How do you Learn Best?

Entrepreneurs are some of the most creative people I know. And it’s fascinating to see how each person learns – some people love to touch to learn whether it’s fabric, building a computer or landscaping. Others tend to collect information and refine their thoughts, still others love to talk out an idea or listen to others teach.

Understanding how you learn best is half of the battle. And it’s not just what kind of external stimuli, it also relates to what type of program support you need. 

For example, each of the following programs has the same content and pricing. Which one would you choose:

a book over 400 pages with detailed analysis and diagrams
a workbook with teaching and exercises and action steps after each chapter
a group program with open calls, teaching content and a forum
private coaching with one to one calls so the content is specifically applied to your business
weekend seminar with different speakers, lots of people, vendors in booths and short, targeted talks

The most intriguing thing to me is that I would choose a different program depending on what I’m learning. In some areas personal attention is really important; in others I want a workbook I can do on my own time.

Understanding how you like to take in content and education is important because if you’re consistently choosing the wrong programs that don’t offer the support you need then you won’t be getting the same value from a similar program with a different type of support.

But let’s turn this around… what kind of support does your client need? Again, it may vary by the program.

Does your client need a workbook or checklist? What about a forum for group support? Are private calls necessary or is a seminar the best format?

In addition to attracting ideal clients, the best sales systems also communicate what format your program is in so your leads can identify if that’s what they need. Let me give you a real life example.

At She’s Got Systems we offer two forms of coaching. We have intensives where clients work on their systems in a very focused manner in half and full day sessions. These are designed for the busy entrepreneur who may already be building systems and is highly motivated to take away the 3 month plan and implement it thoroughly. The second form is 3 or 6 month programs which cover the same topics but in regular weekly calls with more accountability and email support. This program is designed for the entrepreneur who knows that their plans may shift over the months and wants support adapting as well as tight accountability to make sure everything gets implemented.

See how those two types of programs not only deal with the content (needing systems) but address how clients best learn (short and intense, longer term with accountability)?

It never fails that when I’m talking to a lead and describe these two forms of coaching they know, intuitively, how they best learn.

Coaches and internet gurus are doing their clients a huge disservice by only focusing on the content of what they are teaching and largely ignoring the way in which the teaching occurs. Both must be in alignment if you’re going to be most successful in implementing real change.

How best do you learn? How do your clients learn best?