Everyone faces challenges in their business, everyday. Sales, staff, time, planning, management, accounting, growth, marketing, strategic direction; the list goes on and on.
However, the challenge that rests at the root of all the challenges small business owners and entrepreneurs face is easy to identify and fix.
That challenge is consistency and its power is generally overlooked.
. . . If you contact and follow up with clients faithfully, they will reward you with more business.
. . . If you reach out to 10 new prospects every business day, your sales pipeline will never go dry.
. . . If you send out 50 greeting cards a week to a list of people who mirror your best existing clients, you’ll find new prospects who are interested in your products or services every month.
Consistency leads to success because it is predictable. Action A leads to result B, which in the end is your desired result.
The problem is, staying consistent can be difficult. The main reason can be summed up in one word -- distractions.
Handle distractions by following a plan.
Reacting to the events of the day will lead to greater problems.
You don’t follow up with clients faithfully; so you wonder why people only do business with you once or twice; never for the long haul.
You have no plan in place to make new sales contacts. You hope that you’ll meet someone at networking or through referrals alone. You wonder why it’s so hard to keep your sales pipeline full of qualified people.
You think mailing is a waste of time, so you don’t do it.
Any area where procrastination or doubt plagues your business is where profit is slipping out the door.
What can you do now to reverse the trend of inconsistency?
1. Get a plan together and follow it every day. Make sure it realistically reflects your available time and business goals. Simple.olgy is a big help in learning how to take a straight line approach to reach your true desires.
2. Do one small thing every day to grow your business and revenues. 90 Minute Time Manager shows you how to break overwhelming tasks into small, easy-to-manage steps.
3. Take sales seriously. The most successful companies agree that a direct sales effort is the # 1 way to generate more revenue. When you develop a winning sales process you’ll know what to do every day to grow your business.
Try the ideas mentioned this week and see what you think. You have consistency and greater revenues to gain. And stress, fear, doubt and worry to lose.
