A Special Birthday Message for Alan

Since today is Alan’s birthday I wanted to share with him and all of you, a story about the countless gifts and lessons I’ve learned from him over the past five years. I hope this will inspire and motivate you to engage with Alan and this community on a consistent basis, to really grow your business. I first met Alan at the Atlanta Million Dollar Consulting Convention and since then first invested in my own professional development with Alan through his Growth Access program. I’ve attended his Million Dollar Consulting Conventions, Growth Cycle Group and Mentors summits, as well as many of his one and two day workshops. To commemorate his birthday and celebrate Alan, I wanted to highlight 10 lessons he taught me that I’ve applied to dramatically grow my business and as we head into the new decade.

1. Reduce Your Debt. When I first met Alan, we had a large amount of debt. I had tears in my eyes as he explained that with “one big hit” I could get out from under that debt. If you’ve ever been burdened with debt, you know that it can be a paralyzing feeling. It’s an ugly, messy, embarrassing experience nobody wants to talk about, but thank goodness I could talk with Alan about it in the privacy of his home. I was so relieved after our session, that I put together a plan to be debt-free by the end of 2020.
2. A Confident Mindset is a Closer’s Asset. Alan taught me to believe in the value I bring to my clients. No longer am I shy about quoting higher fees and I have confidence when submitting every proposal. Last year my revenues were $350,000. During the first two months of this year I’ve already closed $240,000 in business and I have a strategic plan to hit half a million by year’s end. That’s what I call growing at warp speed!
3. Get in Front of Buyers. That same day, at Alan’s home, he helped me craft a speakers kit. I’ve used it to leverage speaking opportunities in Mexico, Singapore, Japan and Australia – and in front of audiences of up to 5,000. Nearly every time I speak, as soon as the talk is over I have meeting on the calendar to close new sales.
4. Hire a Master Mentor. I’ve worked with Kim Wilkerson over the years, and she has walked alongside of me through thick and thin, tears and joy. Like Alan, she imparts great wisdom and all I have to do is follow it to see and take advantage of fantastic business opportunities. She is also a huge part of my success. Thanks Kim 🙂
5. Build a Prestigious Client List. With the mindset mentioned above, I’ve worked on building an elite list of blue-chip clients and can now confidently stand toe to toe and work with leaders in great companies like Sherwin Williams, Kimberly-Clark, McDonalds, Southern Company and many others. That’s expanded my global reach and business into more than 39 different countries.
6. Take Advantage of His Workshops. My big takeaway from Alan’s 627 live workshop was to build out your own vault to include online lucrative courses, to generate higher revenue with less effort. Now I’m creating my own online program, capturing clients from around the world and working with them virtually. In Alan’s Role Play workshop, I learned to use persuasive, assertive language to close more evergreen clients in prestigious organizations, lowering my cost of client acquisition. I’ve also build communities for my retail clients, but am registered for Alan’s upcoming Dynamic Communities workshop, to learn from him how to expand into the creation of dynamic corporate communities.
7. Trademark Your Work. Alan showed me how to use trademarked phrases to my advantage. I coined and trademarked the phrase Predictable Promotion, to help organizations build their talent pipelines. Now organizations and private clients constantly reach out to me to ask for help in achieve Predictable Promotions®.
8. Ask for Testimonials and Referrals. I used to be afraid to ask for these, and cannot believe how much money I left on the table. Now I ask every client for a “results-oriented” testimonial and introductions to others like them. I have a full library as he recommends of video and written testimonials, organized by peer group and I reach out to two buyers a week. Before going to their office, I can easily pull up those testimonials to share a compelling case study that may be relevant to their challenges.
9. Put Your Content Everywhere. While I write a newsletter, I also repurpose its content for my website and LinkedIn. I’ve had three companies and multiple leaders this past month contact me to speak or coach on my most recent newsletter topics. I’ve also been invited by the chamber to do an executive breakfast for many of their top clients. I keep uploading fresh testimonials and content, which converts at a high rate to help me build a strong brand without the nee to go out and search for clients.
10. Stay Involved with the Community. I continue to read content on the forum every week and attend events like SAC. I can call on my former growth cycle buddies or people I meet at Alan’s events to brainstorm. I’ve been fortunate to learn from many of you in this community, and wish to express my gratitude for helping me along this journey. If I can ever return the favor, please let me know.

Alan has taught me there is always more to do to keep growing and evolving, personally and professionally. Do I have more to do? Yes, of course. But I’m having fun charging higher fees with big name clients, reducing my labor by working virtually and having more time to enjoy my  life. Thanks, Alan for pushing me and pulling me and sometimes dragging me kicking and screaming across the finish line. If all of you keep applying the principles you learn from Alan, even when it’s not easy or comfortable, and you will find predictable results. Happy Birthday, Alan!

-Sarah