small business owner expertly manages demanding CEO clients.
” Delivery is key when it comes to forming sticky habits. “
situation
As a small business owner, Sara assisted CEOs as an accounting and finance consultant. She often found herself working with five or six clients at a time, which also meant managing five or six separate email accounts, calendars, and task management programs. Quite a challenge! Because Sara was billing clients by the hour, inefficiency was costing her money and preventing her from delivering more high-earning services.
Sara is also an avid reader, who loves to learn from multiple sources and do her own research. Naturally, she put her problem-solving skills to work to try to find a solution to her productivity challenges. But every time Sara went to the well of Internet research, she came up empty. Or she found herself feeling totally overwhelmed by the range of options available.
opportunity
Initially, Sara sought Marcey’s help with organizing the different email systems she had to use. But in the process of working through Marcey’s Continued Success (one year) coaching program, Sara says,
At first, Sara insisted that she needed to check her email during non-work hours. She believed that her CEO clients expected her to respond to their emails at all hours and she took pride in being able to answer their questions quickly. Marcey asked Sara to try not responding after business hours for just two nights to see what would happen. Sara quickly discovered that her clients were responding to her, not the other way around. She realized that they were merely feeding each other’s bad habits. This lesson stuck with Sara.
result
Sara describes Marcey as a “one-stop-shop for best practices.” Instead of wasting hours researching the best way to use Google’s business tools, Marcey shows you what will work and then, provides the “human reminder” we all need to create long-lasting habits.
It’s one thing to read a book and even to re-read highlighted passages as a reminder. But it’s a whole different thing to know you have committed to talking to Marcey this week about your progress.
Beyond the productivity benefits, Sara also realized during her sessions with Marcey, that she was not prioritizing her health. Marcey encouraged Sara to start each day with a 15-minute workout and to take health breaks throughout the day. Sara discovered her own triggers, like making sure to get her workout in before she had her coffee in the morning and keeping a wall calendar where she X’s off each day when she meets her health goals. She loves to see that X.
During the Mexico Private Getaway Intensive, all of the progress Sara made really hit home for her. While it’s easy to imagine spending a week with Marcey would leave anyone feeling self-conscious and unable to measure up, Sara says she never felt judged or guilted into changing her habits.
It’s that perfect balance of instinctively knowing what will work for you, delivering the advice when you’re ready to hear it, and being persistent without being annoying that really sets Marcey apart from other coaches.