Episode #40: How Accountability Makes You More Consistent and More Money with Terra Bohlmann

Announcer (00:02): Welcome to the fast track entrepreneur podcast with your host Terra Bohlmann, you are about to get filled with business strategies, advice and motivation to get you prepared to fast track your five year plan in less than one year. So buckle up and let's create your first class business with clarity and confidence.

Terra Bohlmann (00:27): Welcome back to the fast track woman podcast. I am your host, Terra Bohlmann, and I'm super excited for today's episode. It's not going to be a long episode, but it's going to be super powerful because it's all about how accountability will actually make you more consistent and ultimately more money. And I think that's something we could all use more of. And the reason I am obsessed with accountability is because it is one of my core values, which I've done another episode on core values and how important it is. And just being accountable is just going to move your business forward. It's going to make people trust you and it's going to ultimately let you trust yourself. So accountability was one of these things for me that I was always super accountable to all my clients. I mean, if you were paying me a dollar, I was going to be accountable to you and I would stay up all night to get you what I needed.

Terra Bohlmann (01:30): But what I found was I wasn't being accountable to myself and what that looks like if you're not accountable to yourself is you're not being your own best customer. Everyone else has a higher priority. You know, there's things that have to be done in your business that can only be done by you. And yet you keep pushing them off and you're not making the money that you want to. And there's that feeling of always feeling behind. And what happens when you actually have accountability is you have priorities of what you need to be working on. So being accountable really is that thing that helps you identify what are the activities you need to be working on, versus those things that are distracting you. And then it gives unproductive results, right? So if you feel like your week just flies by like sometimes it does and you feel like, man, I didn't even get anything done that I wanted to get done.

Terra Bohlmann (02:32): We need to put accountability in your business when you make yourself accountable and treat yourself like your own best customer, which I say all the time, it is an absolute game changer. And what you're doing is when you're making yourself accountable to your goals, then you're also demonstrating to your customers that you're mirroring for them, that they need to do the same. And so accountability really is one of these that helps increase confidence like crazy. So here's how accountability works in my business. And when you're a client of mine, whether that's in the fast track foundation or you're in my mastermind or you're part of the fast track accelerator, which I'm launching officially in September, super excited is one of those things that I will hold you accountable to the things that you say you want to get done. And I have a whole system for this that works really, really well.

Terra Bohlmann (03:30): And I asked specific questions to my clients every week, whether we're working together from an eight week perspective, we're going to define out what is going to be a priority for you the next week. And then I'm going to hold you accountable to that as well as some other metrics that are super important that I know move business forward. Cause sometimes we're not focusing on the right things that make all the difference, no matter what your goals are. If your goal is you need more customers. Well, we have to have accountability around that. And some specific measures that are moving the needle for you, if you want to make more money, you know, same thing, it's around having more conversations and consultations or doing the sales activities that are going to convert. So you actually can make more money. If you simply need to do projects in your business, like maybe you want to do a rebrand or you've got to get that website done.

Terra Bohlmann (04:27): We need to have accountability. So you're actually doing the things right. And it's my job as a business coach to hold my clients accountable for what they say they want to do. And I do it in a way that is as simple as it can be. Right? I have tried tons of different things because I believe in accountability so much that I knew I wanted to embed it into all of the three programs that I have and where I work with women entrepreneurs, because it was one of those things that I wish someone would have had for me. Cause I think I would have gotten faster results and aren't we all looking to fast track our success, right? That's what this podcast is all about. Accountability is one of those things that do it. So let me give you some of the metrics that I use to measure my own client's success, right?

Terra Bohlmann (05:17): I need to know things like at the end of the week, you know, I always ask how productive do you feel, right? Scale of one to 10, with 10 being amazing. And one being like, I feel completely unproductive because until we know how we feel about our week and how we feel as far as productivity goes, the rest doesn't matter. Right? And this is why I believe a woman entrepreneur actually does better with a woman coach because we understand each other, which is a little different than having a male coach. There's some amazing male coaches. I've had some amazing male coaches, but the difference being the philosophy, doesn't always resonate with me because it's a different type of energy. I'm more masculine energy. Versus when I work with women and I work with a lot of women who are high performers, high achievers, they come with a masculine energy.

Terra Bohlmann (06:12): I have a large part of that myself. I'm very clear with that. But what I know is for us women to feel like we are productive in our business, we need to know how we feel about it. So I always ask my clients, how do you feel, how do you feel this week went for you, right? And then what was your biggest priority? And if we don't know that, then that's a problem. And week one, when I first get a new client, you know, you may not know your biggest priority this week, but you know, I'm going to ask you that next week. So then you make the next week, you make your biggest business priority. So we usually have one big goal that we're going for for the week. Right? And then I want to know if you accomplish it. So if my biggest priority this week was to record three podcast episodes, did I accomplish it?

Terra Bohlmann (07:00): It's either a yes, no. Or it's in progress, right? So these are the questions that I'm asking my private clients. And then I want to celebrate something with you. So I always ask my clients, what is something that we can celebrate together. I want to hear that humble brag that you have because we don't take enough time to honor and celebrate our successes. I think a lot of the times we're just on to the next, instead of really reflecting, you know what, I was kind of a rock star. I said, I was going to do three podcast episodes. I did that. But you know what? I also got three new clients this week and I'm super excited about that. Right? So, or maybe the humble brag is simply, you know, I went for a walk every single day around my neighborhood for two miles a day and I'm just, I can't believe it.

Terra Bohlmann (07:45): And I'm so excited. I did it. So we need to celebrate something every week. Then I also think it's important to understand what we learn every week as well, because we are always learning. And as women entrepreneurs, when you stop learning, you stop growing. And I know I'm learning obsessed. So when I think in terms of what did I learn this week that I learned things every day, but there's always that one thing that really sticks out every week for me, that's like, you know what, what's something that I learned already this week. Well, you know, I learned if I want to do Facebook ads, it's not as complicated as I thought it was. Right. I can do a very simple strategy to test something out, to see if it works. So I learned to stop complicating something, right. And then to specific metrics that I want you to take a look at every single week as well would be how many sales conversations did you have in a week or sales conversations?

Terra Bohlmann (08:40): It could be just simply just regular a coffee, virtual coffee meetup. It could just be a conversation with someone new or an existing lead or maybe a previous client or something. But how many sales conversations did you have this week and how much estimated revenue did you collect? I had a client this last week when I asked her a question she's like 30,000. I was like, Oh, awesome. Let's celebrate that. And that wasn't even the thing she wanted to celebrate. So I think that's amazing. And it's because I asked that question every week, she was so excited to give me that answer and I get to celebrate with her, you know, and I get some clients who are just happy when they made a thousand dollars that week. Right? I mean, it doesn't matter what it is, but I think being conscious of the revenue you're collecting on a weekly basis really helps us be intentional that we're going to make that an important metric.

Terra Bohlmann (09:33): I know money's not everything to everyone. It's not, I am very clear with that. And some people are very motivated by money and some, you know, to them money is just a means for them to get whatever they want in their life. For me, I know I'm not motivated by money. I'm motivated. I'm motivated very much by the transformations that my clients get. And so I always tell them, Hey, if I'm speaking to someone and I'm like, Hey, if you're interested in the fast track accelerator, that's my 12 month group coaching program where you go through and it's a done with you program where you produce your own business map and whatnot. And I always ask them, I, I'm not interested in taking your money if you're not going to do the work. So I need to know that you're committed to doing this work.

Terra Bohlmann (10:16): I'll be right there with you. And we're going to go do this together, but I need to know you're going to be committed to this because the last thing I want to do is take anyone's money. If they're not going to do the work. And I'm sure you feel the same way as well. So estimated revenue every week tracking that is really a good idea. And some weeks may be zero, but then the next week is higher. It also helps you figure out your cashflow pattern when you can start tracking this too. It's pretty cool. And then another thing I always like to know is what did you do for self care this week? You know, and sometimes it's as simple as you know, I got to tell you, I took three bubble baths this week. I meditated for 10 minutes day, I went and got a massage.

Terra Bohlmann (10:58): I just, and I had one client once who was like, I ate really healthy, organic food. I mean, self care can be whatever makes us feel good, but we need to be intentional with that. And when you have accountability that helps put that in place, it really helps move the needle for your business, not just financially, but also, so you're doing it in a way where you're not feeling overwhelmed. Cause if you can't fill yourself up with and give yourself grace and give yourself permission to take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of all the people that you want to impact, including your family, including customers, including anyone on your team, self care is important. So we need to track that every week. Then I always ask my clients, Hey, what is something you need right now? And when I review these and we talk about it, if it's something I can give them right now to make their life easier and quote unquote, fast, track them, I'm on it.

Terra Bohlmann (11:51): Right. It also helps me know what should be updated for the next week too. And then of course I always ask, what is your biggest priority for next week? And then, you know, what are we going to do to, to accomplish that? And then ultimately I give a space for my clients to just share anything else I want to share. Right. And then I give the last thing I always give them is, okay. Do you want a response from me on all this as well, or is simply just doing the effort of tracking it enough for you to stay motivated? Right. And for my clients who want me to respond to them, I will record them a video or an audio, or sometimes it's just simply, they want to celebrate that that $30,000 a week happened for them. And that's the biggest week they've ever had in their life.

Terra Bohlmann (12:38): Celebrate hard with them on that. And I'm probably gonna do something else because that's amazing. And that's something you can only share with your business coach in most cases, I mean, probably share it with your spouse or your partner or whatever, but you know, there's something that we are just so excited about because they become personal metrics for us to measure our own success, but we can't share it with everyone. Cause then it's gonna, it might seem a little braggy. That's what I want to hear. I want to hear about the braggy things too. So that's how I see accountability to help accelerate you. And when you have a system in place, and that's what I put in place for the clients that I work with is the outlet to be able to hold yourself accountable and then have me be here, partner in that as well.

Terra Bohlmann (13:26): And I think that is really unique. I don't know that a lot of coaches do and you know, and for me it was, I was obsessed with becoming the person to figure out how to layer in accountability. And I tried everything. I had hired an accountability coaches, you know, talk and call my clients every single day for like three minutes slots. I try then we went to once a week and then we, I tried email accountable. Like I tried so many different things because I knew it was important. But then what would happen is people would fall all off. And so I wanted to create a system that was simple for you to do so that you could celebrate, stay on track, have somebody there that was actually caring on the other side and be able to celebrate wins with you. And also get you back on track.

Terra Bohlmann (14:10): If you're feeling a little off, cause let's face it. We don't all have 10 weeks, zero out of 10 being amazing. You know, I'll have 10 weeks every single week, but the whole thing is we want to keep moving forward. That to me is what's really important. So in September launching officially launching, I've been beta launching my program, the fast track accelerator as a group program, not a huge group program, like maybe 25 women, nothing outrageous, but it's going to be a place where you can, the one on one support you need, you're actually gonna learn business strategies. We're gonna focus on mindset. You're gonna learn from each other. And you know, it's my year long group coaching program. And then you'll get your business map out of it, which is like in itself worth a ton of a lot of money that just really helps you stay on track.

Terra Bohlmann (15:03): It helps put your five year plan into action so that you have a, how to guide on how you're going to run your entire business. And that is to me, like I can't give a greater gift to any woman entrepreneur, but to have that business map because it is, Oh, it's just such a game changer. And what I'm doing is I'm launching it my program later on in the year, but I'm going to be doing a, like an accountability challenge where for 30 days you can do accountability with me. You can plug right into my system for free.

Speaker 3 (15:41): I want to show you, I don't want to just talk about it.

Terra Bohlmann (15:43): Accountability. I actually want to show you how it will make a difference and move the needle for your business. And so I have an accountability challenge go to my website, TerraBohlmann.com. There'll be a link on there on how you can get signed up for it. I, there is no big upsells. There's no whatever. If you have been struggling to be your own best customer and you're getting frustrated because you know, you should be further along. Let me help you over the next 30 days so that we can track these important metrics and get you the support that you need. And if you like it great, then if you want to enroll into one of my programs, especially the accelerator, which I'm going to be launching as big of an online launches I've ever done, then I'd love to have you. But if not, maybe you realize accountability is just one of those things that you can put into place for yourself. And if you're disciplined enough, that's awesome too.

Speaker 3 (16:38): But I just want to show you, I don't want

Terra Bohlmann (16:40): Talk about accountability. I'm going to show you how it makes a difference. And I just challenge you if you're going to do the accountability challenge for 30 days for free to stay on track with it for 30 days. Because if you can't be accountable to yourself over four weeks, then that's the, there's a bigger issue happening. But if you can stay on track and actually do my system for a month, then you are going to be unstoppable when it comes to growing your business. I can tell you that here's the difference between my clients, who and I don't force accountability. You get my accountability emails, you get, you know, this and that. My executive assistant is plugged into it. I review everything on Monday mornings. I, you know, we've got our system down and I have clients that do it every single week. And I can tell you the difference between the ones that do it every week versus the ones that maybe do it once a month, or they actually don't do it at all.

Terra Bohlmann (17:39): The ones that are doing it weekly and consistently are the ones that are killing it in their business. I'm just saying, so that's what I've seen personally. I've been doing this for about a year now and you know, I was kind of doing it as a big test to try to, you know, see and really try to systematize. And is it possible to systematize accountability and stuff like that? But I was so passionate about it that I, I didn't stop when it came to pivoting and well, I didn't work. Okay. What about if we did this? Okay. What if we did this and I get a really good response from my client roster that does it now, because it doesn't take much time. It's like less than five minutes a week. And when you do it over and over and over again, you will see the shift happen in your business.

Terra Bohlmann (18:23): So take advantage of my free accountability challenge. That's happening in the month of August, 2020. If you're listening to this and it's later, you know, I may do it, open it up again later, but if you're listening and it's August, 2020, you can go to my website at TerraBohlmann.com and opt in so that we can get you on the list and we'll get you plugged in. So we're going to do it the whole month of August. So super excited, no cost to it. But I want to show you that accountability will work when you promise to be accountable to yourself. And I'm just saying, give it a month. Can you imagine if you were consistent and accountable to yourself for three months, six months, one year, something I can always tell my clients is I can promise you if you just followed my system and the step-by-steps, which I've laid out to make it as simple as possible, you are not going to be in the same place that you were last year at this time.

Terra Bohlmann (19:17): And that's what we all want, right? We want to go faster. We want to make an impact faster. We want to make more money faster. We want to make a difference faster, all that stuff. So definitely check out the accountability challenge. And I hope that this episode has served you to understand accountability, not just being accountability to everybody else, but for you taking five to 10 minutes a week to be accountable to you, cause you, without you, none of the other stuff is relevant. And we got to take care of you. That's my job as a business coach. So take care and look forward to seeing you in the accountability challenge.

Announcer (20:00): There, you have it. Another episode packed full of strategies and motivation that you can use every day to put your business on the fast track for a podcast, recap and more resources, visit TerraBohlmann.com. Don't forget. Subscribe to the podcast and get what you need to help fast track your five year business plan.