Solo Business Stories: People-centered Corona Consulting improved messaging after taking Jackie’s class

Jill Corona and Kerri Nelson of Corona Consulting

Jill and Kerri of Corona Consulting: Jackie helped refine their business message.

How do you create a strong message about your business? Kerri and Jill know they have a solid consulting business.  Jackie helped strengthen their message. We talk with Kerri about their experience.

Name of Business: Corona Consulting, LLC

Years in Business:

“We launched our business in February, 2016, so we have now been in business for a little over two years. However, that was a soft launch—we did the consulting work on vacations, evenings and weekends.  Our official launch is scheduled for July 1, 2018″

What the Business does:

“We provide assessment, coaching and training services to organizations.  We specialize in “the people-side”—helping managers be better managers and providing staff the tools they need to have so they can be even more effective team members. Some of our favorite tools are Clifton StrengthsFinder and True Colors for assessments and these serve as a great basis for coaching!”

How did it start?  What was the path that led you to this?

“We had worked together in an organization for about 10 years and really saw the difference that focusing on the people side of an organization could have.  That is how we coined our phrase ‘Changing Conversations, Improving Results.’  Heavy-handed, top-down command and control doesn’t work in today’s environment.  Frankly, it may not have worked all that well for some time.  It is easy to say that ‘people are our most important resource’, but how can an organization make that come to life?

“We have found that it really means that managers have to get comfortable with the people side of management and flex their style to the employees they have.  The secret is really hiring right, setting clear expectations, providing on-going feedback and genuinely caring about a person’s success and well-being. It is generally accepted that people don’t quit organizations, they quit managers. So, having better trained managers and more well equipped the staff really leads to success, for both the individuals and the organization.”

What is working now?

“What we do works really well and we have a shared passion for watching individuals and organizations grow and succeed.  We feel very good about the “what” we do, and it is all customized to our individual clients so it is meaningful and useful to them. We have had testimonials such as:

‘Kerri and Jill are a great 1-2 punch of energy and enthusiasm.  Their management training really set us up for increased success and made hiring and on-boarding staff so much more easy. I cannot say enough about how their practical approach was easy to implement and we got almost immediate results!’

 

And,

‘I am really blown away by staff involvement in our training.  They all seemed so engaged and interested. What’s even better is that the conversations are continuing. I don’t think I have ever seen people walk out a workshop and immediately put what they have learned into play the way they did out of your training’.”

Kerri adds, “Although it sounds a little cheesy, we call this ‘The Corona Effect.’  And, our clients tend to agree!”
Advice/Lessons learned/Take away:
1. “Don’t take on a client that isn’t a good fit.
“We have done this once, and won’t do it again.  We knew that we didn’t mesh well with the client and I think they knew it too.  And, although our work product was very good, we did not find any joy in the work.  Usually, we are so passionate about the work that time simply flies.  In this case, time dragged on and it was hard to get “up” for meeting with the client.”
2. Focus on what you are good at, then outsource the rest.
Kerri and Jill  believe in partnerships.  “We are a partnership where one of us is really good at the people side of the organization.  The other excels at the process side.  Together, it is a powerful combination.  We had no illusions that we would be good web designers, could do our own web work, or take our own head shots.  So, we chose to invest in having that work done for us and we focused on what we are good at.”
3. Stay focused on the positives.
In any business, there are going to be ups and downs.  We could choose to focus on what didn’t go well—the proposal that didn’t get funded, the meeting that didn’t result in a contract OR we could focus on the successes—new clients, positive feedback, new learnings.  So, we focus on what is going well and then try and figure out what we learned from things that didn’t go as planned.  If you are going to fail at something, fail forward—and don’t fail forward twice on the same thing.”
Kerri and Jill took Keys to Building a Successful Encore/Solo Business (PCC – CLIMB; Fall 2017).
“Taking Jackie’s class was the next best step possible in our business—it really helped us focus on our messaging (our unique value proposition) and marketing.  Her enthusiasm and support is incredible and unwavering.  Just when we would start to get a little doubt in our minds about ‘could we really do this?’, we would have an inspiring class or grounding coaching session with Miss Jackie.  We can confidently say that her assistance has helped us more than double our revenues from last year and we are not even half-way through the year.  In our opinions, this is a ‘must have’ class for anyone getting ready to start a business or in the very early stages of their business development.”
Want to take a class from Jackie and learn how to fine tune your product or service?  Check here for her class schedule.
For customized help, check out her webinar Best Beginnings, here.
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