Unleash Your Bigger Game: Learn the Winning "5" Combination to Achieve Ultimate Business Mastery
Copyright (c) 2006 UpLevel Strategies
As with anyone who masters a certain task, you must be in
continual practice to sustain that level. To do that you
must have a strategy. A strategy is a plan, a "how" a means
of getting from here to there. The Winning "5" Combination
is a culmination of the key strategies the successful use
in their business. We continue on with part two of this
article, winning combination two and three.
Winning Combination #2
Design Your Success
I have used this line many times before and I am going to
repeat it again. The best way to predict the future is to
create it. If you do not intentionally set a path for
yourself , then life will show up and set it for you.
Many of my clients come to me to help them plan for their
success. They are tired of trying to guess what their
income will be for the month or which marketing strategies
they should use. Many have even wasted valuable time and
money on Hope & Pray Marketing Methods that don't produce
results. And here is what I tell them. "If you fail to
plan, you plan to fail.'
Know Your Outcome
It never ceases to amaze me that people do not identify
outcomes they wish to achieve. Many people engage in
activities in their careers and businesses, but they
haven't defined what they want to attain. They are
completing tasks, but they aren't focused on accomplishing
clear-cut results.
Why is it so critical to determine outcomes for a project,
a meeting , a sales call , or any other situation…including
your promotional plan? Because if you don't know what your
outcome is , the odds are that you will spend a lot of
unnecessary time and money trying to reach a fuzzy target.
And there is a very strong chance that the target will not
even be reached.
Outcomes let you know where you are going. They give you
important information about how to use your resources –
time, money and employees. When you know your outcome, you
can continually make important strategic decisions – is
this going to help me reach my goal or will this take me
further away from my objective?
Strategic planning is a blueprint for maintaining or
expanding a business. It is how you achieve your outcomes.
In fact, a plan is like a map. When following a plan, you
can always see how much you have progressed towards your
goal and how far you are from your destination. If you are
serious about making a success of your own business, you
must have a business plan.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but are you beginning
to see that planning is vital? AND planning doesn't have to
be overwhelming. It can be done quarterly. Your strategic
quarterly plan explains your goals and objectives and helps
you keep on track to achieve your goals.
Having a quarterly planning session with your mastermind
team or your coach will help you:
Identify goals and objectives develop strategies to meet
those objectives Highlight problems and suggest ways to
improve them Define the business structure Creating your
own quarterly strategic business plan will help you think
through all the aspects of your business as it is now and
also what you wish to achieve in the future. Additionally,
it will help you make decisions based on anticipated
outcomes rather than on instinct, or on seemingly good
opportunities. It will help you make decisions from a
position of strength and this will translate into bottom
line results.
Write My Quarterly Plan
Target Completion Date:____________ Project
Completed:_____________
Schedule my 30 Minute Complimentary Coaching with an
UpLevel Strategist to discuss my plan.
Target Completion Date:____________ Project
Completed:_____________
Winning Combination # 3
Create Systems for Success
I saw a great quote on a website that read that "97% of all
failure is due to the SYSTEM and not the person.' Process
is what keeps American Business humming. My mentor Michael
Gerber is a pro at establishing process to increase sales.
Business processes put your business on autopilot and they
create a great sense of comfort for your customers and
employees. For example, Nordstrom has an exceptional system
for customer service. They have policies and procedures
that are designed to strategically enhance the customer
experience.
Imagine what it would be like for your customers if there
is a strategically designed experience to enhance their
experience with your company. Or what if there was a system
for accounts payable that ensured your employees checks
would undoubtedly be in their mailbox on the 15 the of the
month as sure as the sun shines.
I even have a work system to design my days for maximum
productivity. I will share this with you as an example
based on my personal optimum performance:
Monday Focus: Administrative and Marketing
Tuesday Focus: Customer Service and Coaching
Wednesday Focus: Sales and Coaching
Thursday Focus: Product Development and Coaching
Friday Focus: Writing
To further enhance that system , I only return calls
between 4-6 PM PST Tuesday , Wednesday, and Thursday. I
have a voicemail system that allows my customers to get to
the right person and when they reach my desk , they know
exactly how to reach me and when. It saves me , my staff,
and my clients a whole bunch of time and stress.
Systems Checklist By Department
Following are a short list of examples of policy/procedures
and systems you might want to check into. I have left
enough space for you to also add your own.
Human Resources
• Employee Manual
• Hiring/Firing
• New Employee Checklist
• 1099's info on file
Customer Service
• Voice Mail System
• Customer Relationship Management
• Email System
Marketing
• Press Release Process
• Media Inquiry Process
• eZine Process
• Direct Mail Process
Products
• Shipping & Receiving
• Return Policies
• Automated Shopping Cart on Site
Accounting
• Bookkeeping Process
• Quarterly Tax Process
• AP/AP Process
Sales
• Lead Generation
• Lead Follow Up
• Contact Database Management
• Payment Process
• Sales Script
Legal
• Contracts
• Attorney Approval
Technology
• Web process
• Tech Support
Administrative
• Filing
• Scheduling
• Travel
• Conference Calls
• Misc.
(Lastly, part three will cover winning combination four and
five. Stay tuned!)
