Number 1: Ask five questions
1. What business am I in?
The answer is not as simple as you think.
The new CEO of Coca-Cola asked management, “What business are we in?”
They responded, “Soft drink business.” He said, “No, we are in the hydration business. Every human has to consume a certain amount of liquid. We want to hydrate them”.
You can clearly see how this question expanded Coca–Cola’s horizon and management saw more and more opportunities. Same thing with Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks.
Howard wants to create the 3rd most important place in which you spend time. First is your home; second is the office; third is Starbucks. So, you can clearly see Howard is not just in the coffee business; rather he provides ambiance, an experience.
If railroad companies in the 1900s had realized that they were in the transportation business, they would have taken Ford Motor company more seriously.
So, expand your horizon and see whatever you do from higher point of view.
2. How is business?
Now that you know what business you are in; you need to know how your industry is operating.
- Who else needs to be served?
- How more efficiently and effectively can you serve them?
- What is missing in this industry?
- What industries have boomed?
- What can you learn from them?
3. Why did you choose this business?
The motivation and passion that drove you to start your business should never be forgotten. Napoleon Hill, the pioneer of self improvement, suggests writing down your desired goal and repeating it 10 times in the morning so it will become part of your subconscious mind.
Never let go of your dreams. Why? Because it will empower you and give you energy.
Trust me, if you are just starting on this journey, you need a lot of mental and emotional power to overcome a lot of uncertainties and challenges.
Always have the end in mind, according to a great teacher, Stephen Covey.
This is one of the habits that he mentions in his amazing book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
4. Who is your ideal CLIENT?
Find out who would be your best client (client meaning, someone who is under your protection).
- Is he or she protected enough?
- Served enough?
- What else can you do for them?
- How can you add more values to their lives?
Once you figure this out, it is a matter of time before you run out of time, since you will be so busy.
5. How to be prepared for the next season?
Just like 4 seasons in the year, business also has seasons. To succeed, you need to anticipate when to sow and went to reap. Just like when farmers do not harvest in spring, you need to know when your seasons are and plan accordingly.
Summarize the answer on a sheet of paper. This should give you a map and a blueprint. Pay attention to smallest steps and actions that you must take in order to get there.
What kind of business owner should you be to achieve that?
Create a laser–guided vision and never lose the sight of the end goal.
Number 2: Provide more value than any of your competitors, fall in love with your clients
1. Unlock and unleash your power to create progress
Pinpoint what’s blocking your company’s path forward.
All the motivation in the world is useless without insight into your – and your company’s – method of operation, and why your vision could be at a standstill.
Use your business map from above to understand where your product/services are now and to clearly define where you want them to be.
2. Make your target innovations compelling
Only when you have a compelling vision for the future of your products, services, and delivery will you be able to effectively hit your target.
Come up with powerful reasons to innovate. And, remember innovation comes in many flavours – it’s not just about high-tech advances or efficiencies in your process.
You can innovate how you approach your relationship with your customers, or add a new voice or perspective that sees your products and services in a new light.
3. Link your product/service features to your sales numbers
The world’s most successful companies are constantly examining the relationship between their products and buyer behaviour.
- Are there ways you can adjust your product to encourage higher frequency of repurchase?
- What changes can you make to increase your number of customers and dollars per sale?
Incremental improvements can generate geometric sales growth.
4. Strategizing should be an embedded skill
A quarterly pow-wow isn’t enough.
Strategizing must be a part of your company’s culture; the same way customer service and quality control are deeply embedded in your processes.
Innovation is really a daily habit, whereby you constantly reassess what your customers need now, and what they will need in a few years.
It requires anticipation, and a determination to never stop identifying new opportunities to serve your customers better through fresh and inventive approaches.
These four principles can help you create a state of constant and successful evolution in your business.
Number 3: Differentiate – stand out from the crowd
Become a superhero marketer
What do customers get from you, and what do they get from your competitor?
This is the essence of the customer experience, and it’s what differentiates your business. The better you are at shaping that experience, the greater your reach – and your profits.
Who your customers are, what they want, and need.
How to tell your core story in a way that compels them to buy.
Everything there is to know about your product or service, so you can educate your prospects about why your offering is the best choice.
1. Be available
You are there for your clients when they need you.
In today’s always-on environment, you must meet that expectation by helping your clients access information, get help, and share experiences, on their schedule, across different forms of media, including Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn and other channels.
Spend a few minutes daily monitoring your social media presence, or delegate this task, and you will gain valuable intelligence about your prospects and clients.
2. Respond quickly with meaning
Everything is immediate now. Clients expect prompt interactions.
A quick reply is valuable only when you fully understand a client’s questions, intentions, and needs.
You’ve spent years learning the competition; now it’s time to learn your clients and respond in a meaningful fashion when they need your help.
3. Understand their goals, help them make informed decisions
Social media channels provide the opportunity to ask your prospects about what they really want from your product or service.
In this consultative approach to marketing, you’re letting each client know, “We’re listening, and we want to establish a long-term relationship with you”.
When you really understand your clients’ needs, you can take massive action to create the outcomes that make them feel welcome, important, and comfortable.
4. Collaborate with your clients to create value
You’re not just marketing a product – you’re partnering with your clients. Successful businesses are more collaborative now than ever before, adding value that helps clients realize their goals. You must tailor your products and services to the client, not the other way around, and that begins with your marketing outreach.
5. Add a personal touch
You probably remember every detail from your company’s earliest days – including the face of your very first client.
Are your current clients as memorable? Individualized relationships now trump routine transactions.
A thoughtful social media strategy, properly executed, will enable you to become more familiar with your clients.
You will then be in a position to ask questions, gather intelligence, become more of a partner, and add the personalized grace notes that turn your clients into raving fans.
Number 4: Dominate your sales funnel
1. Create sales mastery systems
In business, sometimes you have to re-think your approaches – even those that have been successful – to create even bigger results. This is especially true in sales, where it’s imperative to have a variety of channels, and superstar salespeople.
Understand how to OPTIMIZE and MAXIMIZE your process, what is the highest and best value, where are they? Constant Improvement and Implementation of Sales Mastery Systems. midst of a gangbuster run, it is essential to constantly optimize your sales channels and the performance of your sales partners and team.
The following Five Strategies for Dominance are about selecting, training, and strategizing with sales partners to produce better results.
2. Re-think your training program
Different products call for different approaches. Even if a potential sales partner or representative has a winning track record, you still need to train them in the art of selling your products and services effectively.
Product orientation, product messaging, and collaborative strategizing are all critical to getting you and your channels on the same page.
3. Clearly define your goals and objectives
The more you are clear on your goals and objectives, the easier it gets with your internal GPS system to track it.
You must maintain a constant dialogue with your outside partners as well as your internal sales team.
Every aspect of your ongoing relationship – from itty-bitty to big picture – must be clearly defined.
- What markers will measure success?
- What are their expectations of you?
- What are your expectations of them?
4. Keep tabs on performance
When your sales channels are in different states or different countries, communication can fall into dysfunction.
Signals get crossed, expectations obscured, and confusion reigns.
Your advantage will come from creating a specific set of Key Performance Indicators built against a defined delivery and performance schedule.
Keep rigorous track of them and let them inform your coaching strategies.
5. Know when it’s time to cut ties
Maybe the return on investment (ROI) just isn’t there.
As a business leader, you understand that it’s sometimes necessary to sever ties with a sales partner who isn’t delivering the results you need, even after much training and goal setting.
Continue to evaluate the relationship long after the honeymoon stage.
When your goals are no longer aligned with those of your sales reps, parting ways allows you each to seek new opportunities.
Number 5: Master the art of accounting or get a CFO know your numbers and their meaning
This is about knowing the real markers of progress, having systems in place to monitor these indicators on a daily basis, and taking corrective action as needed. Following these three precepts will enable you to provide a solid framework for growing your company.
1. Be financially literate
You wouldn’t attempt to fly a plane without a clearly visible instrument panel.
To avoid flying blind at the helm of your business, you must be intimately familiar with your balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and statement of equity.
When you know what these are; what they mean; what affects them; and the outcomes these financial statements predict, you are in a much better position to avoid the inevitable turbulence and reach your ultimate destination – your dream business.
2. Understand your cost and profit centres
Concentrate and focus on costs and profits separately.
Costs find ways to reduce the costs efficiently and effectively or replace the costly ones with new and better processes.
Profits, find ways to add new revenue streams, examine your prices, what other services can you add.
Number 6: Grow faster, smarter, better and easier
1. Optimize and maximize your business
Have you played 8 balls or any sport that you need to have your vector set perfectly? Then you know targeting the precise angle of where you hit the ball is the key, if your off by a hair, you will not have that perfect shot. So, what happens when you miss the target?
You curse, become frustrated, throw what you can grab, lots of punishing gestures. But if you rewind your move, you can see that you were off just a little bit.
This is also true in business, you may think, you screwed up or …. but all you had to do was to have that perfect shot and you were only off by a hair.
So, pay attention to these small improvements, adjustments, edges, …. Where can you make the smallest change that will give you biggest impact?
2. What are your highest and best values?
Know your business and its process. Learn process mapping and draw your business process, from when you meet a client to what to do, to how to do, to even when to deposit cash from sales.
Once you have this map in front of your eyes, ask how you can improve each step, which steps are duplicated, which steps are not necessary, which steps and tasks can be delegated and so on and do them. Re-draw a better map.
Now, document which of your activities have given fruits in your business. Create a matrix, write down each activity and the outcome in dollar values, also your expectation from the activity in dollars. This activity alone will improve your business immensely. Just do it
Number 7: Make your clients your fans, create a tribe
Reward them, educate them, serve them better than anyone else, remind them on how you solved their problems and ask them to show their gratitude.
Ask then for referrals, ask for testimonials, interview them on cameras, ask them which problems you solved and which problems you can still solve.
