Want to Win 2014? Here are VI Tips that Will Help!
1. Develop An Annual Plan
Ideas don't mean anything if they remain stored in your head, and you can't measure success without goals. Write down your objectives for the year, develop a strategy for achieving them, then create tactics that will execute that strategy.
Solicit feedback from those who will be responsible for each of the tactics and assign feasible deadlines.
Having a written plan and holding yourself and others accountable will make your company unstoppable.
2. Focus On Profit Margins
Are you focused on selling products that return a high profit in dollars as opposed to profit percentages?
There's a big difference between the two, especially when you realize you can't take percentages to the bank.
3. Cultivate Your People
Is your team on board with the company's goals, philosophies, and culture? Make sure they understand their role in dominating your business category. Finally, give them tools and training that will make them better than they are today.
If they won't get on board, they don't understand their mission, or they aren't given the right tools, they can't help you too much.
4. Communicate Your Differentiation
Have you taken the time to clearly define your brand? Do you know what it is that makes your company different than others? Are you communicating that difference?
If you do, people will notice. If you don't, they'll forget about you. Give your employees, customers, and even vendors something to talk about and they'll become your best marketing ambassadors.
5. Live Your Brand
Everything you do and everything the customer sees must accurately represent your brand. When it doesn't, it often dilutes how others perceive your company. From tangible things like packaging, signage, and collateral materials to things you can't see like telephone greetings, customer service, and industry knowledge, you are giving your customer clues about your organization.
Take time to put yourself in your customers shoes and you might find that something small like a dirty bathroom may make the difference in them choosing another company over yours. Identify the things that don't properly reflect your brand and make changes. The small things that are a little off are likely the one's they will remember.
6. Love Your Customers
Your customers are the sole reason your business exists - a lot of companies have forgotten that. Make your customers feel important. Survey them regularly to identify things that could use improvement. And make sure they know that you are thankful for their business.
It's easier and far less expensive to market to your most loyal customers than to find new ones.
