Friday, 31 July 2009 3:49 PM
Business success seems simple enough: you begin with a plan, you have some goals and strategies and you carry them out. However, the reality of operating a business can be very different.
The joy and freedom of running your own business can be clouded when business owners struggle for direction, get swamped by administration, suffer inconsistent cash flow and get stressed about staff or clients. Sound familiar? These problems can distract business owners from growing and taking their business to the next level.
Here are the first five tried and tested tips which will boost your business performance.
Tip 1: Start with the end in mind. Regardless of whether you are up to your neck in issues or run a successful business, it is essential to write down measurable goals and develop strategies for achieving these goals. Moreover, be sure to stay focused on things that meet you goals first, rather than being distracted by trivial issues.
Tip 2: Measure your performance using a range of indicators. This vital area is often overlooked, despite the fact that many of the information management systems have good reporting functions. It is fundamental to measure financial performance such as: revenue, expenses, operating profit and cash flow. However, other areas are also important to measure such as: lead generation, sales conversion, utilisation of billable professional staff, staff turnover, level of workplace injuries, level of client satisfaction, etc. The feedback you get from measuring your performance on a regular basis will let you know whether your strategies are working or not. This allows an opportunity to change or modify strategies if necessary.
Tip 3: Focus on your ideal clients. Unfortunately many businesses never analyse their database to determine their ideal (most profitable) clients. In addition, many also do not have strategies to attract ideal clients and convert them into sales. This is a big part of growing revenue. I believe every aspect of business development should be design to support the attraction and conversion of ideal clients into the business.
Tip 4: Deliver outstanding client service. Once you have attracted your ideal clients, ensure that every step of the client experience delivers a client-focused approach. Happy and satisfied clients will do business with you time and time again which builds ongoing revenue. In addition, they are great advocates for your business and they fuel your word-of-mouth promotion, which attracts more like-minded clients. Delivering outstanding client service can be a key point of differentiation for your business.
Tip 5: Get regular feedback from your clients. I believe it is essential to conduct client satisfaction surveys in order to make sure your clients' needs are being met, to find out what they like about you, what they don't like and why they do business with you. This data over time provides valuable feedback on how you can further improve the service you offer to your clients.
Stay tuned for the next five tips in the next article.
If you think your business performance could be better or you'd like some perspective about what's really taking place in your organisation, pick up the phone and contact us now to take advantage of our FREE initial consultation.
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