By Ronald DeLorme
It’s the holiday season and a new year is on the horizon. Are you ready to make your business more successful in 2008? Here are 6 sure-fire ways to make 2008 a more successful year.
Examine your 2007 business activities and results. What products or services were purchased or requested the most? Which products or services are falling out of favor? What worked well? What marketing activities worked best’can you do more of that in 2008? What did not work well? What important consumer segments (demographics, niche groups, etc.) are you reaching and not reaching? What can you do in 2008 to reach new groups? What do your business metrics (revenue, expenses, net profits, etc.) indicate? How can you SAVE money compared to 2007? How can you MAKE MORE money compared to 2007?
Ask questions and learn from the answers. Ask customers how you can add more value for them. What do customers want/need that you are not currently providing? Ask the good people at the Chamber of Commerce how they can help you be more successful. Ask your friends who run other businesses how you can work together to offer new and needed products and services to the community. Ask your employees for their ideas. Ask accountants, computer and business consultants for their input. They work with dozens of clients and, often, are very knowledgeable about what is working for other businesses ? their insights might help you!
Commit to doing new and different things in 2008. Don’t get caught in the INSANITY TRAP: Doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. If you do the same marketing activities in 2008 as you did in 2007, you are likely to get the same results. If you want different (better) results in 2008, you will need to do new and different things. For example, do less fretting about the economy and do more marketing to new and different groups, advertise in more newspapers and on the internet, and so on. Are you rewarding employees for bringing in new business?
See the people. A friend of mine is the best salesperson I’ve ever known (and I’ve known and trained thousands of salespeople). He told me the 3 things that made him successful as a salesperson. He said, ‘Ron, in real estate, the 3 most important things are Location, Location, Location. In sales, the 3 most important things are See the People, See the People, See the People.? Here are some examples of what he meant: Be visible in the community. Join networking clubs and professional associations. Wherever you are, introduce yourself to others, let them know what you do for a living and give them your business card. Encourage others to refer customers to you and return the favor. See the People is great advice, use it!
Establish specific, written goals and objectives for 2008. Did you know that persons who establish written goals, and actively pursue those goals each day, are far more successful in life? They ascend further in organizations, achieve more and make more money. Specific, written objectives are far more powerful than vague, wish list statements like ‘Gee, I gotta? make more money in 2008.? Your 2008 business objectives need to be written and they need to be SMART (an acronym for Specific; Measurable; Achievable; have positive business Results; and they need to be Timely and Trackable. Learn more about SMART objectives at the January 17, 2008, Clarkston Chamber luncheon at the Outback Steakhouse.)
Take action now. It does you no good to write business objectives if you do not take action. Research indicates that you need to keep your written objectives in front of you and take action on achieving them either daily or weekly. Seeing your written objectives everyday helps to focus you on what is important in 2008 and tends to encourage you to take action on those business objectives.
It is very easy to get side-tracked in today’s hectic world. So, after I help my clients to create specific business objectives, I urge them to post eye-catching copies (using large, colorful fonts and graphics) all over their offices and around their homes. This helps the client and their employees to stay focused on their key objectives. One client keeps a copy in her car. Another keeps a copy on his bathroom mirror so that, when he shaves in the morning, he is reminded that he needs to take action on one or more of those objectives that day. It works!
Take action on the steps above and you will make 2008 a better year! Good luck!
Contact Ron DeLorme at Manage Max Performance Improvement: training_pro@ hotmail.com or 248.396.5031. Helping business leaders and entire organizations to solve business problems, Save Money and Make More Money for over 30 years!