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There is a paradigm shift happening in business.
Take the most antiquated professional service –law- and look at the business model. There is no shortage of articles, courses or consultants floating about teaching how to implement creative pricing strategies that flip the billable hour model. This is a major paradigm shift and a HUGE opportunity. A paradigm is a set of rules, beliefs or assumptions by which a society lives. As an attorney (who left the practice of law, recovered, and recalibrated) I’ve immersed myself in the world of entrepreneurism. My findings show that lawyers, leaders and newly minted entrepreneurs are not all leveraging the ‘new paradigm' to their advantage and the effects are detrimental. Why? People are stuck in the way things ‘should’ be done, always were done, or the way they think they’re supposed to be done. These are just ideas. A better idea is to implement new, creative, and lucrative business models and pricing strategies that result in more money, more fun, more joy and more ease. I didn’t say work/life balance on purpose. Creating your own paradigm –obviously within the parameter of ethics in your industry- means you don’t need to separate work and life (work life balance) because you love what you do and you create a lifestyle that allows you to be who you really are in your business and personal life. Living an authentic life means you create your life on purpose. You decide what you want and what you don’t want. You compromise enough to succeed and help others succeed but you don’t compromise on big things like how you want to work, with whom you want to work, and how and what you do for work. How do you do this? Creative business models and pricing strategies. Mavericks (risk takers) are willing to challenge the status quo. You do need a little bit of maverick mojo to adopt a new business model and implement creative billing strategies. Why? Because people resistant to change (non-mavericks) are comfortable with the way things have always been and if you haven’t noticed, things are changing rapidly! In today’s rapidly changing market you need to build some maverick muscle to fully leverage a robust financial and lifestyle opportunity that is at open auction “NOW.” To adopt a new business model or new and creative value based pricing strategy means you have to educate your customers or clients. It may also mean you have to ‘sell’ the idea to partners or managers, the CEO or the Board. Regardless if you’re a one person show or a large firm, there are 2 things you need to master to fully leverage the paradigm shift. 1. Mindset –is it fixed or growth? 2. Sales 1. Mindset –is it fixed or growth? What is a mindset? A mindset is made up of a set of beliefs- a belief system. People with a fixed mindset tend to believe things are as they are and shouldn’t change. Why change something that’s not broken. They’ll resist seeing ‘broken’ until collapse. Change is uncomfortable for people with a fixed mindset and they tend to think we’re born with certain skills and we don’t change much. People with a growth mindset believe that with intention we can grow and learn new skills, they seek change and adopt to new situations more easily than those with fixed mindsets. You can have a growth mindset in one area and a fixed mindset in another. For example you may be an out of the box thinker and believe we can change. You may believe change is good and you’re always learning new ways to do things. Yet at the same time you may have a fixed mindset when it comes to money. It may show up as detesting sales, ideas about what influences the purchasing decisions of your clients, or how money is generated. (If you're grunting here you may have a fixed mindset when it comes to money). 
The idea is, to maximize your income potential in the new paradigm using creative business models and pricing strategies, you must be willing to do some personal investigating into your own beliefs about money, business, sales, and negotiation.
You’ll be negotiating and selling new ideas internally in your firm, and/or yourself, and with your clients. You must know the facts, the mindsets of who you need to educate and you must be ready to meet objections. Knowing your personal beliefs about money and business paradigms and whether you have inner hidden conflicts that may interfere is crucial for positioning yourself, your ideas, and your value proposition. When you’re transparent with yourself in this department, you’re fully in a growth mindset and you’re more aware and armed with tools to help get your opponents on board with your vision. It's sales. 2. Sales I tell young people, learn sales if nothing else. I wish I learned sales from a young age, and not just selling for others. When you sell your own service, you have to self-promote and it sometimes ‘feels’ like you’re selling yourself. This brings up all kinds of weird stories, beliefs, and feelings. Becoming good at sales is part emotional, part mindset, part competence, and mostly confidence. When you’re able to uncover your unique selling proposition and show a possible client, colleague or whoever you wish to sell your idea, position, product or service to, you must articulate a return on investment. We are selling all day long. We sell to our children, why they need to brush their teeth. We sell to our colleagues when we want to them to jump on board with our vision. We sell to our clients when we believe our service will enhance their life. 
Yet, there is a scary part of the population (I don’t know the statistic) that shies away from sales at ALL COSTS. With a fixed mindset, they’re doomed. With a growth mindset, it’s possible to learn the skills and confidence of selling and create a massive paradigm shift in your world. If I did it, anyone can learn it!
Taking these two essentials for success into account, no matter what your profession it behooves you to adopt a growth mindset and get good at sales. Getting good at sales means clearing up any idea you may have about why it’s awful to sell, why you detest people who sell, or why you 'hate' sales. There are usually inner hidden conflicts around money at the root when someone resists sales. The most beautiful thing I’ve learned (because I was someone who resisted sales at all costs- in fact I’d go into a catatonic state before making a sales call just a few short years ago), is that becoming masterful at sales is the most gorgeous journey of personal growth. A new level of self-worth emerges, a new layer of confidence revealed, and a new lawyer of who you really are is allowed to shine when you take a stand for what you believe in, what you’re worth, and how you claim it. When you do this for yourself you become more valuable to your clients, your firm and the world. When we grow we lift others. I'd love to hear your comments below. Live Intentionally, 
2 Comments
Teresa Olander
5/21/2015 11:28:14 pm
this reminded me of an old cartoon in the New Yorker: Two kids had indentical lemonade stands side-by-side. One sign said, "Lemonade 20 cents" and had two kids as customers. The other kid's sign said, "Lemonade Cleanse $ 20 " and had a line of adults around the block!
Stephanie
5/22/2015 04:11:25 am
Love this Teresa! "Perceived Value" Leave a Reply. |
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