Build your email list

August 8, 2018

emailIf you’ve been following along, we’ve been talking about some marketing resolutions to help you get a jumpstart on your 2019 marketing plan – email, reviews, video, etc. Over the next few posts, I’m going to tackle these suggested resolutions one by one and help you map out how you can crush each one in 2019.

In case you missed it, the resolutions were:

  • Build your email list
  • Work on earning great reviews
  • Produce more videos/build a YouTube channel
  • Do less but do it better

Today we’re going to tackle building your email list. Having a strong email list is vital for your business. It’s an asset that you own, and you control. Very few platforms convert more consistently and continuously than effective email campaigns.

Email allows you to target sub-sections of your list, be personal in your delivery and really take advantage of the one to one medium. But before you can take full advantage of your email list – you need to have one.

Make your content something they actually look forward to receiving. While that seems obvious, very few organizations deliver on it consistently. Your content can’t be about you, your team, your special sale or some award you’ve just won. It has to contain ideas or resources that they can learn from, use or share.

Offer different types of subscriptions. Create different resources for different audiences. Help them self-select what insights would be most valuable to them and serve it without the content they don’t care about. You might also offer a variety of frequencies. One person may prefer a monthly communication while another would rather get it in bite-sized pieces every week.

Create free tools, resources or guides that you can trade for email addresses. The key to this strategy is that there has to be a lot of meat on the bone. You can’t earn your prospect’s trust if you skimp on this kind of content.

Create links to capture email addresses throughout your website. Don’t just count on your “sign up for our newsletter” button on your home page. Pepper opportunities for people to join your email list on a variety of pages. Serve up different offers based on each page’s subject matter.

Use other platforms to promote your content. Email may be one of the most effective platforms, but that doesn’t mean the other platforms should be ignored. When you’ve gone to the effort of creating something that is really noteworthy – share it out. Create a private Facebook group or Pinterest board to woo prospects to get a little closer. After they see that you’re focused on adding value to their world – invite them to partake in some of your gated content.

Don’t forget offline events and activities. While we live in a digital world, there’s still plenty of analog activity that allows you to connect with people and identify common interests and needs. As you work your way through networking events, trade shows, conferences and all the other places you bump into people you can help – make those connections. After you nurture those relationships, extend the invitation to join your list so they can get even more of your goodness.

Focus on the two parallel goals in terms of your list. Grow it in quantity and also grow it in terms of engagement. You want people to reply, share, and come to rely on your regular communications. Calendar your communications, so you stay consistent and invest the right amount of time and resources, so you are always serving up something worth getting excited about, from your audience’s perspective.

That’s step one to a very successful 2019.

Next, we’ll tackle the second resolution – getting reviews from your raving fans so you can attract more raving fans!

 

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Convenience is in the eye of the beholder

May 16, 2018

convenienceI have a message for you from your customers. This is something they want you to know: “I don’t really care how you would like me to communicate with you. I want you to offer me the choice so we can communicate according to my needs. Don’t make me call you. Don’t make me visit your website. Don’t make me send a carrier pigeon. Don’t ask me to make it easy for you. I’m giving you my business so I need you to tailor your communication channels to the way I want to work with you.” Seems simple enough, doesn’t it? And yet most businesses still define how their clients can access them. We create convenience but the truth is – it’s based on what is convenient for us.

I have a friend who was communicating with his bank through the bank app’s chat function.  As he was wrapping up the chat, the representative told him that he would need to call the toll free number to accomplish his task.  He asked the person he was already dealing with “Can’t you just call me so that I don’t have to start all over again with someone new?” The bank’s rep told him he could not because their chat application is on a different system than their voice system.  Bottom line – the customer had to be inconvenienced and frustrated because the bank’s system was dictating how he had to communicate.

A new era of consumer expectations is here and we need to be ready for them. They are more informed and connected. They fully expect to be in complete control when making purchase decisions. How many times do you see people walking through the aisles of a store with a hand-held device so they can comparison shop, check out product reviews and reach out to their social media connections for recommendations in real time?

Having multiple ways for people to contact you (multi-channel) isn’t enough anymore. What your consumers want is the ability to shift seamlessly from channel to channel (omni-channel) without having to repeat themselves at every turn.

Even if you don’t sell a single thing online and don’t list any of your prices on your website – understand how this impacts you. The retail experience is defining what is possible and very soon, B-to-B consumers are going to expect the same seamless transition from channel to channel. Convenience is king.

Don’t think this is something you can ignore based on how you sell. Omni-channel is much more than sales. It is also about delighting your customers in person, connecting seamlessly between in-person conversations via social, mobile and the web on how they want to communicate.

While price will always be a factor, the currency you really need to be mindful of is your client’s time and convenience. If it’s a hassle to communicate with you, it’s just too easy to take for them to take their business elsewhere. According to a recent report from Oracle, customers aren’t giving us much of a grace period before they go to our competitor. The report said that as many as 89% of consumers will begin doing business with a competitor after one poor customer experience and even worse – they will not grant the offending business an opportunity to redeem themselves.

Your first step – ask. Ask your customers how they want to communicate with you. For many businesses, just evolving to a multi-channel solution that allows your clients to define how and when they want to talk to you is a good first step. As you develop your multi-channel solutions, be mindful of the evolution to omni-channel so you can build in the functionality as you take those first baby steps.

 

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Do your actions match your words?

May 2, 2018

actionsMost organizations talk a good game but just like with people, our non-verbal cues or actions often tell the real story. We are out there, creating content, advertising, encouraging word of mouth referrals, running specials or inviting prospects to let us give them a free assessment – but do we really want their business?

What does our “body” say? Do you signal that you’re really ready to welcome new clients or does your behavior suggest something different? Let me give you a concrete example.

Our clients take me all over the country which means I am on a lot of planes. I fly in and out of the DSM airport over 100 times a year. They are always advertising that it’s better to fly out of DSM than drive to another airport. They have signage up, telling us how glad they are to serve us. They chase after the airlines to either start flying (Southwest) or add routes (all the others).

So if we just pay attention to their words – they want to provide excellent service to even more Central Iowa travelers and they want to cater to the frequent business traveler.

But their body language says something else.

  1. It’s almost impossible to try to use their long-term parking garage without it being full or half of it being shut down for repairs. The last two times I flew, one of the towers/elevators was down which meant people had to lug their luggage to the tower at the other end of the parking ramp.
  2. The shops and restaurants are understaffed and slow. If anything, they keep reducing menus options and shopping choices, not adding to them.
  3. The TSA pre-check line is rarely staffed which means there’s no advantage to having pre-check. Yes, you stand in a different line, but it is serviced by the same agent that the other line is – you just take turns. Don’t get me wrong, taking turns is fine but don’t promise expedited service if you can’t deliver on it.

I’m sure there’s a rational explanation for every one of their choices – but marketing and customer service isn’t rational. When we feel someone’s indifference – even if it’s justified in their mind, the marketing words seem almost insulting, don’t they? It’s like they’re playing us for fools.

Actions speak much louder than any marketing message ever could. How you treat a customer trumps how you talk to a customer.

Does your organization’s body language match your marketing words?

How responsive are you? Do you have a response mechanism (comment box, contact us, social media links) on your website? Do you monitor it? How quickly do you respond? Who handles those responses and how equipped are they to answer the questions being posed?

When someone tweets you or leaves a review – do you even see it? Do you respond, even if the review is not favorable?

If you haven’t tested your team’s responsiveness lately – it’s probably overdue.

Do you make it easy? Remember that today our most precious and scarce resource is our time. People aren’t multitasking; they’re hyper-juggling. And when you inconvenience a customer, limit their access to those conveniences, or miss a deadline — it’s actually worse. It’s like mean teasing. People don’t miss what you never offer or don’t have, but they notice very quickly when you promise easy or on-time and then make it difficult or late.

Do an audit. Ask your team – how do we bend over backward to make working with us easy and convenient? How could we be even better and before you promise it – make sure you can sustain it.

There’s no better marketing spend than over-servicing your current customers. Start with your actions and you won’t have to say a word.

 

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Your Organization’s Mark

April 25, 2018

MarkIn marketing terms, an organization’s trademark, or “mark,” is any word, phrase, symbol, design, sound, smell, color, or combination of these, used by a company to identify its products or services, and distinguish them from products and services provided by others.

We’ve talked many times about the importance of having a unique mark and protecting it both legally and by using it wisely. It’s one of the most valuable and important assets your company has.

But that’s not the kind of mark I want to talk about this week. I want to turn your attention to a much grander, broader mark. I’m talking about the mark that your organization is leaving on your community. When we think about companies that have helped shape Des Moines, we can’t help but point to the Principals, Merediths, and Wellmarks of our world, whose civic-mindedness has changed the landscape of our shared community.

For every company the size of those giants, there are hundreds of businesses with a handful of employees. Normally those companies fly under the radar because it’s assumed they can’t possibly have that kind of impact. I want to challenge that belief. Whether you are a solopreneur, have fewer than 20 employees or maybe have a few hundred people who work in your organization – you can leave your mark.

Think I’m crazy? I offer my small agency as an example. I’m very proud of the work we do for clients across the country. We help them connect with their best-fit prospects and create lasting relationships with their customers. But honestly, that’s just us doing our job and what we get paid to do. Important – yes. Our legacy in this community? No.

20+ years ago, we were part of the team that conceived, created and launched Jolly Holiday Lights for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and 10+ years ago, we conceived, created and launched the YESS Duck Derby for Youth Emergency Services & Shelter of Iowa.

These events raise a combined $500,000+ a year for those organizations. They are the largest fundraiser for each of them and they have become a significant part of their brand, their connection to the community and help them serve more children every year.

That’s our true mark. We used our best resources to change our community for the better and hopefully those non-profits will live on for many, many years, caring for the children who need their help.

My point is this – if we can do it, so can you. Lest you think I’ve forgotten that this is all about marketing, let me connect the dots. Being an organization that changes the course of your community is good for business. Here are some of the ways it translates to your bottom line.

Brand building: No doubt, being perceived as a company who serves the community is a powerful way to generate awareness, respect, and appreciation for your brand.

Employee attraction: Today’s employees want to work for an organization that has a greater purpose than just making a profit. They want a company with a connection to the community and a conscience.

Tip the scales: If a prospect is trying to decide between you and your competitor and one of you is known for doing something special for your shared community – who do you think will get the nod. No doubt you have to be good at what you do and fairly priced, etc. But being a good corporate citizen may just be what gets you the nod.

I challenge you because this doesn’t happen by accident. What mark will you leave on this community?

 

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A bird in the hand

April 18, 2018

bird in the handShort of your employees, there is no one more important to your business than your current customers. We give this incredible lip service but our actions suggest we don’t actually believe it. Think you’re different – check your marketing budget. What percentage of it is spent on your own bird in the hand – your existing clients?

There’s a level of excitement in chasing after and winning a new customer. I get it — the thrill of the hunt and all that. In many organizations, that’s where the emphasis and rewards are loaded so it makes sense that for many of us, it’s where we gravitate. But whether you own the business or are just responsible for it hitting its marketing and sales metrics – if you want to exceed the goals, focus on the people who have already demonstrated that they’re willing to give you money. It turns out they’re the most likely ones to give you even more.

Consider these facts from both a Forrester Research study and a Harvard Business Review research project:

  • Acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than satisfying and retaining current customers
  • A 2 percent increase in customer retention has the same effect as cutting costs by 10 percent
  • A 5 percent reduction in client defection can increase profits by 25-125 percent (industry specific but seriously – 25% is the low end!)
  • On average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their initial purchase
  • The cost of bringing a new customer to the same level of profitability as a lost one is up to 16 times more

As companies ramp up their business development efforts sometimes their best customers feel a little less special. After all, you’re investing all of your time and energy into catching someone else’s eye even though they’ve been loyal to you for some time. When I review an organization’s marketing plan, if their current customers appear at all, they’re almost always an afterthought or certainly occupy the smallest portion of the budget. Given their importance – that seems a bit off.

Here are some ways you can make those valuable clients feel valued.

Listen when they complain: Whether it’s in person, over the phone or on a review site, when your client airs an issue – listen and learn. It’s easy to dismiss a complaint as an aberration or someone having a bad day. Don’t make that mistake. Ask a couple questions. Acknowledge your mistakes if you see the truth in their feedback and ask for an opportunity to re-earn their trust. Make them feel heard.

Give them exclusivity: The more of your smarts and insights you share with the world at large, the more you should offer your clients something you don’t give to anyone else. Hold a client-only event, create a special ebook or do something like what we do at McLellan Marketing Group – create a holiday that honors them every year. MMG’s “Who Loves Ya Baby Day” is one of our favorite days of the year.

Ask for their opinions: Don’t wait for them to speak up. Regularly solicit their feedback on your product/services, how you service them, what else you might be able to offer them that would be valuable to them. Promise to report back what you learn from the inquiry and how you’re going to change because of the input. Then, make sure you do both. Show them you will respond and they will keep helping you get better.

Your current clients helped you get to the level of success you enjoy today. They’ve earned your loyalty and attention. Don’t overlook this bird in the hand.  Serve them well and they will help you create even more success down the road.

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Are you building a community?

April 11, 2018

communityLast year, I spent a weekend with my daughter and her boyfriend at a Supernatural Convention in Chicago. If you’re not familiar with the TV show Supernatural it’s in its 13th season, largely due to the huge fan base that it has built and how vocal they are about the show and its very existence. Its parent network, CW, has been close to pulling the plug more than once in its thirteen seasons but the Supernatural community rallies and puts an end to the discussion.

Beyond just watching the show, over the timespan of three years, a small team of fans documented the power of the Supernatural fandom. They raised over $100,000 on indiegogo.com to create a 90-minute documentary on the phenomenon.

We just went because we all like the show and thought it would be fun to interact with the cast. I had no idea how huge all of this was until we experienced it first hand.

What started as a weekend lark turned out to be a crash course in creating rabid fans and a community that keeps the business end of the Supernatural franchise humming. I believe that one of the key marketing strategies that organizations need to understand, embrace and consciously invest in is that very thing – creating a fan base or community that is your foundation and strongest platform for amplifying your message.

Here’s how the Supernatural team built their community. There’s plenty of ideas for all of us to steal in their recipe.

Create an exclusive club: Everyone is not going to love you or what you sell. Don’t worry about them. Focus on the people who do. Make them feel special by inviting them to private events, sharing some secrets with them and by restricting access to only the best of the best.

So many businesses invest all of their time and money chasing after the unknown. Instead, identify the customers who deliver your most consistent and profitable sales. Who loves you the most? How can you make them feel special?

Give them access: One of the hallmarks of the Supernatural phenomenon is the amazing access the fans have to the stars of the show. At the conventions, they’re hanging around, joking with fans, posing for photos and appearing in casual Q&A sessions from the stage. They’re also active on social media, sharing fan’s tweets and posts and responding to questions and commentary.

How accessible are your leaders? Can your best customers reach them directly? Do they candidly connect with your most important audiences? Do they do it in an authentic way?

Create traditions that inspire emotional connections: One of the most impressive elements at the Supernatural convention was how they’d built some cornerstone traditions, like a Saturday night concert with the show’s stars, into the event. The convention veterans couldn’t imagine missing it and the newbies were hungry to experience it.

What traditions do your customers look forward to sharing with you year after year? If you don’t have any – maybe it’s time to create one. It could be a client only event or an annual charitable activity like working on a Habitat home that you invite them to share with you.

One of the mental shifts we all need to make when it comes to thinking about our customers is that they aren’t customers, they’re fans and the way our business survives is to grow and deepen the connection to our fan base.

Identifying, empowering and celebrating your biggest fans isn’t just fun, it’s a marketing 2018 necessity. Given the power and voice of our customers today, we can’t afford not to make sure they have plenty of good things to say.

 

 

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The Like Element

April 4, 2018

LikeWe’ve talked several times about the concept that no one buys anything until they know, like and trust the company who is doing the selling. If you aren’t on their radar screen, they can’t possibly know you exist. So marketing’s first job is to identify the right audience and put us in front of them on a consistent basis until we get noticed.

Of course, getting noticed isn’t enough. Once you have their attention, you need to do something remarkable, given how many people are trying to earn their attention. You have to be relevant. And not just once — but on a regular basis. You have to matter to them long before they understand that you can help them solve a problem or achieve a goal.

This week, I want to focus on that middle phase – the like element. Our likeability is completely within our control and yet, I don’t think most businesses or marketing/sales people consciously think about how they can earn that reaction from someone. We also probably don’t give enough thought to how we taint or damage that reaction without meaning to do so.

How do we increase our likeability?

Walk a mile in their shoes: The more you can demonstrate that you understand their struggles, worries, hopes, fears, and desires – the more you can connect with them. This, by the way, does not mean asking them the irritating questions that feel canned and insincere like, “what keeps you up at night?” It’s about truly understanding it because, as best as you can, you’ve put yourself in their place.

Actually be selfless: There’s nothing more annoying than someone pretending to care or help when really what they’re trying to do is figure out a way to get to your wallet. You need to help and serve because it’s the right thing to do, not because it will benefit you financially. Many of the people you help will never spend a dime with you. But some of them will. Enough of them will to make it worth your efforts and along the way; you’ll earn the reputation of being an organization that genuinely cares about the people it encounters.

Let it get personal: You know that sales technique where they teach you to notice pictures or mementos in someone’s office and then try to connect based on those? “Hey, you like golf too?” I am definitely not talking about that. I’m talking about letting people get to know you by sharing the other elements of your life. That might be connecting with business colleagues on Facebook or weaving some personal elements into your blog posts. But being personal is all about being human.

You’re always on stage: That said, be mindful of how you present yourself because who you are does matter. There are some topics that are polarizing by nature. I’m not saying you shouldn’t post about it on your social accounts, support them with your dollars or have a strong opinion. But recognize the cost of that choice.

Don’t shy away from your mistakes: Whether you have a business that is reviewed online or just had an unhappy client express themselves in public – it’s an opportunity to show that you take good care of your customers and are willing to admit when you’ve made a mistake. Owning and fixing that mistake in public is actually one of the best ways to boost your likeability. Perfection isn’t believable. They know you’re human and are going to mess up. They just want to know you’re going to do something about it when you do.

While this all seems like common sense, you and I both know plenty of examples of businesses that definitely do not live by these principles. Why not earn your prospect’s business for the long haul by being genuinely likable?

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The implications are not tiny

January 31, 2018

tinyUnless you’ve been under a rock for the past couple years, you are aware of the tiny house movement that is taking the country by craze.

In case you’re one of the folks who is not familiar with this concept, tiny houses are exactly what they sound like: super small houses, usually under 300 square feet, that are designed in such a way to maximize space, while using virtually no space at all. They can be stationary on the ground but in many cases, they’re built on a trailer so they’re mobile.

The movement began way back at the beginning of the century but lately, it has exploded thanks to this new generation of consumers and the media. There are all kinds of TV shows focusing on tiny homes like Tiny House Hunters on HGTV. If you Google tiny house you’ll find a very vibrant community where owners exchange information and offer advice on living in small space.

Here’s a look at the typical tiny housebuyer:

  • They have an average income of $42,038 ($478 higher than the average American)
  • 89% of tiny house owners have less credit card debt than the average American
  • 65% of tiny house owners have no credit card debt
  • 55% of tiny house owners have more savings than the average American
  • 68% of tiny house owners have no mortgage (compared to 29.3% of all US homeowners)
  • 2 out of 5 tiny house owners are over 50 years of age

While all of this is fascinating just on the surface, when we dig deeper – I think this movement is a huge wake-up call to marketers. There are some pretty significant clues in this phenomenon as to where consumers are heading and that’s going to impact us all.

Here are some of the trends I see buried in the tiny house movement:

Independence as a core theme: Imagine all the levels of freedom you’d have if your house could be moved anywhere you wanted it to be, you didn’t have a mortgage and your housing costs were power, water, Internet, and insurance.

A return to a simpler life: Tiny home buyers want to owe less, so they have more choices in terms of spending time with their family, work less and have a lot less to maintain. By default – if you live in 350 square feet, you can’t have a lot of stuff. Simpler by default.

A different definition of success: For these consumers, success isn’t a big house with a big screen TV and a beautifully manicured lawn. It’s no debt and no strings. This frees the homeowners up to spend more time traveling and being out and about.

Mobility: By default, if your house is on wheels – you don’t plan on setting down permanent roots. Even if you stay in the same community, you’re not tied down.

Eco-friendly: These homes are very eco-friendly with composting toilets, very little energy usage, solar panels and multi-use furniture. The footprint created by one of these homes is minuscule compared to a traditional home.

A new relationship with money: These consumers are not willing to owe anyone anything. They want the economic freedom to do what they want when they want. But that doesn’t mean they don’t like nice things. Many tiny homes have very high-end appliances and finishes like cherry-wood floors and stained glass windows. When you’ve got less than 500 square feet, those kinds of upgrades are very affordable.

This consumer group is growing at an amazing rate. Even if someone doesn’t opt for a tiny home, it’s safe to assume these consumer attitudes are emerging among the more traditional homeowner as well.

These attitudes and buying patterns are going to trickle into every category. I think it’s important that you begin to think about how this is going to translate to your business. Because if it hasn’t already – it’s coming.

 

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Your enewsletter is missing the point

January 24, 2018

enewsletterDespite all of the talk about digital tools like programmatic media buying and social media, the old newsletter, or nowadays, the enewsletter is still a staple of many organization’s marketing efforts. Rightly so, when done right, they’re incredibly effective and a great way to stay in front of a prospect until they’re ready to buy.

Unfortunately, the ones that are done right are few and far between. Let’s dissect how to create an enewsletter that your prospects will welcome in their inbox.

Intent: This is the first place companies screw up. They think the enewsletter is there to sell stuff. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The purpose of your enewsletter is to be so helpful/useful that the recipients will allow you to keep showing up in their inbox, sometimes for years, before they’re ready to buy.

Your content should be constructed to be of value each and every time you send it. Think about your audience. What do they care about that you can help them improve, protect, or grow? It should be bigger than you and what you sell. Depending on your sales cycle, you may be sending that enewsletter for years before they’re ready to buy. So you have to be helpful for all that time. No small or easy task. But if you stay focused and resist the urge to sell, by the time they’re ready to buy, they’ll know, like and trust you enough to give you an opportunity.

Layout: Be mindful of how your content will be accessed. Today, over 68% of emails are opened on a mobile device of some kind. You need to be using software that is mobile friendly. You need to keep the masthead, color scheme, and style very clean and simple.

Avoid complicated backgrounds, reversing your text out in white or funky fonts that may not translate on all devices. Be sure you test your layout on several different mobile phones, tablets and desktops as well as different browsers and email tools.

Tone: For some reason when people write marketing content, they stiffen up, and their words become more formal and forced. You want your enewsletter to help the prospects get to know and like you. It’s tough to get to know someone who isn’t being themselves. Instead of writing your enewsletter word for word, try outlining it and then record yourself talking about the content. Transcribe what you said and voila – odds are it will be in your voice.

If you’re not sure if your enewsletter’s tone is aligned with who you are, read it out loud. Does it sound like how you’d say it in an actual conversation? If not, either sharpen your pencil or try my transcription trick.

Length: Remember – 68% of your audience is probably reading your missive on their smartphone. Those devices are not made for lengthy reading. There is no universal rule in terms of word count, but keep the reader’s tolerance in mind.

If any section is more than a couple paragraphs long, be mindful to use eye breaks like bullet points, subheads, and plenty of white space.

Email marketing is still one of the most effective and reliable marketing tactics available. For businesses with a longer sales cycle, it’s a critical component in staying top of mind until the prospect has an immediate need. But they’re in control and can kick you out of their inbox any time they want.

An enewsletter that is packed with useful information and is designed to be easy to digest is one that will never get the boot. Make sure it sounds and feels like you so that when they’re ready to buy, you’re exactly who they expect.

 

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Business development by the numbers

January 10, 2018

business developmentLast week we started to identify some key financial metrics that you need to have a handle on as you plan your business development for the upcoming year in a smart way. If you did the math I outlined last week, you now know:

  • How much of every earned dollar you actually get to keep to spend on your business (salaries, overhead, and profit)
  • How much you can expect to produce per employee
  • If you have capacity with your current staff or if you get new clients you’d need more help to support them
  • If your business is profitable and if so, by how much

Those are the facts you need to make the following decisions:

  • Are you content with your business being the size it is now?
  • Are you happy with your current net profit (amount and percentage)?

If you decide you’re good where you’re at, it’s just a matter of trying to increase efficiencies to be even more profitable or trading up to better-fit customers who will also be more profitable.

But if you think there’s some room for growth, then let’s talk about what you really need.

I want to provide a caveat here. I am really simplifying this process. There is lots of averaging and rounding going on. I want you to understand the concepts and have some ballpark estimates of where you want to take your business and what it will take to get you there. My goal is not to make you a CPA. My goal is to give you some simple tools and metrics to use so that your business development planning isn’t just a shot in the dark.

When businesses set annual growth goals, they usually just pick a number based on historical trends or an impressive milestone they’re trying to reach. “Hmm, we grossed $3 million last year, so how about $3.5 million this year?” Have you already set growth goals for 2018? How much was it? 10% growth? 25% growth? More important than the number – the goal was based on what?

The truth is that most businesses set a growth goal but they rarely know what that actually means or what it’s going to cost them to get there.

This year, I’m going to suggest you do it differently. Let’s use the numbers we discussed last week to put together a projection and a plan that actually has a financial foundation under it.

You’ve now got a significant advantage. You know how much in gross revenue you need to generate to earn (approximately) whatever profit increase you’d like to have. You also know how many additional people, if any, it’s going to take to support that new opportunity.

Let’s assume you have decided you want to grow your profits by 10%. Do the math to determine what that means in gross revenue. If that means you need to have another $250,000 in client work to make that happen, we now know your 2018 gross revenue goal, right?

Will you need to add staff to support the new revenue goal? If so, don’t wait until you’re stretched too thin. Start looking for the right additions now.

Usually, when a business goes through this exercise, they discover that they don’t need as much new business as they feared. It puts the effort into perspective and allows them to build a business development program that’s tailored to their actual need without throwing them into an unnecessary panic.

I’m not suggesting that these are the only financial metrics you need to monitor. But in terms of understanding how to set realistic growth goals, even these basics will give you a factual foundation to put you on the right path.

 

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