Four Key Principles for Small Business Success
Four Key Principles for Small Business Success
First, be smart means decide to grow. I can’t over emphasize how important this is. Too many business owners say that their goal for this year is to keep even or minimize losses. Believe me, if your goal is to lose as little as possible you can be sure of one thing, you will lose. Why not turn that around and make it your goal to grow as much as possible and then reach. Set a clear goal for growth and then take action.
Second, be smart means get started. Often business owners set goals and dream big dreams, but when it comes time to make them happen they get lost in the day to day struggle for survival. The CEO Rule here is simple – “We do what we plan to do.” So, now that you have goals, what actions will you take in the next 90 days to accomplish those goals? Translate your goals into specific and measurable action plans and then begin to measure for results.
One more CEO Rule applies – “people respond to what you measure.” Turn your goals and objectives into daily, weekly and monthly activities or behaviors that will work together to produce the results you want. Let’s your goal is to make 8 new sales this month. You know that making 15 phone calls a day will produce 10 sales appointments next week and that 10 sales appointments are likely to result in 2 closed sales. If this is true, then the thing to measure first is not how many sales you made, but how many phone calls you made. Measure the numbers behind the numbers.
Setting and tracking these “key impact numbers” is one of your most powerful tools to motivate your people to succeed. . To make these numbers work, you need to set goals and establish the standards for success. Your people responsible for tracking and reporting against that goal or standard.
When people track their own numbers they see where they actually are in relationship to their goals on a regular basis. With very little involvement from you, other than keeping that number in front of them or having them report the number to you, they will always know where they stand. As you develop and implement these systems, your team will begin to work more effectively to produce the results desired.
Third, be smart means plan to grow by starting with your current customer or client base. Think about this, how many people or businesses do you already know who love your product or service? What strategies have you already implemented to make sure that you are turning those people into your most powerful marketing allies? Try this:
1. Create a plan to touch every one of your customers in the next 90 days to say thank you and to let them know you appreciate their business. This might mean putting together a data base of all your current or former customers. You might need to work your way through old sales records to get all the names you need. Whatever it takes, make the effort. It’s worth it.
2. Whatever you do to reach out to your past and current customers, make sure you include some means for them to let you know if you did a good job serving them and meeting their needs. You might include a short survey (no more than 3-5 questions). The point is to demonstrate that you genuinely care about your customers and you are committed to making sure that you are meeting their needs.
3. As you reach out to show your appreciation and test your quality, take the opportunity to ask for referrals. When you ask, don’t settle for a list of names and phone numbers. Wherever possible, arrange for introductions or at least direct referrals that put you face to face with new prospects. Find ways to make it easy for your customers to refer their friends and colleagues. Use coupons, promotions and specials to create referral incentives. Be creative, be smart.
Finally, be smart means focus on your value to the customer and the prospect. Here is the bottom line. In this economy, as difficult as it appears right now, people will still spend money. But their spending decisions will be different. They will be more careful about who they spend with and how much they spend. The dollars that will be spent in this economy will flow to value and opportunity. Your task is to make sure that you are providing the highest possible value. Do this, and the message will get out that your product, your service is the right investment for this difficult time.
Four Key Principles for Small Business Success - To learn more about this author, visit Kevin Kragenbrink's Website.
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Someone asked me recently, “if you were talking to a group of small business owners today, what would you say to them about finding success in this economy”? I thought through a range of responses, but the one thing I keep coming back to is this, be smart! Hidden in that simple response are four key principles of small business success. Let me explain what I mean.
First, be smart means decide to grow. I can’t over emphasize how important this is. Too many business owners say that their goal for this year is to keep even or minimize losses. Believe me, if your goal is to lose as little as possible you can be sure of one thing, you will lose. Why not turn that around and make it your goal to grow as much as possible and then reach. Set a clear goal for growth and then take action.
Second, be smart means get started. Often business owners set goals and dream big dreams, but when it comes time to make them happen they get lost in the day to day struggle for survival. The CEO Rule here is simple – “We do what we plan to do.” So, now that you have goals, what actions will you take in the next 90 days to accomplish those goals? Translate your goals into specific and measurable action plans and then begin to measure for results.
One more CEO Rule applies – “people respond to what you measure.” Turn your goals and objectives into daily, weekly and monthly activities or behaviors that will work together to produce the results you want. Let’s your goal is to make 8 new sales this month. You know that making 15 phone calls a day will produce 10 sales appointments next week and that 10 sales appointments are likely to result in 2 closed sales. If this is true, then the thing to measure first is not how many sales you made, but how many phone calls you made. Measure the numbers behind the numbers.
Setting and tracking these “key impact numbers” is one of your most powerful tools to motivate your people to succeed. . To make these numbers work, you need to set goals and establish the standards for success. Your people responsible for tracking and reporting against that goal or standard.
When people track their own numbers they see where they actually are in relationship to their goals on a regular basis. With very little involvement from you, other than keeping that number in front of them or having them report the number to you, they will always know where they stand. As you develop and implement these systems, your team will begin to work more effectively to produce the results desired.
Third, be smart means plan to grow by starting with your current customer or client base. Think about this, how many people or businesses do you already know who love your product or service? What strategies have you already implemented to make sure that you are turning those people into your most powerful marketing allies? Try this:
1. Create a plan to touch every one of your customers in the next 90 days to say thank you and to let them know you appreciate their business. This might mean putting together a data base of all your current or former customers. You might need to work your way through old sales records to get all the names you need. Whatever it takes, make the effort. It’s worth it.
2. Whatever you do to reach out to your past and current customers, make sure you include some means for them to let you know if you did a good job serving them and meeting their needs. You might include a short survey (no more than 3-5 questions). The point is to demonstrate that you genuinely care about your customers and you are committed to making sure that you are meeting their needs.
3. As you reach out to show your appreciation and test your quality, take the opportunity to ask for referrals. When you ask, don’t settle for a list of names and phone numbers. Wherever possible, arrange for introductions or at least direct referrals that put you face to face with new prospects. Find ways to make it easy for your customers to refer their friends and colleagues. Use coupons, promotions and specials to create referral incentives. Be creative, be smart.
Finally, be smart means focus on your value to the customer and the prospect. Here is the bottom line. In this economy, as difficult as it appears right now, people will still spend money. But their spending decisions will be different. They will be more careful about who they spend with and how much they spend. The dollars that will be spent in this economy will flow to value and opportunity. Your task is to make sure that you are providing the highest possible value. Do this, and the message will get out that your product, your service is the right investment for this difficult time.
Four Key Principles for Small Business Success - To learn more about this author, visit Kevin Kragenbrink's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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