fbpx

Hard Lessons From 1,053 New Prospects In 19 Days

Oh gosh, I’m tired.

But I’m excited too. The last 3 months – yes, 3 months – have been a whirlwind. That’s the time that I spent putting together a lineup of 24 experts all sharing their secrets for getting 3 new clients in 30 days – a totally free series for coaches, entrepreneurs, health practitioners, network marketers, and small business owners.

Is that how you got connected with me, actually? There’s a pretty good chance that’s how.

And then the promotion started. And the floodgates opened. I had set my phone to ding every time someone opted in for the event. It was exciting! For 2 and a half weeks my phone dinged all day long. It dinged all the way to 1,053 brand new lovely people on my email list. Amazing, right? Buuuuut it was also…

…Terrifying. Super, super terrifying.

I’m going to be honest: I had to sleep for 2 days after to help come down and assimilate all the lessons I’d learned. I even had to postpone a new masterclass I’m going to be teaching (I’m ready to talk about it now though and I’ll tell you in a sec here).

So, here’s what I learned. I hope it helps you.

(Warning: vulnerable video)

(Sign up for my free masterclass, “The Only 3 Digital Tools You Need to Build Your List & Get Clients from the Internet.” No need to overcomplicate things.)

I’m an Online Entrepreneur – Why Was This All So Dang Stressful?

Well, it wasn’t all stress. A lot of it was excitement. A lot of it was extreme gratitude.

But along with the 1,053 new people who were getting to know me came this very real, very strong internal warning bell: Could I really be of service to ALL of these people? What if I let someone down? What if I disappointed someone? What if something screwed up and I didn’t do the best job I could?

Well, you know what?

All those things happened.

The tech glitched a couple of times (not bad for a 5-day event with 4 separate interviews per day, but still). That was stressful.

And I definitely did let a few people down. I got about a half-dozen customer service inquiries – mostly from really nice people – saying they were getting too many emails. Or they weren’t getting enough emails. Or they couldn’t connect to the webinars.

Two or three people even got a little…personal. Telling me I had misled them. Or calling me names I won’t repeat here.

My stomach does a flip-flop recalling those emails. Those were people who made it abundantly clear that they felt I was dropping the ball and were super pissed the event wasn’t meeting their expectations.

Those complaints gutted me for days. I hate disappointing people.

The Top 3 Things I Learned – I Hope This Helps You

1) The more you put yourself out there in your business, the more bad client experiences you will have.

This is just a numbers game, plain and simple. If, let’s say, a half of a percent of people are going to complain, and complain very intensely, then the more people you attract into your sphere, the more of those complaints you’re going to have.

This is a sign that you are UPLEVELING, not that you are screwing up. If you are sensitive like me, it’s still going to hurt. It’s growing pains. You don’t want to disappoint people – I totally get that. OMG do I get that.

When someone isn’t happy with me, I want to crawl into bed, cry, eat chocolate, and watch the Young and the Restless until I slip into some kind of sloppy, snotty coma for a day or two.

Dan Kennedy said something like:

If you haven’t offended at least one person by noon every day, then you aren’t marketing hard enough.

Cool, Dan. Noted.

I can’t please everybody, as much as I might want to. You can’t either. Bless those people, and move on. Take a nap if you need to, but please move on. Don’t let the haters drag you down for very long. What you are doing is way too important, amiright?

2) So things are going to go wrong sometimes – here’s what you can do to move past it.

I wanted to talk about this because for me it’s never helpful for someone to just say, “Move on, Kathryn, who cares that those people are mad at you? They’re jerks,” or, “It’s in the past – let it go. So the tech glitched and you couldn’t start on time, it’s all good now.”

It doesn’t work for me because I never feel like other people are jerks or that tech screw-ups that aren’t my fault actually aren’t my fault. I always take responsibility. I care so much about over-delivering and when I fall short I. HATE. IT.

So I wanted to share a couple of things that DID help me, in case they help you too:

  • Take care of yourself more. This was counterintuitive for me, but the truth was that the complaints or the glitches or the mistakes hit me hardest when I hadn’t slept enough, eaten well, or taken a few minutes to cuddle my kiddos.If you are having trouble handling the tough stuff, it’s not a sign you need to work harder. It’s a sign you need to take a moment for yourself to breathe and restore.
  • Try to have compassion for the other person. My husband said it this way: “Kathryn, these 3 people are upset that they can’t access the training because they care. They obviously care so much; if they didn’t, they wouldn’t notice that they missed out on part of your 3 clients in 30 days training. You obviously touched on a nerve with these people, otherwise they wouldn’t even take the time to reach out.”That really helped me, actually. Instead of wallowing in the fact that I had let people down (even if it hadn’t really been my fault – say, they had just lost or deleted their access email), I started to think, Wow. I’ve really hit on something big here. People want to know how to get clients quickly and consistently. People care about what I’m doing.
  • Remember the 99.5%. Yeah, I know that 0.5% makes a lot of noise. But there are 99.5% of the people you attract who like – or even love – what you’re doing. And there’s a good percentage of those people who would see the value in working with you, in becoming your client. Those are the people you want to focus on. I’m not saying don’t address customer complaints, but wouldn’t it be so much nicer to focus more of your attention, energy, and heart on the people who don’t spazz out and blame you when something very small goes wrong?I would envision all 1,053 people as if they were in an auditorium together, with me on the stage, and the vast majority of those people either applauding or at the very least sitting politely. The 2 or 3 hecklers? Their behavior is so goofy it’s obvious that it’s about them and not about anything I’m doing on the stage. I don’t need them. And neither do you.

3) Learn and move forward in service.

Here’s the tricky part. Find a quiet place to celebrate whenever you get a new prospect or a new client. That’s what I do. Every time I get a new person on my email list, I remember that is a human being, another heart on the other side of the techie stuff that has said yes to me for something.

I don’t take that lightly. I say thank-you. And I pledge to be of service to that person.

And then the other thing that’s super-important is to go, “Okay, where DID I screw up?” Because there are times where you are only going to be able to carry on properly if you acknowledge your role in something. For example:

  • One of the sessions that started late in my 30 days, 3 clients training was because I hadn’t double-checked something early enough. I did not make that mistake again.
  • One lady was very mad about a disagreement we had over my contest rules – and it was true that my contest terms and conditions could have been more prominent. I corrected that.

Sometimes, things just aren’t your fault. But sometimes you did play a role and it is best if we can be honest with ourselves about that – otherwise it just bugs us and bugs us until we do.

And then after that it’s just a matter of re-committing to coming from a place of service. That’s why I put this upcoming training together: “The Only 3 Digital Tools You Need to Get Up, Running, and Profitable Online.” It’s all about how to get clients from the Internet. I’m really excited to share it with you.

(Sign up for my free masterclass, “The Only 3 Digital Tools You Need to Build Your List & Get Clients from the Internet.” No need to overcomplicate things.)

I really hope you’ve found this post helpful. If you have, please do 2 things for me: (1) leave a comment below and (2) share this post with 1 or 2 people you think would really benefit. Thank you!

I appreciate you,

Kathryn

14 Comments

  1. Tracey Powers

    And I appreciate YOU! I love your truth, vulnerability, and authenticity!
    It was a wonderful event ! I am very surprised there were people who gave you negative comments and feel they are so perfect and never make mistakes; they get to get over themselves!

    I am looking forward to this webinar as I am so tech freaked out, because I am old, lol!and it sounds great I only need 3 things…I bet I have them and am not using them to their potential. Perhaps they are: MY Mind? LeadPages? ConvertKit? FB? I look forward to it and working with you!

    Reply
  2. Kimberly

    It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who feels that way at times. Thanks for sharing your vulnerabilities!

    Reply
  3. Christine Rosas

    I sent you a quick personal note of thanks. However, I also wanted to publicly thank you for this video!

    Seeing others who successfully put theirselves out there and go through the same emotions and worries as me is so validating. Not in a misery-loves-company way. It’s a “wow! Okay. I got this!”

    Oh! And thanks for the self care reminders.

    I’m actually in the midst of selfpublishing a book about trust your inner voice and thriving no matter. And every so often I catch myself with “cobbler’s children have no shoes” syndrome. 😉

    Reply
  4. Jan

    You did an awesome job Kathryn! You provide hope, warmth and an offer to help alleviate the tech worries of others – as well as a “heads-up” to expect some along the way. Don’t let the turkeys get you down. Your business is sure to soar. You are right on track with your work.

    Reply
  5. Lynette

    Kathryn,

    I am proud of you! You’re so courageous to allow your vulnerability to come through. I’m sure all your efforts will pay off big time. I’m a fan!

    Reply
  6. Lauren G

    Oh Kathryn you are so right — the squeaky wheels are the ones that get the most airtime. Thankfully like you said they are a small percent, but a difficult one nonetheless.

    You have a great attitude and refreshing take on business. Love it!

    Reply
  7. Kim Eldredge - New Frontier Books

    Kathryn, you ROCK! Thank you for sharing so authentically about the challenges and teachings you’ve had. It’s always amazing to watch you step into your power and LEAD. You’re a diamond, girl. A DIAMOND.

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *