[DARE #2] Get Unstuck – Survey Your Customers

There are 52 Sundays in 2014.

13 are left INCLUDING today.

That means you had 39 chances to reset your circumstances.

So, how did you net out?

In case you just joined us, I am on a mission to change the Sunday Blues by focusing on Sunday To Do’s!

Check out Dare #1 and read more about why I launched this series and what you can expect in your inbox every Sunday.

Now, before diving into dare #2…I r-e-a-l-l-y want to share how I netted out regarding dare #1.

Here’s what happen:

My dare #1

So of course I too accepted my own dare to write a professional love letter to an industry leader for no reason at all. I wrote a note to a woman who is on top of her game. She’s actually the CMO of a multi-billion dollar global firm and she’s a mom.

A snippet of her note back to me

“Hi Melissa, thank you for such a nice note and for taking the time to write it! It sounds like you have a very busy life. I remember each of my experiences at Company X and Company Y as great preparations for this role at Company Z. I’m really happy to be a part of this team and hopefully making it better. I hope you are finding the same kind of satisfaction personally and professionally. Have a great rest of Summer.”

How this exercise helped me progress from enduring to enjoying life?

It’s validating on many levels that someone so important to our global capital markets took time out to respond to me. Her reply also taught me that I am one connection away from extremely powerful players and if I decided to leverage these relationships A-M-A-Z-I-N-G can happen. It was a set up for how I want to feel every subsequent Sunday – empowered.

Why I asked YOU to complete dare #1

I asked you to complete exercise#1 because I too was setting YOU up so that you can get rid of those cobwebs or any hesitancies you may have in talking to top players. It’s important because chances are the only way to land that job or opportunity that may seem like a reach today is by talking to decision-makers or key influencers within your target industry – so why not practice a bit today a skill you’ll need for the rest of your career.

Now, on to exercise #2…or shall I say dare #2:

I recently read a great piece regarding meaningful vs. meaningless jobs.

As a result, your goal today is to make your job more meaningful.

Here’s how:

-Identify three internal or external customers who benefit from your efforts at work

-Ask these folks these three questions:

1-Tell me how you use or have used my work product. Give them an example of how you think they could have used your work product.

2-Ask them if they could change your work product in anyway so that it’s easy, more useful, or relevant to them – what changes would they make?

3-Probe them (gently) to see how your work product has helped them make better decisions in specific instances, helped them make money, helped them save money, or helped them change their thinking positively.

Once you’ve conducted this little focus group, take this data and update your resume and LinkedIn profile with some of these nuggets.

I’ll let you know how it goes on my end.

It’s your turn! I’d love to hear what you heard.

Stay tuned,

-Melissa