Take me - but then thank me!

What’s easier: marketing, advertising or cold calling to get a new client or having a new client call you directly? Most people would intuitively and correctly say – having the client call directly. What could be more simple than having the business walk right up to you and say “take me!”.

The next vital steps when a potential client calls you directly should be:

1. Ask how they found out about you. Many times these people will have been referred by someone to you. The referrer could be a previous happy client, a friend, a family member or simply someone in your sphere.

2. Acknowledge the referral. I don’t particularly care how you do this, just make sure you do it and do it immediately! If someone has taken the time to favourably speak about you to someone then the least you can do is pick up the phone and say thank you. Perhaps you might send a thank you card. If the referral warrants it – maybe a small token of your appreciation like a gift.

Take real estate agents for example, a referral of a client to them can mean thousands of dollars. Don’t be the person who doesn’t bother to find out where the referral came from. Even worse, don’t be the person who knows but does not acknowledge it.

The call you should always try and avoid is the one where a referrer has to ask you if you received their referral. It’s insulting to the person who referred the client that you haven’t thanked them and it’s no way to ensure they’ll continue speaking in such glowing terms about you!

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Beer o’clock review

It’s the end of the week... Ahh... a sigh of relief escapes your lips. The temptation for it to be “beer o’clock” (Australianism for knock off time on Friday) at 2.00pm or to continue Friday lunch into Friday after work drinks is strong.

Consider taking 5 minutes before you finish on a Friday to ask yourself these simple questions...

Looking back at the week that has been:

1. What is one mistake I’ve made and why won’t I repeat it (ie: what have I changed, what system have I put in place)

2. What is one achievement I’m really proud of

3. What is one area/task/job in which I could have done better

4. What did I learn this week

5. What goal did I get closer to achieving this week

5 simple questions: commit to asking them weekly and you’ll commit to weekly improvement.

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Postcard from the future

Ever seen a 6 year old after receiving personally addressed mail? Bouncing… excitement… gleeful delight… I’m proud to say I’ve retained a lot of my inner 6 year old and I too often get that excited when I receive a thoughtful piece of mail.

Yesterday I got a hand written card from a friend to congratulate me on a speaking job I’ve just been awarded in Las Vegas. Bounce, bounce. A couple of weeks ago I received a book as a gift from a reader of my newsletter. Excitement, excitement. And while I haven’t quite managed to muster gleeful delight over receiving bills and tax notices – wait for that response when my second book arrives in boxes in our office next month!

Mail can be exciting. My challenge for you today is to send yourself some mail. I want you to send yourself a postcard from the future.

I love getting postcards… fabulous picture, a few well placed words and a mental image of someone somewhere living life to the fullest.

Your challenge is to send yourself a postcard from 5 years, 10 years, 50 years (you chose) in the future.

What image is on the front of your post card?

What I mean by this is: where are you in 5, 10, 50 years? Be outrageous if you can. No-one sends post cards from home so pretend you’re either living somewhere amazing or that you’re vacationing at a dream destination.

Note here that I’ve never truthfully been able to answer the question “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”. I hate this question because my mind can’t even conceive all the things I want to do in the next year let alone provide you with a perfect plan for 5 years away.

I could however always answer the question – “Tell me once place you would want to have gone within 5 years”. Vietnam, Prague, Egypt, Arizona, Santiago… the list could go on forever.

So the picture on the front of your postcard is from a location you will want to have been to or be at in 5 years.

What does your postcard say?

On the back of the postcard you have only a few words to write yourself an aspirational message. I love the word aspiration and according to dictionary.com it means a strong desire, longing, or aim or a goal or object desired.

Your post card might look like this:

Picture: Eiffel Tower

Dear Beth,

Wow – can you believe I’m finally seeing the Eiffel Tower with my two great kids and my loving husband. I’m on long service leave from work and can’t wait to get back there refreshed and revived in 2 months. If you could just see the sunset from our hotel over the Arc de Triomphe you’d be as in love with Paris as I am!

See you here in 10 years! Love Beth

Bear in mind Beth might be single without kids right now – but she wants herself to head towards this lifestyle – so she puts it in the postcard.

Mine might be…

Picture: Multi coloured saris

Dear Kirsty

Don’t have long to write, the plane leaves for Cuba in 10 minutes. Of all the 50 countries I’ve seen in the past 5 years flying out of India today leaves me with one of the strongest cultural reminders. The ten businesses I’ve got running remotely as my sensational husband I travel are thriving and supporting my lifestyle and I’ve just mastered my fifth language and can’t wait to learn to salsa next. Did you also know that my brother just bought his tenth investment property???

Stay fabulous and see you here in 5 years - Kirsty

Have a bit of fun with this challenge and feel free to send me your postcard!

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

What's your Iron Man?

I sat captivated in an audience a few weeks ago watching a speaker give a presentation. Being a speaker myself I often find myself watching other speakers in two ways, firstly of course to hear their story but also to pick up tips on presentation skills.

I had no time to pick up presentation skills while watching this speaker because for around 45 minutes I was completely drawn into her world. A world I’d never thought about before. In her world 5 years before she couldn’t swim – and yet set herself the goal to compete in the grueling world of Iron Man.

I too am not the greatest swimmer so I journeyed with her in my mind when she spoke of having to go to a class with 5 year olds to learn to swim. I felt her pain when she spoke of her toenails falling off after competing in the Iron Man and my heart swelled when she repeated the words said to her on the loudspeaker as she crossed her first finish line “Susan Casey you are an Iron Man”.

Susan Casey isn’t a professional speaker (despite being utterly engaging.) To me that was one of the things that was so great about her presentation. Here was a real person telling a real story aptly titled “Ordinary people doing Extraordinary things.”

At the end of her presentation she opened for questions and the last comment from an audience member left a bad taste in my mouth. The question asked was “isn’t it bad for your body?” Now I think this is a great question – Iron Man does really harsh things to the human body! After getting the answer, the audience member then disappointingly said to the entire group “I don’t know why anyone would bother!”

To me, she missed the entire point of the talk. Here was a normal person just like any of us in the audience who had set her mind on achieving something great, something only a tiny percentage of the population would ever achieve and she did it despite the difficulty.

This speaker wasn’t talking about persuading everyone to do Iron Man. She was clearly showing us all that whatever our goals and however much sacrifice and determination is needed for us to achieve them – we could do it if we put our minds to it and applied the principles she was talking about.

I felt sad that this person in the audience didn’t get the same message as me. They chose to see simply the first layer of her presentation and not to see how that message could transform their lives and everyone’s in that room.

What’s your Iron Man and how far are you willing to go to achieve it?

By Kirsty Dunphey with 1 comment

Secret 11 - The ladder always has another rung

When a lovely lady called Debra from the United States asked me to do a series on “The Top 10 Secrets that really got me to the Top” I smiled to myself.

I smiled because as much as I love sharing these tips with you – I see myself as having so many more rungs in my ladder to climb! I’m not at “the top” – far from it in my mind.

I’m 28 years old now and I’m overjoyed at some of the things I’ve accomplished over my past 13 years in real estate and 13 years in small business, however – in terms of what I’ll accomplish over my lifetime… I hope to be able to look back in a few years time with accomplishments that dwarf what I’ve already done.

This is a characteristic I’ve observed in lots of my success role models. Whilst they celebrate milestones, they’re always striving for new heights, always pursuing passions and always aiming to climb another rung.

So in terms of phrasing this a secret – I would say “celebrate success, but pursue ongoing challenge”. To me one of the most amazing moments in is when I reach a goal, achieve a dream and make something happen. If I thought I was at the top I’d have nowhere left to go! Dream big!

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Secret 10 – Great things come to those who ask

This is one of my favourite secrets because it fits really well with my personality. Will it work for you? Perhaps not exactly in the way I’m describing that it has worked for me, but I think that’s a good thing! If we were all exactly alike and could absorb someone else’s success tips word for word and action for action we’d have no need to use our brains! As with all these tips – internalize them and find a way for you to make them your own!

Back onto the secret though – and that is: Be a little cheeky! I’m a big believer in cheeky!

One recent example of me being cheeky… Pete Williams author of “How to turn your million dollar idea into reality” was featured in last month’s Business Essentials, an audio program that goes out to business professionals everywhere on CD. Pete was nice enough to organize me a copy. After listening to it I was impressed with the program and impressed with Pete for getting himself onto it!

Not wanting to be outdone I emailed the head of Business Essentials, told him about myself and let him know in my own cheeky way that I thought he should interview me next! Now I don’t like to ask for things without giving as well – so I listed a bunch of compelling reasons why interviewing me would work well for Business Essentials and what I could offer in return (never just try and take, always give first!)

Suffice it to say that cheeky Kirsty won out and I’ve been featured as July’s Business Essentials cover interview. If you would like to listen to part of my interview head here: http://www.be.com.au/audio/Dunphey_BE_July07.wax and to find out more about Business Essentials head here: http://www.be.com.au/

So – that was a great result for me, but don’t think I always get my own way! I often ask for things I don’t get, but I’m never going to stop asking. The “no” response leaves me in no worse a place than I was to begin with!

Great things come to those who ask – what can you be cheeky and ask for today?

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments