Business objectives must be based on fundamentals but it is so easy to stay with conventional wisdom and not stop and really think about what Specific Business Objectives are good for your company.
It gets down to a lack of slack and a lack of connection to the substantial information known in your heart and in the heart of your key rainmakers.
Key business objectives need to be focused at the opportunities that make the most sense for your company.
Lets list some some critical factors here.
1. You have to go with your strengths. There are skills and strengths and passions within your company. You have to know where they are and who has them and how to leverage them.
I have seen great talent that was terrible at networking but had a great skill that given the right medium- given the right habitat- could excel at at assisting in a business development environment.
It starts by listening… and observing. We have to get out of the conventional ruts. We have to stop thinking in conventional ways. Let everyone else be conventional. You want to strive for exceptional.
You really have to be careful with constraints that weight on and slow down your rainmakers. When you can engage rainmakers and cooperate with them by taking the trivial off their plates, you will be amazed at what they can accomplish.
Now go out and find and develop the rest of your rainmakers. You get people in their zone, get them engaged and they will surprise you.
2. People have connections. People have interests. These need to be interwoven into business development. Who do you know? Who knows who? What kinds of assets do we have that we could leverage to make new friends and create collaboration? What assets are we undervaluing? Everyone has a role to play. All it takes is some creative thought to get everyone involved.
3. We need to know how we make money. We need to know the cost of doing business, the cost of making sales and the profit margins on particular types of jobs. We need to know our great customers. We need to figure out why they are so good for us and then figure out how to find more of them.
We need to be like lions and know where the steaks are. We have to be dedicated to selectively choosing our targets and not just let fate figure which direct we turn.
We all should dominate within 5 or 10 miles of our business. This is home turf. Do you make a special effort to win this zone? This is where you can create the greatest critical mass of attention and referral.
4. We need to always remember the 80-20 rule. 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers. 80%of your results stem from 20% of your efforts. We need to use Pareto’s principle every day. Why? It makes you more money. More profit means more robustness. More profit allows you to take more calculated risks. More profit allows you to take better advantage of your competitors.
5. We have to take the time to see and understand what is going on around us. We need to take a lesson from commercial real estate agents. They keep both eyes peeled for opportunity. And you have to be discerning as to what opportunity looks like. We have to be creative leveraging what we know to make more business.
It comes down to creating business systems that allow you slack- you have to have time to relax and think. The company is better served with a little more slack in the office. People need to be empowered to exchange busy work for more substantial work.
As you improve productivity in the office, as your people earn the right to be more bold in their enterprises by showing they are accountable- you can create a culture of people striving to excel, and striving for and achieving great business objectives.
So did any of that make sense? I hope so. Let me know what you think. Feel free to add your thoughts below. Or feel free to call or email.
