15 Powerful Ways to Grow Your Business This Year
by Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE
1. Notice more . Grow your awareness (of money, needs, expenses, what's coming, what's working, where gaps are...). Know where you stand.
2. Give more than you have to. Practice up-serving not just "up-selling," (exceed your customer's expectations). Grow your impact on customers. The quickest way to get a raise is to give your customers and your company a raise through your performance.
3. Grow your profit per sale/account. Provide more value to the customer at an even lower cost to your company. Customers are assets, invest in them constantly.
4. Grow your ability to deliver value. Increase your possibilities (available credit, experts, investors, colleagues, partners, advisors, connections and ways to connect). 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 (low inventory of materials, high availability to deliver, high inventory of sales to come). Stay financially light on your feet. Grow your savings and investments.
6. Grow your existing markets. Do more business with current customers and further penetrate each market.
7. Grow your image and market presence. Gain more share of mind. 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. Identify more qualified buyers.
9. Grow your inner circle (your closest contacts). Take extra good care of the primary people in your career. Help them grow. Acknowledge them often. They'll become even better resources for you.
10. Grow your virtual work force. Find talent that can expand your capabilities without increasing your payroll expenses. Form strategic alliances and connect with expert vendors and colleagues.
11. Grow new markets. Get outside your usual channels. Ask, "who else could benefit from what we do?" Expand your thinking.
12. Let others sell for you. Grow your referrals. Seek new testimonials and endorsements. Capture examples of how others have benefited from what you do.
13. Serve your community. Be a responsible citizen. Make the places where you live and work better because you and your business are there.
14. Grow your industry . Advance the craft in what you do. Join your industry association. Write articles, teach others, and support your profession.
15. Grow your caring, compassion and sensitivity . Become known as someone who genuinely cares about making a difference. If you don't care about others why should they care about or listen to you?
©2002 Jim Cathcart, Lake Sherwood, CA
Showing posts with label growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label growth. Show all posts
Monday, August 20, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Profitable Growth Is Everyone's Business
Profitable Growth Is Everyone's Business
"10 Tools You Can Use Monday Morning"By Ram Charan
The days of ruthless downsizing and drastic cost cutting are long gone. Nowadays, companies have realized that the best way to earn profit is only through growth – profitable growth. In this book, author Ram Charan provides 10 tools anyone can use to hurdle obstacles and achieve profitable growth.These tools are:
1. Revenue growth is everyone’s business, so make it part of everyone’s daily work routine.
2. Hit many singles and doubles, not just home runs.
3. Seek good growth and avoid bad growth.
4. Dispel the myths that inhibit both people and organizations from growing.
5. Turn the idea of productivity on its head by increasing revenue productivity.
6. Develop and implement a growth budget.
7. Beef up upstream marketing.
8. Understand how to do effective cross-selling (or value/solutions selling).
9. Create a social engine to accelerate revenue growth.
10. Operationalize innovation by converting ideas into revenue growth.
One of the most critical points discussed is the need for re-orientation of thinking. Most businessmen and executives think about growth as “home-runs” and more often than not disregard the “singles and doubles”. Managers often look forward to the big breakthrough or the grand new product without realizing that home runs don’t happen everywhere – sometimes, they don’t even happen in a decade.Instead of aiming for that one grand home run, aim for singles and doubles. This is a surer and more consistent path. Of course, it is important to note that while aiming for singles and doubles, one should not exclude home runs. These singles and doubles come from an in-depth analysis of ALL the fundamentals of a business.Another factor to be considered is the difference between good growth and bad growth. Managers should dispel the myth that growth in whatever form is a victory. Although growth (both good and bad) builds revenue, only good growth increases not only revenues but also improves profits and is sustainable over time.Bad growth, on the other hand, lowers shareholder value. Unwise mergers and acquisitions are examples of bad growth. Price cutting to gain market share without cutting costs can also be detrimental to your company’s health.Here are some questions that can help you diagnose whether or not you are part of a growth business:
1. What percentage of time and emotional energy does the management team routinely devote to revenue growth?
2. Are there just exhortations and talk about growth or is there actually follow through?
3. Do managers talk about growth only in terms of home runs? Do they understand the importance of singles and doubles for long-term, sustained organic growth?
4. How much of each management team member’s time is devoted to making effective visits with customers? Do they do more than listen and probe for information and then try to “connect the dots”?
5. Does the management team come into contact with the final user of your product?
6. Are people in the business clear about what the specific future sources of revenue growth will be? Do they know who is accountable?7. Would you characterize your company or business unit’s culture as cost cutting or growth oriented? If the answer is one or another you need to start doing both. Do people in leadership positions have the skill, orientation, and determination to grow revenues?
8. Does the company practice revenue productivity? Does it think through whether there are ways to more effectively use current resources to generate higher revenues?
9. How well does your sales force extract intelligence from customers and other players in the marketplace? How well is this information communicated and acted on by other parts of your organization, such as product development?
10. How good are the upstream marketing skills- that is, the ability to segment markets and identify consumer attributes- in your business?
"10 Tools You Can Use Monday Morning"By Ram Charan
The days of ruthless downsizing and drastic cost cutting are long gone. Nowadays, companies have realized that the best way to earn profit is only through growth – profitable growth. In this book, author Ram Charan provides 10 tools anyone can use to hurdle obstacles and achieve profitable growth.These tools are:
1. Revenue growth is everyone’s business, so make it part of everyone’s daily work routine.
2. Hit many singles and doubles, not just home runs.
3. Seek good growth and avoid bad growth.
4. Dispel the myths that inhibit both people and organizations from growing.
5. Turn the idea of productivity on its head by increasing revenue productivity.
6. Develop and implement a growth budget.
7. Beef up upstream marketing.
8. Understand how to do effective cross-selling (or value/solutions selling).
9. Create a social engine to accelerate revenue growth.
10. Operationalize innovation by converting ideas into revenue growth.
One of the most critical points discussed is the need for re-orientation of thinking. Most businessmen and executives think about growth as “home-runs” and more often than not disregard the “singles and doubles”. Managers often look forward to the big breakthrough or the grand new product without realizing that home runs don’t happen everywhere – sometimes, they don’t even happen in a decade.Instead of aiming for that one grand home run, aim for singles and doubles. This is a surer and more consistent path. Of course, it is important to note that while aiming for singles and doubles, one should not exclude home runs. These singles and doubles come from an in-depth analysis of ALL the fundamentals of a business.Another factor to be considered is the difference between good growth and bad growth. Managers should dispel the myth that growth in whatever form is a victory. Although growth (both good and bad) builds revenue, only good growth increases not only revenues but also improves profits and is sustainable over time.Bad growth, on the other hand, lowers shareholder value. Unwise mergers and acquisitions are examples of bad growth. Price cutting to gain market share without cutting costs can also be detrimental to your company’s health.Here are some questions that can help you diagnose whether or not you are part of a growth business:
1. What percentage of time and emotional energy does the management team routinely devote to revenue growth?
2. Are there just exhortations and talk about growth or is there actually follow through?
3. Do managers talk about growth only in terms of home runs? Do they understand the importance of singles and doubles for long-term, sustained organic growth?
4. How much of each management team member’s time is devoted to making effective visits with customers? Do they do more than listen and probe for information and then try to “connect the dots”?
5. Does the management team come into contact with the final user of your product?
6. Are people in the business clear about what the specific future sources of revenue growth will be? Do they know who is accountable?7. Would you characterize your company or business unit’s culture as cost cutting or growth oriented? If the answer is one or another you need to start doing both. Do people in leadership positions have the skill, orientation, and determination to grow revenues?
8. Does the company practice revenue productivity? Does it think through whether there are ways to more effectively use current resources to generate higher revenues?
9. How well does your sales force extract intelligence from customers and other players in the marketplace? How well is this information communicated and acted on by other parts of your organization, such as product development?
10. How good are the upstream marketing skills- that is, the ability to segment markets and identify consumer attributes- in your business?
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