Discover. Don’t Isolate.
Branding, raising money, photo shoots, product launches, pop-up events, social media posts, podcast interviews, these are the highly visible aspects of a luxury business today. But the real action, in terms of business growth, happens in less glamourous fashion. There’s the product and offer development in the back room. Should we offer this or that? There are months or years to get enough people to try what you offer. There is the effort to find prospects and get them in your orbit in the first place, which is not as simple as the newly minted gurus might suggest. Throughout this process you are on the brink of more success, a.k.a., cash-flow, or failing, and an inability to pay your bills. What matters is what you do, during these days. If you find yourself there, by no means should you isolate yourself.
Working at a big company, you don’t always know if the company is succeeding or failing. The financials might be good, but for other reasons, it might be on the verge of a shutdown. Not so, as an entrepreneur. Each day, you are intimately aware of where you stand – tactically, emotionally, financially – and you know in which direction there is momentum. I find a focus on “discovery,” is most effective during these periods of vulnerability.
By discovery I mean an active openness to opportunity. Who called today? What came in the mail? What’s happening at that meeting downtown? Who can I introduce myself to? Who have I known for a while, but don’t really know? This process is distinctly different than simply networking – being connected with lots of people, going here and there to events, and such. You can do all of that and still be isolated because the people you associate with have the same point of view. What I am suggesting is a deliberate attempt to discover, different people, ideas, and needs.
I am reminded of once booking time at a recording studio to record an audiobook. The owner quietly told one of the engineers, to whom he assigned the task of working with me, that he had no interest in hearing me talk for hours. But the engineer, Chris, was intrigued, and became more intrigued as he listened to me record my book about business success. After the session, he asked how he could work with me in some way. Demonstrating initiative, he offered to record me in my home, for my convenience, but really so he could hear more. Soon after, with what he learned from our interaction, Chris started his own recording studio. In search of clients, I once showed him how in one day, he could generate thousands of dollars, by simply “discovering” business leaders around him in towns on Long Island, New York. He was astonished when he walked away with a contract from someone he didn’t know, 90 minutes earlier.
Excellence is not a superficial endeavor. To align with it, you must discover needs, interests, and points of view outside of your own and inside the minds of prospects in your market. This happens through deeper conversations but getting there requires you to go deeper in your efforts to engage. While some prospects might be inundated with pitches and offers, cautious and apprehensive, there are just as many wondering where the next substantive conversation will come from. Staying in forward motion, and relentlessly curious, and creative, you’ll discover new faces, and during these moments, of rapport building and understanding you can quickly change the direction of your business.
Let me teach you or your sales team, how to become more effective at “discovering opportunity.” Write me at: info@andretaylor.com for details.
At Taylor Insight we help premier and luxury businesses excel and grow by attracting, retaining, and growing with affluent clients. We provide exceptional strategic, marketing, sales, and service guidance, and a portfolio of high-impact learning programs.
