If you are running a business it is time to look carefully at what your job is and should be. If you are like most executives and managers a large part of your time will be spent with a fire blanket over your shoulder and a bucket of sand in your hand. Large amounts of time will be spent putting out fires.

If you are spending your time fire fighting you do not have time to think conceptually, to look at the world outside and consider the big picture. Unfortunately fire fighting just leaves you
fighting another fire tomorrow and does not move the business forward. How do I know this for a fact? Because I have done what you are doing and many business owners I speak to say they do not have time to look at the big picture.

If you are fighting fires and concentrating on the day to day running of the business ask yourself why?

Is this really your job?

If this is your job what are your direct reports there for?

Many years ago I had the pleasure of spending a few hours talking to the Finance Director of a successful private company. The company had a December year-end and the time of year was mid May. The Finance Director informed me that as far as the owner / manager was
concerned the year had ended. He was concentrating on what the business would be doing next year and the year after that. His direct reports were taking care of this year.

The owner of this business did not start out wealthy but you may not be surprised to learn that he had created a very successful business and had become very rich.

Try this exercise.

For the next two weeks record everything that you do in 6 minute units. A solicitor would do this as a matter of routine so I feel sure that you can manage. At the end of two weeks analyse how you spend your time. How much is spent on day to day routine, how much is spent on fire fighting and how much is spent on the BIG PICTURE and moving the business forward.

Remember that you are giving up other things in your life, perhaps time with your family, in order to fight fires and real with routine. Now comes the difficult part.

Analyse your routine work and establish how much can be delegated. You are the most highly paid person in your business, should you really spend all that time on routine?

Analyse each of the fires that you put out and ask yourself a few questions:

Who started the fire? The sad fact is we usually start our own fires either because of something we did or something we did not do.

Who was the best person to put the fire out?

What steps can be taken to ensure this particular, or a similar fire does not start up again?

When you have finished this exercise use the time you have created to begin work on the BIG PICTURE.

Have a GREAT Day!
Stuart Lockley

When was the last time you stopped and considered the ‘buying experience’ your business makes available to your customers. By buying experience I mean the whole experience of dealing with your business from the point of view of your customers.

Why is this important?

Because buying is as much about the experience
you devise for the customer,
as the product or service itself.

If you provide an exceptional buying experience your customers will keep coming back and also be your greatest advocates.

Consider these points in relation to your business and the buying experience you create.

1.How attractive is your business? Does it look cared for, is the paintwork flawless, are the carpets clean, is the reception welcoming? If you do not look after your own working environment why should a prospect expect you to look after them?

2.Are your staff friendly, helpful and knowledgeable? How do they treat customers and are they empowered to do whatever is necessary to produce a satisfied customer?

3.Does your business have a personality? Would your customers be able to tell me why your business is different from others?

4.Are you easy to do business with or do you make life difficult for your customers? Do you encourage customers to come to you or do you drive them away?

5.Do you make the effort to educate you customers and prospects about your business, your products and the answers to their problems?

These are just a few ideas to be going on with. Study great businesses that provide a wonderful buying experience and find more ideas to apply in your business.

Have a GREAT Day!
Stuart Lockley

Do you really know what your customers want? Many business owners will answer yes to that question, then go on to ask me how they can obtain more customers or increase the sales of their business.

But if you really, really know what your customers want why not increase the sales of your business by offering your customers more of what they want and by offering prospects exactly what they want?

So how do you go about discovering what your customers want?

Ask them.

Ask them in the simplest way possible. Make them an offer. Communicate with your customers and provide them with a buying opportunity. Very, very few companies communicate with existing customers on a regular basis and provide opportunities to make a purchase. Most companies wait for their customers to come to them.

If you communicate with your customers in an interesting, friendly, non-pushy manner their will only ever be four reasons why they do not respond.

1. They do not want, or have no need for what you are offering at this time.
2. This is not a suitable time for them to purchase for any number of personal or business reasons.
3. They feel your offer will not sufficiently solve their problem.
4. They cannot afford the price.

Berar in mind that You, or I, do not ever know what is best or most suitable for your clients until you ask them. The way to ask is by providing a buying opportunity that extends the best value and service you are able to provide, then tracking the response.

If your customers do not purchase this offer, make them another next week or in two weeks time.

Have a GREAT Day!
Stuart Lockley

Most people never buy a book, and most books sit on a bookshelf without being read. There are more students than ever at University. These kids will graduate at 21 or 22 and think they are educated. They will go out into the world of work and then many if not most will read one or two books a year, if that.

I read somewhere, although I cannot remember where so this might be wrong, that the half-life of the knowledge gained on a degree is now three to five years. Just think about that for a moment. These kids will graduate at 21 and by the time they are 26 they will have forgotten most of what they learnt on their degree and over half of what they can remember is now out of date.

But this problem does not just apply to new graduates, it applies to you and every other business owner out there. The world is changing fast and if you wish to keep up it is necessary to keep learning.

How many books have you read in the last month that will provide you with ideas you can use in your business? One? Five? None?

How is your business going to grow and develop if you are not looking for, finding and applying new ideas on a regular basis?

Continual learning is a hallmark of successful entrepreneurs.

Start by reading one new book each week. That can be a book about business, marketing, your industry and occasionally about something you know nothing about.

If you are not constantly learning, both you and your business will fall well behind.

Have a GREAT Day!
Stuart Lockley

Here is a thought for you that has very little to do with running your business but you might find it useful never the less.

Within the last two weeks both a friend and my daughter lost their mobile phones while in Spain. My friend told me how he called his service provider, blocked his Sim card and arranged for a new card to be sent to his home. The card was available when he returned so he went out, purchased a new phone, activated the new Sim card, then realised he had a problem.

He did not have a list of all the names and numbers in his previous phone. He then spent a few weeks replying to text messages with the message “Who are you?” because no one includes their name on a text to someone they know.

Perhaps you should keep a separate list of everyone in your mobile address book.

Just a thought

Have a GREAT Day!
Stuart Lockley