If there is one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s you have to keep your eye on the ball!
Which ball? The one that brings in customers and makes sales. Everything else is a distraction.
Time and time again I’ve seen organisations get caught up in other activities, lose focus and then have to scramble to make their numbers.
Now I’m not saying it’s easy to keep focused. There are a multitude of things that can come in the way from staff issues to moving premises to production headaches. And it’s difficult to juggle all the balls and keep the wheels turning.
But nothing, repeat nothing is more important that making sales and bringing in the money. Because consistent cash flow can solve just about any problem.
One of our clients has experienced just this.
Last year they were the second highest performing subsidiary of an European multi-national. Sales were good. Their dealer network performed and brought in the bulk of their business. Head office was happy.
Then a series of events nearly brought all this undone.
They moved premises to a new larger warehouse (a major logistical exercise which took a lot of the MD’s attention). They had major issues with some personnel which took a large amount of energy to sort out. The dealer network got caught up in the doom and gloom of our two speed economy and stopped producing.
As a result they went from near the top to just about the bottom.
Things looked pretty dire.
To his absolute credit our client, the local Managing Director took responsibility. “I took my eye off the ball”.
So together we completely refocused the business, set new goals and activity plans.
We stripped back any activity that wasn’t focused on bringing in new business.
The sales manager put together packages, rang every dealer and got orders rolling in. He told me last week that he’d had no idea how much work it turned out to be – but it got the result. They’ve pulled in the best month this year – where they’d actually originally budgeted to be.
This week we’re spending 3 whole days with the entire sales force refocusing them too.
The MD’s recognised that “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me”. So no more relying on “dealers” who have their own agendas and sell competitor’s equipment as well.
The organisation sells a premium brand of capital equipment and is now actively going after large end users – people who spend $40K - $100K in a single transaction.
By going back to the fundamentals of good marketing and active sales, I guarantee this organisation will once more become a force to be reckoned with in the Australian market for its products.
Can you say the same for your organisation? If you’d like to refocus but can’t see the forest for the trees, stop right now and ask yourself how long you can afford to let this continue.
If the answer is “you can’t”, pick up the phone and call me on (02) 9499-7958. I guarantee I can help you focus and build your business if you’re serious about doing so.
Rashid.
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