For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.
– Benjamin Franklin
In business as in life – everything is connected! Social connections – without them we would be socially isolated. No references. No referrals. No special favors.
Good connections create a good flow of communication, services, ideas and good relationships – it’s a process!. Bad connections are, well, disconnections. In business, solid connections join needs and wants with gratification and solutions.
A business has internal and external connections which are all part of this process! Your external business connections include your customers and vendors who help you keep the doors open.
Your internal connections are no less important and, any disconnection can usually be traced back to a lack of care, communication and concern between management and the front-line sales force.
This kind of disconnection can be directly connected to lost sales! As a business owner, you can control your internal connections directly. The external connections however, such as market prices and competition are rarely directly controllable by you unless you include your ability to react quickly and make good choices – fast!
Not really connecting with your vendors? Replace them! Are customers not connecting with you? Why? Pay attention to your front-line sales force and whoever is responsible for guiding them.
Is your brand (logo) or brand identity (the perception of a quality solution) not connecting you to your target market effectively or correctly? Your branding success or. the lack of it, is connected to lots of things that are sometimes overlooked.
Your location for example; is it highly visible, accessible and convenient? A good location is very much connected to your image or lack of it.
Many disconnects are about not paying attention to the process such as housekeeping or the lack of it. Look – buying stuff is always highly emotional; especially the stuff that feeds our vanity, impatience, laziness, greed, selfishness and ignorance.
Designing and installing a new or remodeled kitchen, according to the NKBA (National Kitchen & Bath Association) requires 14,000 interconnected decisions. Seems overwhelming? It is!
Anything that affects your customer’s buying experience directly reflects on the status of your business’ connectivity. It requires a highly trained and experienced front-line that can correctly connect you to customers.
Even then, the NKBA says that 12% of the couples who start off designing a new or remodeled kitchen end up separated or divorced. How’s your connectivity?
Does your management correctly communicate your organization’s purpose to your front-line sales force who, in turn, perfectly and correctly connect with your customer’s needs? Time to check your business connections.
Carefully inspect them to determine if your business is as nailed down as it should be starting with your location, signage, front-line personnel and merchandising. Then check to make sure your advertising message is communicating correctly for optimal business potential and results.
What is your business wanting for? Don’t let anything, even if it’s just one supposedly insignificant thing cause the loss of your emotional, time and money investment.
At Spectrum Marketing Group, we really do believe that your business can be better when its better connected. Call us today!