Fortunately I have been a very avid reader and follower of “the news” during my entire professional career. I pay special attention to the business sections of various media and look for trends, and opportunities within the articles that are printed there. I have made a commitment to stay abreast of business news and can tell you that this has been a key strategy for my marketing efforts over the years.
You may say to me, “So What?” Well I can tell you that business opportunities for consultants and others are out there if you know how to identify them. I also know that most consultants do not use the news because they never used some strategic thinking to connect the events in the news to potential business. I am saying to you that once you know what to look for in the news, the opportunities will become apparent. And then those opportunities must be acted upon.
What is it that I look for when I am reading the newspaper, business journal or trade publication and when I visit a website? The basic answer is that I am looking for any event that might create opportunities. Some of these events may be happening within the company (new strategic alliance, expansion to other geographic region, rapid company growth, high employee turnover) or outside the company (new regulations, acts of God, mergers, acquisitions, plant closings).
Here are some examples of opportunities that could be created from events reported in the news.
+ A merger or acquisition may create sales training opportunities for new product lines; marketing opportunities for re-branding of products, PR support, new marketing campaigns; HR opportunities for team building, compensation issues, employee benefits; IT opportunities for planning, system integration, new technology acquisition; and leadership opportunities for strategic planning, team building at executive level.
+ Poor financial performance creates opportunities, especially if there are 2 consecutive quarters with poor results.
+ Layoffs at companies may require outside HR assistance.
+ Struggling companies may be opportunities for new leadership.
+ Rapidly growing companies may need help with additional staff.
+ Companies that are stagnant need assistance also to deliver results to grow.
+ Companies that bring in new executives often need outside help to accomplish their goals.
The key is to capitalize on the news. Watch for and identify the changes that will create business opportunities for you. And after you identify that “trigger event” you must commit to follow through by developing an offering that meets your prospect’s emerging business need. And always talk to your prospects about business results and outcomes. Be sure to share your understanding of their critical business issues and the results you can deliver as specifically as you can. Develop and implement a strategic action plan to capitalize on the identified business opportunity.
Your strategic thinking business coach encourages you to fully realize the benefits of business coaching to strategically increase your business opportunities. If you would like to learn more about how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com
How To Strategically Use The News To Identify Create New Business Opportunities - To learn more about this author, visit Glenn Ebersole's Website.
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