Archive for December, 2009

Have you fallen into the trap of thinking that “nothing happens this time of the year” and put off your planning and business building until after the holidays “once everyone gets back to business?”

Watch out — it’s that time of the year again. We’re in the 4th Quarter of 2009 and now is the time to be thinking about your business plan and goals for 2010.

How will you take your business to the next level? How will you foster growth in this economy? And this year, with challenges of the new economy taking hold, another trap for delaying business activity has been created. It’s the trap of thinking that it’s OK if things aren’t going well because it must be the economy wreaking havoc with your business. But I’m working with clients who have been experiencing amazing growth in this economy.

One has experienced a 50 percent increase in gross sales over last year. Another is working on completing a strategic acquisition with an end-of-year target closing date. This business experienced a 30 percent sales increase over the prior year.

Some clients have hired to add to their sales and support staffs to be able to grow and better serve their customers. All are working on marketing and customer care plans for the upcoming year. Of course they have had to make adjustments to a new way of doing business, but they’ve continued to adapt and follow their plan — plans that include the continuous activities needed to bring them closer to their objectives, regardless of the time of year.

You can’t control the economy or even your competition, but you can control your reaction. Take action. Identify and commit to doing the activities that will help keep prospects in your sales pipeline. Networking activity of all kinds has become more important than ever before. Referrals put high caliber prospects in your sales process and may even reduce the sales cycle time, allowing you to close the sale sooner. (You do have a sales process, right?)

These kinds of sales and marketing efforts work in any economy, any time of year. The best news is that I’ve observed growth and stability when I talk with local business at networking meetings and events. It’s not all roses, but it’s not all gloom and doom either.

If you want to do well in business, remember that it does no good to complain to people about how tough things are. When you complain about how bad business is, half the people you tell don’t care, and the other half are secretly happy that you may be worse off than they are!

Another technique that works is to look for strategic relationships. Look to see what non-competitive businesses support, complement or align with the kind of prospects you’re looking for and develop relationships with those businesses. I promise this is an efficient use of your time and resources.

Equally important as prospecting is taking care of your existing customers. What do they need, and how can you deliver with value added this year? How can you become a customer service maniac?

Yet another way to keep moving forward any time of year is to be a master of your time. No, this isn’t another “how to” in time management. But do think about what new habits you need to form for success in 2010. Remember, your business is supposed to give you resources, not take them from you.

So here is what I suggest that you do before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve:

• Write down yearly and monthly goals and objectives. Create an action/task list for each one.
• Prioritize your task list and spend more time on things that are urgent, but not important. These are the goals that usually have the most positive impact on your business. Your job shouldn’t be just about fighting daily business fires – that falls into the urgent/important category.
• Commit to dedicating 1 hour a day to work on that life-changing goal.

In working with business owners, I emphasize that business development remains one of the core activities in their list of key responsibilities. And business development happens all year long. Your activity today will determine your results next week, next month or in six months or more depending on your sales cycle. Focus on achieving the results all year long.

As 2009 comes to a close, assess your business achievements and areas for growth. Revisit your marketing plan for 2010. Identify your company’s goals and objectives. Create the strategy and tactics you need to follow to get you there. Track your results; pay attention to the feedback, and you’ll be ahead of about 97 percent of most business owners.