***Reading Tarot as a Business, the Sensitive Entrepreneur's Daily Practices

Levels of skill in reading Tarot , or skill in other types of psychic insight, seldom lead to successful business ownership. In the first sister article to this one, the steps in developing the skill of reading Tarot are described, and some reasons that skilled professionals don't go into business for themselves are explained. (That article is 'Reading Tarot as a Business—Levels of Skill Seldom Lead to Successful Business Ownership.')

A second sister article, 'Reading Tarot as a Business, the Sensitive Entrepreneur —Marketing' details how to determine what you (the Tarot reader or psychic in question) should say in your advertising. This series is designed to be a handbook on some things that are prerequisites to being the entrepreneurial psychic, the sole practitioner who owns his own successful psychic business. Service professionals can apply some of this information to their enterprises as well.

The goal is to attract and keep good solid clients, people whom you are comfortable with. Putting in long hours, these are the people you 'can live with.' These are the people for whom you will deliver a good experience, people who will bond with you and call you when they have more issues. Your ad or web site or blog should have that calm sane tone to it to attract this type of client. In order to be calm and sane for each caller, avoid clients who annoy you for whatever cause. Remember, your butt is by that phone for hours and hours at a time.

Buy a toll-free telephone number that is easy to remember. It spells your company name or your name, or its numbers repeat in a pattern. Having the same toll free number since 1988 is a big advantage for me.

This is crucial to the success of your company: Be at that phone at least Eastern Time 5 p. m. until Eastern Time 2 a. m. Want to be successful quickly? Be at that phone 12 or more hours a day, including the five-to-two span, including weekends.

If your voice is not attractive, see a voice trainer. Answer that phone personably with some signature chirp of your own. "Hel-lo, it's Emily; who's THIS?"--that type of thing. Rapport is necessary in this business! Rapport IS this business.

Pay attention to the tone of voice on the other end. If it is a person who is already your client for a while, "What are we doing today; what is our project?" is a good lead-in. If you are hurting, try not to express it. (A good part of your clients are also sensitives, they will pick up your mood.)

If the caller is a new prospect, "What do you want to know about?" is usually a good beginning. I like it because crank callers will invariably say "You're the psychic, you tell me." I consider it good business practice to get wiseacres, cranks and people who say 'A psychic ripped me off' off the line and out of my hair very fast. This last remark almost ALWAYS comes from someone who is going to do...guess what? 'Are you for real?' or 'Are you a fake?', same story. I have been known to reassure those 'You're a fake' people, when their voice is very sarcastic, that, 'Yes, I am indeed f.o.s., and you should call someone else.'

While chatting with the new prospect, find out diplomatically whether he or she has a credit card, and suggest a prepaid card or other alternative if not. Find out what the questions are, if the prospect knows, and what the budget is. (Do not ever do a session for someone who is 'gonna send a check' unless you feel charitable.)Tell what you can do for that amount of money.

Say what your special expertise is. Admit what you don't do so well. Let a person call another worker if they choose: You will be left with a stable of people who made an INFORMED choice to speak with you. Always try to get your first answer to them in the session to be the thing you do the best: Start off on your best foot.

I do not do free questions. I learned not to: They usually ask that question and slam the phone down; and freebie-seekers in the psychic business are, as a group, not a fine customer base.

Next, announce that you will verify the card, and how. I have a strong system that discourages people whose card it is not. "You and I are going to call the number on the back of your card for the bank, and together we will verify your name, address, telephone number, date of birth, the card number and expiration as well as what type of card it is (meaning debit, prepaid or credit), and whether you have the $45 you plan to spend here. Verifying it does not spend the money, only tells us it is available if you do spend that much. Would you like to do that?" (Also verify whether the client is the primary or sole holder of the card.)

Solid people are delighted that you care that much, that you are that kind of businessperson. You will lose some prospects if you do this. After you have been in business for a while, you will be happy you lost them. And, yes, most banks will verify most of this information if you call with the mutual customer on the line, announce that "We are doing this together. Would you prefer to speak with (John Client) or with me?" Within the same bank, you will find operators who refuse and operators who cooperate. Life is like that.

Have a trans-machine that verifies the address number, the ZIP number and the 'security' number. This stands you in good stead as a telephone merchant when you are defending a chargeback.

You get your merchant credit card account through banks and other companies. Be careful: I was solicited by a bank in Texas that I had to sue to get some of my money back from! Go to the bank you do business with first. You do not have to have good credit, but you will not get a connection if you have any kind of fraud allegation. If you limit yourself to Western Union, you will not have the same stature you would have as a credit card merchant.

Use a land line telephone that has excellent sound. A quality wireless headset is worth its light weight in gold because you can answer the telephone from outdoors, from the bathroom, etc.

Keep a daybook with all phone numbers (even wrong numbers) that called you, on every telephone line you use for business, and all the numbers you called that day. This is a record to defend chargebacks. Keep your phone bills/records near that book for the same reason.

Announce the time the session starts and the time it ends, how many minutes that is, and how much they will be billed. (I am assuming you are charging by the minute, which I find to be best.) Tell the caller when the time they wanted to pay for is up. "Would you like to ask anything else, or is this all for today?" is a good thing to say about that.

"You can always call back. My hours are [their time zone] __to___." And make sure you are there when you say you will be. And make sure there are little or no distracting sounds at your end. (I run a ranch; I sometimes fail at this. Hollering peacocks sound like wailing cats! People learn to live with it.)

When you are done with the person's session, remind him or her of your catchy memorable toll free number. Some people don't call a second time because they forget the number. Remind them you are sending a calendar if you are.

Sending full-sized calendars with a monthly illustration to clients is a good idea. If your company name is obviously psychic, put the name of the company where it does not show when displayed. My phone number spells the company name, so my calendars just have the company name—no address and no phone number—on them.

I put a post-it note with the phone number and my personal name, to jog the memory of people who called only once a year ago. Why do this counter-intuitive thing with your advertising?--because hardly anyone wants just anybody to know they call a psychic, much less which psychic they call. More people will take the calendar if you reassure them of this.

Sending snail-mail letters to clients is also excellent. Everyone is thrilled to receive a real letter these days. Snail-mail is received so much more warmly than yet another cussed email to deal with. People have those recipes and articles for months on their tables! Yes, you do send email as well once in a while. Social Media is also welcome to certain people: Make sure you honor their preference in this!

Do not call clients hoping they want to buy another session! People call you when their psyche is in the mood. Quite often, if they fall asleep, they do not want a session the next day, even.

When an unidentified voice (especially with no Caller ID) wants to know who you are and what you do, be vague and discourage that individual: It is probably a nosy relative or lover snooping on your client's called numbers. This is another good reason not to have a company name that sounds psychic. The fact your company name shows on clients' credit card statements is yet another reason: Snoops go there too. You want your client to feel comfortable calling you, in every way.