Fanatical Focus: Heck Yes Or No!

What's On My Mind

Last week's newsletter struck a chord with a lot of readers: Say Yes To Less.

(You can read it here.)

So many people replied--they feel overwhelmed.

Too reactive.

They want to Say Yes To Less.

But what should we say Yes to?

The answer?

Things that can 10x your investment.

Think about that for a sec.

10x!

Author Derek Sivers popularized the idea of Heck Yes Or No.

(He uses more colorful language.)

I love it!

What investments can you make that'll likely return 10x on your time?

Those my friends, are your answers. What you'll say Yes to. 10x.

Here are two 10x investments we've made this year in our own BD.

Internal example: we spent a lot of time and money creating video overviews of our trainings.

Here's one for GrowBIG Training.

Here's one for GrowBIG Leader Training.

Old Trap: Our team had to verbally describe what was in each training to every interested party.

Action: New website. New overview videos. On demand.

10x Result: People can watch the videos and then connect with us for detailed, personalized implementation questions.

Bonus Result: I can't believe how many people are sharing these -- they let our Raving Fans rave!

External example: we over-invested in our best potential clients.

Old Trap: It's easy to be reactive and treat all clients roughly the same, following the same process. Or to only think about prioritizing on the current size, not the potential size.

Action: We've been disproportionately over-investing in certain clients, especially since the pandemic hit. More prep. Little extras. Additional resources. Lots of sessions during early COVID at no charge, when budgets were tight.

10x Result: Business is lights out!

Bonus Result: It's amazing how many referrals are coming out of these select few clients.

These are just two examples, but our clients see the same kinds of results.

The traps to avoid?

The two biggest:

Plan Continuation Bias. Science here, scroll down.

We tend to keep doing what we did before. Maybe it'll work this time!
Be wary of simply doing what you did before. Speaking at the same conference. Going to the same events. Instead, be creative and evaluate all options (both old and new) using the same 10x rubric.
Saying Yes to too many things presented to us.

Can you speak to our group? Can you lead a training/CLE to our team in this exact way? Would you ... ?
Hey, some things people bring your way are great. But many "time sucks" come through your door masquerading as opportunities. Don't settle for good. Only say Yes to Heck Yes!

So how can you be creative and develop more Heck Yes ideas?

See below.

What We Just Created

Super cool podcast episodes this week with Todd Henry, author of The Accidental Creative. Love Todd!

I Love this interview on using creativity to grow.

And this one on how to ask great questions to create and close more of the business you want.

Todd is a gem of a guy, and I learned a ton from our talks.

He's 11x!

What's Worth Revisiting

Something about my conversation with Todd made me think of this oldie but goodie training video we taped on the three ways to live your life (including your BD life).

Want some more thinking on intentionality?

What to Say Yes to?

Check it out here.

What's Worth Lingering On

Want to come up with more Heck, Yes! ideas?

Ask yourself right now...

What organizations could be your largest clients if you invested in them?
Proactively invest in the best.
What investment would the perfect client in that organization love to receive from you?
Think with empathy from their perspective.
How can you summarize the offer conceptually so the client can add their perspective, shape the investment and get excited? (Science of The IKEA Effect here.)
Let them shape the investment because they'll buy into what they help create.
How can you orchestrate a warm conversation through a referral or through some other way?
The warmer the introduction, the better.
How can you ensure you stick with this plan, even if the first action doesn't get traction?

Think of this as a long-term campaign, not a one-time event.

Firm goals, flexible approach.

That's it.
Say Yes To Less.

Because all your decisions should be...

Heck Yes or No

HECK YES!