Amanda McVicker (00:00)
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the OBM educator. I'm excited to get into this week's episode because we're going to be talking about how to lead a strategy session.
Strategy sessions are something that I've been doing with clients since I started my OBM business. It is how I always start a client relationship when I am starting to work with someone in a retainer, we will start with a strategy session.
It is also what I use if I was starting with a VIP day or, you know, any type of project that I'm doing with a client. And it's also something that I just do one off. But it has been something that I have loved doing with clients because it really gives us an opportunity to dive deep into their business.
And depending on the reason that you're doing it, there are gonna be different things that you focus on. So when I start with a client, we're really getting into what are the systems that are going on? What are your goals and plans for your business? Like where is it that you can use my assistance the most? I also do them at the end of the year to plan for the next year.
And in that case, that's more of like a, let's set your calendar. What are your plans? What are you hoping to accomplish next year? And how can I support you in doing it? So there are different reasons that you could do strategy sessions, but I feel like as an OBM, more likely than not, you will be conducting strategy sessions. So today we are going to get into how to lead a strategy session.
So a lot of people that I talk to who are transitioning into being an OBM or maybe they're a new OBM, the thing that I hear a lot from them is, I don't know how to do strategy. And fair. Strategy is not something necessarily that you are just born knowing. It's something that you practice and the way you are going to get better at doing strategy, at conducting strategy sessions is to practice. So a lot of what I'm gonna talk about today is actually going to help you if you are newer and you think you don't know strategy. I assure you, do. Strategy is just the way that we do things. It's just a plan of action.
There's good strategy and there's bad strategy, but I guarantee you, you know strategy.
So the main thing that is going to set you on the right path is being prepared. And this is going to happen through what you do ahead of the strategy call and how you onboard that either if it's a one -off client like how you onboard the strategy session client or if it's your client maybe you're starting a retainer, how you are onboarding them and getting the information that you need to know.
So the way that I do this is I always start with sending out a form or a questionnaire. And this is going to be a very in -depth questionnaire that has questions about their business. Like I said, it's gonna be depending on what type of strategy session I'm gonna be having with them. If it's going to be a more systems -focused then I will give them a systems -focused questionnaire.
If it's going to be a business overhaul session, it's going to really encapsulate the entire business. And so you wanna encourage your client to really take some time to fill it out and get it back to you so that you have enough time to review research prep so that you are ready for the call.
So when you have that questionnaire back, you're going to use that to create an agenda. When you are having a strategy session, you are the one leading it. And so you want an agenda that is going to help you lead.
And so when you were reviewing the questionnaire, you were going to be wanting to look at to see what are the gaps that you see? What are the areas of opportunity
From what you can see and from what the client said, what are the main goals that they wanna be focusing on?
I always like to start on the agenda with a broad goal so that during the call we can actually really dive deep into what it is that they can do or you can do as their OBM to accomplish that goal.
If it is a business overhaul strategy session, you wanna leave some time to talk about their current team, their current systems, and then any areas that they are wanting to grow or focus on. In the agenda, you wanna make sure that there is time for things to pop up. Usually I do a 90 minute session. I find that that's a good amount of time to get the topics that are in the questionnaire talked about, but also allow space for random things that might pop up.
So next is a very important part, but once you have the agenda, you want to make sure to send it to your client so that they can review it, let you know if there's anything else that they want to spend that time on so that you can adjust it before the meeting. And so also in the prep of things.
In the beginning, when you might not have that much experience doing strategy sessions, you might be wanting to Google everything or doing research on everything, on every recommendation that you are going to be making. And that is OK. During the strategy session, there will be back and forth.
But if you are nervous that you're not going to be able to come up with things on the spot, I would definitely plan ahead and use the questionnaire to guide some research, you know, what are some systems that are gonna fit what they are looking for.
So then we're gonna get into the actual call. So before every call, this is more of a mindset thing, but I like to take a couple minutes and just kind of center myself and I do some affirmations or do some breathing exercises just to put myself in the right frame of mind.
Some of the affirmations that I do really are simple and stuff like, this is going to be helpful for my client. I am equipped with to be a resource for my client things like that. Sometimes, you know, if you want to brain dump some affirmations to say beforehand, I've also previously have done some playlists with like some pump up music if I'm particularly nervous, but you just want to get in the right head space so that you start the call energized.
And so like I mentioned before, as the OBM on the call, as the person leading the call, you want to make sure you are leading.
So that means when you get on the call, yes, you can have nice pleasantries, a little bit of back and forth, but you want to make sure that you're the one who's saying, okay, let's do this. This is how the call is going to go. We are going to do this, this, this, and this. I'm going to talk about this and then open the floor up for you to talk about this. And then at the end, we will wrap it up and summarize, right?
So you want to make sure that you are leading the conversation. You are giving the guidelines of how the call is going to work. Because this is going to set you up as the authority, as the expert.
So then you're just gonna follow the agenda. I like to pull it up so I'm screen sharing. And then I'm also taking notes in the agenda because then it kind of turns into the plan afterwards. But really you're just going down the list.
So say their main goal is to set up a project management system in their business. They have not had one before. Maybe they have a VA and they're bringing you on as the OBM and communication between the business owner and the VA were okay. Sometimes things slip through the cracks, but overall they were able to make it work. But now she fears now that you're bringing a third person onto the team, especially want to manage bigger projects that she wants to have coming up, she really wants to implement a project management system.
And so you would take this opportunity to ask, what are the things that you're wanting to see in a project management system? Of course, we're going to have the tracking of different projects and tasks, but are you looking for something where you can have communication in there?
How is it that they like to see tasks? Are they more of a list person or are they more of a board person? Are there any project management systems that they have heard of that they are more inclined towards or that they want to avoid?
So these are the questions that you would be asking when you get to the project management system section.
Now a big tip is that I love letting my clients talk.
My personality and being a projector in human design means that I like to absorb information. And so I ask leading questions so that my client literally can just brain dump on me. And then from there, I will pull out bits of information, ask questions based on that. But when I get all of the information, I am then able to make a recommendation even if it's not right then. And that's so key is that especially in the beginning, you need to be okay with saying, I don't know, let me find out. And whether that's pulling up Google on the strategy call, which I definitely have done, or waiting until you get off the call and when you're putting together your after call report, put together more recommendations based on what it is that you research.
But when you let the client talk and you don't interrupt, you just let them kind of have their stream of thought go, you were able to get so much more information than if you were the one talking the entire time.
So then once you have conducted the call, you will then do, well I do, a after call report. And I always recommend this because it is a great way, especially if it's not a current client but it's a one -off strategy session, it's a great way for them to see everything that you talked about laid out and in actionable steps for them.
So I usually put it together as there's a month one, month two, month pre-focused depending on how far in advance we were planning. If I was doing like a whole year planning session where we're just talking high level things. I'll break it up by month, January, February, March. But when you have that report, they're able to see all of the things that they had talked about, all of your recommendations. And if you were using this as a lead generating activity,
It is also a great way for them to see, wow, that's a lot of work. Maybe I should hire someone to help me do this.
And in my experience, it's always been something that has come up on the call of, can you help me with this? So if it makes sense, you can also send your packaging information with the report or at least give them an idea of what it might be like to work with you.
Something I also do for sessions that are not my current clients is I do offer two weeks of email access or voxer access if that's easier for them to ask me any questions as they're going through the report. So they might start implementing things and they wanna ask me questions on it or they're just reading through the report and they're like, well, what about this or?
Did you think about this? And then I could give them more insight onto why I put something in the report.
And then if they are a client, your wrap up will also be including a plan to execute it. So when I'm starting with a client,
I use this strategy session to plan out the first three months of us working together. What am I gonna be focusing on in month one? I always have these sessions before our official start date so that on our official start date, I am able to just jump right in because I already have a plan that they have signed off on and are good with me to just go ahead.
So conducting client strategy calls are a huge part of being an OBM and can be part of your offer suite if you wanted a lower investment in your offer suite.
Now I know it can be hard to put all of this together, especially when you're thinking about the questionnaire and the agenda and all of the moving pieces in. So I've put together the ultimate OBM Client Onboarding System and this has all of the strategy information that I talked about today, including the emails, the questionnaire, and the agenda.
But it also has email templates for the entire onboarding process. So starting with the lead capture form and then the email that they get after they fill out the form, then going into the onboarding email where they would get their contract and their invoice, then also leading to them scheduling the strategy call.
And then also, like I said, the questionnaire and the strategy call agenda. It is your complete guide to onboarding and it's perfect to be inputted into Dubsado or HoneyBook or however it is that you do your onboarding.
So if you are interested in that, I have the link to purchase that in my show notes. It's $7. get instant access to it. And these are the templates that I have been using in my OBM business for four plus years now. And every time I onboard a client, I just hear how taken care of they feel. And I know that that comes from having a strong onboarding system.
I hope this episode was helpful for you as you are putting together strategy sessions in your OBM business.
And remember, practice makes perfect. As you do more and more of these, you are going to get so much better at providing high level strategy for your clients.
I'll talk with you guys next week. Bye.