Check Your Perspective
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Last week I sent out an e-mail to my database sharing an opportunity to coach with me as I am seeking one new coaching client for April who is motivated to create better results but knows they cannot do it alone.
In the e-mail I wrote: I am offering 5 complimentary coaching sessions to the first five people who connect with me and feel they want to experience coaching.
I did not realize that someone could read it two ways:
1) I was offering five people, five complimentary sessions EACH.
2) I was offering five people, one complimentary session EACH.
My intention was number two, yet after this awareness I could easily see how people could have either perspective.
Unless someone asks questions to clarify, they could assume the wrong thing or interpret it a certain way which leads to mis-communication.
How often does mis-communication happen in your world? How often have you assumed or interpreted a situation or conversation that has lead to unproductive results?
This week see what it feels like to clarify what people are saying by asking them more questions. “What did you mean when you said…?” “Can you clarify your statement…”
I would be curious to know what understanding and new perspectives you gain by clarifying more this week through your comments.
PS: I still have two of those five complimentary session open for the taking! If you are curious how coaching can assist your results, e-mail me now to set up that session TrueYouNow@Live.com
April 14th, 2010 at 9:52 am
Sorry dude, to me too it seemed clear that you were offering 5 sessions to each prospect. I thought “Wow! Jeff is really generous with his time..”
:}
April 14th, 2010 at 11:05 am
I assumed it was one per new client but also thought it could be taken either way. I have found, especially in business, that expressing exactly what your intentions are to customers is paramount otherwise they can feel like they were misled. I had a customer bring in a sale flier that was years old and expect, no demand, that I honor it even though I couldn’t and threatened to tell everyone she knew how dishonest I was. I was able to find a happy resolution to the situation in the end and I make sure to put expiration dates on any sales or specials that I run from now on. Lesson learned.
April 15th, 2010 at 2:15 am
In my classroom, I need to be extremely intentional in my words, too. I’ve learned to think out my directions and expectations before I state them. I never assume that kids will use LOGIC… hahaha…