you don’t want your name mentioned…. Just say so. We’ll paraphrase the important parts and completely obscure your identity, with no references to your name or company.

You can connect with us or tell your story…

- via our confidential toll-free line at 1-833-83-STORY

- Email: talktous@heresmystory.com

- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHMSpodcast

- Twitter: @SHMSpodcast

- Get the INSIDE Story and special perks by becoming a Patron: http://www.patreon.com/SHMSpodcast