Small business owners come to me regularly, asking for something they don’t want and they don’t need. I’m sharing this with you, because it’s a symptom of a problem. A serious problem that loses business owners a fortune.
Here it is. Plus how you can avoid it.
First, here are some examples of dangerously misleading statements. I see these pretty-much every day from small business owners.
- I need more leads for our sales team.
- I need more enquiries from my website.
- I need more social media followers.
- I need more traffic to my website.
They’re wrong!
One hundred percent, provably wrong.
More sales leads, additional client enquiries, bigger social networks and more website traffic are not their desired outcomes. That’s because they’re not end results. What they actually need, is more customers, higher profits, bigger contracts, higher revenues or more sales, etc.
The challenge with searching for the wrong thing, is that it will lead you down the wrong path. You’ll ask the wrong questions, get the wrong answers and end up with the wrong outcomes.
Think about it.
- If fewer sales leads, BUT from high spending, profitable customers is exactly what’s required, you’ll never find it by asking the wrong questions.
- If you can quickly (and massively) improve your profits / revenues, by developing new products for your existing customers, you’ll never find it by asking the wrong questions.
- If you want to escape from the feast and famine cycle, by developing a reliable source of profitable new clients, you’ll never find it by asking the wrong questions.
Here’s how to stop this from happening to you and your business.
Get specific
Start with the end in mind.
This means you need to decide what your desired outcome is. In other words, determine exactly what you need your business to achieve. The end point, rather than a particular process or marketing strategy.
Then, focus on that end point like a laser. This will help you get your marketing on the right track and ensure you’re aiming for the correct targets.