Being the author of six feng shui books in multiple languages has helped my reputation. I often gain new business from readers who want more personal advice, and satisfied clients often recommend my books to friends they feel would benefit from adding feng shui to their lives. One thing leads to another.
On April 21 I’ll be teaching a class called “Tips for Professional Feng Shui Consultants.” The topics for this class are: Training, Publicity, Preparation, Consultations, Clients, Ethics, Taxes & Records.
The topic of this article is reputation. That’s of key interest for someone hiring a consultant, and that’s the main thing that tells a potential consultant that they’re ready to charge money. I had a good reputation for feng shui among my friends before I ever charged money. One of my husband’s best friends said it was “like a dam burst” in her life when she followed my free advice about her Wealth Corner. And that’s exactly what you want to hear from people. For me that was worth more than piles of expensive certificates.
Just a few days ago, I received this email from a client in Hilo:
“Before I go on, I just have to say how grateful we are to have been blessed by your presence and your wisdom in our home:) We have made huge changes so far, completely rearranging the living room, we are actually living in it now!! Moving flowing water into our money corner and moving my office space into the purple room! Oh and I have to tell you that cutting apart my chakra prayer flags was such a scary idea when you offered it, but today I did that and hung the red and yellow one and I LOVE THEM! I appreciate them so much more individually hung with focused intention than I did when they hung together! Deep gratitude for your offerings and the light you shone in our home the other day!”
That’s what keeps me doing feng shui. If I didn’t hear those kinds of things back from my clients, I’d have to wonder, “Am I just taking money from people for no reason?” I made bold suggestions to those clients in Hilo—and I was confident in my recommendations, and they were ready for them. Perfect combination! (Not long ago I consulted for a couple and I started to get the idea that they didn’t really want to change things in their home. I have to wonder sometimes—why did they call me?)
It’s almost never that someone asks me, “Do you have a certificate?” If they do, I refer them to the Appreciation page on my website. It’s quite long, and I didn’t solicit a single endorsement! I consider these happy clients to be my embodied certificate.
Independent forums such as Yelp or LinkedIn are sometimes of help in deciding whether or not to hire a particular consultant. I have to say that neither of them is much used in my area of Hawaii. I have nice reviews on both sites, and I’m especially proud of what one client said on LinkedIn. Here’s part of that review:
“We have a VERY complicated property, so merely reading his books was not enough to get the proper orientation for our place. But with Clear’s help, we have fallen in love with our home all over again! And the new energy circulating through our home has had wondrous effects on our lives. Clear is very professional, an expert in his consultation, yet is so authentic and calm in his delivery of ideas, that it makes you start to feel peaceful even before you make the changes he suggests.”
It takes a talent beyond knowledge of feng shui to be able to say things to people in such a way that they will not only understand what the suggestion is about, but will also be motivated to make the change. Part of my talent came at birth—I’m a Libra Rabbit. If you know astrology, you’ll realize that’s a perfect combination for this kind of work. Also, I worked in retail since I was 15, and nothing prepares you for handling different kinds of people like retail does! The reason I scoff at certificates is that they tell you nothing about the person’s talent. A certificate is an expensive piece of paper—a good reputation is golden. That’s why reputation will be the first topic of discussion at my seminar.
| Seminar Alert! I will be offering a special class on Friday, April 21, 6:30pm – 9:00pm, for those interested in a career as a feng shui consultant. I’ll cover suggestions for developing and enhancing an active feng shui practice including training, advertising, and professional ethics. We’ll also discuss how to talk clients into—or out of—ideas that have large impact on feng shui, just as I did with my client in the story in this blog post. Prior knowledge of feng shui is a prerequisite and the material covered is not instruction in feng shui. Enrollment is limited and pre-registration is required. Free parking. Class fee: $40. Class location: Highline Kitchen Systems, Honolulu, Oahu. |
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