Time given to planning and strategy is rarely wasted. You owe it to yourselves to dedicate the time, at least once per year, to sit around a table with your key players and discuss your answers to the following questions.
Many of you will be about to undertake your Annual Partner retreat so here are some ideas to get you started.
Do you have a written strategy document and marketing plan?
Do you have a measurable New Customer Acquisition plan?
Do you have an elevator pitch?
Do you know the lifetime value of an average client?
Do you know your true cost per lead/sale?
Have you created a profile of your ideal client?
Are you able to qualify prospects in advance of speaking to them?
Do you receive referrals from every client you meet?
Do your ads, sales collateral and emails generate the response you want?
Do 80%+ of your proposal documents get accepted?
Do you know the Key Performance Indicators your prospects use?
Do you know your prospects information needs?
Do you know how many prospects visit your website and that you could be losing as many as 75% of them every day?
Do you make the most of the latest technologies available such as blogging, webinars and podcasts?
Do you currently sell to more than one prospect at a time? (ie in groups)
Do you know how much the intellectual property you possess is really worth?
Will you be happy to survive at your current income levels for the next 12 months?
I’d love to be a fly on the wall. Let me know how you get on. Part 2 will follow shortly.