Great news – the economy is on a roll.
For most businesses and owners, it seems like they can do no wrong. There are more opportunities than many can handle.
Therein lies the “rub”.
Everyone who has been in business for more than 5 years knows this won’t last. In fact, the rumblings on the street are that we have maybe 6 months to 18 months left in this good economy, and then the sloppy and the lazy are going to get killed.
We have all experienced the sloppiness and laziness anytime we walk into too many businesses or call on the phone. Too many businesses are beginning to believe they are “gods” and can do no wrong.
Yikes! The reckoning is a-coming folks.
One of the first places bad business practices raises their ugly head and we see the first signs of “slop”, is on the phone and it’s the easiest to fix. Poor communications skills, no follow-up and follow-through, less than stellar attitude, poorly educated on the culture, immutable principles, and Unique Selling Proposition [USP] of the business are all the first places to look.
Another area of slop that is getting overlooked is marketing. Cultivating and nurturing relationships with existing customers and especially with your best ones – the 20% that are generating 80% of your revenue, profits and cash flow.
When the economy is good and it appears you have more customers than you can handle, it can be hard to focus on the Wildly Important.
Your existing clients are your very, very best source of growing and stabilizing your business.
Those who are going to not only survive the next downturn but actually grow, expand and take market share, are the ones who are proactive now in creating and nurturing trusting relationships with their very best, ideal clients.
There are 3 main ways to increase sales and profits in any business:
- Acquire more new customers to buy from you.
- Increase the amount of money your customers spend each time they buy from you.
- Get you customers to buy from you more often.
Most businesses, small and large, spend the majority of their time, effort and money focused on number 1: getting more customers.
Just adding more customers is rarely the best strategy.
But by implementing 80/20 sales and marketing you will avoid the mistakes your competitors are making in this great economy and besides there is far more money to be made with far less time, effort and expense by focusing on numbers 2 & 3: increasing the amount of money your customers spend and getting them to buy more often and the best and easiest way is with your existing BEST clients.