Staying Positive For Clients In The Face Of Panic
CRISIS WEBINAR SERIES 3/5
MOTIVATING, MANAGING, AND HANDLING BUSINESS IN TIMES OF CRISIS
When distractions are high and stress is mounting, keeping your team engaged + focused on their goals may feel like its own battle. In this webinar, Certified Professional Behavior Analyst, Rachel Sheerin, gives you insight into fast + effective motivational tools for leaders and peers alike to boost morale in stressful times.
Positivity is the practice of being optimistic.
And in today, we have over 300 people join the webinar and commit to being the change they wished to see. Positivity is the only thing we all need to be catching these days and in today's webinar, I shared the 3 mistakes we make when trying to help clients in times of stress and change, plus the ways you can boost your positivity instantly.
HIGHLIGHT FROM THIS WEBINAR:
3min 37sec: The consequences of testing Barney the Dinosaur
5min 22sec: Information fatigue is frying our nerves and forcing us to rush through our lists.
11min 33sec: Missing the fears that are behind the actions and conversations.
18min 19sec: ESPA National Conference 2019 in Charlotte. #CVBlove #EventServicesROCK
20min 08sec: Tiny hamster dressed as a pilgrim eating a tiny piece of pumpkin pie.
21min 46sec: When “I” is replaced with “we” even illness becomes wellness.
SOME OF THE QUESTIONS ASKED LIVE BY ATTENDEES:
How do I help clients who are clients who are scheduled for funerals but are reluctant to cancel?
What are some ways to outline the temporary change in scope of work for clients?
How do we approach summer/fall clients to sign their open contracts?
How do we ease the frustrations of clients who are being affected by COVID without feeling so defeated?
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS WEBINAR:
Tiny Hamsters Eating Tiny Food
The WIM HOF Method Mobile App
Modern Loss Instagram
The Charge Up Youtube Playlist
+ Read Full Webinar Transcript
Rachel Sheerin:
Yeah. You know my style. We're going to go fast. We're going to go fun. I don't know about you guys, but I could seriously use some positivity and some energy. So let me go ahead and check out the chat that we're going to be talking through today. In the chat, feel free to say, Hey, and make sure that you're clicking these little three buttons in the bottom right that say To: All Panelists and Attendees so everyone can see the chat. I'm going to say, Hey in the chat right now so you guys can see me. Oh, thanks Michelle - I look fabulous. All right. You know, we've, we've got this bedhead going on. I put on real pants today. I don't know if I'm the only one out there. Check in put where you're from, say hello, connect with everybody. I am so thrilled. I see hundreds of you guys online right now.
Rachel Sheerin:
This is awesome. Listen, it's Wednesday. Is it Wednesday? I, I'm almost positive it's Wednesday, but we're going to get started here and just a heads up. Hey Selena. Kelly, Kaylee, oh yeah, I see everybody, Monica, Lawrence, hanging it down in Austin. You're keeping it weird. We're trying to catch up. I love it. Marsha says, new from home office day, two days of this. Ashley, the ambiance going on. Thank you, right. You've got all the essential oils and candles, whatever we can do to keep positive, but without further ado, I'm going to jump into the webinar today and just as a heads up, you're going to see it and a box. Now, this is your opportunity as we go along. I will check this at the end and I'll stay on as long as you guys want to - answering your questions about staying positive, whether it's for your clients, for your team, for yourself, for your peers, your family. Let's fricking go.
Rachel Sheerin:
You guys ready? Oh, I see Alicia from the Baltimore museum of art hashtag NACE family. I see you. Oh, Seattle. Oh, this is going to be great. So without further ado, my name is Rachel Sheerin and thanks for joining me for today's webinar. I'm going to go ahead and share my screen. Hopefully you guys are able to see this and we're going to get started today with our presentation. So again, my name is Rachel Sheerin. I am a keynote speaker and a team trainer and I'm here today talking in all things chaos about Staying Positive for Clients In The Face of Panic. And I think we can all agree that a little bit of positivity could go a long way right now because it's madness and whether or not whatever season of life you're in, whether you are just starting a brand new business venture, whether you're working for a huge hotel that has just furloughed its employees, whether you are part of a huge cultural institution out, you're working in education.
Rachel Sheerin:
Listen, at the end of the day, positivity is infectious. And I know it sounds ironic with Coronavirus being top of mind right now, but let's spread that like wildfire. And that's really why I put together today's webinar. And as you look at it, positivity, you know I'm a naturally positive person. I wake up like this. I tend to be somebody that tends to err on the side of positivity. And I get how that can come off sometimes. Have you ever been around somebody that is super positive and you are like, no, just stop, right? We all have, we all have. And at the end of the day, I think positivity is one of these buzzwords that says, you know, like let's just gloss over everything like SpongeBob is doing here [referring to slide]. But in reality, what happens is that if you try and force yourself to just, you know, ignorantly gloss over everything or act like it's all okay, you know, what starts to happen, it starts to go pretty South.
Rachel Sheerin:
I mean, got to give it up to Barney when you're trying to be a ray of sunshine, but people keep testing you, it can make us a little upset. And that's part of the focus today in gathering here today, I want to give you skills to be positive and authentic. It doesn't mean that we gloss over things that are going wrong. It doesn't mean that we deny that things are scary or ever changing. But what it does do is it welcomes the unknown and it allows you to have a choice if we're going to choose to feel a certain way. I think choosing positive is one of those ripple effects we'd all be very proud to have an impact on. Are you with me as my friend Christine trippy says get it. Got it. Good. Let's keep going. So what does positivity look like?
Rachel Sheerin:
Well, I want to discuss today three of the ways that I'm seeing right now. I think the mistakes we're making as we start to stay calm and positive for clients and the mistake, the first one I'm seeing is rushing. We are roughing. Is there anyone, I mean raise your hand, shout it out in the chat if you feel like you are rushing around with a chicken with their head cut off. Yeah, I am. I am right there with you. And the thing about rushing is that it's a mistake for keeping positive for our clients and for ourselves because it really tends to come from a place of fear. And when we're rushing, I think we can all agree that it's probably not the best for ourselves and for our clients. And by the way, it's not sustainable. And if there's one thing we know right now, whether we're working on a university campus, whether we're working for CBV, I don't know if my CBB friends are out there, but we know that we're in this for the longterm.
Rachel Sheerin (05:22):
Everyone does. I think we're hoping it's going to be shorter than than what's anticipated, but this is a long game that we're playing. So mistake number one is rushing. And why do we rush? Well, I think first of all, we're nervous. We are really, really nervous. I don't know if you guys feel like this, but I feel like my nerves are a little bit shot at this point. Every single moment, every single day. It seems like new information is coming out and I'm not sure where the fatigue is going to come in, but there's going to be a point in your, maybe you're at it now where we're just going to hear something and be like, of course it. So the nerves will still be there, but they're forcing us to rush. There's also a big to do list right now. A lot of us and a lot of you out there have been catapulted into working from home.
Rachel Sheerin (06:09):
We talked about that in the past two webinars this week and when you've got a big to do list, when you've got clients that have a big to do list, when you've got all these moving pieces, whether you're working with vendors or other departments, what you start to feel is the nerves around how am I going to do all this and are you Pauline early mornings? Are you pulling all nighters? Are you like a lot of us out there going to bed and laying in bed for hours? I know that's, that's been my situation and part of it is just this anticipation of to do lists in the background. Another reason why we rush, and this is in times of chaos and panic and just in in regular life, but we rush because faster service often equates to the best service. And if you do any training with me, I challenged this thought a lot because 50% of the population, I'm a behavioral analyst, all disclosure, so these are not some made up statistics, but behavioral analyzing the population of the world really says that we're a 50 50 split, 50% of the people like to operate at the fast pace.
Rachel Sheerin (07:14):
I know my fast paced people are out there, but then 50% of the people like to operate at a slower instead of year pace. And if you're a slower pace person, have you ever felt rushed when you've ever been rushed? Maybe come up with ideas or suggestions at a meeting and you know that the best answers aren't going to come to you until you're driving to work the next day and you're like, Oh, I should have said that at the meeting. Yes, fast service doesn't always equate to best service, but in today's world I think we think that that's true. And finally, outside pressure, this could be from our leaders, this could be for our clients, this could be from your kids, right? If you're watching this on the West coast, it's around 11, 10:00 AM right now, which means that if you have kids at home, lunchtime is either happening now or coming soon, which means that we've got this very short window to make sure we get it in before chicken nuggets.
Rachel Sheerin (08:06):
So how do we slow down? Hmm? The fact of the matter is slowing down helps, slowing down helps. It's the same thing for listening to Enya to be quite honest. You know, any of those bub babbling Brook CDs, it's a slow steadiness that even as fast paced people right now, I'd just like to shout out, we are being all turned up. We are all pushing fast forward. We're being forced to be on fast forward. So start the trend and slowing down. Slowing down helps because it does start you to be able to hear the meaning behind the words, the meaning behind the words as people start to say things and share with you. This is something where when you slow down, you get to hear what they're actually saying. Additionally, a way to slow down conversations with clients right now in with your team is to start with the questions.
Rachel Sheerin (09:00):
A favorite strategy of mind is, for example, before we get started, you're talking to a client. You might say, before we get started, I have plans prepared for you. Well, what questions do you have for me? And do you know what you're going to see? You're going to see them come out the gate with questions and guess what? You're going to be able to answer them. And if you're not going to be able to answer them, you're going to have faith and confidence that you're going to find someone who knows the answer. Be able to figure it out for them and be able to collaborate with them on it. But you know what happens when you ask people, before I get started, what questions do you have for me? It gives them the opportunity to release their pressure valve. You know when you're cooking a Thanksgiving Turkey and they've got the little thing, the done popper, I want you to be able to let them pop out a little bit and you slowly push it back in and relieve that pressure valve.
Rachel Sheerin (09:52):
You're going to also notice the people are going to pay more attention to the words and advice in plants that you share. After you do that, it's a bold move starting with the open forum for questions. Build that trust, give them that relief. Don't rush them through your presentation just because you want to prove your authority. Give them the opportunity to release that pressure valve and finally challenge yourself. A favorite phrase that I have to check myself and so many executives that I lead via coaching, we're reminding this all the time, is to ask yourself, is this urgency or is this urgent to me? Cause if it's urgency, if it's true, true, true, true urgency. Okay. But if it's urgent to me, if you were typing an email just to get it off your inbox, if you are rushing a phone call because you, you know, you need to get back to something else.
Rachel Sheerin (10:48):
I would like for you to continuously be checking yourself. Is this urgency or is this urgent to me? Because you know what, your clients and your peers and your teams and your community really want from you right now. They want the right answer. In a world right now where we are not sure of what is real and what is not. There's a lot of skepticism. There's a lot of fear, there's a lot of new information. Get them the most accurate and up to date information and tell them if you need a little bit of time to gather it, get it. And by the way, if you need some additional help slowing down, I say dance, party it up. Okay. Move in your body, feeling good in the replay of this. Or if you check out our blog after we post this reply, you're gonna see I created a new playlist.
Rachel Sheerin (11:33):
It sounds corny, but it's real. Okay, we need some motivation. We need to feel good. We need to dance it out and make sure that whatever you're doing, moving your body, it's releasing that energy. Drink a little too much caffeine, get to dancing, okay. And bad dancing is completely encouraged. Now, the second mistake I see us making now is that we're missing their fears. We're missing our client's fears. And this relates a little bit back to what are they really saying? What are you really doing? To help the cause behind the cause? Because have you ever had a conversation with somebody where you ask them what's wrong? And they tell you one thing, but really it's another, I think back to, you know discussions I've had with my husband and he might ask what's wrong and I might tell him on the surface what I believe is wrong, but you know what, really underneath that all, it's maybe feeling disconnected because I've been on the road speaking and traveling.
Rachel Sheerin (12:35):
Maybe it's that you know, my dad's birthday is coming up and I miss him a lot. It's, it's rarely what we say that's wrong. I don't know if you guys, if you share those examples in the chat, but I think that we have an opportunity here to really hear their fears and what are the fears, what are the fears that most people are feeling right now as a behavioral analyst, this is an expansion on the core basic fears we have around life, but people are fearing change. People are scared of health, they're scared for themselves and they're scared for others and they're also scared of loss. The loss of a job, loss of way of life, loss of human connection, loss of a lot of things. And here's the wild part is that when you talking to clients right now, we have to embrace and, and covet and feel proud of the fact that we are talking to them not just as clients, but as humanity, as fellow humans that are feeling fellow humans, that have family, fellow humans, that have communities that the fear we might be hearing is, is less probably to do with what the actual task that we're working on the width and is more to do with the people that they love.
Rachel Sheerin (13:53):
And it can be themselves and others as well as the loss. Additionally, fears would be lack of knowledge. A lot of people do not feel good. I mean, raise your hand out there. A lot of people do not feel good when they don't know what's going on. Nobody likes that, right? There's a high chance of us being tricked. There's a high chance of us worrying about, you know, doing the wrong thing, having the wrong knowledge, making the wrong decision. And finally, I think there's a fear right now about appropriate reactions. What is the appropriate reaction to what is going on right now? And the answer is, I'll be very clear on this. The answer is yes, there's really no rules. There's, there's rules around, you know, don't don't send out a coupon code for 19% off your products. It's a good idea. Trust me, I've seen this happen.
Rachel Sheerin (14:42):
So don't do that. Okay? But it's an appropriate reaction to feel scared. It's an appropriate reaction to feel positive. It's appropriate reaction to go into work mode. It's appropriate to hide and Netflix, you know what? It's an appropriate action to stock up on your prescription of medications. Whatever you need to do. I just want to throw it out there. The theme of judge less and love more. Heck yeah. Let's embrace it. The appropriate reaction can look different for all of us, and while we're at it, what we're hearing beyond the words we're hearing the fears, I'd like to make sure that you're making, you're not making the mistake of hearing dismissive words from our clients about how they feel and their fears and letting it go. For example, if someone says, Oh, I know it's silly. Oh, I know it's stupid. Oh, I know what's ridiculous.
Rachel Sheerin (15:28):
Stop them. Hold them, pause that conversation with love and give the opportunity for support encouraged by insane. No, it's not. It's human. No, no. It's not stupid at all. I think that's aware. It's, it is not silly to worry about what next week's gonna look like. I'm with you. And that power, that power of those dismissive words, we undercut ourselves all the time like that. Don't let those opportunities for connection and support go and while you're added, help them create a picture of a year from now. What does a year from now truly look like? And by the way, do it with your team too. I did it this morning and I got to tell you, a year from now, looks good. A year from now looks together, a year from now, a year from now. We underestimate what it can look like. Go big, dream happy. What if like I want to, what if and I want to scratch out all the negative stuff.
Rachel Sheerin (16:33):
Do we talk about that? Absolutely. But what if we allow ourselves to dream big and to dream happy and to fast forward? If we could push fast forward on this moment right now, what is that going to look like? And by the way, if you're leading a team, do that with your team too. It is magic. And you know what I think during this afternoon's happy hour we're doing a coworking hour right after this at 3:00 PM totally free. Come in, crush a goal, you know, be united. But however you're going to get together with your team and your peers in your community. Let's, let's all today, I want to hear it. Drop it in the chat, reply to my emails like tell me what your year from now is going to look like. Let's frickin celebrate it together because you know what's going to happen. We're going to get there and we have to be less attached to the how right now, how we get there.
Rachel Sheerin (17:24):
That's a, that's a bit of a question Mark, but we're going to get it because you know what? Here's the big spoiler alert. Success is inevitable. Success is inevitable for big hearted, hard working people, and because you showed up here today, I know that that's you. I know that's the people you love. That's your team that you're working right beside. Those are your leaders and that is your organization. We have all been before and we will be successful again. You just have to be open to the how so dream big. Create that picture a year from now. Now, the third mistake I see us making right now for our clients is we forget the good times. And guys, I want to share this with you. If any of my ESPA event services professionals association family is out there, my CVB folks, this picture is from me keynoting at their January, 2019 conference.
Rachel Sheerin (18:19):
It was here in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is where I live. It was at the Western hotel. Incredible professionals from CVBs and convention centers all over America. And I gotta tell you, you know why this picture matters to me. This picture in front of six, 700 people, my mom was in the audience. My husband was in the audience. My very best friend Sarah was in the audience of this keynote and they got to hear it. They got to hear my talk on burnout and watch me do what I love to do, what I live to do in that picture today as I was preparing this for you guys, Oh, it brought me back. It brought me back to all the big hugs we had. It brought me back to being together, brought me to the incredible organization that ESPA is, and they just had their conference in Denver with an incredible friend, Judson Laperolli being the keynote, or it was awesome.
Rachel Sheerin (19:11):
I flooded myself with the memories of better times, so don't forget the good times you share them. Well, first of all, start now, whether it's via text, via email, via mobile, social media, share pictures from past events, celebrations, good times. What about awards and recent certifications? Do you have a new CMP or CEM? Do you have a new CPCE on staff share it. People are gathering. Goes back to my three CS from Monday's webinar. Celebrate, congratulate, and console. What can we do to bond together to check out their LinkedIn? What stuff have you missed that you can, you can celebrate? Remind them of what about the podcasts, the books, the articles that you think they'd enjoy or benefit from? What about one of these webinars this week you can simply share the replay and say, Hey, listen, I know you're going through it too. Here's a webinar on motivating your team or staying positive for your clients.
Rachel Sheerin (20:08):
I'm in the trenches with you. What about things that make you think of them that are helpful? What about the zany random things you find online and personal? Favorite? What about the personal photos of babies or puppies or kitties? And let's call a spade a spade. Anything in miniature form is cute. It's just a fact of life. I mean, look, look at this adorable hamster that is obviously dressed up like a Pilgrim, eating a piece of miniature pumpkin pie. This is a fact of life, y'all. And by the way, if you have not seen this, I think this might be a gerbil, but if you Google, we'll link to it in the blog. But if you Google gerbil eating mini food, you will see an entire YouTube channel dedicated to this tiny gerbil, getting prepared, miniature food and eating it. It's impossible not to smile.
Rachel Sheerin (20:58):
And at the, at the end of the day, isn't that what we're wanting for our clients? We can't fix everything. And I know that is so hard for us out there. I know that our students that we've had to send home that that you all have had to tell people perhaps graduation's not going to happen. The awards that they received for leadership is not going to happen. Hmm. The little stuff, the little stuffs going to hold us through. The little stuff's going to be the glue. What? Where is the joy in this? Where are we able to look back and see the sun on a sunny day and feel it and let that wave of memory and that wave of joy memory really wash over us. I know you guys have it in there and before I open it up for questions, I did want to share my incredible professional and friend in chef Kelly Fields of Willa Jean New Orleans.
Rachel Sheerin (21:46):
She shared this quote this morning when I is replaced with we, even illness becomes wellness. It struck me this morning y'all. I am so fricking thankful that we are together right now that we in our industries, in our teams. Is it shifting? Yes, but if illness can become wellness, the possibilities are out there. I think Malcolm X was on to such a great thing. So I am going to end with this. What questions do you have? I am going to pop out. I'm going to be able to see the question and answers. Feel free to pop them in the chat. You know, see what's going on. Let me take a look and see what kind of questions and chats you have. Oh, I see this. So feel free to use this question and answer box. Rachel, my incredible Director of Ops. She can maybe pop in there and show you.
Rachel Sheerin (22:43):
You know where it is. It's right here on the bottom. Jacqueline, I see you said you just joined. No problem at all. Glad you're here. So let's see. Oh, you know what Kay, I'm just reading back through this chat. Kayla, I'm with you staying asleep. CSU, what questions do you guys have around staying positive for clients? Is there something that you're hearing your team struggle with? Is there something that you're personally wondering about? I will say some of the things that I'm really enjoying right now, there is an app. It will link to it in the blog, but it is called the ice man. Wim Hof method. And I know it sounds crazy, but it is a method of deep breathing and energy resetting. It actually increases the alkalinity of your body and in your blood. It sounds wild, but my business coach Jesse Itzler from Atlanta, he recommends it.
Rachel Sheerin (23:41):
I love this. I see Jacqueline just sharing. I've been taking a lot of, yeah, a deep breath is, it's so good right now I see a Shonda, same buttoning up business system so that we're solid. I love this. Robin says, Hey Robin from Philly, most of what I've told clients is I'm here and I'm ready to plan whenever you aren't. Let's take it one step at a time. Absolutely. And you know what, Robin, you bring up a really cool point because at the end of every conversation where a client has made a decision where you have created something creative in the face of it, first of all, share it however you can and share it, not just with your internal team so they can help other clients. But share it with other clients. Say, Hey, listen, I know you're not ready for it. Here's an example of something we've done for another client.
Rachel Sheerin (24:32):
I'm doing this a lot with my conferences and my corporate keynotes, annual sales meetings, the things that normally I would get on stage and be a keynote speaker for. We're creating virtual conferences. We're doing private webinars. We're doing a bunch of training because at the end of the day, people don't know and don't have the faculties to be as creative as you can be in your, in your venue, in your industry, in your organization, in your position. It's really being able to be creative and just show them what's possible, so I love this. I see Christians got a question, is it okay to reach out to clients and let them know we're here for them? It's the vendor they chose is unavailable for the war. They're rescheduled date. Would that be something positive? I mean, Christian, here's the thing. I think like you know, we're here for them. If the vendor they chose is unavailable that I'm going to say that that doesn't feel exactly right for me.
Rachel Sheerin (25:28):
What I think what maybe would be better, and I think this is probably what your big heart means to do is that what I would say to that is reach out to everybody and just say like, Hey, I'm with you. And by the way, if you're like Christian, I'm going to just say an example. What if you're a photographer, if you're a photographer, one of the things that you could do is be like, Hey listen, once this is all getting through, just want to let you know we're doing a headshot clinic, right? Headshot clinic because let's face it, a lot of people's jobs are going to change right now and their employment status is going to change. Something like that. It goes back to this idea, I teach myself classes about the positing before withdrawing. What does that look like? Right? What does that look like for you to give before you ever ask?
Rachel Sheerin (26:11):
Because at the end of the day it's less about asking specifically for the business and it's more about just saying like, Hey, I am here and maybe not painting that fear in them. So, you know, fear is a seller. It is some people's strategy. It's not personally mine. And I'm just going to guess that a lot of big hearted folks out there like you Christian, it just doesn't feel like exactly right. You know, or it doesn't feel good, which is why you asked the question. So thanks for asking. I really appreciate that. Sarah. I see you. How do you suggest dealing with clients who upset with holding to your contracts and blame you personally? How do you move past that? Sarah, can I ask a follow up question? If you can type it in the chat. Are you an individual business owner or are you part of a larger organization?
Rachel Sheerin (26:56):
And Sarah, while you do that, I'm going to, I'm going to go to the next question and come back to you. Deanna asks, how far out is acceptable in cancellations? We have events for may canceling now and weddings all the way down through July. How do we slow this cancel process down? Great question Deanna. So I think a lot of a lot of people are asking the same question around that because it's a lot of panic, right? It's a lot of what are we going to do now? How early is too early to cancel in what I would say is in a big way we can look at it like the cancellations in may in July, to be honest. That's where we should be trying to rebook clients that were in March and April. Let's move them right into those slots so we can certainly try and maybe push forward your timeline and have that positive domino effect.
Rachel Sheerin (27:47):
The other thing is about asking around the fears of cancellations. Why are you canceling? Are you worried about your money? Are you worrying about the deposit? Are you worrying about you know, your grandma being able to make it? Are you worrying about X, Y, and Z yet to those fears? And then once you expose those fears, you're going to be able to really suit them a lot more accurately. I can't tell why some people are scared. But my chances are that once you are able to know what they're really afraid of, you can, you can cool them down. As far as the meant cancellations. Of course you have to always debate whether or not enforcing your contract in those really, really tight contracts. Cause I mean they all exist. They certainly exist in my business for a reason. What you want to do and what you feel capable of doing and also to what you are able to do that's going to make sure that you and your organization, whether you're a small business owner or part of a large org, that you guys are able to sustain through this cause I'm just gonna toss it out there.
Rachel Sheerin (28:44):
Y'all. We are better when we are in business. Right? We are better when we have that income coming in. So I hope that answers your question. I'll come back. Let me see if we've got let's see. Sarah. Oh, larger catering organization. So how do you suggest with dealing with clients who get upset with holding your contracts and blaming you personally, how do you move past that? Well. I would say it comes in a few different ways. If people are getting really, really upset some things that I would lean on is, you know, some people, especially if they're very dominant personalities, if they got on the phone and you're like, hi, this is Sarah. And they're like, Sarah, you know, they're coming in intense. First of all, say, you know, I hear you, I see you and you know what, let me, let me get our owner on the phone.
Rachel Sheerin (29:28):
Let me have you talk to them because this is where the opportunity to have leaders truly step up and use their position. This, this is why they're here. To be quite honest. And, and at the end of the day, direct people like really respect position and authoritative an authority, authoritative positions and authority. So don't be afraid to lean on that. It's not that reflective of view. We are in unusual times. Another thing that I think is really helpful is understanding why you're enforcing that. Like Sarah is, since you're a large catering organization, I'm trying to think of my catering org. When I was the director of sales at one time, we had probably 120 130 employees during peak season. You know what happens when you enforce those contracts? Those people get paid and they get paid fairly and they get paid well. And you know what, right now, two weeks of pay makes the difference.
Rachel Sheerin (30:18):
One week of pay makes a difference. And I think illuminating the why and the how. This is not just us trying to enforce and bamboozle and things like that. Try and really deep and try and make it try and make it personal. Try and try and shout out to those people that are being affected and say, you know, we're really proud to support a hundred people and their families. I mean, it's incredible. I have I, I think now too w Kelly Fields and Willa Jean who I shouted out earlier down in New Orleans, you know, the majority of her staff are women. A lot of her staff, single mothers. That makes me proud to eat those delicious cookies every single time. And they taste even sweeter when they reopen and are able to support their folks. Let me take a look. Let's see. Samantha says, I'm struggling with a couple of clients who are scheduled for celebrations of life, tough stuff and reluctant to cancel and ignoring the governor's guidance.
Rachel Sheerin (31:14):
Any tip to let them down with such a sensitive event. We want to keep our state staff safe too. Absolutely. Samantha, I would say this is a great time to clear out any of the [inaudible] old party decorations or you know, votive candles a lot of times in catering or venue organizations, hotels that we have in deliver it make the food delivery, shift, shift, whatever we can to their home and say, listen, I understand. But let's recreate it and start to get creative around recreating things. I'm in of course ask for volunteers on your staff. There will be some people who would like to do it. And then there would be some people who really would prefer the option. That's where I would go. And it's probably not the moment to, you know, tell people what they should and shouldn't do.
Rachel Sheerin (32:02):
But I would again go back to maybe leaning on some of that leader leader leadership, taking a look. How do you avoid disaster burnout from Meredith after call after call handling postpone and cancellation? It can be hard to seem genuine. Yeah. Oh, Meredith, you hit me right to the core on this burnout. I got to say, I think burnout right now is going to come in a few different ways and I think that what you're talking about is seeming genuine. And what I would encourage you to do if you're not doing it already, and I know it sounds corny, but I want you in between calls. Write down what's grateful, what you're grateful for. Write down what's true. I am doing my best. People are being loved by me. I am being honest. Things will get better soon. My favorite, my success isn't inevitable.
Rachel Sheerin (32:51):
It is on its way to me right now. And try and dig into the things. I don't know what's true for you. I don't know what feels good. You know, but at a very minimum, I'm going to guess I am a good person. I am trying to help. I am trying. I am being honest. Say what's true. And I believe in affirmations. If you're not familiar with it, I might do a webinar in the future. If there's interest about manifestation and affirmations in the way that that has had an impact on my business in my life, and it trickles down into clients. When I feel good, they feel better. And that's something that's very, very powerful right down in between calls, say what's true. Kind of like a kid that's been bad in school. They used to ride on the chalkboard, right? Those are affirmations, by the way.
Rachel Sheerin (33:36):
Affirmations in neural linguistic programming. That's something I specialize in. And when you think about it, this is why Bailey says like the Ritz Carlton, my friend James spelt and all my Ritz Carlton family out there, that's why they say my pleasure. That's why Chick-fil-A says my pleasure. Because you know what? If you say it enough, guess what happens? Work becomes pleasure. So I'm going to send you love out there. And I'm going to, I'm going to have a maybe a blog article around that. Thanks for asking. Let's see. Ashley says there's been a lot of change in the scope of work for event clients. What are some ways to politely outline it as a one time deal versus a completely addition to something we normally do to delicately say this is a swap of what we're doing without sounding cheap. Super smart. I would just like to say, put the word crisis in front of pricing, crisis pricing.
Rachel Sheerin (34:23):
It lets people know that a, you're aware of it. B, this is a onetime only thing and see that there's gonna be some things between you, me and the fence posts that are going to be out of the ordinary. I have a large corporate client, we work a lot together and it's one of those things. I'm in the same boat. So this is not me giving advice, you know, from whatever. This is real stuff. Guys. I've had this client where I say, you know, I've used that line between you, me, and the fence post. I want to make this work between you, me, and the fence post. I want to make my payroll between you, me, and the fence post. I know you need this. I know I can help and I want to make sure that the answer is yes from your leaders.
Rachel Sheerin (35:01):
The answer is yes from your family, whatever it might be. So I would say put crisis in front of pricing and make it very, very clear because you know, I think, I don't think anyone out there is price gouging. And if you're price gouging, karma, watch out cause it'll come to you. So actually I hope that was helpful. Kelly says, I have contracts that are out to be signed cause I'm a new business. How do we approach these clients to sign with their events being in the summer and fall? Kelly, I would go back to saying, Hey, I'm here for you. Invite them to a digital margarita date or a coffee date in hangout. Ask for them. You know, ask for them to hang out, check in, send be helpful first, right? Deposit first. Hey, I saw this agreement. Hey, listen, by the way, I checked in with your venue.
Rachel Sheerin (35:47):
They are all going, they are closed, they're quarantined means no one's going to get sick. Like check in with them in some helpful ways. And that's a soft check in on a contract because Kelly, I'm going to, I'm going to say it again and we're going to talk about this on Friday's webinar a lot when it comes to money. Okay, y'all need to get paid. We all need to get paid and checking in on those contracts in a loving way, in a helpful way. You know, let's give it a few weeks before we go a little bit harder on those, those contracts. Folks know that they need to sign them and you know, fingers crossed, nothing, nothing will happen too much with them. Nora asks, our property has helped some couples from Noah's closing. Okay. So, no, I'm going to assume is actually a venue here in Charlotte where I live.
Rachel Sheerin (36:30):
So, Hey Nora. And now they're being affected by coven. How do we ease their frustrations? We've been offering optional dates but feel so defeated. And at this point, Oh Nora. So what Nora is asking about is that she has clients, it sounds like that have already been transferred wants because of venue closed on them, which I mean, I know if you're in the events industry right now, you're groaning because this is so panicked. But this idea about feeling deflated nor I think that, you know, one of the things that you can do is if there is a like authorized sandals planner that you know of, I maybe get creative with them, see what you can do, whether it's you know, offering a special rate on a honeymoon, whether it's, you know, talking to your florist friends and saying, Hey, listen, you know, we have a, you know, we're gonna have a bouquet sent.
Rachel Sheerin (37:18):
It's going to be on X day and plan it for in the future. Try and see if there's something that you can do, maybe even give them a Starbucks gift card. And I know that sounds small and it sounds like significant, but you know, listen, planning three weddings, you know, three weddings for one love must be true love, right? You're going to need caffeine to do it, you know, trying to alleviate them and be creative I think can be helpful. And also too, I would just say that, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll almost end with this if there's no more questions. One of the things we have to stay very cognizant of and, and personally really keep in focus, is that this is a time that people will be mourning a lot. And if you've ever lost someone very close to you and have gone through this period of grief, whether you've lost someone or you've lost something that's very important to you, this is a sad, difficult, confusing season.
Rachel Sheerin (38:15):
And I would recommend that you really seek out what to say during grief and loss, what to say to mourners and what not to say to mourners because that's exactly who you're dealing with. You are dealing with folks who truly, they're going to mourn another loss. And it's our duty, it's our privilege. It's our pleasure to really be able to support them that so you know, some things to say or I see you, I hear you. You know listen, if you want to scream into the void, I'd love, I'd love for you to give me a call. Like, let me know, you know, I'm here for you. This is a unique season that we're in and I'm, we're together. But being there, it sounds like your huge heart's already going to be known. Showing up and keeping people reminded of the intention that you work with the people you love to serve, which are your clients, the people you love to do your job with, which is your team.
Rachel Sheerin (39:11):
And the reason that you love what you do. I'm going to make a big guest as a guess as we end up here for today's webinar. I'm going to make a guest that you love what you do, which is why you're here. And I'm going to make a guess that you want to keep loving what you do and stay together. Stay honest. Banish those fears. Show up in those three ways. Tomorrow's webinar is on creating productive virtual meetings, whether it's conferences or internal meetings. I hope to see you guys there. If you have questions, feel free to drop them in the chat. We're all in this together. I see it. RDH looks great. Amen to that. Thanks for being here, y'all. I'll see you soon. Bye guys.
Questions / Comments / Margaritas? Let me know below!