{"id":415,"date":"2020-03-31T11:56:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T11:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/?p=415"},"modified":"2023-10-03T21:48:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T21:48:41","slug":"the-three-fears-of-service-providers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/the-three-fears-of-service-providers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Three Fears Of Service Providers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Philip Elworth<\/em><\/p>\n

Patrick Lencioni, author, consultant and speaker recently published the book, Getting Naked, which describes his vision of the way a professional service firm should operate.\u00a0\u00a0His approach is basically one of fear avoidance.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His views mirror so many of my own and how as a partner with\u00a0B2B CFO\u00ae<\/sup><\/strong><\/b>\u00a0I have been trained to provides services, that I thought I would wet your appetite to investigate this topic at a deeper level.\u00a0\u00a0Previously, I have written that many more businesses provide professional services than is normally recognized.\u00a0\u00a0You can manufacture a product but still provide service to your customer in the design and manufacturing process.\u00a0\u00a0Thus this topic applies to many organizations.<\/p>\n

Patrick simplified his view of providing service into three simple fears:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The fear of losing the business<\/li>\n
  2. The fear of being embarrassed<\/li>\n
  3. The fear of feeling inferior<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You become successful by getting past the fear.<\/p>\n

    The\u00a0fear of losing the business<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0is negated by demonstrating your competence and ability to help the client, showing them that you care about them instead of just growing your business.\u00a0\u00a0You do this by giving away your service. As a partner with\u00a0B2B CFO\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0<\/strong><\/b>I provide, what we term, a phase I analysis.\u00a0\u00a0In order for me to understand the problem faced by a business owner, I ask for permission to dig deeper into the underlying cause of the issue.\u00a0\u00a0I do this at no charge.\u00a0\u00a0When I have completed my analysis, I provide a written report showing where the business is today and how we together can move the business forward.\u00a0\u00a0During this entire process I am looking for opportunities to add value and help the client, long before we have spoken about price.\u00a0\u00a0By the time we get to the discussion of fees, the conversation is more about getting started.<\/p>\n

    You get past the\u00a0fear of being embarrassed<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0by being willing to face your own inadequacies.\u00a0\u00a0As an advisor, I do not know everything.\u00a0\u00a0I will freely admit that I do not have all the answers, but as a partner with\u00a0B2B CFO\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0<\/strong><\/b>I have, as of this writing, 184 partners with 5,200 years of experience which means together, we can solve the problem.\u00a0\u00a0I have also had situations with clients where I have been wrong.\u00a0\u00a0When this happens I will quickly own it and depending upon the circumstances apologize for it or make fun of myself, but in all situations I will fix it.\u00a0\u00a0Never back down from asking questions you do not know the answer to, no matter how elementary they are.\u00a0\u00a0No question is a dumb question; if you do not know the answer. Be willing to take a bullet for the client. I have been in situations where my recommendation was to terminate or lay off employees. I readily volunteered to be the bad guy; to help deliver the message or to be the fall guy so the owner could save face.<\/p>\n

    The\u00a0third fear, of being inadequate<\/strong><\/b>, goes to our own attitudes.\u00a0\u00a0As an advisor you must be able to honor and celebrate your clients work if you are going to take on the assignment.\u00a0\u00a0If you have a problem or a moral issue with the client\u2019s business; then refer the work on to someone else.\u00a0\u00a0You must be fully in your client\u2019s camp.\u00a0\u00a0You can show this by being willing to do the dirty work, whatever that may be.\u00a0\u00a0Be vulnerable, humble and transparent with your client.\u00a0\u00a0If the client asks you to do a task, associated with your assignment, but something you consider below your station, be willing to do it and do it willingly. That is transparency.<\/p>\n

    Bottom line; find the way to help your client and lift them up, even if it means diminishing yourself.\u00a0\u00a0If we put our client first and ourselves second it will only lead to success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Philip Elworth Patrick Lencioni, author, consultant and speaker recently published the book, Getting Naked, which describes his vision of the way a professional service firm should operate.\u00a0\u00a0His approach is basically one of fear avoidance.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His views mirror so many of my own and how as a partner with\u00a0B2B CFO\u00ae\u00a0I have been trained to provides services,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Three Fears Of Service Providers - Phil Elworth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bottom line; 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