It doesn’t take a major overhaul of your operations to accelerate your business’s growth. All it takes is some fine tuning. The differences between top performing businesses and those with just average results are smaller than you think. Here are some ways to tune your business to reach the level of success you’ve dreamed about achieving.
Write a Simple Business Plan
Start by writing down your overarching goal—why you’re in the business you’re in. This drives everything you do. Next, write down your revenue goal for the next 12 months. Then double it. When you aim for a higher goal, it’s more likely you’ll reach the one you originally wrote down.
Know your numbers: the amount of your average sale; your average expenses incurred per sale; how many leads you’ve gotten from how many sources; how many prospects you need to contact to land one customer who buys your products or services. As needed, add other metrics you can put numbers to, then be sure to track everything. Guided by all this, set weekly and monthly goals for the number of prospects contacted, number of new customers gained, and amount of gross revenue.
Finally, take a few minutes to put together a daily business plan. Write down three key actions you’ll take today to hit your business goals. These could include: contacting prospects; asking former customers, vendors, and partners for referrals; following up with any of these people; doing estimates and proposals; and invoicing customer for completed work. Also schedule three personal activities for the day that support your health, well-being, and relationships with family, other loved ones, and friends. Treat all these commitments as things that can’t be cancelled, things you have to schedule around. Most importantly, tackle the biggest, toughest task of the day first!
Spend More Time Prospecting
Studies found that very successful people in a certain business prospected 4.6 days a week for at least 90 minutes a day—6.9 hours per week. Less successful people in the same field prospected 3.5 days a week for 60 minutes a day—3.5 hours per week. The astonishing thing was that the extra 3.4 hours a week the very successful people spent brought in more than three times the revenue of those who spent less time prospecting. Above all, be persistent. When one prospect decides not to work with you, immediately pursue another. When one activity stops working, look for another.
Focus on What’s Working
When it comes to how you prospect, focus on what works. When you find two or three lead generation activities that deliver, commit to them and stop experimenting with others. Follow the 80-20 rule. If 80% of your revenue is coming from 20% of your activities, put 80% or more of your time into those activities, with the emphasis on your strongest lead sources. Drop the bottom 20% of your activities that very well may be generating less than 1% of your income. Doing that frees up a whole day each week that your can devote to your best business sources. Finally, consider niche marketing—targeting a specific market segment that plays to your strengths. That gives you an advantage over competitors in that segment.
Always Be Learning
Maintain a learning mindset. Don’t be afraid to be an early adopter and try new technologies. Be open to look at new ways to build your business. If one thing doesn’t work, try something else. Be willing to experiment with ideas others in your field wouldn’t consider. Constantly look for ways to think outside the box. Apply this mindset to the entire customer experience. Move from providing great customer service to memorable customer service. Honor your client’s time—keep meetings no longer than needed. Exceed customers’ expectations. Think of ways to give customers more than others do who offer similar products and services. Try to deliver more than they anticipate
Fine tuning your business to achieve the success you dream about comes down to planning, prospecting, sticking with what works, and constantly learning. Your AdviCoach is ready to help you take your business to the next level.