The Honeymoon Phase

The other morning I thought to myself how welcome this new season was. The day was cold, registering about seven degree but crisp, bright and without a cloud in the sky. Yes, Autumn was here. A couple of days later the clouds rolled in , the skies opened up, and a deluge of rain came crashing down leaving puddles that threatened small dogs. It still had that romantic feel however, I was transported mentally to a spot in front of the fireplace, a warm blanket across my lap, and a good book in hands, wonderful. The honeymoon phase.

We all recognize this in our own relationships. With our partners it is all fun and excitement, discovering favourites, similarities and differences. The best we can hope for when this phase inevitably ends is that a meaningful friendship based on common goals, similar personalities and the continued desire to spend time together. Eventually you become bound by not only these attributes, but possibly a marriage or children. You accept flaws, weaknesses idiosyncrasies as well as the quirks that make the person great. If the positive quirks outweigh the negative the relationship perseveres.

Let's think about how this applies to our training coach/customer relationship. In the beginning time is spent working on customer goals and sharing training experiences. The coach builds different, unique hours and a program that is interesting for both parties complete with time lines and destinations.

Hopefully a routine is established, personalities and training styles mesh and goals are made and met. Sometimes however this does not happen, clients are unhappy, become broken or their needs are not met and they cease to be customers. All the hard work to cultivate their business, convince them we are worthy of their hard earned dollars is wasted. The honeymoon is over.

Our job is twofold: Realize how to develop a style that is somewhat that of a chameleon, adjusting when necessary from delivering as "ass-kicking" hour to a "rehab" hour, meeting the needs of the customer at a higher level.

Secondly, if this isn't possible yet for us as training coaches or the issues go beyond the "meat and potatoes" of the hours then not allowing that customer to walk out the door unsatisfied but finding a solution beyond ourselves, even if that means passing the customer onto another coach our seeking advice outside of our comfort zones.

- Angela Tames