Want a CD or Transcript of this interview? Click Here!

Do you have a difficult customer who demands more than you’re willing to give, requires more skill to manage, and who pushes all your buttons?  (Me too.)

Do you sometimes wish they would go away (but, then you’re telling revenue to go away), or would you rather find a way to turn them into a wonderful, loyal customer who refers you to all their friends (this is the way to go, baby!).

This week’s guest, Marilyn Suttle, is the author of “Who’s Your Gladys? How to Turn Even the Most Difficult Customer into Your Biggest Fan”.  She will share how you can not only effectively manage your difficult customers, but will describe the things you can do to convert them.

Marilyn learned that the basic skills that great parents use with their kids can work with customers, too.  She then started a jamming career helping organizations to improve their customer service.  

So, who is Gladys?  If you’re perspective is right, Gladys is your friend.  She’s good news.  And she’s a complainer who is in your face.  Why is that good?  Because what she’s bothering to tell you about is probably on other customers’ minds, too – they just don’t care enough to speak up (and they may go away without you knowing about it).

Welcoming your customers as guests into your world helps to provide great customer service, too.  When the phone rings with a complaint, it’s not a problem – it’s a person to connect with.

Marilyn shares proactive examples of great customer service design, too.  I like the story of how Singapore Airlines designed a space on their planes with the input of some core customers.  These are 20-hr flights, so customer comfort is important!

Toward the end of our interview, Marilyn does share that there may be some instances that the right move might be to let a customer go.  Make sure you know the difference!  If they compromise your values or act unethically, then give them the boot (or refer them to your competitor!).

Small business owner Mark Miller shares his philosophies to achieve more fun, freedom and fulfillment.

Want a CD or Transcript of this interview? Click Here!

Are you tentative in life – take a conservative approach and act cautiously? Do you wish you had a little more courage to drive toward your dreams more aggressively?

This week’s guest, Mark Miller, will inspire you to get the most out of life, starting right now. Mark’s philosophy is to “Life Life Wide Open”.  But what exactly does that mean?

Just like we see with peoples personal definitions of success changing over time, the same is true for Mark’s definition quote unquote “Live Life Wide Open”.  Whereas this once meant “how fast can we go…?” It now has more to do with being wide open to possibilities.

One lesson that translates from the idea of living life wide open meaning “living fast” is from an example that Mark shared.  Imagine riding your Harley or snowmobile through the woods and you come upon an obstacle in the trail.  If you focus on the obstacle you will hit it; if you focus on the way out you’ll be safe.

The same is true in business where entrepreneurs and small business owners encounter problems and challenges on a daily basis. If you focus on the way out, the way through, on the positive and on the results you want then you’ll achieve your goals.

Mark shared some more great advice for entrepreneurs and small business owners that he learned from Michael Gerber include “work on your business not in your business”.  Mark also recognized the need to work on himself with extensive reading, training and mentorship to really have lasting impact that translates to business and life success.

Mark has amazing life experiences to share that will help you achieve your goals.  He’s been guided by some of the best mentors, and his life and results are fantastic and motivating.  I know you’ll enjoy this interview.

Be sure to leave a comment below to let us know what your thoughts are!

Have you ever felt awkward or uncomfortable networking or following-up with people you’ve recently met?   Would you like the tools, strategies and motivation to do it with confidence and gusto?

Want a CD or Transcript of this interview? Click Here!

Kathy McAfee joins us as a special guest to talk about the role of professional networking for success and goal achievement.  Kathy gives you a new perspective on networking and shows you how it can help you realize more fun, freedom and fulfillment in your career, business and life.

Now more than ever your best investment is in building your professional network.  Listen to this stimulating conversation about how you can create a robust professional and personal network that works for you.

Kathy describes that the real purpose of Networking is Relationship Building – a purposeful exercise to build mutually beneficial relationships.  That’s an interesting perspective given all the 1-way “transactional” conversations you might hear when you go to a networking event.  Or, think of all the requests on Twitter or Facebook to click here to buy now – without the relationship first.  (This is one of the biggest mistakes people make.)

Kathy lays out the basics of networking for us, and points out that many of us are happy to help others but few have the courage to ask for help.

Here are two exercises to consider doing now that will help you determine the power of your network.

1)    How many people do you know? List them all out – break this up by category if it helps you, such as work, family, college, neighbors, etc.  (Note: this is not the number of friends on Facebook or Twitter, but real people you know by name.)  Did you come up with more than 250?  If yes, you’re doing pretty well.

2)    Who are your top 50 people – the influential people in your network who are motivated to help you out?

Catch the details of this interview and discover how easy it is to become a powerful networker!

Be sure to leave a comment below to let us know what your thoughts are!

We’re letting you have access to hear them again.

As you can see, we have Recession Busters, Stress Managers, and Mountain Climbers. Our guests have traveled all corners of the world to learn important lessons that have shaped their lives since. We have guests who have run marathons, 100-mi runs, and even 400 miles!

And that’s just since the start of August!

The full descriptions are from earlier posts so you can read them to see the details of each guest’s interview. Here they are again for you to enjoy! (Gold and Platinum members can access all interviews on their original air dates.)

Tiffany Wright is a walking encyclopedia about raising capital for your small business (or, large business – the principles are the same).  Tiffany is the author of Solving the Capital Equation: Financing Solutions for Small Businesses.  This book came from answering her clients’ questions over the past few years, so you know it is full of info that you want to know.

If you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur then this interview is a must!  Have you ever wondered if you had enough working capital to cover your expenses for the next few months?  What about how you will fund that really great project that will certainly bring you loads of revenue?  Is there financing out there for you?  What are your options?  Can you easily get it?

Listen to the replay of this interview if you need to know these answers! 
[audio:http://www.i-saga.net/audio/tiffanywright9556646761147-001.mp3]

Download Audio Here

To download the audio to your computer, simply right click on the link and either “save target as” or “save link as,” and save the file to a folder on your computer.

Which makes you wonder a few things, such as: “What did the old foot smell like?”  “New foot – just where can I get one of those?”  and “OK, is that a metaphor, or are we really talking about a new foot?”

As Rich explains, yes, he does have a new foot to replace one that just wasn’t working despite years of trying to make the best of it.  (Rich described it as his “Titanium Upgrade”, and I pictured the movie “Robots” that my kids like to watch.)  He also uses this as a metaphor in his public speeches because often, we are afraid to let go of status quo despite how good things will be once we decide to move on.  While the status quo might be “acceptable”, it often gets in the way of what might be “exceptional”.

Rich Hopkins had tons of interesting content during this interview, including his success story (which included the real truth about his foot), ideas for moving from Acceptable to Exceptional (and why this is important), plus – some great insights from his success as a speaker – he continues to make the Nationals in the Toastmasters competitions.

Find out more about Rich at www.i-saga.net

[audio:http://www.i-saga.net/audio/richhopkins1923646704708-001.mp3]

Download Audio Here

To download the audio to your computer, simply right click on the link and either “save target as” or “save link as,” and save the file to a folder on your computer.

While still young, i-saga is moving from its early phases to become more mature.  Much like a young adult, this organization has a lot of energy and excitement, but also tons of room to grow to reach its full potential.

As I’ve learned (and am still learning) in all areas of my life, it’s important to follow a philosophy of “Progress, not Perfection”.  The Institute of Success and Goal Achievement has followed this well, and as a result has been building a great resource for the rapidly growing community.  I love the quote from Winston Churchill, “Waiting for perfection breeds paralysis”.  Thank goodness I managed to “just start”, despite knowing that i-saga was far from perfect in its early days.

When I did start the Institute of Success and Goal Achievement, it had what I would consider a sub-par website and insufficient content.  I had a vision of where I was going but didn’t have everything lined up perfectly how I wanted them.  I could have delayed … and delayed … and delayed until everything was perfect before scheduling that first guest interview, but I knew in my gut and in my heart that it was time to stop making excuses and get i-saga launched even if all the support wasn’t where I wanted it.

I did exactly that – I just started, knowing that things would begin to fall into place.  I modified the guest interview format into one that I now know from tons of feedback adds value for the audience.  I changed the look of the website from bare bones to a little more than bare bones, to finally doing a complete site redesign that is much closer to my original vision.  Progress, not perfection, and keep building as you get new ideas, new feedback, or new inspiration.

So, it was recently out with the old i-saga site, and in with the new.  The improved site is one that allows you (the i-saga community) a place to visit frequently, as there is new content and updates here regularly.  You can get information about the guest interviews and special links on the calendar page, you can get access to the replays (coming soon!), there are some terrific proven success resources to help accelerate your progress toward your goals, and of course the blog page that is meant to give you a way to interact regularly with me and with the community.

I hope you’re as excited as I am about all these new features, and encourage you to save www.i-saga.net as a favorite and add it as one of your home pages (easy to do with the newer versions of explorer) – you’ll want to come back for a glance at the calendar, blog, and other sections at least weekly.

Thank you for being part of the Institute of Success and Goal Achievement, and for helping make www.i-saga.net the premier success resource on the web.

Note:  I want to give special recognition to i-saga guest Edith Sieg for a great discussion we recently had about “Progress, not Perfection”, and for pointing out that I have made great strides with i-saga in such a short period of time because I was willing to let go of perfection.  Thank you!