The New Year is upon us. It’s the traditional time to make 2012 goals and resolutions for your businesses. Here’s the secret for adding staying power to your business resolutions so you grow your business in the process. Enjoy and have a great New Year’s holiday celebrations.
The Secret for Adding Sticking Power to Your Business Resolutions
If you are like me, a new year brings dreams of a fresh start for your small business. Hopes abound for the New Year. But, in the back of your mind, you may remember your past resolutions, resolutions which were swallowed up in the bus-i-ness of daily life. By February, you have already moved on, with January’s resolutions only a vague memory.
Here’s the secret for making your business resolutions last longer than the end of January!
Instead of making your resolutions from a business owner perspective, make your resolutions from a customer perspective. By focusing on your customer’s interest, you give a new purpose to your business resolutions. You give your resolutions more power and more opportunity to grow your business!
Follow this three step process.
Step One—Go with Three Customer Winners
“Go with the Winners.” Create a list of ten customer successes you had in 2011. These could be customer sales on a particular product; lead generation successes; selling model successes; customer follow up processes; different product or service offerings. These winners could be a more customer friendly website or an internal process that made it easier for customers to buy or buy more often from you.
If you are having difficulty identifying these customer winners, focus on areas where customers made nice comments about your business; places where they sang your praises; activities or areas where customers delighted with your business efforts.
Now take three of these winners and do them again in 2012. They were customer winners in 2011; you can make these winners again in 2012. Create a simple plan. The plan should include:
- What you are going to do
- How you are going to do it
- When are you going to do it
Write it down.
Step Two–Drop Three Customer Losers
Every business has losers. You have losers. What customer related activities cost you money, lost time,or cost your customers in 2011? Make a list of ten customer loser activities.
Dropping losers is hard. You may have sacred cows you are afraid of dropping. If you need 
courage to drop a loser, remember your customer perspective. If it wasn’t a winner for them, why do you want to keep it? Besides, if you don’t eliminate the losers from your business, there will be no room for more winners.
If you are unsure about what losers to drop, ask yourself what are your customer’s biggest complaints? Where did they express disappointments? Where did they say you could do better?
Like the process you used for the winners, pick your top three customer losers and create a simple plan that includes:
- What you are going to do
- How you are going to do it
- When are you going to do it
Write it down.
Step Three–One Customer Innovation
Small businesses face the danger of doing just what you did last year or doing what all the other businesses in your industry are doing. This is a form of incest. Over time, this weakens your “business stock” and hurts your growth.
Just as you need to stretch your physical muscles, (you know the resolution you made about going to the gym three times a week), you need to stretch your business muscles if you want to grow and develop.
Pick one area that will stretch your business. This could be a financial stretch, a time or energy stretch. You could create a new product, improve a product or service, or provide new operating procedures that make it easier for customers to buy.
If you are having a difficult time deciding what to do, take your clue from your customers. What innovation addresses a customer’s benefit? By using customer benefits as your criteria for an innovation, you will grow your business in the right direction.
Now create a plan. What you are going to innovative, how you are going to get this accomplished, and when will you do it? Write it down and post it where you can see it every day.
Conclusion
Looking at last year’s business winners and losers from a customer’s perspective will give you more sticking power with your 2012 resolutions. You begin to realize these resolutions are not some internal agreement you made in your head–with yourself. The resolutions become a commitment to your customers. Every day you must respond to your customer commitments. Complete this exercise and find how to make your business resolutions stick long after January. And watch your business grow!
Now its your turn. What ways do you find helpful in creating your business resolutions? Share your thoughts in the Reply Section below. Thank you.
