086: The Cyrano Strategy for Delegating Important Comms

How valuable is your time? Are you conveying that value to your potential clients? In the first five years of running my business, I spent way too long thinking I was the only one who could handle important communications with current and potential VIP corporate clients. Taking inspiration from Cyrano De Bergerac, today I’m sharing a mindset and process that enables a team member to take on the heavy-lifting of client communications. 

There is only one week left for the Buy One, Get One, Give One promotion! Get (and give!) your copies before the end of April.

 🌟 3 Key Takeaways:

• Delegate does not mean abdicate. Work with a trusted team member, or hire one, and start by having them reply, even if you’re reviewing and guiding every draft at the start.

• Document all of your standard responses somewhere central (we use TextExpander), and document the stages of communications along a client’s journey in your manager manual from the sales process to onboarding to wrapping up.

• Make yourself available behind the scenes for the tricky situations that will inevitably arise, and make sure your team knows the best way to reach you for a fast response.

📝 Permission: To “hide in the bushes” and let your team shine as they handle the up-front communications, even if you’re still heavily involved at the start. 

✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next: Choose a tool like TextExpander or Notion (or a combination of the two) to start saving your common communications, and start populating it with templates.

📘 Books Mentioned:

• Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business

• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One

• Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending

🔗 Resources Mentioned: 

• Summary: SparkNotes for Edmond Rostand’s play, Cyrano de Bergerac

• Movie: Roxanne starring Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah

• Apps: TextExpander, HelpScout, Slack, Notion

Related Podcast Episodes: 

• 034: Organizing Research and Ideas—Notion Walkthrough #1

• 036: Shaping Big Ideas—Notion Walkthrough #2

• 038: Tracking Progress Toward Finishing a Book (or Big Idea) with an Essay Tracker—Notion Walkthrough #3

🎁 Last call! Give yourself (and a friend) the gift of Free Time: Order your copy and submit proof of purchase to get complimentary audiobook access to the audiobook—this offer goes away at the end of April!

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