How to Successfully Break the Rules of Business

Sometimes traditions take root because they’re the most effective and efficient way of doing things. But how can you move ahead if you are stuck on a wheel of repeating the same old systems? In short: you can’t.

There’s a real benefit to becoming a rule-breaker, especially when it comes to breaking business rules. Here are a few ways you can grow your small business by stripping yourself of old habits in exchange for new systems and strategies.

Transform into an agent of change

Innovation has never happened by repeating past behaviors. Hitting rinse and repeat, and falling into the comfort zone of old habits isn’t a way forward; it’s a way to stay still.

Although it can feel awkward, there’s a way to continue your forward momentum (or start pushing ahead again after staying stagnant for too long). It requires you to transform yourself, your team, and your entire company culture into agents of change. It demands that you think outside of the box. It means that you push aside traditional ways of doing things in exchange for a fresh approach that could be more efficient and more productive.

It sounds overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Look at something as commonplace as setting your team’s schedule every week. Are you still taking the same approach you’ve been taking for years? If you’re buried in paper piles and red pencil marks, try using an app to make updates instead. Small changes like this can propel your business forward and set the tone for creative thinking in other areas of your company.

Spark more conversation

 

What happens when you do things differently? People take notice and you suddenly have something unique to contribute to the conversation.

Too many businesses speak at their consumers; few businesses speak with them. By changing your approach and dropping traditional business rules, you suddenly have a compelling story to tell that will add value to the greater marketplace. This makes it easier and more exciting to talk about you.

Leave a lasting impression

 

Few people remember the “me too” brands. It’s easy to forget the companies that put on the same song and dance in every commercial, blending in with their competition.

If you want to be remembered, you have to break away from the ordinary and start using nontraditional approaches to reach your consumers. These are the companies that get remembered—not the ones that blend into the background, hiding behind the same-old approach to attracting business.

Recognise the importance of diversity

 

When you drop a few of the outdated rules from your small business, you end up welcoming a diverse way of thinking about how to build your company and whom to work with. If creating a more diverse workforce of people from all ages, backgrounds, and lifestyles is on your to-do list, it’s time to drop traditional in favor of a new approach.

Invest in your cause

 

Why are you in business? Sure, you want to make money and add value for your customers, but what’s the bigger purpose? Think big as you answer this question. For example, if you sell pencils, is it to create a way for children to learn and thereby make the world a better place in future decades? Or, if you sell BPA-free water bottles, is it to encourage hikers to leave less of a footprint as they make their way through national forests?

When you break traditional business rules, you’re better able to invest in the cause that got your organization going in the first place—and this is what being in business is all about.

What are you doing to break free from tradition?

 

Breaking free from traditional business rules isn’t always the appropriate approach to running a company. Start small and work your way up. Knock down old habits in favor of new ones. Some will fail; many will work. It’s about iterating, experimenting, and continuing to surge forward. This is the path to making your small business a success in your industry.

The 4 Keys to Boosting Your Customer Retention

We’ve all been in situations where we’ve felt like we were “taking two steps forward and one step back.” That’s exactly what’s happening when you work hard to optimize your advertising and marketing programs, but then realize your customer lifetime value isn’t what it should be.

Your hope is that your great product or service will create loyalty and devotion. While this is sometimes the case, the truth is that it’s not always an effective strategy. If you don’t focus on your customers and make them feel valued, they’ll eventually leave—and the cost is high.

According to research, attracting a new customer costs your business six to seven times more than retaining an existing one. You need to do what you can to continuously earn your customers’ loyalty—never underestimate the value of retention. Here are four keys to achieving the level of customer retention you need to boost your top line:

1. Know your customers better than they know themselves

People have a strong, natural desire to be known and understood. If they sense that you’re meeting this need, they will strongly prefer your business over one where they are merely another customer or client. We know that customer service ratings plummet when customers feel they are being ignored; the same is true when they feel rushed.

There’s a huge clue in that second item. A winning tactic may be as simple as investing a bit more time with each customer. This simple strategy should be included on any list of ways to boost your business. Exactly how this looks in your business is up to you, but take some time to create real relationships with your customers.

Do you remember the theme song from the long-running sitcom Cheers? Its title—and most memorable lyric—was “Where everybody knows your name.” That reflects the kind of relationship that keeps people coming back.

2. Implement feedback systems

We said that customers don’t want to be ignored or rushed. One thing they do want is to feel heard. Allowing customers to speak for themselves plays a critical role in creating a positive customer experience.

Systems like surveys or just asking your loyal customers for feedback will help you know how they feel about your business and its products and services. Your customers can offer great insights to what would keep them coming back and supporting your business. Put their suggestions into effect and revise them as needed.

Haven’t done business recently with a long-time client? Get on the phone and find out what’s up. Don’t make it a sales call. This can also be a powerful tool when you know that you’ve lost someone’s business. If necessary, incentivize follow-up calls to former customers with a (third-party) gift card or some other small token that proves you value their time and comments.

3. Go beyond nice and polite

Thank-yous are nice, but an unexpected surprise is even more effective. People don’t forget when pleasant, unexpected things come their way—a random act of kindness will leave a lasting impression.

For some businesses, these could be as big as providing backstage pass to a major concert, or tickets to a rugby match. However, they can also be as small as a birthday greeting that includes a special freebie.

4. Provide anticipatory service

If you understand that customer service is the most important thing you can do to help your business grow, you’re correct. There are customer service lessons every business should learn, and one is to practice anticipatory service. Anticipatory service is the style of customer service when your business anticipates problems that may occur and stops them before they can happen.

You can do something as simple as calling a customer to see if they have any questions before they call you to seek help. Being proactive and establishing dialogue will show awareness from your company and prove that you have respect for your customers’ time. No one wants to waste precious time having to repeatedly call a business for help.

One-time customers won’t fuel the growth of your business. In fact, they tend to be a net drain on your bottom line by costing more to acquire than is gained by a single sale. Retaining customers is vital for sustained business success. Learn how to actively engage your customers and put a strong customer retention plan in place with extensive systemization and training. Do not leave it to chance! It’s a necessary investment for generating the future revenue that will ensure your business thrives.

Entrepreneurs: Make Sure Your Professional Development Plan Focuses on Building These 3 Crucial Skills

Why is a professional development plan important for entrepreneurs? Because without one, it’s difficult to grow a business. No entrepreneur has a ready-built skill set that provides all the answers to continuously changing situations.

Most likely, you are more competent in certain business functions than others. However, to successfully expand a business that’s changing as new team members join requires embracing different leadership and management skills. Here are three skills that will help you be more successful:

1. Embrace a leadership mind-set

Leaders have certain attitudes toward success that are reflected in their behavior. Embracing a leadership mind-set will help when you add new staff to your organization as people will be looking to you for guidance.

Start by focusing on how your contributions, and those of your staff, connect to a larger sense of purpose. As an entrepreneur, you should have the big picture in mind. Sharing this vision will elevate your energy level and serve as a motivator to reach new business growth levels.

Having a leadership mind-set can be contagious to others in your company and will be the foundation in solidifying a can-do attitude within your company’s culture. A leadership mindset displays confidence in yourself and the people you work with.

2. Be willing to delegate

When you first started your business, you most likely assumed many roles. To move the company forward, you probably worked in multiple areas until you were able to hire a team. However, for entrepreneurs, what often becomes a barrier to achieve broad levels of success is themselves.

You need to let go. Maybe you are an expert in marketing, or sales, or program creation; however, at some point you will need to delegate some of your responsibilities if you truly want to scale your business. You will reach your capacity at some point, and if you want to expand your business, you will need to delegate.

By delegating responsibilities, you are modeling that you have trust in your team members and that you are willing to share the glory of success. Part of the delegating process is communicating desired results and what these results look like; the other part is getting out of the way of your subordinates and letting them accomplish their tasks. Realize that team members may not do things the same way that you do, and this is also part of the delegation learning curve.

Learning to delegate is an essential ingredient in building a business, and it takes practice to learn this skill—but it’s well worth it.

3. Learn outside your comfort zone

The only way to grow is to step outside your comfort zone. No entrepreneur is going to start a business and possess all the skills, knowledge, and abilities to single-handedly grow a new enterprise. Situations will arise that you’ll need to learn how to handle; there will be changes in technology that will impact the business. New competitors will enter the market. New marketing strategies will be introduced. You get the picture: Societal changes will constantly affect your business.

An important reminder: Your business is your most important client. Taking care of number one assures that you are being proactive with the business and attending to changes as they occur. As an entrepreneur, think about your own professional development strategy. Review what skills, knowledge, or abilities you could acquire that would best serve the growth of your business.

You may find as you add team members that you need to improve your leadership skills—including communication, delegation, and monitoring skills. You may also find that you need to learn more about financial forecasting and operational planning, and as your company becomes more well-known, you may find that you need to brush up on public speaking skills.

Our best advice is for you to create an annual plan for your own self-improvement—not simply to acquire more knowledge, but to acquire additional implementation skills. To transform your innovative ideas into lasting success takes purposeful and continuous professional development.