The Marketing Message Blog

Do you provide a service your customers can readily understand?

This month in my Mindjet.com column I focus on how to Make your service business easy to understand.  Each month my column focuses on a marketing issue and how I'd approach solving it with a map.  I always include the actual map so you can download it and modify for your own use.  This month we feature Yovia.com.  Check it out.

Also, if you have a marketing issue you'd like to submit, please do so at the link above.

Priorities— Your Way

In my previous post for the new year, I talked about asking the right questions. The second part of that is setting the right priorities.  I'm sure you've read about a million different ways to prioritize your work lists.  But there is a key part of that which is usually overlooked.  That's what I want to write about today— defining priorities your way.  That makes all the difference to a small business owner or anyone who has responsibility for the bottom line.  Let's look at the components of this. 

First you have to have a way to rank priorities.  I use this method but if you have a preferred method use that.

I determine whether it is: 1-Important and urgent; 2-Important not urgent; 3-Unimportant and urgent ; 4-Unimportant not urgent and I write the number next to the item on the list.  Then I put them in order by number and that should do it, right?  WRONG! 

What I haven't done is redefine what those categories mean to me at this moment in 2008. What is truly important?  Is it what your staff thinks?  Is it what your accountant thinks?  Or have you thought it through to the point where it really is what you think. The key to moving your business forward is acting on what you know to be important to you and your business and not what's standing outside your door at any given moment.  This is deceptively simple. You think you know what's important to you, but given the explosion of social media and new ways to think about business, have your really developed your priorities?

Capturing the Right Questions: A Plan

Now is a great time to formulate the questions you need answered to grow your business.  As the old saying goes, "everyone is an expert when you ask the right question."  It's important to note that you ask yourself questions as you go through your businessday.  For example: "Why are these products moving faster than those products?" "Why do I seem to get sales concentrated in the morning hours?"  Yet, if I asked you what questions you want answered about your business, you'd probably not be aware of any.  That's why you need to capture them!  They'll never get answered if you don't write them down.

As you go through the work day, resolve to make a list of all the questions you ask yourself.  Carry this list around and don't be lazy about adding to it.  At the end of the week, look at the list and see what patterns emerge.  Are you asking lots of questions about packaging?  How about returns?  Prepare a new list with all the questions grouped in categories and set up a time to answer them.  But, can you answer them?  If not, you need to figure out what tools to put in place to capture the information.  Once you get proficient at capturing and answering these questions you'll be on the road to really growing your business.