Do you run your business or does your business run you, is your business hitting your goals and creating the life you want, do you feel like you’ve lost control?
Then you need to hire a business coach.
Today, having a business coach is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity.
Sure, you’re business may survive without one, but it can never thrive.
Don’t believe a business coach is as important as your accountant or lawyer to your business?
Answer these questions and think again.
Do you have proven methods and strategies to build your customer base and grow your bottom line, who are you accountable to, are you objective about your business, do you want to start working less than ever before while gaining balance, freedom and profits?
A business coach can see the forest for the trees and will make you focus and be accountable.
You may not believe it, but it’s impossible to get an objective answer from yourself about yourself. A business coach works alongside you, creating success together, telling you the objective truth at each step.
Most importantly, a good business coach helps you implement strategies into your business that grow your bottom line.
There are five areas any business can be coached in, Sales, Marketing, Team Building, Systems and Business Development and Customer Service.
Remember, the strategies your coach gives you are proven to work, but it is up to you to make them work.
The most important thing a business coach does is teach you that only you can be truly accountable for your own success.
Your coach will push you, cajole you, help you and just generally be there for you, but it’s still up to you to do the work
Long-term success isn’t about just scraping the surface, and the right business coach can tap into your potential.
If you have a passion for success and are willing to work hard for great rewards, then contact a business coach today.
Here are four proven techniques that can double your customer base in four short weeks simply by generating leads and converting them into valued customers.
1) Cultivate Your Raving Fans- Raving fans are a tremendous source of new customers.
If you make an effort to personalize every sale and give every customer the VIP treatment, you can build a customer base that become cheerleaders for your business.
Raving fans can’t help but tell others about your service and products.
These are your most prized customers and your investment in service should be based on the value they bring to your business, which can be exponential.
2) Create A Referral Program- Referrals are a natural way of growing your customer base, but do you go about generating referrals the right way?
Aside from terrific value and customer service, do you offer customers who bring referrals to your business anything special for those referrals?
It is important to always reward customer referrals. Most people wonder, “What’s in it for me?” when it comes to promoting someone else’s business.
That’s why you have to make referring your business worth it to them.
Gifts, closed door sales, special events or even discounts are all ways to keep the referrals coming.
3) Form Strategic Business Alliances- Partnering with other businesses that aren’t in direct competition with you is one of the easiest ways to grow your customer base.
If you own a home decorating firm would partnering with someone who sells real estate make sense?
Consider your business and other businesses that share your views and philosophies, but sell a different product. How could access to their customers grow your business?
Customers trust businesses that have shown their loyalty and will be inclined to follow their recommendations.
Why do you think corporate sponsorship is so big these days?
When you build strong alliances with other businesses that share your philosophy, you create a win-win situation for everyone involved, including the customer.
4) Build a Trained and Skilled Workforce- A team that is empowered and has a sense of ownership can boost your customer base dramatically.
Remember, your team comes into contact with people both in and out of work every day.
Every one of those interactions can be a marketing opportunity for your business.
Your responsibility is to teach your team the skills they need to promote your business to everybody they come in contact with.
To do this, your team needs your attention, guidance, and training.
And don’t forget about your team’s bottom line either. They will need to be incentivized to do the job properly.
If you make these investments, you’ll find your team will do a better job at converting prospects into sales, building your customer base.
When I started ActionCOACH my goal was to bring abundance to the world through business coaching and with more than 1000 firms in 32 countries helping thousands of businesses, I think we’re off to a good start.
But there is still room for improvement.
There are about 150 countries that still haven’t benefitted from ActionCOACH and even in the countries we are in, there are many that still have not used our systems.
No matter how many success stories some people see, there are still some that refuse to believe their business needs a coach?
Are you one of those people?
Well I have news for you. Everyone needs a business coach.
If Bill Gates and Warren Buffet can benefit from working with a business coach, why can’t you?
No matter how your business is running, having a business coach is as important to businesses today as having an accountant or lawyer is.
You wouldn’t be able to run your business properly without someone doing your books or going over your contracts would you?
So why do you think it can run properly without someone who makes sure you’re accountable and has strategies to ensure your business is meeting your goals and growing?
You know as a small business owner you spend a lot of time working IN your business, which doesn’t leave a lot for working ON your business. A business coach can see the forest for the trees.
My definition of a business is a profitable, commercial enterprise that works… without me and this is what the coaches at ActionCOACH are trained to do for you.
Do you need a way to get more customers in the door or boost your profit margins?
We have strategies for that and hundreds of other ways to build your profits while giving you more time to enjoy life.
Remember, every great team needs a coach who gets them to perform to the best of their abilities, which is why my goal of a coach in every business remains. I believe abundance through coaching works, and I know you will too once you’ve worked with ActionCOACH.
Are you looking to make more money in your business?
Well, I have good news for you.
Here’s five simple strategies to boost your profit margins … today!
1) Increase your prices. This is the fastest and easiest way to boost your margins, and I’ve found that business owners tend to be more afraid of raising prices than their customers are.
I’ve also noticed most customers won’t notice the increase and the ones who complain about it probably already complain about something else.
Start with at least 10%, and the chances are you’ll see the benefits of your increase faster than your customers notice the difference.
Now, you don’t want to draw attention to the increases, but if customers ask, explain the reasons and then focus on the benefits of your products or services.
2) Stop Discounting. If you constantly discount, why have a regular price? Remember, you never want to be thought of as a discount business.
Discounting costs you money and gives the impression that your usual prices are a rip-off.
Customers may not buy from you today because they think an item might go on sale tomorrow.
Instead of discounting, focus on the value and benefits you provide and offer as much add on value as much as possible.
3) Know your Actual Costs. In many businesses, expenses are never truly evaluated. If you know what your actual costs are, you can find ways to reduce them.
Sit down and spend a few days checking everything about your business.
As you go forward, take what you’ve learned in your evaluation and seek numerous quotes when purchasing anything of an ongoing nature.
4) View Costs as a Percentage of Sales. This gives you an idea of how many sales you need to make before you start showing profit.
How much does it cost to keep your doors open every week?
What time of the day or week or month does your business become profitable?
Once you view your costs as a percentage of sales, then you can figure out how many sales are needed to cover that cost.
To get the most out of this, you’ll need to communicate the information to your team, since they need to know what your business needs to stay open.
Put a big whiteboard up in your business with a countdown to break-even and profit. You will be surprised how much your team will respond to this.
Having a reward system that kicks in after you reach your break- even point is a great way to keep your team motivated and understand what you need to make your business grow.
5) Decrease Your Range. The greater the range of products, the more suppliers you have, the more shelf space you need, the more money you have invested in stock, the more costs you have.
It’s a never ending cycle for some businesses …
Eliminating slow moving stock or bundling is a great way to make more money per item sold.
You should be able to negotiate better deals with suppliers if you are buying fast moving items from them, which can lead to better deals for your customers.
Remember to monitor the movements of every item you sell and invest more in stock that moves quickly.
By following these simple steps, you can boost your profit margins and increase your overall profitability.
Are you ready for a business secret that every successful company knows? Well here goes.
If you want your company to be as big as possible, you have to have a vision. And that vision should be global.
So what is your vision?
Whether you’re starting a small store in your home town or a multi-national conglomerate, you need to have the same goal in mind, building your business into a global powerhouse.
Why should every business plan to go global at some point?
The reason is simple ... money.
If you limit yourself to just your home town or even just your home country, you are limiting the amount of profit you can make.
For instance, at its industrial peak, more than half the wealth in the world was created in the United States, which meant companies that focused on the U.S. could make a lot of profit.
At the same time, those same companies were leaving plenty of profit, or about half the wealth in the world, on the table by not taking their brand to the rest of the world.
Today, just over 1/3 of all wealth comes from the United States, leaving nearly 2/3 for the rest of the world.
If you’re a U.S. business owner, you are leaving a lot of money on the table if you aren’t thinking globally.
With technology as it is today, it has never been easier to gain a foothold in global markets.
All you need is an internet address, a PayPal account and your favorite shipping company and your business can start shipping their goods around the globe and building on your bottom line.
Do you know how many customers you need (or how many sales you need to make) today to make a profit?
How about to break even?
Do you know how long you’ll have to work this year just to pay your taxes?
What about how many prospects you need in your sales pipeline to generate enough customers to make your profit margin?
What is your profit margin?
If you’re struggling to answer these basic questions, you’re not alone.
But you can jump your profits immediately simply by actually knowing the numbers that lead to them.
In fact, the majority of the most profitable and highest growth companies are those that know their numbers at every possible level. They know very clearly you cannot manage what you do not measure.
The key to knowing your numbers is simply that: knowing and understanding exactly what your business needs to produce to give you the profit you need to survive and grow far into the future.
Most business owners I’ve coached over the years have no clue what their real numbers are. They have a vague guess or a “gut feel” – but they don’t really know – mainly because I think they don’t want to be faced with the reality the numbers will ultimately show them.
To prosper, you’re going to have to put the fear of numbers behind you and embrace the reality they will reveal to you. Not only will mastery of your numbers give you an edge over your competition – it will give you the power to make better decisions in real time, regardless of the economy.
What can numbers tell you?
First, numbers will tell you where you are right now. Beyond revenues and expenses, your numbers will show your profit margins, as well as vital figures relating to sales. If you know how many people come through your doors a day and how many actually buy something, you suddenly have a handle on the number known as your “sales conversion rate.”
By that measure, if you know you always convert 15% of your prospects into a sale, and you know you need 12 sales to profit – you can easily determine you’ll need 80 people through your doors on average to be profitable (12/15% = 80).
Now the question becomes, “How can I get 80 people through my doors?”
That’s another column, but at least you know what you have to do in volume to make your profit.
Second, numbers will guide you where you want to go. Are you looking for an extra $10,000 in gross profit on a 25% profit margin? You’ll need to generate a turnover of at least $40,000 ($10,000/25% = $40,000).
Are you a professional who charges $100 an hour who now wants to double your income? You might need to determine whether it is better for you to charge $200 over 2000 working hours a year (highly unlikely given you can’t charge every working hour) – or charge $400 multiplied by 1000 working hours a year (meaning you can take some time off once in a while).
In either case, the numbers will give you an indication (based on your market and profession) what can work for you. They will also show you where you might need to revamp your business so you can get to your targeted revenue (as in finding additional and alternative revenue streams for your professional service to get you to that $400 an hour goal).
Finally, numbers will help you form a plan to get there. Sometimes, the numbers will reveal your current skills and market conditions – or your current mix of products and services – just won’t support your revenue and profit targets.
That’s not bad news – it’s just news. But it will help you determine what you will need to do to improve and enhance your professional skill set – or revamp your product and services mix.
The numbers might show you that you can afford to hire a great sales person to sell and two additional administrative people to handle the books while you network or leverage your highest skills to build the business in new and innovative ways.
Can you present a workshop and have an entire “back end” of your own private label products? Could you do that if you were in your shop 12-hours a day? Probably not. But those opportunities wouldn’t ever present themselves without a good handle of the numbers of your particular business.
So what do the numbers look like in your company?
If you are in sales, how many calls will you need to make next week to get the number of appointments you’ll need to make a sale?
If you are in retail, how many customers will you need in your shop to break even and make a profit? And how big will that profit need to be?
Take some time – right now – and introduce yourself to the past, present and future numbers of your particular business.
Because if you don’t master your numbers, your numbers will surely master you.
This article is reprinted courtesy of My Business magazine, one of the leading business publications in Australia.
Do you have one good reason "why" you should expand or go into business for yourself – even if the "sky is falling" in this economy?
How about 10?
Right now is absolutely the best time to get into business, and I’ll give you 10 good reasons "why" – no matter what other people or the media say.
So how come a good "why" (or 10) is so important?
Seeding your mind with good rational reasons "why" not only helps the logical side of your brain accept new beliefs, you’ll soon discover you'll begin to see all situations as opportunities, just like great entrepreneurs do.
So here are my 10 very good reasons to start your business right now:
1) Everything is cheaper.
Let’s face it, there is great value right now in this and in world markets. This is the right time for fantastic deals in virtually every category, from land and equipment to commercial office space, personnel and labour. As asset prices have been knocked down, there is really no better time to get into the real estate or financial markets, or even heavy equipment and construction. Some people have waited years to find value in these markets – and now that time has come.
2) You can hire more team and better qualified people.
In an era when even Microsoft is laying off, you can find great resources at affordable rates. Thinking about getting your high-tech start up off the ground? There's no better time than right now. Thinking about forming a professional services firm? There are plenty of engineers, accountants and attorneys looking for their next opportunity.
3) People are looking to change suppliers.
From a cost perspective, everything is "on the table" for most companies. If you can come in with greater value even if your prices are higher, you have a good chance at winning new business. You also have the advantage of being the “new kid on the block” when it comes to pitching your products and services, and many companies are desperate to find new partnerships with new companies with a different, better or more innovative way of delivering those products and services.
4) Ownership equals tax incentives.
Business ownership offers a variety of tax benefits that aren’t available to employees. While taxes should never be the sole reason to go into business for yourself, it should be one reason to add to you “benefits of business ownership” list.
5) Family and friends don’t want to (or can’t) invest more money into the stock or real estate markets.
That means they may be willing to finance a portion of your new venture, or the expansion of an enterprise that has proven itself over time. The main benefit is that they know you and have a relationship with you – and if you have a solid business plan that delivers real numbers, you’re chances of raising the capital you need increase exponentially.
6) Suppliers are giving better credit.
Because the credit markets have virtually shut down, the business-to-business credit flows are keeping money circulating out of sheer necessity. That means a bullish outlook for companies looking for good terms on stock and/or inventories. The main advantage is that all parties have more incentive than ever for finding true "win-win" situations that allow for cash and stock flow. When everyone is looking to survive, great deals can be had.
7) You can get good PR by showing you are "going against the trend."
The media loves aberrations – and if you are optimistic by expanding or getting into business now, you would be in that category. That means you can generate some great PR by demonstrating your “alternative” view of the market.
8) You can buy everything you need at auction.
In addition to everything being less expensive, you can find great deals at auctions, especially in terms of any large equipment and office furnishings. Auctions are also a great place to find hardly used or “gently” used restaurant and bar supplies at great prices. These days, you may even be able to get deals on fleets of vehicles and trucks for a delivery service or hauling or construction company.
9) You can find great "low money" or "no money" down deals.
This is simply being aware of good opportunities others have buggered up, and finding deals where you could get an entire business simply by taking over a lease (along with all the equipment). Many business owners want out at “any cost,” meaning you can negotiate great “win-win” deals that allow the current owners an escape while giving you an opportunity to turn around what could be, if run right, a very viable business.
And finally …
10) You’ve lost your job and you have to do something.
Sometimes, the best business decision is the one you are forced into, and the incentive (as well as need) for income is often enough to push those previously "on the fence" to strike out on their own. There’s nothing wrong with being in this position; it simply means there is greater urgency to do something that will start to generate income as quickly as possible.
There you have it. A new kind of "Top 10" list for those looking for good reasons to prosper and grow in this environment.
After all, it’s not circumstances that truly define us, but rather how we react to those outside forces that ultimately determines our success.
This article is reprinted courtesy of My Business magazine, one of the leading business publications in Australia.
Sometimes, it pays to change your business for the sake of change.
Other times, you have to change your business because the market tells you to. And if you don’t change, you’re dead.
Like it or not, we are living in those times.
Market forces worldwide are causing a whirlwind of creative destruction for businesses and their owners. The question is, how will you react to our current economic circumstances, and how can you make the money you’ll need to survive?
In past columns, I’ve talked about seeing the world as entrepreneurs do. This is simply a matter of looking at events (no matter what they are) and reacting not in a negative way, but rather in a way and from a perspective that uncovers value, upside potential and opportunity.
With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to devote a series of articles this year to getting “Back to Business” – with proven strategies and tactics that have transformed companies around the world and in every type of economy.
Including downturns like the one we find ourselves in now.
Not only will these strategies help re-adjust your entrepreneurial attitude, they will also help your business survive and thrive immediately – and will serve as the foundation for continuing growth well into the next economic spring and summer.
So how can you gain some clarity for your business amid all the media noise and pessimism?
Realize that the needs of your customers and your market are different than those needs were a year ago. Or even six months ago.
Simply put, you’ll have to adapt to those different needs and change your business in the direction of meeting those needs in order to survive.
The new vision for your business should be highly focused – and scaled to what your customers truly want. In these times, success won’t necessarily be based on what you want to offer, but rather what the market is telling you to offer.
You will also need to put an extreme focus on profitability. This may mean scaling back your plans for 20 locations nationwide to 10 locations that run on higher profit margins. Now isn’t necessarily the time to overstretch; in fact, doing so and getting caught short of cash and/or human capital is death for any business.
A laser-like focus on profit and operations will pay off big during the next economic spring. Not only will you be better positioned financially than your competition, you will develop the discipline to stay close to your core business.
While other companies will use the next boom to chase after any market or sell any product – your efforts now to pare down and narrow your focus will keep you from making the same mistakes in the future.
In addition to a changed mindset and business focus, you’ll need to commit to marketing at every level of your business. This doesn’t mean buying high priced ads in newspapers or on TV. It means creating a marketing and sales oriented culture that runs your business – from how your team answers the phone, to how they greet customers and guide them through the sales process, to developing a solid customer data base.
While I’m sure you’ve heard all of this before, you’d be amazed how many owners don’t do the simplest things that could make them successful. For instance, our company has discovered only about 7% of all business owners know what their break even is on a given day – let alone over the course of a month or year.
Do you know yours? Isn’t it time you found out?
Focus, marketing mastery and numbers mastery will be crucial if you want to ride out this downturn. Put another way – it’s not your competition that is forcing the game this time. It’s the market – and although the market’s judgment is harsh, in my experience it is always fair.
You simply can’t run a successful company without profit and without systemized ways to grow your customer base and keep them coming back.
Leverage, as many companies have brutally discovered, is great when the economic tide is rising and lifts all boats.
In a downturn the squeeze of debt on cash flow and overstretched operations is ruinous. Just take a look at the list of victims in the “destruction” part of the “creative destruction” equation and take note of the seemingly blue chip companies that don’t exist anymore – and you’ll understand the value of cash in this kind of environment.
The upside of all of this is that right now, the world’s economic stage is being set for the next big boom. When will it happen? Who knows?
The point is that now is the time to get your own basics right so when the economic recovery hits full swing, you’ll be ready to capture even greater profits and success.
So start now and take the next several days to develop a new vision and plan for your company – based on what your customers – and the market – is telling you.
That feedback could be the foundation for some of the best (and most profitable) decisions you could ever make for your company.
This article is reprinted courtesy of My Business magazine, one of the leading business publications in Australia.
How to See the World Like Successful Business People Do
We’ve all been following the news lately and yes … the world in economic turmoil. But unlike the journalists and the naysayers, great business people are looking for opportunity in the midst of the crisis, and many are finding it.
My prediction? More money will be made coming out of this meltdown than was made in the boom.
How can I say this with any confidence?
Because the business cycle is exactly that – a cycle. And like the seasons, as sure as spring follows winter, growth will emerge from the current chaos.
There is no doubt some part of the world are in economic fall and winter. Yet other parts are in economic spring and summer. That’s the reality of today’s globalization. It’s also the opportunity globalization offers. If you are in a region that is hurting, look at the markets that are prospering and ask yourself how you can be part of them. If you are in a market that is booming, you may be able to look at a slow market to pick-up a variety of quality assets at a discount – anything ranging from capital equipment to real estate.
For those in the economic fall and winter, now is the time to regroup, reorganize, plan and prepare your fields for spring.
For those in spring and summer, the past few months have demonstrated what can happen when the boom times end – so look to streamline your expenses, prune the extras and learn to run “lean and mean.” That way, it won’t be such a shock to your company’s systems when the slowdown comes along.
It also helps to take a look at what “smart” money is doing. Warren Buffet, the greatest investor of all time, is looking to buy, and in fact, picked up the US-based Goldman Sachs during the height of the credit crunch on exceptionally great terms – namely his.
Buffet has made a career out of “being fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” Think about that for a moment, and it can guide you the next time any market – be it real estate, commodities or stocks – gets overly frothy or too cool.
That said, some common sense should also apply – especially when it relates to new technologies replacing old ways of doing things, as I doubt those still holding shares of horse and buggy firms have done as well as those who bought into automobiles.
The reality is that good business people move with markets and shift their perspectives when events in those markets change. The other reality is that a large number of the economies that are in economic summer are still based in agriculture and manufacturing – a shift that economies now in economic winter transitioned out of decades ago.
The bottom-line is that those still emerging economies offer incredible opportunity for experienced business people, because it is in those basic industries that the world’s greatest fortunes have always been made.
But let’s say the idea of going global is simply too big to fathom right now. What are the opportunities in your own “backyard?” Or right “under your nose?”
First, examine your existing product or service in terms of the current marketplace. Is it time to scrap it for something new your customers want or something to which you can add value? In this economy, you are going to have to sell your way into prosperity, and you should do it with the best products and services possible to compete against everyone else who will be cutting their prices.
Next, look at your marketing. In spring and summer, you can sell on themes like “greed” and “desire.” In fall and winter, you need to focus on “fear” and “needs.”
Third, track your cash flow very carefully. Eliminate extras. And focus on top-line growth. Again, strong sales will the key to prosperity.
Finally, focus on keeping your existing customers. It is always more expensive to buy new customers than to sell to an existing customer base, and far less profitable short term. So go out and talk to your customers, find out what they want to buy and sell it to them. Not at a discount, but as an added value to what you already do.
The financial world may be in turmoil, but it is certainly not coming to an end. So ignore those who say the “sky is falling” and learn from those who have actually made money in good times and in bad so you can see through the media clutter and still make a profit.
Your financial winter will be less bitter – and your financial spring will be a lot more green – if you do.
This article is reprinted courtesy of My Business magazine, one of the leading business publications in Australia.
Yes, saving a wage is killing your business. And, I mean that literally …
I know. I see the accountants saying, you have to run lean to get a decent profit, right?
That’s partly true. It’s also true you need to grow to make profit. You can’t cost cut your way to a fortune.
In business, it seems there are always two sides. For example, if you’re an owner of a retail business, you need to get product on the shelf and also get product off the shelf.
In a service business, you need to deliver the service, and you also need to manage your customer base from the sales and marketing side to build a demand for the service.
So, as an owner, faced with dealing with both sides, which of those areas should you focus on?
If you want your business to be big, you need to focus on getting the business, rather than managing it once it is brought in.
That means you have to get out of doing anything in your business that doesn’t contribute directly to both top-line and bottom-line revenue.
It also means you have to start hiring people to do the things you may be already doing – things that may be more comfortable for you than selling.
And don’t think you can’t afford to start paying those wages. Truth is, you can’t afford not to.
See, many owners hide behind the “managing” side of things, preferring that process to the sales side. They spend hours doing the books or creating spreadsheets or even answering phones in the misguided belief that “busy” equals “business.”
The reality, of course, is that sales equals business, and nothing in business happens until a sale is made. Many owners also have no idea how much their time is actually worth – causing them to engage in tasks or activities that do little or nothing to grow the business.
The way forward is to start delegating routine tasks to wage earners so you can start focusing on the top-line activities that will drive revenues. You need a plan to start, however, because delegation without a system is abdication. And for most owners, there’s simply too much abdication in their companies for anyone’s good.
How do you start? By following these five steps to make sure you are fully engaged on the “bringing in” business side of things at all times in your own company.
Know what your time is worth. First, you need to define your value in your business over time. What’s it worth? Twenty, $50, $200 an hour? What do you currently charge for your time in your business? What should you charge? These are key questions to defining the types of tasks you should be doing to leverage your own time and value in your company.Once you know your value, you can easily see how certain tasks can be outsourced to leverage your time.Say you’ve determined your time is worth at least $100 an hour. Will you still mow the lawn, iron clothes or clean the pool at home? Not if you can get those tasks completed for less than that rate – and you will soon discover you can.For your business, you can benchmark this rate against the “Lifetime Value” of your average customer. Say you have a customer who will spend on average of $5000 a year with you and will be a customer for 5 years.
That customer’s Lifetime Value is $25,000. Now, at your rate of $100 an hour, will you continue to answer phones or work up your monthly financials?
I’d hope not. Especially when your time is better spent finding more “average” customers.
Figure out where you spend your time. Keep careful track of how you spend your time in your business for a week or two, and you’ll have a better handle on how you can adjust your tasks and activities in more profitable ways. Most owners will find very little time goes into actually getting sales, while most of it is spent on delivering the product or service, administrative or managerial tasks and functions. Remember the 80/20 rule: 80% of all results come from 20% of effort. And if 80% of your efforts are managerial in nature, you can immediately see where your sales results are at.
Delegate routine, administrative or basic tasks. Once you have a handle on how you spend your time, start to find ways to systemize your most routine functions and delegate them to wage earners. Start from the bottom up, and make sure you have a system in place before you place an untrained person in a position.
Get more training – for yourself. Take an honest assessment of your sales and marketing abilities, and if you need help – go get it. You, of all people in your company, might be the biggest beneficiary of additional sales or marketing training. You can’t get additional learning and education if you are tied to the office doing books or answering phones. Again, pay the wage to someone who can do it better and for less money than your time is worth, and brush up on the skills you need to boost your business.
Just do it. Get off your backside and actually start to engage with your customers. Strike up a conversation. Call and ask how they are doing. After a while, they’ll be impressed enough to start referring your business to others – which is by far the best way to leverage your “sales” time in any business.
Then, once you get enough referrals coming through your sales pipeline, you can once again become a manager – this time of a fortune.
This article is reprinted courtesy of My Business magazine, one of the leading business publications in Australia.
