Do You Walk Your Talk?

Few things annoy me more than enrolling in someone’s program, only to discover that they are not doing in their own business what they say to do in their training program.

Have you ever noticed this in the programs in which you enroll?

A year ago I enrolled in a funnel creation program and was really intrigued by the notion of creating a one-page funnel, as I’m all about simplifying my business these days. I watched the sales video several times and finally found the site the trainer was referencing in the video. I liked what I saw and enrolled in the program.

Within a few videos, I realized that the demo site was just that – a demo site that was not currently in use. I emailed the trainer and explained that I wanted to see some examples of specific types of sites he had referenced in his training video, but the sites needed to be live and currently in use. I never got a response to my email.  

No longer having confidence in this purchase, I asked for a refund. His tech support person attempted to try and waylay my request by asking me to send in my homework for the modules to “prove” that the course wasn’t working for me. This only annoyed and angered me more, so I sent a pretty testy reply to tell him to stop patronizing me and simply refund my investment, as there was no way he was going to recover the sale, as I had already discovered that they didn’t walk their talk. i.e. have live versions of real pages that were currently in use and using their system.  After a few back-and-forth emails, I was finally granted my refund.

If you publish online training programs and courses, I expect you to be utilizing your own advice in your own business. In my business, I am usually the guinea pig on which I test software, theories, and strategies before I write about them or share them with the public. To not do so feels pretty disingenuous. 

I was doing a podcast interview this week and told my guest that I would be happy to send her a copy of my book, Make Them Choose You. She immediately offered to send me a PayPal payment for the book, and I told her that since I advised all of my clients to give away as many copies of their books as possible, I needed to walk my talk and do the same. I mailed her copy later that day.

Being authentic in your business extends beyond being yourself with your clients. If you are a trainer, consultant, or coach of some sort, it also means that you are currently implementing what you tell others to do. I believe this helps you speak much more authentically about your training to your prospects.

Am I off base here?  Agree or disagree? I’d love to hear your point of view. Just comment below and let me know what you think.