If you’ve been here a while, you know that I’ve given away some really powerful free training to my subscribers, including what is now a $149 product called “How to Win Your Customers’ Hearts – by Reading Their Minds.”

I’m now creating some more free training for you that will teach you how to systematically and consistently attract more AAA / first-rate customers to your business, but I NEED to know what you need me to include in this training.

So please answer 3 short questions to help me to help you.

All questions are optional and  it should only take you 3 minutes if you’re brief, but please keep in mind that the more you tell me about what you want, the more I can give to you.

Thank you,

Dov Gordon

PS – If you’ve found any of my articles or insights to be helpful – AND if your business will be more satisfying and profitable when you have more AAA customers systematically and consistently closing deals with your business – please help me to help you by answering these 3 short questions now.

Are you struggling with profit, satisfaction, or both?

Some business owners are doing what they love, but not making money.  Others are making money, but get no satisfaction. Many make no money and get no satisfaction. But they sure do put in many hours!

Then there are the few, the artists, the Alchemist Entrepreneurs™, who both make money and feel immensely satisfied. They approach their business as a work of art.

In the best works of art, every element fits. Think of your favorite song. Every note fits. Every instrument adds something and together it’s magical. When you hear it, it lifts you up.

Your business can and should give you, your employees and customers the same feeling. Think of Warren Buffett who likes to say that he and his partner Charlie Munger enjoy what they do so much that they “tap dance to work each morning.” And look at what they’ve built.

Let me tell you why most business owners never achieve the rank of artist…

The answer is simple: They’re in a rush.

You can always justify your rush. One day it’s the competition and you need to keep pace and stand out. Another day it’s a demanding but important customer. Still another day, it’s your cash flow.

But whatever the explanation, this frantic rushing rarely gives you the profit and satisfaction you really want.

To build a business work of art, you DO need a sense of urgency.  Things are constantly changing and if you’re not moving, you’re falling behind. Move fast and you learn, adapt and turn ho-hum systems into systems that hum.

So what’s the distinction between rushing, which stifles and traps you and a sense of urgency which is a basic ingredient?

Rushing: When you try to make things move faster than they’re meant to move. For example, trying to make a sale before you really understand your prospect.  Or throwing someone on a job without proper training because you “don’t have a choice.”

A sense of urgency: When you’re committed to not let things take any longer than they absolutely need to. All this while acknowledging and respecting the reality that some things do need to evolve, mature and ripen.

To the point: If you want more profit and satisfaction from your business, don’t rush. But do act with a sense of urgency. That’s the way of Alchemist Entrepreneur™.

Has this clarified something for you? I’d love to get your reactions in the comments section below.

Hi Dov

This is just a quick email to express my appreciation for the Alchemist Entrepreneur’s Crash Course.

Prior to doing the course, I wasn’t very serious about building my business.  In fact, I was frequently being distracted and wasn’t getting that much done.

After going through your course, I’m glad to say I’ve been so much happier… and productive!  So much so I’ve got a queue of work at the moment – your session on time management has been a great help for me in managing all that (especially the client relationships).

Also, I’ve been reviewing the materials in the past week, and realised how the concepts between each session were so well interlinked.  It wasn’t just a bunch of random tools and techniques… it’s a whole mind shift which addresses the logical & emotional issues that many entrepreneurs face today.

“By the way, apologies about the coaching session. Turns out I don’t need much coaching right now. It seems like the Course already sorted out most of it!”

Thanks again, I know you’re onto an epic win with this!

Kind Regards

– Chris Khoo

Quark Speed Solutions

Free “Attract First-Rate Customers” Strategy Session

One area where small companies struggle is in attracting first-rate customers who gladly do business with your – on your terms.

If you are tired of small orders, B-grade customers and one-off sales your next step should be to claim your free  45 minute “Attract Great Customers” Strategy Session with me.

In this session you will:

• – Create a sense of clarity about the AAA customers you really want to have

• – Find out the essential building blocks for having the first-rate customers you’ll love to work with

• – Discover the #1 thing stopping you from having the AAA-repeat-customers you want

• – Identify the most powerful actions that will move  you towards the customer base you desire

• – Complete the consultation with the excitement of knowing EXACTLY what to do next to create the loyal customers you truly want

“I highly recommend Dov Gordon’s complementary ‘Attract AAA Customers’ strategy session.  In just 45 minutes Dov helped me zero in on the one thing that can really help my sales team right now.

“We began to use Dov’s insights immediately.  After just one week, my sales team is spending far less time on the wrong prospects.  This, of course, freed up much more time for the right ones.

“Thank you, Dov.”

Shai Etzion,

EMEA Sales, Clarizen

Clarizen.com

To reserve your private 1-1 session, email me at dovgordon@gmail.com or call +972-2-992-0396.  Include your contact information and time zone.  We’ll get back to you to schedule your session ASAP.

It happened not too long ago. You were talking with your Ideal Prospect and you could just about feel yourself holding the check that would make him your newest Ideal Customer.

Suddenly, something went very wrong and somehow you lost control of the conversation.

Your product and service were exactly what he needed.  It didn’t matter.  Your Ideal Prospect got stuck in the quicksand of distractions, “what ifs” and “second thoughts.” You tried to pull him out with your best answers, explanations and efforts to “overcome objections.” But nothing worked.

In the end, he was sucked under with a loud “sluuuuuuuuurp” and went straight to the Place where the best lost deals go.

Why did you lose control? And how can you be sure that next time you will confidently direct the conversation to a closed deal?

*

If you want to attract and close deals with first rate customers, you need to be highly skilled at controlling and directing conversations. Not in a stifling way, but in a way that exhilarates your AAA prospects. A way that leaves them  feeling free, understood, and hopeful because of the new possibilities you helped them see for themselves.

“Robert,” who is currently enrolled in my “12 Weeks to Your Perfect Business” one-on-one coaching program, recently had some frustrating conversations with a few active customers.  (If you feel stuck on a plateau; if your business no longer gives you the satisfaction it used to, email me to schedule a private 1-1 consultation to explore if this coaching program is right for you: dovgordon@gmail.com)

It turns out that Robert’s combination of outsourced products and services had done such a good job that:

“All my clients now talk about, ‘Geez, I really need a full time person, Robert. I need somebody in my office.’

“They don’t need anyone in their office, but that’s what they’re thinking…”

Hiring someone full time would make Robert’s company unnecessary. So I asked Robert how he responds.

“I say, ‘Really!  You haven’t even maximized this, and now you think you need a full timer, which is $80,000+ in salary, and that’s not including all the technological infrastructure…’”

I could almost hear the dreaded sluuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrp.

*

Here’s the simple secret for controlling and directing conversations:

You need see beyond what your customer SAYS to what she really MEANS.

So Robert’s customer SAYS

“Your XYZ has proven so important, that we need someone in-house to run it going forward.  And since you can’t be here yourself, we may need to find someone who can…“

BUT, what Robert’s customer MEANS is

“I can see how valuable this is. And we’re only just scratching the surface. And that’s the problem! I don’t like the feeling of not getting all I can from this.

“Help me figure out how we can get even better results with you so that I’m not tempted to look elsewhere!”

If Robert responds to what his customer SAYS, he’ll talk about how his company’s solution is really much cheaper than someone in house.  And about how it doesn’t pay for them to invest in all the infrastructure.  And about how if the customer would do just a bit more of what Robert was telling her, she would see that there’s no need for someone in house.

But none of this answers the customers REAL frustration, what she MEANT.

Here’s how you respond to what the customer MEANT:

“Customer, this is what I live for!  I love when someone gets it like you do.  You’re so pleased with the results so far, and frustrated with your inability to really maximize your results, that you want to explore ways that we can help you more easily get the full benefit that my products can bring to you, isn’t that right?”

If you have a good relationship, and you did correctly hear what your customer really wants, this kind of sentence will make your customer FEEL GREAT because you’ve just articulated what she really wants far better than she could ever do it herself.

*

POP QUIZ FOR MY REGULAR READERS: There is a simple “structure” lying beneath what Robert’s customers have been telling him. Robert didn’t see it, so he almost broke himself over it.  I did see it, and therefore I was able to formulate a powerful reply.

What’s the structure?  Post your thoughts with an explanation in the comments section below.

“Hi Dov,

“I would like to express my great gratitude for the 6 week “Alchemist Entrepreneur’s Crash Course in Advanced Management Skills” training.

“Just weeks before I was close to giving up my current role as Sales Director, Shareholder and member of the Senior Management in my company. I was disillusioned, frustrated and hugely unbalanced.  So your “Crash Course” came just in time.

“I learned new skills and refreshed old ones that had gone missing. I learned to see the underlying structure that motivates people to behave and act in certain ways and my communication is much improved.  Previously, most of my conversations with my partners were really confrontations. Sooner or later they would degenerate into accusations on both sides. Real decisions weren’t being made and nothing was changing.

“Now my partners let me do more and more things the way I think they need to be done, without me needing to get their input. They trust me more and the business is doing better.

“A recent success after the training: I closed the biggest deal in my company’s history!

“For all these insights I want to thank you.  And I hope that anyone reading this who feels the way I did about my business will seriously consider working with Dov Gordon.”

– Axel Baumgarten,  Partner and VP Sales, Securicorp Components Ltd.

Free “Attract First-Rate Customers” Strategy Session

One area where small companies struggle is in attracting first-rate customers who gladly do business with your – on your terms.

If you are tired of small orders, B-grade customers and one-off sales your next step should be to claim your free  45 minute “Attract Great Customers” Strategy Session with me.

In this session you will:

• – Create a sense of clarity about the AAA customers you really want to have

• – Find out the essential building blocks for having the first-rate customers you’ll love to work with

• – Discover the #1 thing stopping you from having the AAA-repeat-customers you want

• – Identify the most powerful actions that will move  you towards the customer base you desire

• – Complete the consultation with the excitement of knowing EXACTLY what to do next to create the loyal customers you truly want

“I highly recommend Dov Gordon’s complementary ‘Attract AAA Customers’ strategy session.  In just 45 minutes Dov helped me zero in on the one thing that can really help my sales team right now.

“We began to use Dov’s insights immediately.  After just one week, my sales team is spending far less time on the wrong prospects.  This, of course, freed up much more time for the right ones.

“Thank you, Dov.”

Shai Etzion,

EMEA Sales, Clarizen

Clarizen.com

To reserve your private 1-1 session, email me at dovgordon@gmail.com or call +972-2-992-0396.  Include your contact information and time zone.  We’ll get back to you to schedule your session ASAP.

Years ago my brother-in-law was driving across the U.S. with a friend. After half a day of driving through the Midwest, they pulled over at a truck stop to rest and stretch their legs.

They were getting back into the car when a middle-aged man came up to them.

“Hey, fellas, can I have a lift?”

“Where do you need to go?”

“New York.”

“Sorry, we’re going to LA.”

“Hey, that’s good too.”

They looked at each other.  There was no way they wanted to be stuck in a car for the next few days with someone who had no idea where he was going.

“Uh, sorry bro. It ‘aint gonna work.  Maybe the guy behind us is going to New York.”

Most small business owners are settling for what they have instead of creating what they want.

You’re settling if you look at where you are today, at the options you see available to you today, and you choose.  “You have a ride to LA?  OK, I’ll take it.  I’ll go to New York another time.”

You’re settling if the customers in front of you are not the customers you really want. You’re settling if the products you buy, sell or build are not the kinds of products you’d LOVE to buy, sell or build.  You’re settling if the people working for you are the ones who were available when you needed to hire and not the ones you really want.

But you can’t “settle” your way to a business that makes you proud and free. You need to create it.

“Creating” is when you say “I really want to be in New York.  I don’t know how, but I’m going to figure it out.”

When you stop settling, you’re creating time, life and freedom.

To create a business that gives you time, life and freedom, a business where you lead with your mind, not minutia, you first get really clear as to what you want.

Often we’re too busy with the details to step back and think it through.  Are you making time to think through what you really want? Do you really know what you want in a customer?  Is it clear enough that you come to work with a single minded focus?  Is it clear enough that you’ll walk away from someone who doesn’t meet your standards?

The first step to building your freedom through entrepreneurship is to be clear about what you want – not settle for what you have.

—–

Free “Attract First-Rate Customers” Strategy Session

One area where small companies struggle is in attracting first-rate customers who gladly do business with your – on your terms.

If you are tired of small orders, B-grade customers and one-off sales your next step should be to claim your free  45 minute “Attract Great Customers” Strategy Session with me.

In this session you will:

• – Create a sense of clarity about the AAA customers you really want to have

• – Find out the essential building blocks for having the first-rate customers you’ll love to work with

• – Discover the #1 thing stopping you from having the AAA-repeat-customers you want

• – Identify the most powerful actions that will move  you towards the customer base you desire

• – Complete the consultation with the excitement of knowing EXACTLY what to do next to create the loyal customers you truly want

“I highly recommend Dov Gordon’s complementary ‘Attract AAA Customers’ strategy session.  In just 45 minutes Dov helped me zero in on the one thing that can really help my sales team right now.

“We began to use Dov’s insights immediately.  After just one week, my sales team is spending far less time on the wrong prospects.  This, of course, freed up much more time for the right ones.

“Thank you, Dov.”

Shai Etzion,

EMEA Sales, Clarizen

Clarizen.com

“We began to use Dov’s insights immediately.  After just one week, my sales team is spending far less time on the wrong prospects.  This, of course, freed up much more time for the right ones.Shai EtzionEMEA Sales, ClarizenClarizen.com

To reserve your private 1-1 session, email me at dovgordon@gmail.com or call +972-2-992-0396.  Include your contact information and time zone.  We’ll get back to you to schedule your session ASAP.

See my offer for a free “Breakthrough Influence Consultation” below.

—-

If you’re in a “head-butting” situation with your partner, you’re no stranger to feelings of high frustration topped with anxiety. You’re torn between what you KNOW is great business possibility on the one hand, and seeing how that ______ is ruining everything on the other.  (What pet name DO you use when not amongst polite company?)

Someone we’ll call Rick is a partner in a small but growing business and he’s doing fantastic work. But his biggest obstacle is and has long been… his partner.

As Rick sees it, his partner has more authority than he, but far less management sense.  And they’ve been butting heads for a couple of years now.

But Rick decided to change things, and he’s been using the simple yet powerful tools he’s learned in my training and coaching program to ramp up his influence and spark real change.

So read about Rick’s progress.  And if your experience is similar, take advantage of my free 45 minute “Breakthrough Influence Consultation” below.

“Thanks Dov! I appreciate your comments and most importantly your time and training.

“Also miraculously I had direct and far less confrontational conversations with my partner yesterday and today which I have avoided in the past weeks as much as possible.

“By looking at the WHAT instead of the HOW it automatically takes a lot of the sting out of the dialogue and discussions. And most astonishingly my partner reacted in a more open minded and cooperative way.

“That said there is still a lot of work to be done to get on track with the business. It simply becomes easier for me to stay calm and wait for things to happen. Plus I should be getting my order tomorrow – I spoke to the distributor today and he said he will make the retailer place the order tomorrow for the afternoon. So all in all Dov – you have done your magic!

“And before you say it wasn’t you but me – I am aware of my own contribution but I could not have done it without your guidance. A GREAT BIG THANK YOU!

If, like Rick, you’re ready to change the balance of power – not through force, but through brains and ethical guile, email me now dovgordon@gmail.com to schedule a  free 45 minutes

“BREAKTHROUGH INFLUENCE CONSULTATION”

Here’s what you’ll get:

– You’ll create a sense of clarity about the influence you really want to have with your difficult partner.

– Find out the essential building blocks for having the internal leverage you dream about.

– Discover the #1 thing stopping you from having the input you want and deserve to have – for the sake of the business.

– Identify the most powerful actions that will move you towards increased influence and a shift in the balance of powers.

– Complete the consultation with the excitement of knowing EXACTLY what to do next to create the power and leverage you truly want and need.

Obviously, I can only offer a limited number of these.  There are currently 5 slots available. To reserve your free Breakthrough Influence Consultation now, send me an email at dovgordon@gmail.com and include:

Your name, phone number, Skype ID if you have one and time zone.  We’ll get back to you to schedule the rest.

Priority will be given to those with employees and / or subcontractors.

Looking forward to speaking with you,

Dov Gordon

PS – I probably don’t need to tell you how these stories usually end if you let them drag on too long. A friend just left his last company because the investor pulled the plug following head-butting and failure to “communicate” amongst the partners in that business.

It’s truly sad, because the product they were about to roll out is supreme and the profit potential was huge.  So don’t let this fester. Get your free consultation now.

“Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” — Abraham Lincoln

We all have moments of clarity amidst spells of confusion.

Like when lighting flashes across a dark and stormy plain, you’ve got only a brief moment to take in the full picture and burn it into your mind – or you’ll soon be groping around the dark again.

If your business is growing, you need to make frequent decisions that will affect its nature and direction.

And if your business isn’t growing as you hoped, the confusion is all the more oppressive.

How to catch that lightning bolt and make it stay.

It’s amazing when you think about it: Most people don’t know what they really want out of life.  And so they go this way and that.  Their scattered and random actions don’t add up.

A smaller number do know what they want to HAVE in life.  Sometimes – not always – this tells them what to DO.  Which is a pretty good place to be.

You’ll achieve more knowing what you want to have, but it’s not enough.   It comes and goes.  And it’s often accompanied by moments of severe doubt.  You question whether this or that is really what you want.

And it’s not unusual that success comes hand-in-hand with that empty feeling of “OK, here I am. Now what?”

There’s another approach that gives you constant clarity.

The other approach begins with who you want to BE.  Who do you really, really want to BE?

If you’re unclear, confused and you don’t know what to do, look again at the kind of person you want to BE.

Do you want to be someone who feels pulled this way and that by the people in your life, or do you want to be someone who can set clear priorities and has the discipline to follow through?

Be that way today.  Do what such a person would do in the situation you are in.

How do you want to behave in the face of great uncertainty?  Do you want to be thrown off kilter, or do you want to go into your deep reserves of confidence and take it one day at a time?

Be that way today.  Do what such a person would do.

Do you want to be frantically trying to keep a table full of plates spinning, or do you want to be pursuing excellence in a focused slice of life?

Be that way today.

Do you want to be another spectator alongside the parade, or do you want to be boy who isn’t afraid to say “The emperor has no clothes!”

Be that way today.

Do you want to be worried that there won’t be enough, or do you want to be someone who feels and exudes the confidence that there’s more than enough.

Be that way today.

Do you want to be someone who moves his business this way and that to satisfy your varied interests, curiosity and talents – and to avoid decisions – or do you want to be someone who makes difficult choices and then uses his interests, curiosity and talents to place one brick upon the next until your castle is built?

When you have a clear picture of who you want to BE, you’re never at a lost for what to DO.

You can BE what you want right now, even if it takes some time to HAVE what you want.

Your Next Action Step:

Get a pen and paper, get away from distractions and and answer this one question:

Who do you want to be?

For now, write out five or six qualities you most want to own.  Get that image of how you want to BE crystal clear and you’ll never be at a loss of what to do.  The more you act like that person, the more you’ll BE him.  And it’ll just be a matter of time before you have what he has.

And that’s really what you want, isn’t it?

Two clients.  Each runs a small company.  One is hiring and the other is firing. What’s the difference?

Both are in multi-billion dollar markets.  Neither can blame the recession because each only needs a fraction of a percent of an enormous market to double or triple in size.  So it’s not the economy.

As an outside consultant to both these owners I see the difference and it’s simple: Passion.

The owner of the growing company is passionate about what he’s doing.  He loves it and loves helping his customers.

The other owner wants to make money. He doesn’t have any special fondness for his products or customers and is guided by what he believes will earn the company more money.

Interesting, isn’t it, that he’s the one hurting and laying people off?

Several years ago another client asked if I thought it was important that he have passion for what he was doing.  “Umm, yes.  Absolutely!” He confessed that although he enjoyed his job, he wasn’t particularly passionate about it.

The company wasn’t doing so well then and things haven’t improved much. They continue along from one crises to the next, with just enough successes to keep them alive.  Market value is lower than ever.

I once served as chairman of the board for a non-profit. When I joined I was enthusiastic and passionate.  But I soon discovered things I had not known before joining the board and this new awareness completely sapped my passion.  So I resigned.

If you lead a company that you aren’t passionate about, either get passionate about it fast (real, sustained passion) or get out – fast.  You owe it to the shareholders.  You owe it to the employees.  But most of all, you owe it to yourself.  Why spend your life in a role that doesn’t thrill you?

Long before Ronald Reagan was president of the United States, when he was climbing the ladder of Hollywood celebrity, he wrote the following:

“Lots of kids write and ask my advice about how to make their mark in an indifferent world… So what I’d like to tell ‘em is this: Look, you must love what you are doing. You must think what you are doing is important because if it’s important to you, you can bet your last ducat that other people will think so, too…”

What can you do if you’re stuck in a business you don’t have the passion for?

It will depend on why you don’ t have passion, of course.  Common reasons include:

- Values: You don’t believe in what you’re doing.  It’s not consistent with that you believe is important.

- Confused: You don’t know what you want to do.  You don’t know what you’re passionate about.

- Pessimism and / or Disillusionment: You simply don’t see how this business will give you what you want.  You continue because you don’t see a better option.  You thought things would develop faster.

Let’s start with these.

1.  Values: In some ways this is the easiest. In other ways, this is the hardest.

It’s easiest because you know it’s time to move on.  It’s hardest because you’re probably need to leave a comfortable situation.

What you need most here is (1) an unambiguous decision to move on and (2) personal courage and the support of your loved ones and close friends.

2. Confused: If you don’t know what you’re passionate about, here are a few suggestions:

- Often people who say they don’t know what they are passionate about, really do know WHAT they’d LOVE to do.  They just don’t see HOW they could make it happen.

Other times, they really don’t know WHAT it would be.

If your situation is the former, then keep your goal clearly in mind and your eyes open for omens, ideas and opportunities to take small steps in that direction. Take them.

If the latter, commit to do what’s in front of you today with excellence. People who don’t see a direction often drift.  This is a killer because they feel unproductive.

When you do what’s in front of you as well as you can do it – TODAY – you feel good about yourself.  And the better you feel, the more opportunities will begin to prevent themselves.  Try it if you doubt me.

3. Pessimism and / or Disillusionment: This may have a variety of symptoms.  But my bold claim is that the root here is that you’re too worried about yourself.

Focus your mind on your customer, on others you can help, on ways you can make a positive impact and things will soon fall into place for you as well.

Are you stuck in a business without the passion?  Did you successfully move out of one?  Do you have a different view on the subject?

Chime in below.