As you come upon the second half of 2013, it is a good time to reflect on the results you achieved so far this year. Are you on track to reach your goals for the year? Have you captured the right clients? Are you generating the revenue you expected?
As a service professional, you are a business and ultimately, clients will primarily always work with you because of you. As a business, your goal is to generate revenue and income by virtue of the services you perform. Whether you work for a large organization or are a solo practitioner, you must create value and are responsible for the results you achieve.
It is very easy to get caught up in how “busy” you are each day. The question is, are those activities that are keeping you busy “productive”? Being busy does not make money. Being productive is the only way to make money. Too many service professionals mistake busyness for productivity and as a result, they aren't seeing results even though they feel like they are working hard.
A productive service professional, translates into attracting the right clients, performing valuable services that a client needs and wants and charging a fair price for those services. Everything else that keeps you “busy” is just that. If you feel like you have been busy but are behind in getting the results you want for 2013 here are 3 areas that can get you from “busy” to “productive”.
A. Review your plan - Your plan is very specific about what you want to accomplish in 2013 and guides you to stay on track. If you do not have one than create one to get you to the end of the year! The key elements are:
1. The amount of personal income you want to make - are you on target? If not, it may be due to a weaker revenue stream and/or lower margins than you anticipated.
2. The amount of revenue you need to generate to achieve your income - where do you stand year to date on your revenue objectives? If you are below target but on pace in capturing the number of clients you want, is it because the revenue stream is lower because of the quality of clients you are attracting?
3. Your plan is calling for very specific clients that you will capture to achieve your revenue objectives. The description of those clients includes the market in which they operate and more specifically, the market segment that they operate within that market. Your plan should call for an average revenue per client based on the services you provide. In reviewing your year to date results, are you achieving your average revenue per client? If not, have market conditions changed? Do the potential clients identified still make sense financially?
B. Review Your Relationship system - As a business, you must have a predictable relationship system in place to get the referrals to the specific clients you want to achieve your business objectives. Here are some key elements to look at if you are not getting the results you want:
1. Have you found that you have been “busy” networking by collecting a lot of business cards but little to show for the effort? It is easy to get caught up in networking. Going from event to event can eat up a great deal of time while giving you a false sense of accomplishment. Collecting cards does not mean that these people will remember you or that they have a clear understanding of what you do. That is not a system but rather, a scattered attempt to “hope” that you will get referrals from your effort.
2. Understand that your relationship system is the key to your successfully getting the right referrals to the right clients that meet the parameters called for in your plan. Every successful business must have a methodical distribution system capable of capturing the business. It is not independent of the plan but rather, overlays the plan. If you are not getting the clients you want or are getting referrals which are weak and outside the scope of your target, in all probability your relationship system is weak and needs specific attention.
3. For the balance of the year, focus on developing a few key relationships that we call “Level I” who will be absolutely committed to helping you with one significant event over the course of the year. The key to your success is not having a drawer full of business cards, it is having a few deep relationships with other service professionals who clearly understand what you do and the type of clients you can best serve.
C. Review Your Brand - Like most, you probably operate in a crowded competitive marketplace. In order to stand out you must be able to differentiate yourself from the rest of the thundering herd. If you are concerned about your brand in the marketplace and making yourself memorable, here are a couple of ideas to help your brand:
1. Develop a monthly e-mail broadcast that offers information that is relevant to your audience. Keep it very short. The benefit is that you are touching your audience every 30 days and they know that you stay on top of the issues related to your business.
2. Write relevant articles/blogs which convey knowledge and expertise. This is a great way to again offer information to your audience and to let them know that you take your profession seriously.
There is still ample time to turn your “busy” activities to “productive” accomplishments. By rethinking your efforts and focusing on those specific areas we have described, you can turn this year into a year of satisfactory results for your business.
