Episode description

The last three months have been unprecedented and unsettling to say the least, wouldn’t you agree? The entire world has changed FOREVER in almost every imaginable way in just the blink of an eye. 
 
But rather than freaking out, wouldn’t it be amazing if you could embrace the changes and use them to benefit and improve, not only your personal life but your business as well?
 
Think about it... people’s values and habits have changed. How is that going to affect the economy, business, buying behaviors, the value of talent, and other things? It’s truly extraordinary. 
 
Dan Sullivan and I really dig in on this podcast to talk about the importance of virtualizing, digitizing, and dematerializing our businesses, and how the ones that DON’T are already on the mass extinction list. 
 
Let’s start with Dan’s business, Strategic Coach, which has traditionally been an “in-person” experience (for over 30 years). In a matter of a few days, he took the entire operation VIRTUAL and IT WORKS. It was a really big deal, but he and his team put their noses to the grindstone and made it happen. 
 
They conducted their first Zoom mini-workshop and it was a huge success. Since then, they’ve done 100 more Zoom workshops and, recently, for the first time, they had their first sales presentation on Zoom to fill their London UK workshops. So far, so good!
 
The funny thing is, if you would have talked to his clients three months ago and said, “Hey, would you accept Strategic Coach as a virtual event?” a lot of them would have said, “No way! There isn’t the same level of value or intimacy and connection.”
 
There are lots of members that I know personally that thought their businesses were completely over because they were 100% dependent on live events to get new customers. But ... they sucked it up, they virtualized their businesses, and guess what! Their “show up” rates have been higher, their conversion rates have been about the same or better, and the intimacy level in the perception of connection has, in fact, been higher as well. 
 
Bottom line: more income, less work, fewer expenses, no travel, and MORE INTIMACY AND CONNECTION!
 
I’ve been doing this for years; I flat out refuse to have enrollment or sales conversations unless we do a Zoom call. The reason for that is I demand to own the eyeballs, the fingers, and the ears of anyone I’m talking to. I don’t accept multitasking. If I can hear someone ruffling around with papers while we’re on a phone call, I simply end the conversation and say, “If this is the way you treat important things in your life, then we are not a match.”
 
It’s a matter of how you value someone’s time and attention.
 
I’m in the business of ruthlessly eliminating chaos, overwhelm, and low-frequency and low-quality relationships.
 
Dan and I agree that the face of business has completely changed forever. Time and distance are no longer an issue, and we’re able to get an enormous amount of stuff done. We believe business has made five years of change in about three months.