Business is competitive.
To survive the ever-changing demands of your business you want to reach out and grab anything that will help you achieve your goals. It is important that you gather what you need and implement a strategy that will help you achieve your goals.
The quoted comments below are from Mikaela Shiffrin. They were part of an article in USA Today after a press conference almost a week before her gold medal slalom win.
When she won, a reporter with the NY Times writes that her win was a “product of a countercultural movement in American youth sports, an initiative of parents who encourage their children to focus on the process of athletic achievement instead of its results. In theory, both the journey and the destination are enhanced.”
Let’s see how this countercultural movement relates to success in business:
“I have the most amazing team around me.”
The first thing that comes to mind when you read her words is about the people on your staff. Highly skilled salespeople and support staff are critical to your success.
But there’s more…
For your staff to take full advantage of the combined efforts, the company must support them with the best tools to accomplish their work. With today’s internet-enabled buyers making demands, it is almost impossible to keep track of what your clients want and need without good CRM software.
Don’t scrimp on these tools. Don’t pay for things you don’t need either. Find an online CRM solution that adapts to the way you do business rather than purchasing a high-powered and inflexible solution that will cost you big bucks in the long run. Not all CRMs are created equal. Here are 4 basics:
1. Flexible and adaptable; able to grow as your business flourishes
2. Integrated with email marketing automation
3. Endless easy-to-use dashboards to fit your goals
4. Responsive design built in
“I’ve been here before in my head for sure…”
Marketing automation sounds like an impersonal approach to business. The truth is quite the opposite. Once you have established a persona (a detailed, composite description of your ideal client), you have the ability to get inside the thoughts, struggles and solutions your clients experience.
Using this knowledge of your client, automated messages can be deeply personal and very effective. Your initial writing may need to be tweaked over time based on what you learn about your client. With each adjustment to their dreams and desires your emails become more personal and relevant. Done well, it is more personal than an individually crafted message.
“I think I’m the best prepared I could possibly be,”
One practice of Olympians is constant improvement. They measure lung capacity, heart strength and lactate tolerance. They watch videos and learn to visualize for each competition. They designate alternating periods of rest and intense workouts. It is about constant improvement.
With good CRM software, your business can take a similar approach to continuous improvement.
• Establish your most important goal.
• Decide the metrics that will inform about your trajectory.
• Set up dashboards to monitor those metrics
• Adjust your approach to your goals based on the dashboard results.
If you want to be an Olympian in business, you can learn from Mikaela Shiffrin’s words. The principles are the same although the actual practices are different.