A few years ago I hired a gifted guru that some of you have probably heard of – Rich Schefren.  This is a guy that just erupts with one amazing concept after another.  I’ve learned so much from him.  Today I was watching an online video that had clips of a recent presentation he did and I wanted to share it with you.

He juxtaposes 3 business concepts.  He refers to the old way of business as “make & sell.”  A current way that most businesses operate is “sense & respond.”  Then he presents his recommended way as the way of the future and the way to really rise above the competition – “anticipate & preempt.”

One of my favorite lines in this video is “do it wrong fast!”  Another is that “action creates clarity.”  I wholeheartedly agree with both concepts.  We cannot wait to take action until we’ve dissected every potential outcome.  We need to get in there and do it.  Experiment and just keep doing it.  It’s the best way to learn and discover so that we can “anticipate and preempt.”  Thank you Rich for all you’ve taught me and continue to teach me.

Dan says of Bill:

“He very diligently makes certain that every customer that walks into one of his stores never leaves without his sales associates asking them for their complete contact information (name, address, phone, email, etc.).  Now, depending on their spending, he communicates with them often.  In fact, certain customers will receive from his store yearly:

• 18 mailings
• 4 personal calls from their sales associate
• 4 voice broadcasts
• 52 weekly emails

Now in marketing, this is what we call marketplace dominance.  It doesn’t matter how many expensive TV spots the big box retailers buy, they canNOT compete or make the impression that Bill’s store makes with his customers.”

In the legal industry, I find that many firms fall short when it comes to prioritizing building their databases and then systematically cultivating those relationships with consistent and varied communications.

My recommendation is that every single contact be put into your database – clients, referral attorneys, vendors, employees, etc and then each target audience should receive varied communications at pre-determined timed intervals.  This is one of the very best ways to stay top of mind with your various audiences, thereby positioning your firm for a steady stream of referrals.

But in this post I want to bring you up to speed on his latest endeavor.  He calls it “The Dreaming Room.”  Michael holds weekend conferences where he works with his attendees to make sure they are dreaming big enough.  I have to say that he is full of energy and enthusiasm and truly inspiring even though he is now 70 years old.

Here’s why I wanted to share it.  He talked about rekindling that entrepreneurial spirit and embracing the idea of being “stunningly original.”  Isn’t that awesome?  So often we become complacent in our comfort zones and become employees and worker bees in our own businesses.  But that is not where an entreprenuer finds fulfillment.

An entrepreneur is not afraid to live in the unknown.  The pain and discontent of not knowing how to do what you feel you want to do is not a bad thing.  As a matter of fact, Michael describes it as a gift.  He talks about “infinite climbing” and awakening the entrepreneur and creator within you.

I believe that each of us has the potential to go far beyond our comfort zones and as Michael states, doing so requires intentional dreaming.  We need to get away from the day to day grind regularly and have time to plan and dream so that we are able to create and innovate.

If you want to learn more about Michael’s new project you can do so by going to:  http://www.inthedreamingroom.com/index.html

In the meantime, be sure to set aside time regularly to dream.