As the cliche goes, most business owners spend too much time “in their business” instead of “on their business.” While reading through the book The 1- Page Marketing Plan by Allan Dib, I spent a lot of time pondering one of his statements about that very subject, “knowing what will work and not implementing it, is the same as not knowing.” It’s so true. Or maybe it’s even worse. We actually know what could help us, yet we just don’t do it. Why? It’s like we have some physical force literally keeping us from moving forward and making a change. From succeeding even more, or succeeding at all. Inertia at work. The tendency to continue on in the same motion that you’re in, unless something external forces us to change.
There are those external forces, like losing a job, moving out of town, having to be a full time caregiver for someone, having a health scare, etc. Those life events literally force you to change. You have no other option. But what about the rest of life? The times when things are busy, but normal. Why is it so hard to make changes then?
Why is it SO Hard to Make Changes We Know Will Help?
There’s so many reasons why we just keep doing what we’re doing. Even if what we’re doing doesn’t really work. We’re afraid to put in extra work and have yet more of our efforts not produce any results. We don’t know how we can change our schedules around to accommodate the new work. Or, for me, there’s so much advice from so many places that I don’t know which to do first.
I want to incorporate video on my site and want to learn how to do that, but I also want to bring more traffic and need to learn how. Which do I do first? They both cost a hefty amount, so one has to take priority over the other. What’s the right answer? And implementing a new marketing plan, should I do that first? Or should I learn about videos first, then about bringing in more traffic, and then implement the new marketing plan? I still don’t know. Sometimes it’s just a lot to take in. We don’t know where to start. Or it’s just too much for us to wrap our mind around. Or it’s not a Monday, so we’ll start next Monday. And then we do nothing.
I know you probably feel the same away about my advice to focus on your client’s experience with your business. It’s just one more big project to add to your “to do” list. One more thing to tell yourself, I just have to get through this week. Next week, I’ll start. And then next week gets crazy busy. And it’s just easier to continue on as we are, even though we KNOW our businesses would improve if we would set aside some time and effort to make a change.
Some Things in Your Business HAVE to Change
The thing is though, there are projects that can only be put on hold for so long if we want to continue on. Because unfortunately, moving forward, without change, eventually means we’re left behind. The world changes, so we must change with it. Take inflation. Because of inflation, money naturally devalues over time. So to even “stay the same,” the price of goods and services must actually change. The same goes for the operations of a business. They must change to even remain status quo.
Push Your Business into Success
In fact, let’s try to not only keep up, but be a little ahead. The need to provide your clients with a spectacular experience isn’t going anywhere. Client experience management (the technical term) is still just in its beginning stages, but it’s getting bigger every year. It’s a huge focus right now for big corporations, so that means in a few short years it will be the same for small businesses.
So, now is the time to PUSH. Push yourself forward, with all that it takes, to make changes to your business. Create systems to make sure that you’re getting back to client questions and concerns in a timely manner, create automatic reminders to make sure that your clients are fully aware of their project’s process, create a manual (even if it’s only for you) defining exactly how you want to treat your clients in your day to day operations.
Create a “client experience calendar” for yourself – every Monday morning, from 9-9:30 am, you work on improving your client’s experience with you. The first Monday, it’s reviewing your website to make sure that it’s easy to contact you and very clear what services you provide. The second Monday, it’s reviewing your social media and making sure it aligns with what your website says. The third Monday, it’s reviewing your contract and “welcome packet” to make sure they align with what your website and social media say you offer and how you operate.
Make it easy for yourself to succeed. Create calendars, templates, reminders, to keep working on your business, especially your client’s experience. Half an hour, at the beginning of the week, every week. Imagine how far ahead you’ll be in only two months. How far ahead you’ll be of your self. And how far ahead you’ll be of everyone else. Make “constant improvement” the only constant in your business.
If you’d like help staying accountable for making changes in your business, email me at ashley@ashleyuhlconsulting.com to find out how!
Leave a Reply