Some things in life are often considered to be rather complicated. Parenting, investing and business management are three that immediately come to mind. However, a closer look at these areas reveals that this isn’t necessarily true. Parents are taught by their children as they progress together. Investors learn through their experiences. And business owners are wise to be advised by a mentor.
When I take a look at businesses, it becomes obvious to me that their owners have frequently given up on the notion of improving their situations because they feel stuck – like it’s too complicated to take on more work and further their success. Too many business owners are convinced they need to be super heroes or geniuses, destined to reinvent the wheel in order to grow their companies.
But it doesn’t have to be this way! I’m delighted to share with you a few real-life examples of just how simple it can be to transform and expand your business. See, usually a business in this situation suffers from having no real direction established within their framework. The owner and team need to spend some time deciding exactly where they want to be in one year’s time. This must be done with the collaboration of all team members, as they’ll all have a part in making it happen. Next, the goals must be made clear to everyone involved. This alone can have a real impact on sales numbers.
An area of business where professionals tend to struggle is in the health industry. Health professionals fall into a trap of thinking they don’t need to sell their services – people who need them will just come to them. But in a competitive marketplace, this isn’t the case. For example, a really simple sales script for physiotherapists or chiropractors to encourage patients to come back for regular treatment proved to be highly successful for a business I worked with recently.
Until they started using it, this business was just thanking clients and hoping they’d book again. But by following up, it boosted their patients from 190 to 230 each week, increasing their business by 21%. It was also discovered that their clients were purchasing supplies like medical tape at another local business; by stocking those products in-house, the practice increased their cash flow and boosted overall business by 30% in just 10 weeks.
Another business I mentored put a dress code in place for their salespeople, utilising colours that countless studies have shown consumers are more receptive to, such as a white shirt with a red or blue tie. The switch immediately impacted the amount of business the company was doing, and they were selling out their inventory in days.
There are countless examples I could cite of simple changes like this that have made significant and positive differences for various businesses. The message is clear – it doesn’t take a rocket scientist, a complicated plan or a massive budget to turn a business around. Sometimes, the little differences have the biggest impact.
Unfortunately, this can often be difficult for business owners to see for themselves, as they’re too close to the situation to look at it objectively or identify missed opportunities. That’s why retaining the services of an independent business coach or mentor can be extremely useful. They can provide encouragement, advice, correction and insight and often are the best investment a business owner can make in their own company.
