Chris Barrow’s Blog

I finished my travel for the week last night and I’m truly exhausted physically – but it has been a great week – Workshops in Leeds, Birmingham and Exeter and a practice visit and team session in Birmingham also.

I’ve been focused on business planning and customer service in the delivery this week and its been a timely reminder of the need to continually keep an eye on future planning and on the leadership of my team.

Especially the team – I have a habit of getting lost in my work and days can go by before I speak to or connect virtually with team members – this can leave them feeling isolated and unappreciated – very dangerous – so next week I’m going to make sure that they all feel listened to and appreciated.

Strangely, although the week has been busy in so many ways, the highlight has been three emails from former clients who have written to say a big “thank you” for the catalytic effect I have had on their lives – one to build a better business, one to open a new business and finally one who is closing a business and travelling around Africa for a spell.

Those three stories have provided me with immense job satisfaction.

What a fantastic practice visit yesterday. I’ll keep the identity of the client confidential but I have rarely enjoyed meeting a new principal and his team so much.

The owner has single-handedly built a 2m pound dental practice, forged with his own hard work, his vision, his sheer determination and the creation of an excellent senior management team.

The business has reached its full potential, has plateaued and he wanted my perspective to lift the vision to a higher level.

My excitement was in recognising that there was plenty of scope for growth and improvement. We discussed:

1. an extensive refurbishment of the building exterior;
2. an even more extensive interior refurb;
3. a gigantic makeover of their corporate image, literature, web site and marketing;
4. a firming up of their patient journey systems
5. the development of better selling skills in his clinical team

and didn’t even get around to discussing some long overdue price increases.

I genuinely believe that, if we work together, we can improve profits and working conditions significantly – and yet this guy is already successful.

In the afternoon I presented on “Patient Journey” to his team of over 50 clinicians and staff. We covered ground that is familiar to me but the level of interaction and humour made the hours flash by.

One of those days when I truly love what I do in my professional life and know that I’m the best business coach in Britain today.

My alarm woke me at 5.30am this morning and I left the apartment at 6.30am to drive about 50 miles across the Pennines to our Leeds dental workshop.

Weather was pretty grim – fog and frost – and the traffic was a nightmare. I came to a standstill at 7.30am right on the tops of the moors, with the fog billowing around 3 lanes of stationary commuters and commercial vehicles. We sat for a while until a crawl began through the darkness.

Instead of my planned arrival time of 8.00am I rolled in 30 minutes late and with half of my delegates already sat with coffee. Its quite freaky to have to set up the laptop, digital projector and sound system with a group of brand new clients watching who you don’t know yet.

Anyway – we kicked off at 9.00am on the dot and I delivered that “day one” workshop to my startled rabbits again (see earlier blog on the effect that my radical views have on new audiences).

A big room today – around 100 people and many team members attending for the first time. I have to:

a. build rapport with a variety of ages and skill sets;
b. deliver the radical material to unbelievers;
c. entertain the returning clients who have heard it before;
d. keep to time;
e. watch the body language and eye contact to make sure I’m not losing or unduly offending anyone.

The day flashes by and I then drive back over the hills to Manchester – more fog, more traffic and, of course, at this time of year its dark again.

Back at my apartment I’m keeping up with emails and preparing for a teleconference at 7.45pm (local) this evening with over 250 eager listeners (coaches) who want to know “how I do it”.

I’ll be finished at 8.30pm before a quick domestic meeting and then off to bed before a 5.00am alarm call tomorrow – and a drive down to Birmingham for 2 days of coaching.

This is why I’ll be taking 14 weeks vacation this year and 3-day weekends. I’d go potty and burn out otherwise.

After a day of 15-minute laser coaching calls, last evening I attended our first client bridge calls of the year.

We hold these once a month, an hour for coaches and an hour for dentists.

The coaches are well versed with the technology and etiquette of a bridge call, so its easy enough for me to “show up” at the top of the hour and after Jen has greeted everyone ask the universal “how can I help?” question.

As always with coaches, the calls are well attended and the questions flow quickly – the hour flashes by.

With the dentists it can be different – they are not so savvy with the technology and, in January, when I have new clients for the coaching year, many of them have never attended a bridge call in their lives.

So last night with the dentists we spent about 5 minutes saying “hello” and another 10 minutes explaining the usual etiquette of name use, quiet rooms and corded phones.

Then comes the bungee jump, where I ask “how can I help?” and the pregnant silence falls.

I was delighted for two reasons last night:

1. the attendance figures on both calls were high – and its great to hear so many dentists when last year’s attendance figures were drifting down;

2. the conversations on both calls were fascinating – I’m especially pleased that my own contribution to the dental call was quite limited – they picked up the baton and ran with it themselves, helping each other with questions on associate profitability, the viability of membership schemes and private conversion.

That’s been a good start to the year.

I want to order some photo paper for the Sony digital photo printer that prints from my Sony digital camera (I’m a Sony addict – laptop, projector, camera, phone – I’d drive a Sony car if they made them).

I visit the Sony.com web site and find the paper but I cannot buy it because the site only sells direct into the USA but…

I am directed to the Sony.co.uk web site and the same paper but……

The web site links are broken and I cannot get to the purchasing area after repeated attempts so…..

I call their direct sales telephone number and reach…..

A call-waiting system.

Oh no.

“All of our customer service operatives are busy at the moment. Your call is important to us. Please wait”- (cut to music).

After a fairly short time I am through to Carol.

I explain to Carol that I’d like to buy some photo paper.

She suggests that I visit their web site to buy it on-line.

I explain that the web site isn’t working.

She tells me they have had problems with the web site all day.

She explains that I would be better waiting for the web site to be repaired because the minimum on-line delivery charge is 4 pounds but her minimum charge is 8 pounds.

I explain that I travel a lot and want to get the paper ordered NOW.

She accepts and asks me if I have an account.

An account?

Yep – I cannot buy over the phone unless I have set up and account – would I like to set an account up?

Yep – so off we go on the “set an account up” routine – name, address, credit card, blood group, high school results, sports hobbies and pastimes, would I like to receive details of promotions………..

After 10 minutes of that game we are ready……

To discover that she doesn’t have that photo paper in stock.

And would I like to try a local Sony Store or wait until the web site is fixed.

I thank Carol for the life we have shared together – and sign off the call.

No photo paper – just time gone forever.

Monday means no coaching. Its a business development day (or buffer day as Dan Sullivan would describe).

I begin at 7.00am by writing this week’s ezine, then record my podcast, write this blog entry and, after a coffee break, will settle down to deal with those issues necessary to move my business forward.

Phone calls to suppliers and strategic alliance partners, conversations with my support team, some forward-planning of events we have in mind later in the year – and a general tidy up of loose ends in connection with administration, finance, technology – even tidying my work area.

Whilst I am in that mode, I can think and plan – which I cannot do whilst I am coaching, because I am so focused on the client(s) and their needs.

Planning business development days into your schedule is priceless, second only to free days, business development days are the place where your business grows. A friend of mine calls them “future profit days”.

Out running again this morning – an hour of emails from 5.30am and then off for a 45-minute jog. This morning its cold and frosty in Farnham and I plod along the surrounding country lanes, passed by an endless line of commuters making their way into nearby Guildford or on to London by train.

At times like that I recall the benefit of self-employment and the absence of commuting from my life.

Today I am working with Tim Thackrah at Elmsleigh House Dental Clinic – my most successful client in UK dentistry.

This morning, Tim and will just have a good conversation across his kitchen table, then the afternoon will be spent presenting to his team in the practice. We discussed our agenda last night and will be focusing on marketing the general dentistry into the local community and his referral specialist services to other local dentists.

I spend 2 days a quarter in Farnham, the first (yesterday) presenting a workshop and the second working with Tim and his team. Both days fill me with job satisfaction and self-esteem.

Yesterday, Tim shared with our workshop delegates the benefits of the three years we have worked together:

1. less stress;

2. more time away from work;

3. a happier and better paid team;

4. a 100% increase in gross revenues;

5. a 100% increase in team members (that’s why he can take so much more time off) and

6. a 20/30% increase in profit.

That makes me feel great today.

As part of my new year CB makeover, I’ve started serious training again.

This morning I woke at 5.30am and took a 40 minute run past Farnham Castle and to the top of Folly Hill.

It was dark, windy, wet and cold – absolutley wonderful.

I’m thinking like a runner again – and feeling the benefits both physically and emotionally.

Today I’m working with a group of over 70 on the first workshop – a room full of new clients with expressions like startled rabbits as I begin to talk about 3-year vision and time management. I’ll be messing with their heads all day – and starting a process that can change their lives.

I love these days.

I’ve been writing my first ezine of the year this morning and reflecting on the changes I have made to my work schedule that will reduce the amount of business travel I suffer, the number of hotel rooms I have to stay in and allow me to spend more time on public transport and less driving my car.

The road warrior lifestyle really took over in the last 5 years and has had negative effects in all areas of my personal and professional life.

It all sounds very glamorous at the start – first or business class travel, upgraded hotel rooms, exotic or exciting locations. On reflection – it was exciting for about 2 years and then the thrill rapidly wore off.

I’m now more interested in creating a very comfortable and inspiring work space – and travelling periodically in order to deliver the workshops that I love to deliver and to deepen my understanding of my client’s real issues.