PLEASE CALL US:
Toll Free: 1-866-821-5090

The Secret's In The System: Tips To Keep Your Business On The Path To Success

Article by Speaker Fran Harris. Find out more about Fran.

Every business is made up of systems whether the owner realizes it or not. Those systems are engineered for certain results. All of which are interrelated. All affect the others. An organization can have an outstanding Human Resources system, a faulty operational system and have difficulty staying in business. Think of your business as a car. It has all the parts but if all parts and systems aren’t optimized, the car will never perform to its potential.

My clients range from start-ups to multi-million dollar companies. And my quick appraisal of most of their systems when I first meet this is simple: they are operating significantly below their potential. What about you and your company? Are you fully optimized or are you puttering along like a car with bad gasoline in it?

Here’s a four-point check system that will provide insights into the health of your company’s systems.

Branding
What does your brand stand for? Are customers or potential customers clear on what they’re getting when they buy from you or do business with you? Optimizing this system makes the marketing of the brand much easier. Think about some of the most potent brands in the marketplace and you’ll realize that they have crystal clear brand identity. When you think of Starbucks what comes to mind? Green, music, friendly baristas, a hip place to hang out? When you think of Coca Cola what do you think of? Tradition, a leader among soft drinks, right? It’s the same with you and your brand. Part of your job as an entrepreneur is to build a brand that delivers a promise to your customers over and over. This promise is demonstrated in the quality of your product or service but it’s also communicated through many outlets including your collateral marketing materials, logo, and websites.

Marketing
The engine, the lifeline of every business. As a starting point, I recommend that my clients get used to the idea of spending a dime for every dollar of revenues. So, if your company’s a $300,000 company, the least you should be spending is $30,000 – or 10% of revenues. These are my rules and they work – not because I say so but because they equate to smart, sound business principles of investing in your business. I’ve found that when entrepreneurs make a commitment to marketing that they almost always exceed the income or revenue projects we set forth in the marketing and business plan.

Sales
Have you taken the time to evaluate your sales model? Is it reactive or proactive? If the incoming calls stopped, would your business survive? You can’t expect to go from $10,000 to $$50,000 if your sales model is built to bring in $10,000. Too many entrepreneurs think they can double or triple their business just by doubling their efforts or bringing in more salespeople but it’s not always that simple. Sometimes, a 50% increase in business can result with a tweak of your sales system, which might mean that you need to extend your sales hours or improve your closing techniques, or even uncover hidden revenue streams that have been dormant.

Communication
Let’s say you have a list of 1,000 subscribers. Great, right? You know what would be better? A list of 1,000 “customers”? The power is in the list, yet most entrepreneurs have no idea how to convert subscribers into customers. One of my clients was sending out emails to her list of over 400 folks and only .02% was opening them. Why? Because she was sending them in HTML and most of them were getting bounced! She was missing out on a huge opportunity to convert her subscribers into loyal and satisfied customers. I recommended that we conduct a test and send out “text only” emails, Guess what? Her “open” ratio skyrocketed. See what I mean? The secret’s in the system!

Copyright © Fran Harris, All Rights Reserved