How to Choose the Right Service Provider for You Immediately
Has this happened to you? You check out someone's credentials,
check out their reputation, check out their education and
expertise, even get a referral from a friend, and then use their
services and its all wrong for you?
Choosing a service provider -- coach, therapist, trainer,
accountant, lawyer, physician, teacher -- is one of the most
important things you do. If its been a disaster for you in the
past, here's what you can do differently: use your intuition.
Intuition is a top emotional intelligence (EQ) skill. We all
want more of it, and the way you develop it is to use it, so
start now! We'll assume you're looking on the Internet, but the
same strategy can apply if you're looking in person.
1. Go to the person's website and open your senses to your
reactions. Do you like the colors? Colors have a real
vibrational effect on us. The person chooses them for a reason
(though it may not be conscious), and you'll react to them for a
reason (your job here is to get it conscious). Do they appeal to
you or not? Simply register your reaction.
2. How's the layout and navigation? Is it intuitively in line
with how you look at things, how you think, and how you like to
get around. It will tell you how the creator's mind works, and
since you'll be working with them, that's important.
A different spin would be if you're looking to develop something
you don't have. For instance, if you're left-brained and trying
to develop your intuition, creativity and right-brain. In this
case look for a site that seems "disorganized" and "scattered"
and even "alarmingly original" to you. Right-brained, creative
people think holistically, not linearly, and it takes one to
teach one. The more it irritates you, the more you need what
they have to offer!
3. What's the ratio of "about you," "about me," and "about
information." This ratio will probably hold true in the delivery
of their services. If the person is all about him- or herself,
that should tell you something.
4. Is it about feelings or intellect? Look for some balance
there. Even if you're looking for an accountant, it's got to be
someone who's able to connect and relate to you. You don't want
HIS or HER financial plan, or the one they give to everyone; you
wants YOURS.
5. Does the website show some evidence of abstract and
conceptual thinking? This is important because you need someone
who can get to the big picture. With a coach, for instance, if
their background is marketing, and you want coaching on your job
as an engineer, it can work out fine if the coach is able to get
to the fundamentals of work in general--the things that apply to
all jobs--even though they've never been an engineer.
6. Pay attention to the level of "correctness" on the site. You
want a service provider who's fixated on perfection, but who
pays attention to you and gives you excellent service. Their
website should project this. If it's full of typos and
grammatical errors, misspellings and incomplete sentences, note
this and see if you want to be treated in this careless fashion.
7. Sterility and cookie cutter. There's a difference between
"professional" and "sterile." Again, register your reactions.
For instance, if you're shopping for a coach and want one to
help you specifically to help you make a personal budget, you
may want someone who's very linear and precise. If, however, you
want a coach to help you create the life of your dreams, you
need to be looking for a coach who has created a website that
lives, breathes, and excudes "vision." (Check out
http://www.bemyguide.net/ for a good example)
8. Call the provider and listen to the voices. If its an
answering machine, does the voice appeal to you? You'll be
working with that voice. If its a receptionist, are they
cordial, informed and welcoming? Were you brusquely put on hold?
Did they sound too busy to give you adequate attention? Were
they in a rush about something?
9. Other sounds. If there are sounds on the website, or music
played while you waited on the phone, how does it affect you?
Remember, this is totally subjective; there are no "right" or
"wrong" answers. It's going to the Core You and coming from the
Core Other Person. Was it C&W, classic music, or something else,
and does this jive with you? Charles Schwab lets you listen to
stock quotes. Southwest Airlines has humor. A church has C&W
music playing while you wait. A coach has a recorded
inspirational message.
10. The person who answers the phone IS the service. After I
became established in the field of marketing, I refused to work
with a CEO who didn't get this concept. Whatever you're doing,
whatever you're selling, the person who answers the phone call
is the entry into the business. Pay close attention to this
phase of choosing. Do you want to work with someone who is so
emotionally illiterate that they have a rude, unintelligible,
uninformed or provocative phone-answerer?
11. Some professions, such as coaching and therapy, offer a free
initial consultation. Take full advantage of this opportunity
and put your senses on full alert. Do they withhold information,
promising what they will deliver if you sign up with them, or do
they jump right in? Does their tone of voice and style appeal to
you? How does the office look -- too orderly or too sloppy or
just right? What about the colors? Are their lots of books and
piles of paper, or nothing at all? What about the prints on the
walls and the photographs on the desk?
12. Hard-sell and desperation. These are yellow flags. It's a
catch-22 that once a professional is established and confident,
they get more clients. So ... if they seem desperate for your
business, it's a warning sign.
In your search, keep your senses open to what you find. Sight,
sound, smell, touch and feel, and let that important "6th sense"
be your guide. After you do the homework (check credentials,
authenticity, training and expertise), it becomes a subjective
sense of who will be a good "fit" for you. In today's
competetive world, you'll find many who meet the "homework"
test, and from those, you can use your intuition to choose the
right qualified person to work with you.
By getting in touch with your senses, this is what I mean. If
it's a good fit you should feel right about it, your stomach
muscles relax, you get goose bumps of excitement, you feel like
opening up to this person and start saying things you might not
ordinarily, you want to tell them things, you can't wait to see
or hear them again, or make your next appointment, you feel sure
they can do the operation successfully, you feel hope and
optimism about your stock investments, you feel like you've
"come home", you can't wait to start working with this coach on
this problem which suddenly seems lighter and more solveable.
If it isn't right for you, here are some signs: you get a knot
in your stomach, your blood pressure goes up, you flush or feel
hot, you get a headache or stomach ache, you feel anxious
(drumming your fingers, bouncing your leg, biting your nails),
you get chills, the hair on the back of your neck stands up, you
feel irritable--scratchy inside, you feel like taking a shower
when you get home (to wash that stuff off), you can't wait to
get off the website or phone, or get out of the office, you
can't stand to look at them and resist eye contact.
After you've done all the analytical, logical homework, tune
into your intuition to help you make the right decision for you.