Five Keys to Success in a Slow Economy

Part 4 of a 5-part Series

This is the fourth of a five part series on Recession Success.  Look for all five parts to be posted daily this week.  Each topic will build on the next, so be sure not to miss any by subscribing to our RSS feed or email newsletter and free ebook.

So far this week, we have covered 3 of the 5 keys to success in a slow economy:

1     Create a Community of Clients

2     Network and Build Social Capital that Brings in Business

3     Generate REAL Customer Service that Builds Your Community and Increases Revenue

The fourth is my favorite because it is the most powerful.  It is “Manage Your Team to Produce Results.”

“Duh?”  You say?  “Of course I am managing my team to produce results… what else would I be training them to do?”  Unfortunately this answer is at the core of your problem.  If you were managing your team to produce results in a way that was working, you would have better results.

So, let’s begin there.  First, you must assume that you are NOT managing them to produce results, because if you were, your results would be better.  When it comes to your staff, you must relate to them like a team.  I like football, so we’re going with that.  If you are the coach of a football team and they consistently get beaten, there are one of two problems:

1. you are not providing them with what the training and practice need to be skilled at scoring points, or
2. you don’t have the right people on the team; you need more talent

In this same line of thought, if you are your staff’s manager (coach) and they are not producing the level of sales/results that you want, you are not providing them with the skillset and training they need to sell/deliver more or you need to fire them and find people that can do what you need.  Harsh, I know.  But if you are committed to getting your business flourishing, you must do what it takes to get the job done.

Since the solution to #2 is obvious, we will assume that you are the problem.  Look at where the breakdowns are in your business: Are there enough customers?  Is the closing ratio decent?  Are you offering products or services that people actually want?

The place where there are no (or low) results will point to the breakdown in training.  For instance, if you aren’t getting enough customers in the door, then you are not effectively training your staff to attract them.  If you have people coming in, but aren’t selling to enough of them, you need to train your staff in closing strategies.

Looking at the results will always give you a solution to the breakdown.  And, managing your team based on their results will always increase the results.  Your expectations of what each person should produce should be clear and managed.  If you sell computers and you want to generate a minimum of $1,000 in revenue each day, each of your staff should have a goal for what they need to sell each day, each month and each year.  They need to be held accountable for managing this goal and you need to be in communication with them frequently (at least weekly) about how they are doing.  If they are not meeting their goals, look to the breakdown and see what is missing in training or skillset, then put it in.

Managing your team for results takes clear cut goals/expectations, weekly management of those goals and then follow up of acknowledgement and appreciation when they meet them, or training when the fail.

If you put this one principle to work in your business, you cannot fail.

Tomorrow, find out the one thing you can do to generate continual profits!