I have been tested by the media as a professional medium for the past 14 years. I did not ask for it nor self promote, word of mouth just happened between close friends and one day things just spiraled to the point where I found myself in a nationally syndicated column.
Over the years, several clients who privately hold corporations have contacted me for personal business development advice. This has always been kept a secret. After all , what customer or client would want to know that the owner of a company that they do business with, has such concerns where a medium is consulted?
Today, I received a phone call from a client who owns a medium sized orthopedic practice on the East Coast.He has a group of investors and hold quarterly meetings. The economy has not impacted the orthopedic business. After all, people still get injured at work and in car accidents, despite the declining household incomes and high gas prices.
When I answered the phone, I heard the echo of being placed on speaker phone. He said to me, “Welcome to our board meeting, today I have hired a medium to consult on the marketing aspects of our practice.”
My client revealed his previous secret conferences with me in public at his meeting.
He had tape recorded our previous conversations and compared the financial growth of our brainstorms with actual financial data over the past two years. He created a spreadsheet presentation and compared the revenue of each marketing idea implemented. He then did a comparison spread sheet of the cost of our consultations vs. the cost to consult with a marketing firm to implement the same ideas.
He showed his investors he saved $150/hour through our secret conferences.
Dealing with a New Age practitioner or medium has always been a closeted encounter especially in mainstream business. Now today, with more reality shows featuring using psychics and mediums in crime investigations, our field is starting to receive a tad more respect.
It is strange that someone could just hear or sense a piece of information out of the clear blue. How can you trust that the information that you are receiving will prove to be instrumental to your success? I am not exactly sure how I can answer that question. I am often asked, ” How do you know you are right?
Honestly, very few professional mediums actually know if they are correct when they consult with someone. Over the years from dealing with people you develop a batting average.
Yet even with that, it still seems far fetched.
From an ethical standpoint, when I work with a business client, I structure my services where initially, they choose what they will pay me. For example, if I initially consult with them, if they feel the information I gave them was only worth $5.00, then that is all they pay. If they feel the session was worth $200.00 then, they pay it. I always tell my clients, to evaluate what they feel the value of the information is worth to them. Channeling is an exchange of energy. You will get from it what you believe it is worth to you. That is my personal belief. This plan has worked quite well after fourteen years of helping people. When first working with a client there is a slight learning curve involved and I do not believe the client’s financial risk should be involved. They should feel the transaction was beneficial from both sides.
I decided to write this article because I realized after being hidden by business clients most of these years, it felt great for a client to announce me to their business partners. I felt a sudden rush of joy and job well done. It is a fine feeling to be appreciated.
I wish to share with you some of my most recent consulting tips:
For Food and Beverage Walk -In Stores:
I did not invent this idea but I have seen it bring in a tremendous savings vs. printing coupons for customers ordering food/beverage for take out or dine in. Creating a trivia coupon where the customer walks into the store and at the ordering cash register there is a trivia question of the day. If the correct answer is given you will give a drink for 99 cents instead of regular price or take 50 cents off the order. It is really not about getting the right answer, it is about developing a dialogue with your customer.
It opens up the door for you to talk to them to make them feel welcome at your establishment.
You can find out what they feel about your food or service. It acts as an informal way to build a good customer relationship. Upon surveying customers who do the trivia coupon, they return to repurchase at the establishment not only because they enjoyed what they bought, but they liked the fun of interacting with the employee at the time of purchase. They felt welcome and want to buy again where they feel welcome. The discount is a minor incentive.
Real Estate Sales FSBO:
We didn’t sell just a house, we sold the cause it went to. My client had to sell her home. She recovered from cancer but did not recover financially from her time off. Her home sat on the market for 20 months, after going through several realtors. She decided to go FSBO with the incentive of offering a realtor bringing in a qualified buyer 3% of the sale. In our consult, we evaluated what was most important to her. I then asked her, ideally what would she do if she got her asking price for her home.
She simply stated that she would pay off her bills and donate $15,000 to cancer research. We created an honest straightforward marketing approach where she constructed a one page letter to the realtors in her area stating her desire to sell her home to donate $15,000 to cancer research. In two months, a realtor brought in a qualified buyer, who was also a cancer survivor. My client received her exact asking price. In some cases when dealing with a high end transaction, you may want to try aligning yourself with others who share similar values.