Navigating and Tracking Success.
Nigel Brookes
Helping business owners build quality supply chains & extend networks, & launch new businesses to add income streams & drive value in & for local economies.
Navigation, defined as getting from one place to another throughout history has leaned on three basic principles, knowing:
- Where do you want to go,
- A constant to measure the journey by: typically where North is,
- Where you are starting from.
This is true of any journey, the one that interests me is getting from what your business turns over now, to what do you want your turnover to be at the end of this financial period?
Let me ask you: How do you know what your going to take home this year? How are you getting on this year vs. last year? How are you progressing with Prospect number 4 or 12 or 7? In order to navigate our businesses to the heights such as doubling last years turnover you still need to follow these three basic principles:
- What turnover value do you want to get to this year? MAKE A TARGET.
- Use constant sales strategy and process to bring in the sales to get you there. PLAN A MEANS TO GET YOU THERE AND STICK TO THE PLAN.
- Record where you are starting from. TRACKING!!!
If you don't track where you started from or know where you are right now how can you make the journey to where you want to be?
Which prompts the question: What should I be tracking? My answer would be: Whatever you can! You may already track the things that give you a direct benefit or that you are required to such as VAT receipts and mileage entries. Why arent you tracking what sales you made this time last period versus this period etc?
How should I track these things?
Whatever works for you, if you can budget for a CRM, Great! use it effectively, do the product tour and find out all the tricks it can do, get onto the support teams about how you want it to work for you. Alternatively use pen and paper or better yet an excel spreadsheet, add a tab for each week/month and record your prospects, clients, contact with both, order values and frequency, targets and percentage of target reached and keep it updated as you complete tasks. This last piece of advice is crucial. If you dont keep on top of your tracking you will lose your way and take home whatever happens to come in at the end of the year.
In summary: Don't get lost amongst the weeds on your road to success. Work out where you are, decide what target you want to reach for and use effective strategy and process as the vehicle to get you there.