Suppose you
wanted to grow your business. Where would you start? Typically, you
would examine your business and look for ways to make it run more
smoothly, more effectively, and ultimately, more profitably. You
would look for more and better ways to serve your clients. You would
also look for ways to make the business more efficient, ways to get
more accomplished with fewer resources - principally, time, money,
and energy.
If you've
completed a self-examination of your business, you've probably
identified a few areas for improvement and come up with a handful of
ideas to accomplish those improvements. Do a little bit more of this
- be more consistent with that - complete a marketing plan - be more
diligent asking for referrals, and so on. You may have even started
working on some of the ideas. But, with the day to day activities of
doing business, the great ideas are eventually given t he same
degree of attention a New Year's resolution receives on January 31st
- not much.
Perhaps, it's
time to look at things differently - from a 180 degree perspective.
Rather than attempt to determine how to grow your business - an
activity which typically results in ideas of how to do what you're
already doing, only better or more frequently - ask yourself, "What
would it take to destroy my business?" That's right, what would it
take to run your business into the ground? Certainly, the quickest
way to ruin a business is to lie, steal, and cheat. But, without
resorting to those tactics, and continuing to deal with people in a
fair and ethical manner, what could you do to destroy your business?
Here are a few suggestions:
-
You could
avoid any proactive prospecting activity and wait for prospective
clients and customers to approach you.
-
You could
neither pay attention to the political, legislative, or economic
conditions of your local business community nor determine the
challenges for existing and prospective customers created by those
conditions.
-
You could
maintain a superficial relationship with your clients rather than
become more knowledgeable about and involved with their company
and provide them with more service than they expected.
-
You could
avoid any activity that would help you become a better business
owner, manager, or salesperson.
How many more
items could you add to the list? Give it a try. Take a few minutes
and write down as many ways as you can think of to ruin your
business while still acting in a fair and ethical manner.
Have you
completed your list? Was it easy to come up with additional items?
(A bit too easy, perhaps?)
You may be
thinking, "What's the point of all this?" Here's the point: When you
stop thinking about how to grow your business and start focusing on
how to tear it down, you begin to uncover some truths - things that
will most likely make you feel uneasy.
Of how many
items on your "destroy" list are you currently guilty? You can't
grow your business until you stop destroying it. How do you stop?
Make sure that you're not guilty of any of the things on the list.
Choose one item of which you are guilty and commit to turning it
around. Start immediately! When you're well on your way with the
first item, choose another, and then another until you've worked
through the list.
Where else can
you apply 180 degree thinking? Suppose you asked yourself, "What
would I have to do to lose my clients?" or "What would I have to do
to make my clients uncomfortable giving me referrals?" Here's
another: "How would I have to act to turn off a prospect during a
meeting and lose the opportunity to do business?" Go through the
same exercise of creating a list and determining what you'd have to
do to eliminate any item on the list of which you are guilty. Then,
do it!
Invest some
time to take a 180 degree view of your business. Perhaps you'll see
some new solutions for growth. David Sandler once said, "There is no
status quo -- you're either growing or you're dying." So, employ 180
degree thinking and make sure you're growing.
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Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights
reserved.
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