These are the mistakes that hold businesses back. That stunt growth, erode culture and get in the way of success.
You’ve definitely made at least some of them. That’s okay. Every business has. But it’s not about perfection, it’s about identifying what you can improve and making a start. We can help you do that. Let’s look at the list.
1. Not sharing goals with your team
Sharing specific targets and objectives with your team can be a great way to rally everyone to a common cause and inspire the behaviour and outcomes that really make a positive impact. Coming together to align with a common goal is a motivating force for any group working together. So make your plans and targets clear, while you let your team know exactly what they need to do in order to reach them.
2. Not having the right marketing plan
Most companies don’t have a marketing plan. But a good one that gets reviewed weekly is essential. A working plan has been shown to be integral to driving growth, even if it changes regularly. A good marketing plan lists your objectives, market and competitor traits, objectives and customer strategies, while plotting your costs and revenues.
3. Not building processes and systems early
Businesses that are structured right, early, can grow without looming constraints like liability, tax issues and new equity partners. Companies that recognise what it takes to get this right enshrine procedures, templates and forms early to secure continuity and quality. The result is happier staff and long-term customers.
4. Not sharing decisions with others in the business
One person making all key decisions can limit growth. The same person with the same limitations inhibits the growth of teams and, as a result, the company. So hire decision-makers, not just helpers and build a board structure that brings in greater insights, better decisions and better outcomes.
5. Not having a genuine USP
A Unique Selling Proposition is more compelling than a slogan or tagline. It tells your customer how you’re different and makes every marketing dollar work harder. To find your USP, know what your market wants, what your competitors don’t claim and what you can deliver.
6. Not focusing on the right customers
It’s possible to increase business by merely selecting and deselecting targets. Rank your customers from top to bottom in terms of their cumulative value to you. Then profile your top 20%. These top 20% are a map of the customers you should be prioritising. Profile the bottom 20% and avoid targeting them if it’s at the expense of chasing your top 20%.
7. Not knowing your customer’s needs
Despite their success to date, most companies do not know enough about their customers’ dislikes, fears and their unmet wish-list. Companies assume that transacting with customers means they know them and that competitors and customers don’t change. Both assumptions are wrong. Staying up-to-date on what your market wants, does not want and quietly fears when considering a company like yours is the key to a competitive advantage.
8. Not setting realistic financial goals
Setting ambitious goals can be very motivating. But not if you never reach them. Your team will be inspired if you set goals and reach them. Set them too low, and you don’t stretch them to achieve more. Set them too high and disbelief grows. The sweet spot is to set specific, measurable, accountable, realistic, and time-specific objectives. This is the SMART acronym. It grows businesses and fosters faith.
9. Not hiring people who challenge you
Hire people who are bigger than you, not smaller. If you hire people smaller than you, you will be busy and feel clever, but you won’t be growing your business. When you surround yourself with people who are greater than you, you may not be as busy or feel as clever, but you will grow a stronger company.
10. Not being a strong leader
A strong leader is not authoritarian, but is also not a pushover. A strong leader is emotionally mature, stable, clear thinking and helps their team perform at their best. They are seen not necessarily by their own work, but by the work of those around them. They set the company direction, arm their team with what they need, communicate well, and encourage the team to where they all want to be.
11. Not staying focused on the important issues
It can be hard to focus on the most important things and not be distracted by ‘fires’. But this is exactly what you must try hard to do. Sacrificing some urgent things for more important big-picture things can be what builds a business and gets you out of living day-to-day. Know when to delegate, when to rest, and how to utilise your team better.
12. Not delegating to your team
You cannot do it all by yourself. Delegate to your team and be happy seeing something done well enough, even if you know you could have done better yourself. Your priority is to do the work that puts you to your highest and best use (your HABU). If you only achieve that, but achieve it well, you are doing well. To achieve this, you must leave your team to the other tasks.
13. Not defending your prices
Price competition is an easy reaction to tough times, but it doesn’t always work. Instead, it can bleed profit while simultaneously not bringing in any more customers. Customers are often happy to buy more expensive options for greater quality or convenience. So, it might seem counterintuitive, but in tough times, defend your prices while trying to offer more.
14. Not educating your clients
This is one of the most common causes of price competition and lost clients. There are usually hidden aspects to your product, service, or business that they don’t know about. Educate your market about how you’re different, and they will be more likely to favour you over your competitors and be flexible on price.
15. Not making an explicit offer
An offer is simple but not always made clear, so that your customers immediately understand its value. A good offer promises some kind of explicit benefit, and the best places for an offer are in corporate websites, brochures, advertisements and other core collateral.
16. Not soliciting a response
We wouldn’t accept a salesperson who didn’t ask for the sale. But a lot of companies fail to see that their marketing assets and activities need to do the same. The website, brochures, advertisements and other communications knock on a lot more doors than a salesperson. So, they all need to make it clear what you want the reader to do next to increase the chances that they will take the action.
17. Not testing your idea first
Never spend on an untested idea what you can’t afford to lose. That simple rule prevents you from spending too much on ideas that seem right but are flawed in ways not immediately obvious. Testing small avoids such losses. Virtually everything can be tested: new product ideas, new services, new promises, new ways of transacting, new business models, new marketing methods and more.
18. Not making it easy to do business with you
Do your clients like to order online, but you don’t offer that? Do they hate the paperwork involved in buying from you? Do they crave standing orders but are not given the opportunity? Does your contact team have a poor phone manner? How easy it is or isn’t to do business with you can make or break an otherwise perfect ensemble of products and promotions.
19. Not growing the value of your customers
Customers are expensive to get, but once you have a customer on board, they are your most valuable asset. Your take now is to ethically leverage them and nurture them to be worth more to you over time. Try up-selling, cross-selling, bundling different products and services, keeping in contact with them, soliciting referrals, creating loyalty schemes and seeking other ways to grow their value.
20. Not re-evaluating and updating your strategy
All strategies have a use-by date. Your opening strategy will soon become wrong. So be open and flexible to re-developing your strategy to respond to changes in the market, competitors, what you sell and how you sell it. Schedule periodic reviews and stay alert for changes outside your company.
Most companies are making some of these mistakes every day. But as a client of Bear Marketing, we’ll help you get rid of a lot of them.
For less than the cost of a single full-time employee, you’ll get an ENTIRE marketing team based right here in Brisbane, including:
- The Strategy Lead who helped grow Crimsafe, Signet and Glencore Technology
- The Creative Director who helped Max Employment, Recochem and Wildlife HQ
- The Website team who built Sitemax, Lightforce and Diggers Australia
- The video team who delivered for Tunstall, Yakr and Kurloo
- The Design team that reinvented FPS, Yellow Couriers and PrimeShielders
- The digital marketing team that created leads for Lightforce, Narangba Timbers and Votrstrom
- The Social Media team who voice OZ Buckets, Kurloo and Fasteners Direct
- And the Database Marketing and Automation team driving comms for ABL, Microhouse and AUS-MEAT