Excerpted from “Helping People Grow”
by Jim Cathcart
This checklist for growth contains ten powerful ideas, any one of which could revolutionize your business results. As you explore each one, take time to answer the questions in writing and to discuss your ideas with others. In fact, you may wish to make this a special group discussion exercise.
1. Notice More
The first requirement for growth is to pay attention to everything. Grow your awareness of what is working and what is not. Notice where your revenue comes from best. Notice what needs keep coming up month after month. Notice which people come to you for help and what kind of help they are seeking. Notice the changes in what people are doing well and not doing well. Know where you stand in as many areas as possible.
2. Give More Than You Have To
Tipping is not just a good idea for a restaurant. Tip everywhere through your behavior, rather than your money. Practice Up-Serving not just “up- selling,” (exceed your customer’s expectations.) Grow your impact on customers by doing things for them which exceed the requirements of the contract or agreement. The quickest way to get a raise or an extra sale is to give your customers and your company a raise through your performance.
3. Grow Your Profit per Sale/Account
Thoroughly analyze each account and each sale for awhile to find ways to improve the margins. See how you can reduce costs without sacrificing quality. Get creative. Provide more value to the customer at an even lower cost to your company. Get into the habit of suggesting additional products and services every time. Customers are assets, invest in them constantly.
4. Grow Your Ability to Deliver Value
Increase your possibilities (more available credit, experts on tap, investors you can turn to, colleagues to collaborate with, partners who increase your capabilities, advisors who stretch your thinking, more connections and better ways to connect with them.) The better you prepare for bigger things, the more likely they will be to occur. Grow your technology. The better your tools, the better your results. Seek resources which can speed or refine your ability to deliver value.
5. Grow Your Freedom and Flexibility
(keep a low inventory of materials, high availability to deliver value, and a high inventory of sales to come.) Reduce your debt. Stay financially light on your feet. Grow your savings and investments. Do things before they have to be done. Free up your time and energy to allow you to focus on growth.
6. Grow Your Existing Markets
Determine where most of your business is coming from. Explore other dimensions of the market with which you don’t do as much business. Do more business with current customers and further penetrate each market. Read the industry magazines for each of your markets. Interview the influential people in that field.
7. Grow Your Image and Market Presence
Gain more share of mind. Take an active role in leading the industry. Write articles, serve on committees. Become known as a subject expert in your field. Offer tips and suggestions to help others advance toward their own goals. Improve and enhance your reputation as a true professional.
8. Grow Your Pipeline
Build a larger and better reservoir of future customers. Do next year’s prospecting now. Think as if you were preparing for a major sales contest. Build up your inventory of qualified prospects so that you can “hit the ground running” when the contest starts. Have more people to call on than you have time to reach them. Send some direct mail or email promotions. Generate interest. Include response cards with qualifying questions on them.
9. Grow New Markets
Get outside your usual channels. Ask, “who else could benefit from what we do?” or “what other industries and professions have needs similar to this?” Take a look at your best accounts and see who they do business with. Some of the world’s greatest breakthroughs were simply the application of an existing product to a new use. For example: selling baking soda as a refrigerator freshener, or applying the concept of skateboards to skiing to create “snowboarding”. Expand your thinking.
10. Let Others Sell for You
Teach others to represent you. Tell them what you do, show them the value you provide. Tell them what questions to ask and how to reach you easily. Offer incentives and thank you rewards for new business. Tell stories of how others have helped you find a new client or make a new sale. Grow your referrals. Seek new testimonials and endorsements. Capture examples of how others have benefited from what you do. Set specific goals of, say, 100 new endorsements or 50 referrals by the end of the quarter. Multiply your capabilities through other.
Chris’ combination of academic credentials, career experience and temperament ideally suit his calling as a business development advisor. Clients say he has a mind for business and a heart for service.