Coachamatic

Remember the “Haves” and “Have Nots”? There is also in life a list of “Hows” and sometimes even more important than that is the list of “How Nots” that can help you get top quality recommendations instead of those that fizzle.

I recently had a great information product enthusiastically recommended to me by a friend whose recommendation I trusted. I bought in and noticed immediately that the whizzbang shine and luster my friend described wasn’t there. The product was delivered weeks late, it didn’t contain half of the modules and what was there, was at a beginner’s level, far from the recommendation I’d gotten from my friend.

“Dang,” I thought to myself. “This is the third or fourth bad recommendation I’ve gotten in a row!” It caused the realization that not only did I have different expectations than the friends I was asking, but that I was wrong in asking for a recommendation without first framing it in terms of what I was looking for.
When you want to attract a a good recommendation, tell your friends and contacts EXACTLY what you are looking for. Develop detailed “Haves & Hows” lists. The more targeted you are in your Recommendation Inquiry, the better you are going to be in terms of pre-qualifying those who apply or who are forwarded to you by others.

Here’s how:

1. List what qualities you want the service provider, product or merchant to HAVE.

Example: “I need someone who knows the Multiple Streams product marketing approach, 1shoppingcart.com and Mindjet, can handle my online scheduling and liase with my marketing team. I am a visual person - the ideal candidate must be able to provide me with mind maps of my marketing campaigns.”
2. List exactly HOW you want the provider to behave towards you.

Example: “I need the ideal candidate to report their progress by email to me on Mondays and Thursdays and attend marketing development team meetings on Friday mornings. I expect a mindmap of the following week’s activities on Friday morning before team meetings. Additionally, I expect an ASAP head’s-up notice whenever crucial benchmarks are in danger of not being met as well as to promptly deal with marketing. I expect regularly scheduled emails no later than 7:20am so I can begin my day informed. I need the candidate not to be afraid of giving critical reports - even bad ones - and expect to know the second any of the plan parameters go off track.”
What kind of different responses do you think you will get to this question:

“I need your recommendation for a savvy marketing assistant”

and a question that incorporates a detailed list like the above Haves & Hows?

In speaking of the particular product above, I did not take into account that I was significantly further in the development of my business acumen than the friend who recommended the info product to me. While it worked great for him, for me it was going over information I already had. Had I formulated a specific list of Haves and Hows, I would have gotten a much more useable recommendation and saved time, money and frustration.

Try it!

Posted on Aug 28th 06 by Maryam Webster.

Maryam Webster is Director of The Certified Energy Coach Program (certifiedenergycoach.org), where Coaches & Therapists Become Sought-After Superstars. She helps therapists, coaches and entrepreneurs to blow past what is holding them back and create outrageous personal & business success "at the speed of thought". http://maryamwebster.blogs.com

Other posts on Coachamatic by Maryam Webster.