Is your business in trouble? Do things seem desperate? Or are you simply in a stagnant funk?
What are you doing about it? Are you paralyzed in fear and/or over analyzing everything and as a result, taking action on nothing?
Here are a few things to think about that might help give your mindset, energy level, staff and business mindset a jolt and get you unstuck:
One: Of the people currently on your staff, who would you rehire in an instant? Are any of them taking on new, more important responsibilities – even if not asked to? If not, why aren’t you helping them grow and become more valuable to your business? What makes them standout as rehireable? Include that in whatever paperwork, notes, process you use during interviews as something to look for.
Two: Of the people currently on your staff, who would you hesitate to rehire? Have you bothered to extend the courtesy of counseling them? Talked with them about whatever it is that bothers you about their work? Warned them that they aren’t fulfilling your needs/hopes for them? Training them to do better? Finding them a different position that lets them earn their keep? If not, why aren’t you helping them grow and become valuable to you?
Three: If you bought the business today, what would you change immediately, or have the seller change before closing? Why aren’t you doing those things? It’s *after closing*. You already own the business.
Four: If you listed the business for sale, what would you change (that you can change) before letting an agent or prospect review your business, processes and financials? Why aren’t you already doing that? You’re the person who buys that business every day.
Five: What kind of attitude are you broadcasting to your customers and your staff? This is not the time for Debbie Downer. If you have a confidence problem, there’s little doubt your staff has detected it, if not begun mirroring it. Is that what you want your staff’s co-workers to see? Is that what you want your customers to see?
Six: Have you picked up the phone lately? How do your customers feel about your products, services, company, staff? Ask them what you can improve then take steps to deal with those things and provide feedback to your customers. What one will share with you is likely what 10 or 100 others are thinking but won’t share. Yes, common sense, but when did you last see an overabundance of it?
Seven: Where possible, have a conversation face to face or on the phone with your customer. What can you do to improve right away? What ticks them off? What opportunities do they think you aren’t addressing? What causes them to lose sleep?
Eight: Talk to your people. Ask them what they’d do if they were you. Doesn’t mean you have to obey to the letter, but you’ll learn from their angle on the issues they see and hear.
Nine: When you lose a sale, do you blame the customer, your sales team or the competitor? What’s the real reason you lose sales to a competitor? Are you doing anything at all about those problems? If so, are you communicating the changes you’re making?
Ten: What are you learning from customer service experiences? There’s gold there in new ideas, processes and saving future sales.
It’s all common sense stuff, but it’s what gets ignored/forgotten every single day.
Now, Go Do It
So where do you start with a list like that? Some are one time or intermittent tasks, others are daily efforts. It would be far too easy to fall back into the habit of not paying attention to these things and get sucked back into your funk.
What works for me is to schedule them as if they were an appointment. Make them a part of your daily, weekly or monthly schedule as appropriate. Put them in your paper calendar, daily todo list, smartphone reminders or whatever you actually pay attention to.
This only works if you work off of your calendar as I do. If you’re a ToDo list person or work using some other pattern or management system, figure out how to work the execution of these things into your day, week etc.
Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a strategic, operations or marketing problem? See Mark’s site, contact him on Twitter, or email him at [email protected].