“So how is your generation of sales leads?" This (or similar) can be a common question to fellow business owners. The answer can be polarised from “Great, we’re SO busy”, to “Don’t ask - things are unbelievably quiet out there just now”.
What’s interesting is that both those answers can come from the same business sector.
Could it possibly be a matter of perception?
If the underlying thought is “There’s not much work out there- things are quiet” then business may be quiet. But if your approach is that you know the business is out there, just waiting to be snapped up by you, the chances for success are much improved.
Having said that, I’ve found that if business has gone unexplainably quiet there are two key questions to be asking. The first, especially if you have been in business for a while, is: ”When was the business last going okay? When was I bopping along nicely in a growth curve? When were the referrals or results from my marketing last coming in as I wanted?"
Having identified that, the next important question is: “What or who happened?”
The “WHAT” may be any event that really distracted you from the business. A time and energy consuming family crisis, perhaps. Or a big job you were sure of that didn’t come off that undermined your confidence and sent you into a self-questioning spiral. Or maybe you put your energy into setting up new premises or equipment and took your eye off the sales and marketing function.
It’s often enough to just spot what happened to get the business back on track.
The “WHO” could be somebody who is undermining you or your systems and causing problems. It may be a partnership or alliance that, if you are honest, really isn’t working out. Or even a client or customer who takes more time and energy than they are worth.
Once you’ve identified “What or who happened?” (and this is one of the areas where your coach can be of the most use) you have some stable information on what needs to be put right to get back to “Business is great”.
In this trouble shooting process, there is yet another question that could get you back on track and that’s “What’s missing?” But don’t stop at the first answer such as “enough sales or new clients”. Keep going until you get down to the core thing behind the obvious.
For example, not having enough sales could come back to not enough marketing or networking or not looking for business in the right places. It could even come down to poor systems or inadequate premises. Keep going until you identify the one thing that needs to happen to get you on the road to “Business is great” again.
The “When were things last okay?” question need not be limited to business. Use it in any area of your life that seems to have slipped off track.
“ Not having enough sales could come back to not enough marketing or networking or not looking for business in the right places. ”
Wendy Buckingham provides independent information to assist soloists who want to add coaching skills to their portfolio.
