|
|
|
|
Creating Your Own Fresh Start I am back from Manzanillo Mexico. Angela and I had an awesome time. Thank you to those of you that sent us your email best wishes. September is a time of year that I absolutely love. It is almost like the beginning of a new calendar year as everyone is back from vacation and looking to get to those new projects. I think that this is an awesome time of year for a "fresh start" for your business. That is, a new way of approaching your business that you may not have thought of before. I suggest that you embark on the most significant "fresh start" project that your business will ever undertake. How do go about creating this fresh start? Well, it all stems from asking your top ten customers one very important question. Here's the question. "What can I/we do differently to build a better relationship with you?" Isn't this a rather odd question? Most of us, admit it to yourself as well, would not be entirely comfortable asking someone this question, let alone one of your best customers. In the age of many management books suggesting that we "differentiate or die" in this competitive marketplace, I suggest to you that our business thoughts leaders are absolutely missing the boat. I suggest that the bottom line is that your business will grow only to the extent that you build transparent, long term relationships with your customers. Build long term relationships and you will build your business. I also suggest to you that this will not happen unless you are willing to stretch the relationship to new heights that you have yet to achieve. If you never ask your best customers this critical question, you will never know what growth opportunities your business is missing out on. Notice that this question presumes that things are not already perfect. If you are running the perfect business with no room for improvement, I suggest retirement NOW! However, this is not the case for most of our businesses. What I have learned in asking this question is not written in any guru book you may read at Mosaic books or Chapters. The reason is that the answers are very different depending on who you ask the question to and what the status is of your relationship. No textbook approach is sufficient here. Please do not do this in an email customer survey or send someone else to do it. This type of question should always be asked in a sincere manner in person. As the leader of your business, I want you to take the lead on this one. This is way to valuable a question to be left to anyone else to ask. Humbling yourself enough to ask the question is one of the many hidden benefits of this personal dialogue with your best customers. Your sincere desire to deepen your relationship will be transparent and valuable in your customer's eyes. While asking the question involves risk, you will always be rewarded with valuable, relationship building material. So go on and take make a "fresh start" this September by asking the most important question that your business will ever ask. It is the key to building a successful, profitable business. Steve Burns, is the President and CEO of Burns Innovation Group Inc. and Steve Burns Inc. Chartered Accountant, which provide innovative consulting and accounting services to entrepreneurs. Steve can be reached at 763-4716 or via email at: steve@burnsinnovation.com or steve@steveburns.ca. |
|
