You’ve probably heard of the top five regrets of the dying. It’s an impressive list that was put together by Australian palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware in her book of the same name. She conducted research on patients in hospitals to identify their regrets.
The five regrets are:
- I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
- I wish I had had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had kept in touch with my friends.
- I wish I had allowed myself to be happy.
We all have regrets in our lives, and our business lives are no different. It is an unfortunate fact that over 60% of small businesses fail within the first 3-5 years. And influencers are not immune. It is not uncommon for them to feel that everything is too difficult, that it would be easier to return to full-time employment.
But the reality is that the labor landscape has changed. Organizations preparing for the future want flexible workers. Those that are not flexible can be easily replaced. So even if you decide to leave it as an Influencer, you still need to position yourself and promote yourself to get the job. That job will most likely be temporary, so you’ll have to promote yourself again!
In the “last days” of their business, Influencers often have these five regrets:
- I wish I had closed more sales. Have you ever felt like you were having a lot of coffee meetings but not making any sales? A businesswoman told me recently that she had had 40 meetings, but hadn’t been able to close a single sale. If you can relate to this, then your sales conversation is not working. Your communication with potential customers must be very clear. Do they even know they’re going to a sales meeting? Or do they think they’ll just meet you for coffee and a chat? If the expectation isn’t clear and you start talking sales, they may feel cheated and you’re much less likely to engage them.
- I wish I had made my offer clearer or more relevant. Influencers want to change the world. We love what we do. It’s a fantastic space to be in, but you also need to generate income. If what you offer isn’t relevant to their market, they won’t understand and won’t buy. Your potential clients don’t want to change the world; all they want is for their problems to be solved. The more relevant you can make your offer to your customers’ problems, and the more specific you can be, the more likely you are to be able to maintain a profitable business.
- I wish I had worked harder at the beginning of every trading time. Three-month cycles are great for getting into the routine of setting sales goals for yourself. The problem is when you get into “hustle mode” as the deadline approaches. If you’re worried about making up for lost time, you appear aggressive. You feel false and you run the risk of losing the trust of your customers. By working harder at the beginning of your quarter, you take the pressure off yourself and your clients at the end.
- I wish I had the guarantees when people asked for them. To move the sales conversation forward, you need collateral. What if your prospect says, “Great! Do you have something I can take so I can talk to the board?” – and you have nothing? The client needs a vehicle that helps him sell you to his team. Words alone are useless. Your job is to provide collateral: a speaker kit, brochures for your shows, a show reel, your website, your blog. If you don’t have any of these, create them. Make sure you have them before hosting meetings and having sales conversations.
- I wish I had kept building my pipeline, even when I had big projects going. It is exciting to start a great program. But make sure you don’t get so caught up in a new project that you lose sight of the big picture. If you spend all your time and energy on delivery, you stop selling. You forget to fill your pipe and conversations dry up. If you’re delivering a program to a large organization, what happens if circumstances change? Key decision makers could leave or your strategy could change, and your show might not move forward. It is important that you do not rest on your laurels, because anything can happen. Ask yourself, “If I didn’t have my ‘big show,’ would I still have an income?”
Don’t let these common regrets become your regrets too. We all make mistakes and we all have areas in our business that we could improve on. The good news is that you don’t have to go on life support. You can revive it and create a flourishing practice! By understanding and learning from these five regrets, you will certainly
may have a sustainable and profitable business as an Influencer.
I love to hear your thoughts…
Links:
bronnie items
over 60% of small businesses