1. Which items on your “To-Do List” make money? Take your weekly to-do list and see which items actually make money for your business and which are just the regular tasks associated with a business. Re-organize your priorities so the money making tasks are first and take up the majority of your time.
2. Which businesses/organizations/groups already have my customers? Discover non-competing entities that already have some relationship with your target customer and work out a strategy to insert your business in this area.
3. How’s my pricing? The knee-jerk reaction is usually to undersell the competition. This is not always a good idea though. Sometimes a higher price instills a sense of higher quality, without changing a thing. It all depends on which customers you are after.
4. How am I pushing for referrals? Be sure your sales people, marketing collateral, and your advertisements are actively trying to get customers to recommend your business. You’d be amazed how many companies forget to do this one simple thing. If people like your product or service they are more than happy to recommend it in most cases, but YOU HAVE TO ASK THEM TO!
5. Who’s answering the phone? Businesses lose tons of customers because they have not put enough time or effort into ensuring an excellent phone experience every single time. Don’t make this mistake.
6. How good are my sales people? Don’t be afraid to shake up the sales team if they are not getting the job done for you. Make sure they have specific quotas/goals in place and set up a reward system for those who go above and beyond.
7. What’s my marketing budget? Ads and marketing are expensive when you’re just looking at numbers on a piece of paper. How much is a new lifetime customer worth to you though? How much are a hundred new customers worth? This makes that big number a whole lot easier to swallow. Consider increasing your marketing budget even if it means you need to increase your prices.
8. Are there other things I can sell my customer? Always be open to new opportunities to sell more to your customers. Don’t get so comfortable with your current products and services that you miss opportunities.
9. Knowing your target audience and what their habits are can help you market with more precision; saving time, money, and increasing profits