Recently when I was invited to sit on a panel to discuss the best ways to grow a business, I accepted with alacrity. The opportunity to share my knowledge and promote my upcoming seminar was not something I was going to miss.
Look out! By the time my turn came to speak I swore I was invited to discuss something like "pneumono ultra microscopic silico volcano coniosis" which incidentally is a disease that is caused by inhaling a bacterium that lives inside silicon vapor.
Now come on gentlemen! Growing a business cannot be such a difficult thing, just look at the number of growing, successful businesses across the earth and in cyber space of all shapes and sizes.
When you really get down to it, there are only four ways to effectively grow your business. Yeah, and I don't care what the leading economists or accountants tell you.
My position comes from loads of trial and error but committing myself to learning from what works and what doesn't, equally. It comes from using these four strategies in my businesses and helping my clients to use them and watching our businesses grow. It's a blueprint that works.
So what are these four ways to grow your business? I will tell you in 21 words from here but before I do, write down what you think they are and then compare your answer with mine. Ready? Here goes:
1. Increase the number of customers/clients. At first glance this appears to be obvious but the essence of this approach is to not just concentrate on increasing the numbers but to attract the right type. This is especially important if you're providing services. For example, my ideal client is that wonderful confluence of what I love to do, who has a problem that I can use what I love doing to help them solve and their willingness to invest to get a solution. I have even devised a system to increase the rate at which I consistently find this client.
2. Increase the frequency that they buy from you. When you have identified your ideal customer/client and you have devised the many strategies that you will use to attract them to you, now you have to encourage them to buy from you more often. I do this by not letting my clients forget that I am in business with the sole purpose of serving them and I reward them for their support. This creates a loop that keeps me at the top of their minds and keeps them at the top of my bottom line.
3. Increase the $$ value of every sale you make. This does not mean forcing your clients to buy products and services that they do not want or need. Rather, it means developing the relationships with your clients/customers that help you to truly understand their needs and continuously satisfy them. It requires you to anticipate the pressure points in their business or industry even before they do and have solutions at your finger tips when they come for them. This creates a strong bond of trust that just opens their hearts and of course their pockets.
4. Increase the effectiveness of your business by delivering your products or services through reliable and consistent systems. I am still surprised at how many small business owners just don't (want to) get this (yawn). Look, customer service is NOT an activity, it's a process. A process can be described in part as a sequence of interdependent and linked procedures and systems which, at every stage, use up one or more resource to convert inputs into outputs.
While it's too involved to discuss here, once you understand this, you will be forced to really investigate and decide which systems you have to implement to allow your customers to access your services in the most cost efficient, fair and pleasurable manner.
So there you have it, the four effective ways to grow your business. If "increase sales" was part of your answer, please do not begin arguing with me because if you check you will see that above, 1+2+3=increased sales.
Now go and apply these steps to your business and celebrate the growth!
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