Business Owner

You don’t have to change everything, but if you want a different result you do have to change something. What are you willing to change?

On this over the next couple of weeks I will describe a process to manage that change which considers three important dimensions, namely:

• Stress
• Time
• Money

If you are under stress, even change for the better can cause more stress, so it is essential to manage it. Otherwise it will stop you making the changes you need to. How do you reduce this stress and ensure the change can happen? One way is by not changing everything at once.

It is important that you start with where you are now. Then you can look at where you want to go to and how you are going to get there.

Is it worth the effort? Next time I will answer the question what is the process? This will explain a little more about the it. Then I will tell you a few things to help you decide if it is for you.

Generating leads is expensive so it still amazes me that the “box dropping” approach to selling still seems to dominate. I think it’s because managers find it easier to chase sales people to meet short-term sales targets rather than looking at the efficiency of the sales process. Also the cost of selling is hidden in with all the other over heads so there is a lack of appreciation of how much it is really costing.

As many people will tell you the most efficient way to sell is word of mouth generated by satisfied customers. Also the easiest people to sell to are those you already have a relationship with. The diagram above puts these two ideas together to create what I call the Simply Selling Sales process. It won’t give you the most dramatic growth in turnover but it will give you the most dramatic and sustainable growth in profit.

It may seem strange but the best way to understand this process is to start from the end and work your way backwards.

Create Advocate

An advocate is a customer who will spontaneously recommend to her community that they use your services or buy your product. This kind of endorsement comes from the customer consciously realising that you met and exceeded her expectations. Advocacy can be left to chance but it can also be managed. At the end of the delivery or implementation you can remind the client of the expectations she had when she made the decision to purchase and ensure that you have exceeded those expectations. You can also ask the client if they would refer you to other potential clients that you can add to your community.

Implement Product

In some situations it may be more appropriate to talk about delivery of the product rather then implementation. This is the stage at which the customer behaviour is changed from the way he used to do it to the way he is going to do it now with the help of your product. A common mistake is to leave this change in behaviour to chance. When this happens often products are bought and never used so it is not possible to create an advocate.

Close Sale

Closing the sales is the critical point at which an agreement is struck and expectations are set. Close too soon and resistance builds up. Close too late and you have lost the customer to a competitor.

Create Vision

Selling is about change. Changing the way you are doing it now to they way you will do it after the purchase. Change can create fear and stress so there must be a compelling reason to change and a strong visions of how the change is going to improve the situation.

Generate Lead

To generate a lead you must have a clear idea of the type of person you want as a lead and what their likely issues are. You need to “ping” a large number of people to find a lead so your process must be efficient otherwise people will not even listen to you. Often it help to tell a reference story of a client in a similar situation who you successfully helped.

Grow Community

It is much easier to generate a lead from a person that you are already familiar with than to try and open a discussion with a total stranger. The most efficient way to grow your community is through the recommendation of people already in your community. People will only stay in your community if they are getting some sort of value from being in it. Your community is not a list of names in a piece of software, but it is a group of people you communicate with a regular basis because you both see growing value in doing so.

One of the arts of business growth is asking the right questions, But if you are hard of hearing you won’t hear the reply. Effective business administration is like have a good set of ears that hear the story your financial data is trying to tell you.

Below is the Circle of Business.