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9. Other sounds. If there are sounds on
website, or music played while you waited on phone, how does it affect you? Remember, this is totally subjective; there are no "right" or "wrong" answers. It's going to Core You and coming from Core Other Person. Was it C&W, classic music, or something else, and does this jive with you? Charles Schwab lets you listen to stock quotes. Southwest Airlines has humor. A church has C&W music playing while you wait. A coach has a recorded inspirational message.
10. The person who answers phone IS service. After I became established in field of marketing, I refused to work with a CEO who didn't get this concept. Whatever you're doing, whatever you're selling, person who answers phone call is entry into business. Pay close attention to this phase of choosing. Do you want to work with someone who is so emotionally illiterate that they have a rude, unintelligible, uninformed or provocative phone-answerer?
11. Some professions, such as coaching and therapy, offer a free initial consultation. Take full advantage of this opportunity and put your senses on full alert. Do they withhold information, promising what they will deliver if you sign up with them, or do they jump right in? Does their tone of voice and style appeal to you? How does office look -- too orderly or too sloppy or just right? What about colors? Are their lots of books and piles of paper, or nothing at all? What about prints on walls and photographs on desk?
12. Hard-sell and desperation. These are yellow flags. It's a catch-22 that once a professional is established and confident, they get more clients. So ... if they seem desperate for your business, it's a warning sign.
In your search, keep your senses open to what you find. Sight, sound, smell, touch and feel, and let that important "6th sense" be your guide. After you do homework (check credentials, authenticity, training and expertise), it becomes a subjective sense of who will be a good "fit" for you. In today's competetive world, you'll find many who meet "homework" test, and from those, you can use your intuition to choose right qualified person to work with you.
By getting in touch with your senses, this is what I mean. If it's a good fit you should feel right about it, your stomach muscles relax, you get goose bumps of excitement, you feel like opening up to this person and start saying things you might not ordinarily, you want to tell them things, you can't wait to see or hear them again, or make your next appointment, you feel sure they can do operation successfully, you feel hope and optimism about your stock investments, you feel like you've "come home", you can't wait to start working with this coach on this problem which suddenly seems lighter and more solveable.
If it isn't right for you, here are some signs: you get a knot in your stomach, your blood pressure goes up, you flush or feel hot, you get a headache or stomach ache, you feel anxious (drumming your fingers, bouncing your leg, biting your nails), you get chills, hair on back of your neck stands up, you feel irritable--scratchy inside, you feel like taking a shower when you get home (to wash that stuff off), you can't wait to get off website or phone, or get out of office, you can't stand to look at them and resist eye contact.
After you've done all analytical, logical homework, tune into your intuition to help you make right decision for you.
Susan Dunn is a personal and professional development coach who helps people develop their emotional intelligence and intuition. She teaches distance learning courses on these subjects as well. Email her for her free ezine.
