Do You Have an Exit Plan?

I recently attended a breakfast networking meeting and our guest speaker talked about the lessons she and her husband has learned from owning a business for 29 years. One of the lessons was to make sure you had an Exit Plan.

I had really never thought about an exit plan in the way she mentioned. Our speaker was an integral part of their business: managing the employees, the accounting, inventory, etc. Her husband ran the hands-on end of things. He knew transmissions, she knew people and books. They worked well together.

After a fluke accident which left her incapacitated for weeks, the husband, who had no idea how to run the business, or their household, nearly lost everything.

This small story within her inspiring presentation made me realize a few things about my own life.

· My husband and I have wills – but our children do not know they are locked in a safe, let alone how to open the safe. (Note: they do now.)
· I run my own business – but my husband, nor anyone else, knows how to read my accounts receivables/payables. My accountant could figure it out, if he knew where to find the file.
· My husband has never touched online banking, which is how I handle all our personal bills.
· No one else could understand my “work in progress” files.

I’ve heard it all before – write down where all your bank accounts and other investments are…I’ve done it in the past but never kept it up to date.

Three days after hearing this presentation, I rushed to my friend’s house…her daughter called me in a panic, “something was wrong with Mom.” When I arrived, my friend was completely unresponsive, her daughter could not find her health card, and she was rushed to the hospital. She will be fine…but again, it home – this young girl needed to know things. Where was the exit plan?

Take a look at your own situation…do the people in your life know how to handle things in the event that something should happen to you?

Communicating - How Well Do You Do It?

Last week, I made my semi-annual trip to the dentist office – not an event that I look forward to. After the hygienist was through with her examination and cleaning, she said “he” would be right in. I wondered who “he” was and thought I had probably heard wrong…my dentist is a woman.

Within a minute or so, a man did indeed come into the room and picked up my chart. He conversed with the hygienist while completely ignoring me. Finally, I asked him who he was. He looked started for a moment and said he was Dr. (I won’t mention the name here). I asked about my dentist and was informed that she had moved to another city a couple of months earlier and he would be looking after me. Interesting, I thought, so asked why I wasn’t informed.

It seems that it is up to the departing dentist to contact patients and let them know of an impending departure…not the duty of the clinic where the patient attends – and I must say where the patient pays for the services. And unless I wanted to travel to a different city to see my dentist, I was currently stuck.

This new dentist, who happened to own the clinic, followed through with my check up and explained about a problem I may have down the road with a current crown that was a few years old…but he assured me not to worry at this time. So, I left the chair and went to the front desk to pay.

That was when I was asked when I would like to book my next appointment for the filling. What filling? I was not told that I needed a filling. The woman at the front desk went to check with the dentist (he did not come out to talk to me again) and said, yes, I did indeed need a tooth filled. All this was explained in the main area of the waiting room, filled with other people.

I guess I was missing my “old” dentist as she explained everything clearly and in detail. To her, communicating with her patients is part of her job.

So, I went back a few days later and was advised that the dentist was too busy to see me. I was given a choice to re-schedule or see a different dentist. I thought, since I didn’t know the first dentist any way, I may as well try another one. And again, when he entered the examining room, he didn’t say hello to me or introduce himself or tell me what he planned on doing. Finally, I ask him for his name. He told me…and said he assumed someone else would have told me.

Is this the way you’re treating your clients – or are you being treated like this? Is there too much assuming and too little communicating?

As I mentioned, I do not enjoy going to the dentist, and this experience has left me wondering if I should be in the market for someone who can communicate. When I’m at the dentist office, I’m really not looking for surprises.

Good communication is vital – in your written messages, and also in the way you talk to others.