Talking of last minute requests.

I was talking to one of my clients last week who is preparing documentation for a bid proposal. She was getting frustrated with waiting for her client to pass her the necessary facts and figures and was already getting stressed knowing she would probably only get them at the last minute.  She told me this usually happens.

Sound familiar?

Here’s my 3 steps to be more assertive using your ‘tone of voice’ when making requests for information.

1. Change the tone of your voice, and end the sentence ‘tone down’, a more assertive tone*, rather than ‘tone up’, which sounds like you’re asking a question.

* This is also recommended when telling someone the price of your service. If you use tone up at the end of your sentence, as it’s a questioning tone, people are more likely to ask you for a discount, as you don’t sound sure of your prices.

2.  Plan ahead for when you next speak to your client. Write out what you want to say, so you don’t get flustered. Stand up to feel stronger, practise saying it out loud, then call your client.

3. Plus, manage your client’s last-minute burst of activity.

So my client’s now scheduled time in her diary near to the closing date to deal with this, so she doesn’t book in anything else around then.

Giving herself head space and time to get it done, enabling her to produce the high standard of work she prides herself on.

She felt more relaxed already 🙂

Where do you need to plan in time for any of your client’s last minute requests?

Your Action Point today is to change the  tone of your voice, when needed, and notice the difference it makes to  your results. 

I’d love to hear from you when you do.

To your success and happiness,

Jo James