NYC Elevate is a networking community organized to help our members make more money through structured collaboration and referrals.
At e9digital, we’re hyper responsive to our clients requests, so for good or bad we’ve trained them to expect immediate responses even when it’s a low priority issue.
This week, one of my teammates at e9digital had a family emergency and forgot to set an autoresponder on her email.
The next day I got an email from the client expressing great concern about not having received a same day response from us.
I replied and said I would jump in immediately and asked how I could help. The client said I wanted to schedule an appointment for next month.
So it was a nonissue, but because she had the expectation of rapid, same day responses from us, and since we deviated from that, it caused great concern in her mind.
That got me thinking about the expectations that our members may have about Elevate, and if there is a gap between their expectation and their reality, then it might be causing great concern in their mind and they might not be fully enjoying their experience here.
Here are a few examples of expectations that might need adjustments:
I’m pissed at Amy! She referred me to a client that needs a dog walker. I don’t do that!
Alternative thought: Wow, It’s awesome that Amy thought about me and tried to refer me. I should schedule a 121 with her to make sure she knows exactly what I do.
I’m pissed at Amy! She never contacts me to schedule a 121.
Alternative thought: I really want to meet with Amy. Maybe she’s super busy. I’ll reach out to her to see if we can schedule a 121 this month or next.
I’m pissed at Amy! She seems to do just the basics at Elevate and makes a ton of money. I’m doing the same things but I’m struggling.
Alternative thought: Maybe basic networking tactics work for Amy or maybe she’s more effective with those tactics. Maybe my business is different and I need to apply different networking tactics to be successful. Maybe I should go to the next Elevator Accelerator session.
I’m pissed at Amy! She didn’t respond to the email I sent her.
Alternative thought: Maybe Amy is super busy or maybe my email went to spam for some reason. I’ll text her to ask her to look out for my email.
I’m pissed at Amy! She has hundreds of visitors come to our meeting. It’s easy for her to get visitors because she’s so successful with Elevate.
Alternative thought: I’m still learning how to be successful at Elevate, but I joined Elevate to grow my business. Maybe I should help people and invite them to attend Elevate so they have the opportunity to grow their business.
Your main takeaway from this today is … that I’m pissed at Amy!
Seriously, anytime you feel frustrated, please examine your expectations about the item causing the concern; and then try to have an alternative positive thought with a charitable assumption, and I guarantee that you will not only feel better, I guarantee that you’ll make more money.
And if you need coaching about anything that’s frustrating you or causing concern, schedule a 121 with me for some coaching.
