12/ 18/ 2006
by Jeffrey Moses
Tips for finding a quick recharge
If you've been feeling that your business isn't growing as quickly as you'd like, or that your enthusiasm has diminished, you're not alone. From time to time, most business owners feel that their company is running out of steam.
The trick is to make sure this condition doesn't become permanent. Here are a few proven ways you and your employees can regain the momentum and enthusiasm needed for long-term success.
- Set new sales and revenue targets and make specific plans to meet them. Get everyone in the company involved--and excited. Instead of just letting the future develop randomly, take charge. Setting targets and making plans to achieve them not only gives employees tangible outer goals, it helps rekindle inner fires. When you and your employees organize and plan to meet specific goals, the company will take on a new enthusiasm at all levels.
- Do something dynamic like dramatically lowering prices on certain items or services. Don't reduce to the point of losing money, but make these items so attractive from a price standpoint that customers start streaming through the door. This can reignite employees and jumpstart other areas of your business.
- Start a company-wide campaign to turn customers into buyers. Consider sending your sales employees (and those in related departments) to a seminar on how to close sales. Look at former and current closing ratios (how many customers enter the door and how many actually make purchases) and then set up company-wide rewards for beating these ratios.
- Find ways that you and your employees can recharge your personal batteries. When a company has been going through the blahs, employees can become demotivated and tired. If you see signs of this, encourage people to make the most of their time off. Also, consider setting up a yoga or transcendental meditation lecture for your business. Many companies have paid for their employees to start programs such as these. Research on thousands of businesspeople has shown that meditation can reduce anxiety, improve health and increase productivity--all of which can affect a company's bottom line.
- Upgrade your marketing. Increased advertising usually translates into more sales--if you do it right. Analyze your current marketing in light of what is working best for you. If a certain marketing channel is clearly bringing in a significant percentage of your eventual sales, bite the bullet and increase your marketing in this channel. Or, if money is tight (as is often the case when a company is running out of steam), cut back on advertising that isn't working and funnel the money into advertising that could be more productive.
- Don't leave your employees out of the process. If you sense that your company is going through a lackluster period, don't pretend it's not and don't think that your employees aren't aware of the situation. They'll be grateful to be included in your plans for recharging operations. And you might be surprised at the ingenuity they display when included in brainstorming meetings.
