Delivery Mastery: Just Let Your Customers Buy From You!

By Action Coach Dave Beam

How often have you experienced it? You walk into a business, ready to buy, and you can’t get someone to listen and understand what you want so that you can give them your money and walk out with your purchase!

I recently spoke with one of my clients, Roger, who had every intention of buying not one, but two pick-up trucks from a certain car dealer. Roger had done business with this dealer for years, and there was a loyalty and relationship established.

Business Systems –Unlocking the Door to Your Freedom

By Certified Action Coach Dave Beam

I am amazed when I drive past our local McDonalds in the morning. There are days when the cars are lined up around the building, almost into the road!  And what is even more amazing is that most of those people will be served a consistent hot breakfast for under ten dollars by teenagers who likely didn’t even make their bed!

Take Some Dance Lessons – Effective Delegation Part V

By Action Coach Dave Beam

I love this analogy because it captures so many principles of effective delegation.  To create effective results in relationships, start dancing and quit wrestling!

Many business owners and managers struggle and strain with delegation.  They have the mindset that to be effective, you have to overpower your employees and force them into submission.  It is literally a wrestling match and the starting bell rings at the beginning of each shift or day.  It is a contest of will and strategy.  Sometimes your “best” employee is the strongest, the most talented, and the most self willed.  You feel like if you let up for a moment, “they” will gain the advantage.  Or you just “give in” and let them “have their way”.

Enough is enough!  Who has the energy or the desire to run their business or department like a military camp?  There is a better and more effective way to manage, and it follows the analogy of dancing vs. wrestling.

Positive Accountability – Effective Delegation Part IV

By Action Coach Dave Beam

When you hear the word “accountability”, what comes to mind?  Does it produce a positive, upbeat, exciting feeling, or a negative, uncomfortable, unpleasant feeling?

When I first start coaching with a person, they almost always have negative emotions and ideas associated with accountability.  They carry bad memories of annual evaluations with supervisors or bosses that were disconnected or on a power trip.  They have visions of tense meetings ending in probation and employee discipline.  They certainly don’t seek out  “constructive criticism” and “performance feedback evaluation” with delight.

The System is the Solution – Effective Delegation Part III

By Action Coach Dave Beam

Wouldn’t it be great when you are ready to delegate a task if you had a machine that could fully transfer your thoughts and brain into another person’s head with a simple flip of the switch!  Well, as far as I know, that one is still science fiction.

One of the key tools for effective delegation is systems.  How is it that McDonalds can deliver a consistent product from thousands of stores worldwide using teenage workers?  It is because they have created a detailed documented system for every detail of operating a franchise store.  You can create a written, documented system for your business as well.

Dropping Expectations and Creating Agreements – Effective Delegation Part II

By Action Coach Dave Beam

One of the most powerful distinctions that will help you effectively delegate is the distinction between expectations and agreements.  I am indebted to business coach Steve Chandler for teaching me this powerful concept.

Business owners and managers are often frustrated because the team often falls short of their expectations.  You expect them to show up on time.  You expect them to follow through.  You expect them to go that extra mile and bring some new ideas to the meeting.  I am certain that if I interviewed your team members, they would have their own expectations as well. 

Unmet expectations produce disappointment.

Facing Your Fears Concerning Delegation - Effective Delegation Part I

By Action Coach Dave Beam

A common challenge that I hear from business owners and managers is their lack of success in effective delegation.  I hope that you agree that learning how to effectively delegate is a key to your freedom.  Without effective delegation, face it, you have to do it YOURSELF!

Are You Letting Your Business Grow?

By Action Coach Dave Beam

At Action Coach, we have a definition for a true business:  A commercial, profitable enterprise that works – without the owner!

Many business owners are taken back and even offended by this definition.  Others say it is a great concept but not realistic.  A few get it.  Please, set aside your “knowledge” and pre-conceived ideas for a moment, and find this “interesting”.  Once you “get this”, it opens your business mind to a whole new world.

How to Create a Marketing Plan that Works! (Part 1 of 4)

By Action Coach Dave Beam

I am going to do a four part series starting with this newsletter on how to create a marketing plan that works.  This is actually pulled from the marketing module of "BusinessRICH" our premier 2-day paid training. All that to say this is fantastic stuff!

The first key point in creating a great marketing plan is asking the most effective questions in the right order.  Most business owners, barraged by advertising representatives, believe that the most important issue in marketing is the how.  Should I use TV, radio, newspaper, website, internet, flyers, direct mail, etc. etc.  If so, which paper, which flyer, which ball team, which charity, new business cards and on and on it goes. Although these are legitimate questions, they are not the first questions that need to be asked.  The “how am I going to do it” is one of the last questions to answer.