Ep 03 - Jeanet Wade
"You're Gonna Muck It Up": Jeanet Wade on the Cost of Bending the Process
Key takeaways
Jeanet Wade, one of the founding 50 EOS Implementers®, on why customizing the process to make clients comfortable backfires, and how Gino Wickman predicted she'd do exactly that
The fall-off window: why the first four sessions (Focus Day, VB1, VB2, first quarterly) are where clients leave
The simple test to tell good facilitation from avoidance: was that adjustment for them, or for me?
How committing to the proven process turned into longer retention, predictable income, and a decade-long client relationship
This issue's newsletter
The Idea
The mistake that feels like good service.
Gino Wickman warned her in boot camp, directly and by name.
"I know exactly what you're gonna do, Jeanet. You're not gonna follow our proven process. You're gonna rearrange the order. You're gonna do Vision first, Traction second. You're gonna wanna only work on the tools that are fun and engaging. And you're gonna muck it up. But go play. Go prove me wrong."
On her second client, they asked to do Vision Building first - skip the Accountability Chart, go straight to strategy. She flipped it.
"That client fell on their face and couldn't quite get it."
She called Gino. He already knew. She did it three more times before she stopped, and each time the pattern was the same: clients who'd asked for the re-ordering didn't get results, didn't refer, and didn't stick.
She kept trying to figure out why, until she was honest about what had actually been happening.
"I made it about me. I made it about trying to make them like me."
It wasn't about a better client experience. It was about avoiding the uncomfortable parts - the Accountability Chart that makes rooms go quiet, the traction work that feels less exciting than strategy. She was smoothing the process because it made her feel better, and calling it client service.
"I was giving them what they thought they needed and what they wanted, instead of what we're supposed to do - which is to transform their business. Help them get what they want by giving them what they really need."
When she stopped experimenting and committed to running EOS exactly as designed, the practice changed.
"The very thing I thought I was doing was actually creating the most pain versus sticking to what works. And then when I did that, it was this abundance thing opened up."
More clients who retained longer. She's kept one for ten years. When clients do leave now, it's never because the process failed them.
The Steal
Protect the first four sessions.
There is a fall-off window. Jeanet is specific: the first four sessions - Focus Day, VB1, VB2, and the first quarterly are where clients leave. And they almost always leave because something got adjusted in those early sessions to make the room more comfortable.
Every session requires reading the room.
Not all adjustments are wrong. But there's a tell: if you're adjusting for them to get a better outcome - that's facilitation.
If you're adjusting for you to avoid the friction, to skip the part that makes rooms go quiet - that's a problem.
After each of those first four sessions, ask: Was that for them, or for me?
Get it in your inbox every other Tuesday
