Growing Your Profits - Getting Back to Basics!
I was writing this for someone and then I thought this could be of value to my readers and may even include it later in one of my newsletters.
There are 3 major ways to increase the income in your business
· Get more customers
· Increase the average spend per customer
· Increase the frequency of purchase
If you can improve each of these by 30% you will achieve a 119% increase in your income.
Added to that you can boost income by increasing prices.
Getting Focus -
Now take a piece of paper and divide it into 3 columns and head each column with one of the 3 ways mentioned above.
Now list down under each heading all the ways you can think of to achieve each goal. Ideally don’t stop till you have 20 ideas under each heading (don’t prejudge the idea, just write it down)
Now under each heading pick the best 3 ideas – ones that will give you the fastest and most profitable results.
Now you have a list of 9 things you can do immediately to make a difference to your business.
Now of the 9 pick 1 or 2 to implement immediately. Don’t try and do more.
Focus on implementation well. Focus on embedding the particular strategy as part of your permanent system.
Once it is embedded and working, move to the next most profitable idea and so on.
Become system focused. Constantly be thinking about how can I systemise what I am doing. Document. Automate. It is the system that will make you money.
Measure everything. Make numbers your friend. It will pay you handsomely. Set numbers based goals. Monitor, Review and adjust weekly.
This in itself will drive a performance improvement. What you measure gets improved just by measuring & adjusting.
Focus on building your database – this is the gold. Every contact/ phone enquiry get an email address & mobile number, to put into your database. Start building one step at a time.
Communicate regularly with your customers.
Establish a system so once a week/ fortnight on say a Thursday without fail a message goes out to your customers. Don’t stop. Just consistently communicate. This will pay big dividends. Yes it may seem boring but watch what happens over time.
Use different media – email, post cards, sms, direct mail, fax, voice broadcast, telephone.
Every message doesn’t have to be an offer – tell them about a product, service or simply why they should do business with you.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Facebook or Twitter will do this for you – it won’t. It is only a small part of your communications strategy.
Finally, make sure you make doing business with you fun!
If I can help please let me know.
Alistair
5 Tips to Choose a Sales and Marketing Consultant
“The 5 Must - Know Tips for Successfully Choosing a Sales and Marketing Consultant”
Tip No 1: Does your consultant undertake a front end diagnostic or marketing audit?
If your consultant does not suggest a front end marketing audit I recommend you keep looking for the right consultant.
How can anyone suggest making improvements in your business without sitting down to understand the existing processes, what is working, what can be improved and what should be cut out?
Without doing a “full medical” on your business how can a consultant customise a program that focuses on the needs of the business?
The “medical” is critical in quickly identifying areas where “quick wins” can be achieved and business profitability improved.
Tip No 2: What sort of support tools and processes does the consultant have to ensure he can deliver on the promises made?
To give you the best opportunity of improving your own marketing skills with the resultant increase in sales and profits, you need to be able to access a range of training and support tools.
Here is a quick check list of questions to ask to ensure the adequate tools and resources are available...
- What is the availability of the consultant?
- Is telephone and email support available?
- What sorts of manuals are provided?
- Are there any audio CDs or DVDs provided?
- Are you able to request additional coaching blocks?
- What sort of processes do you follow?
Tip No 3: What sort of training and experience does your consultant have?
Practical experience is always a good indicator as to whether a consultant can help you. Have they been there and done it themselves? What sort of clients have they had? Have they undergone any formal training? What sort of support do they receive? Are all good questions to ask?
Tip No 4: Does your consultant or coach offer you a performance guarantee?
The most important thing of in working with a customer is working hard to help the customer get the best results possible. Beware of any consultant who is not prepared to stand behind the services they offer with a solid performance guarantee.
Tip No 5: What sort of continuous learning does your consultant undertake to ensure they are up to date with the latest marketing ideas, trends and opportunities?
The business environment is in a state of rapid change and flux. Any consultant you are working with must be continually keeping up to date with the latest market trends, opportunities and marketing techniques.
You should enquire what courses and seminars have they been attending, what reading are they doing, what papers have they written and are they part of a mentor group.
