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The 3 Most Powerful Business Questions

And how to use them to transform your business and your life

Have you ever wondered why some businesses or some people are so much more successful than others?  I went to dinner with my daughter the other night and we were walking down the “Restaurant Row” of the town.  There had to be 50 restaurants and bars located on a short stretch of a few blocks.

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What amazed me was that some restaurants were so packed with people that they were waiting outside for a table to become available.  And right next store the restaurant was virtually empty.  Why is that?

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5 Reasons to Join a Mastermind Group

Take your business to the next level!

There are many rewards to being in your own business.  You have control of your own destiny by deciding what customers you want to work with and what projects you are willing to take and you have the opportunity make money based on your own efforts.

Courtesy of imcreator.com

However, even though you have these benefits it can be lonely, frustrating, and uncertain.  When you are running an organization there is no one you can confide in or get objective opinions from for the hard decisions you need to make.  Mastermind groups change this status quo!

A mastermind group is a group of non-competing small business owners and is designed exclusively for like-minded, results-driven leaders.

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How to Actually Accomplish Your Goals

Master the Key to Goal Setting

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I know what you’re going to say!  You’ve seen this before.  It’s nothing new.  You can read hundreds of articles on just as many websites about how important it is to set goals.  So why don’t you?  (Set goals, that is.)  Or maybe you set goals and then forget about them.  Why is that?  What if you could set a goal and actually accomplish it!?

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t, at some point in time, created a goal.  But I know plenty of people (yours truly included) that have not reached their goals.  I became very curious as to why that is.  My research has led me, of course, to the acronym S.M.A.R.T. when describing an achievable goal.

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How to Master the Sales-to-Service Handoff

3 Steps You Can Take Now to Improve Your Customer Service

Exceptional customer service is what all our customers expect.  It’s also what every company promises!  Just take a look at any service business website.  What do you see?  They include statements like these, “We put our customers first”, “Our goal is to provide service beyond our customers’ expectations”, “We are a premier service provider.”

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With all these promises how come so many customers are unhappy?  How come more companies aren’t getting the repeat business they want?  It’s because they don’t deliver on their promises.

Sales-to-Service Handoff

One of the most common areas that businesses trip up is with the sales-to-service handoff.  That’s the point in the process where sales has closed the deal and gives the customer over to the service department for them to deliver the services promised.

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Small Business Strategic Plan

The Real Reason for a Strategic Plan

When I ask business owners if they have a strategic plan, they tell me “Of Course!” When I ask to see it they say “Well, I don’t have it on paper! But I know what it is.” Then they proceed to tell me their version of the plan which is typically a loose description of the products and services they provide their customers.

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If you don’t know where you are going,

any road will take you there. ~ Lewis Carroll

 

This is not a strategic plan!  It’s a service offering.  I then ask, “Why are you providing those products and services?”  This tends to be easier to answer.  Most entrepreneurs got into their business because they had a passion for or an expertise in a certain product or service and they saw a business opportunity in it.

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Marketing: Investment or Cost?

Do you see marketing as an Investment or a Cost?

Do you view marketing as an investment or as an expense?  How you view this will determine the importance you place on marketing in your business.  Let’s start with defining what marketing is.

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What is Marketing?

Marketing is the process in which you introduce yourself to your target market with the intention of finding potential customers.  It differs from sales in that the sales effort is the process in which you try to turn those potential customers into paying customers.

Marketing is a critical part of the overall sales generation process of your business.  Without it no one knows who you are and you have no potential customers to sell your products and services to.  Many businesses make lead generation the responsibility of the sales team.  They feel the salesman should be making his own cold calls and outreach to find his next customer.