Some organizations don’t have a Business Plan to follow.
They’ve simply decided for whatever reason not to devote the time to develop one. Some business leaders say they don’t have the time to do the work and others say it’s too expensive.
Whatever the reason, their business is left rudderless.
Of course, I try to encourage every business to create strategic context—my Strategic Game Plan—for themselves to steer their ship; to determine the actions they take to achieve their goals and attain superlative performance levels.
But if you’re determined NOT to invest the minimal time and resources to build your strategic game plan, there are some simple things you can do to enhance the performance of your business.
There are a number of ’Out-of-context Moves’ that will help you build your business. They were incredibly successful for me and will definitely work for you.
#1. Focus on the customer experience.
It’s a proven fact that people don’t repeatedly buy on the basis of a product, they are loyal buyers because of how they feel—the experience—when they engage with the organization and make the purchase.
I deal with a particular retailer not necessarily because they have a unique product line (in reality most retailers in a given space all provide the same thing); rather I deal with them because I FEEL GOOD when I engage with them.
Think about yourself in the ‘experience’ business not the product business if you want a consistently high level of performance.
Product suppliers are a dime a dozen and flogging products won’t make you special.
Everyone flogs products; few are amazing experience creators so play in that space.
To get started, define how you want your customers to feel when they engage with you and pick 3 behaviours you need to consistently demonstrate to invoke these feelings.
Practise with your staff and make sure they are clear on the outcomes expected.
#2. Recruit ‘human being lovers’.
If you don’t provide epic customer service you’re simply not in the game. If your customers don’t like the experience they have when they engage with you, they are less likely to do business with you (and they tell all their friends and family how shoddy your service is).
And the key ingredient of a memorable service experience is the individual engaging with and taking care of the customer.
If the care provided is thoughtful, kind, respectful and empathetic, the service experience for the customer takes their breath away. But if the experience is impersonal, cold, rude, discourteous, disrespectful and indifferent, the customer is frustrated and annoyed and has no desire to ever engage with you again.
Hiring people who ‘give a damn’ about others is the right thing to do regardless of your business plan.
So, make a point of hiring people who have the innate desire to serve others. Make this requirement THE most important consideration when hiring someone. You can always teach them the business and specific skills they need in your particular line of work, but you can’t teach them to ‘love’ others.
You can teach them to ‘grin’ and ‘have a smile in their voice’, but you can’t teach them respect and empathy.
Breakaway from the traditional way of recruiting people and hire for goosebumps.
#3. Draft your ONLY Statement.
Determining how your business is different from your competition (in a way your customers care about) is critical to business performance.
The usual way organizations do this is by using meaningless (to the customer) CLAPTRAP expressions like ‘We are better’, ‘We are the best’ and ‘We are the leader’ to define how they are different from others.
But they’re not helpful in answering the question ‘Why should I do business with you as opposed to your competitors?’. Who defines what ‘best’ is? How can you prove that you’re ‘better’?
The truth is, using CLAPTRAP to try and differentiate yourself from others is narcissistic; it’s YOUR view of yourself as opposed to the objective proven facts that customers tell you about why they chose you over your competitors.
My solution to CLAPTRAP is to use my ONLY Statement as the simple way to declare how your business is different.
‘We are the ONLY ones who…” is the killer way to define your uniqueness.’
ONLY is always a draft, so don’t be concerned to get it 100% right (because you never will).
Draft your ONLY based on how you uniquely deliver the value your customers expect from you.
Test it with them (does it address what they really care about, and is it true?), start using it and revise it on the run as you learn how it’s working.
The bottom line: business plan or not, these three actions will establish your business as a contender for superlative performance and the rewards that go with it.
Related: Why the Best Way To Grow Your Business Is to ‘Say Yes’