Last week we talked about what to say when people want to pick your brains and/or review something they’ve written.
In case you missed part 1, here’s some background info before we get into the juicy words of how to say no to people wanting to pick your brains for free.
As your business grows, so do the requests from people. The problem you can have as a service-based business owner is that you genuinely want to help, and sometimes that can mean you give away way too much of your free time.
At first, it might be giving away lots of free sessions of one type or another. Over time, because of your generosity, you can become the go-to-person for free support and guidance – as one of my business coach friends would put it – free consultancy.
Consider this: If you’re being asked a lot about the same things, you might find it’s a good area for you to focus on in your business. You’re obviously already becoming known for it!
In this 3-part mini-series, we are exploring 3 ways of how this might be showing up for you in what people are saying to you and how you can deal with it.
Scenario 2: “I wonder if you can spare 20 mins or so for a chat with me to talk about ways to… ? (In my case the common request is how to attract clients)
Here’s what to say:
“Of course, I’m more than happy to have a chat with you. My fee is £200 per hour for this type of thing. How much time would you like to book with me? Let me know and I’ll send you over some possible dates.”
If it’s a coaching client then I’ll say this… “I do have a self-study programme, [name] that teaches all about how to [enter info and price]. Let me know which option you prefer and I can send you more details.”
Next week, we’ll be covering what to say when someone wants to pick your brain for 5-minutes. It seems like a fair request, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, it is if you only get one of them, but the busier you get, and the more expertise you gain, the more of these come your way, and while it’s great helping people you are still running a business.
If you missed part 1 you can find it here.
PS. Take some action now. Using the template above fill in the gaps and have your wording ready for the next time you get asked a similar question. Share your wording in the comments below, then you will have already shared it once and it won’t feel quite so scary (It’s empowering too!)
♦ To meet Ruby McGuire, Business & Mindset Queen| Master Coach | Mentor |Trainer | Speaker | Author – MCIPD, AMC, NLP Coach & Practitioner, EFT Practitioner, Time Line Therapist and Mind Your Mind Practitioner, see here
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