Greetings Floor Dealers!
One of my easiest jobs as a coach is teaching marketing systems and strategies. I can put together a kick-butt marketing program, hand it off to my Inner Circle members on a silver platter, and—provided they implement it correctly—they get results. My marketing strategies are pretty much plug-and-play.
Coaching on mindset is a whole different kettle of codfish.
Probably my single biggest challenge as a coach is helping people overcome self-defeating mindsets. It’s more difficult because it’s not something I can hand off on that silver platter. Mindset is something I can preach about, but ultimately it’s up to each member of the congregation to do the very difficult work of improving their mindset. I simply cannot do it for them. Sometimes I wish I could. Especially when I hear an Inner Circle member complain about not having enough time to implement the strategies handed to them.
Here is what I usually say to someone who makes the “I don’t have time” complaint:
“Look, you’ve invested fifteen years and hundreds-of-thousands of dollars into the dream of owning a flooring store. You’re currently investing 50+ hours per week of your life into this business. You have done this because you want something more than working 9-5. You want a business that funds and facilitates your Ideal Lifestyle. Your Ideal Lifestyle means you need to make more money, but at the same time have the freedom to NOT work 50+ hours per week so you can pursue what has meaning, purpose and value to you outside of business.”
The answer I almost always get: You’re absolutely right, Jim.
Then I ask the following question:
“Well, what are you doing that’s sucking up all your time that’s more important than implementing strategies that will help you ACHIEVE that Ideal Business that will fund and facilitate your Ideal Lifestyle?”
The answer I almost always get: I’m not doing anything more important.
We then go into a discussion about time-blocking and all the other strategies in the 12-Month Total Transformation Workbook (which can be found in the Platinum members only site) to enable them to dedicate time towards making their business system-dependent rather than owner-dependent, and implementing strategies to generate more revenue.
Some implement the plan. But some dealers—even after laying out a meticulous plan for success—won’t follow it. They don’t time-block. They self-sabotage.
And self-sabotage is 100% about mindset.
Yes, we can put accountability into place. The Platinum Roundtable calls are excellent for this. We can do every set of mental gymnastics to pave the road for success, but if the person is unwilling to do the hard work of changing their mindset, then that’s where my ability to help them ends.
I think most people make two fundamental mistakes when it comes to mindset:
1. They don’t realize the significant, overwhelming importance of mindset.
I’ve said over and over that the entrepreneurial game is 90% mental. But most, even while acknowledging this, don’t really believe it in their heart of hearts. You can tell because they invest little-to-no time in building a healthy mindset. It’s like the person who acknowledges that they should exercise, but never does.
What often happens is a dealer will come to me wanting a quick fix for, say, lack of revenue. Upon questioning them I discover a whole set of attitudes about business and time management that will hinder or destroy the effectiveness of any marketing strategy I give them. I point this out to them, and some will listen. Others won’t. They think that their problem can be solved by implementing some new technique, when in reality they need to adjust their mindset.
Case in point: if a dealer has a revenue problem, but is convinced that low price is the only way to get people to buy, then the effectiveness of any marketing strategy I give them will be partially or totally nullified. They think the solution to their revenue problem is to pump more prospects through their door, when in reality their problem is their mindset on price. Until they adjust their low-price mindset, any marketing advice I give them will have little effect.
2. They are unwilling to put in the effort to change their mindset, and/or underestimate the work involved.
Growing up I was taught some incredibly powerful mindsets—mindsets that have ultimately led to my success in several businesses. I was also taught some incredibly poisonous mindsets and those kept me from succeeding in some key areas of my life for decades. They were the cause of some major failures, including a truly horrible first marriage.
But things eventually changed. Here’s what happened.
After my divorce in 1995, I owned a commercial janitorial business. My crew was small at that time, so I still spent a lot of hours each week doing a big part of the cleaning myself. Monday through Thursday I’d head to work at about 6:00 PM and not get home until about 2:00 AM. Cleaning big, empty buildings is lonely, boring work, so I listened to my portable radio a lot. Rush Limbaugh replays were one of my favorites. I also liked Dr. Laura (still do), and listening to her for three hours a night for a year pounded home some lessons that I did not learn in earlier years: don’t marry a fixer-upper. Pick a decent person and marry them. If you see problems while dating, marriage never solves those problems, it makes them worse.
This is the opposite of what I had learned, and unlearning that mindset is what enabled me to pick and marry the wonderful woman I’m with now. Most of you have spoken with Heather or met her at the Marketing Mastermind Summit, and you know what a kind, happy, special, beautiful person she is. I’m truly blessed. But if I had not adjusted my mindset, I probably would have picked wrong again and wound up in another lousy marriage.
So how long did it take to change my self-defeating mindset in that particular area? About a year of listening to the right mindset on picking a good spouse.
How long will it take to change a self-defeating mindset in your own life? Probably about the same amount of time. That’s another reason that participating in an ongoing coaching program is so valuable. Even after you learn the marketing strategies, it takes a little longer for the lessons in a correct mindset to soak in. Listening to the Inner Circle Club coaching CD’s while you drive around is SO helpful in re-programming your mind and ridding it of self-defeating thoughts and paradigms.
To Tons Of Customers!
Jim Augustus Armstrong is The “Coach”
Jim Augustus Armstrong is the President of Flooring Success Systems, a program that equips dealers to double their profits, cut their work hours in half and beat the boxes! Many dealers have totally transformed their businesses and their lives for the better after joining Flooring Success Systems.
See what real, live dealers are saying!