100 Tips to Improve your Business

1. Always look for ways to increase your average value of sale.
2. Always ask, "How did you hear about us?" every time you receive an enquiry.
3. Practise your presentation in front of a mirror.
4. After you have made a presentation always ask your colleagues, "How could I improve?"
5. A pat on the back for good work is priceless.
6. If an order comes in by mail, fax, or phone don't process it immediately; try to generate more business and up-sell it.
7. Concentrate on your positioning and campaign angles, and spend less time on the fancy artwork.
8. Send a newsletter telling your customers that you are interested in their needs.
9. Keep your customers informed of what you are doing.
10. Develop an action plan, and then follow through with it!
11. Concentrate on your voice control and volume to improve your professional impact.
12. Purchase a nice suit. Spend the extra money; it’s worth it.
13. Be professional in your customers’ eyes at all times. As soon as you relax, you lose the sale and respect.
14. Work backwards. Start off with how much you want to earn and then work backwards to the amount of activity that you need to implement in order to generate the desired revenue.
15. Think profit, not sales.
16. The more people you hire, the more potential headaches, yet the greater the potential gain. Balance your objectives.
17. Employ people who are positive.
18. Avoid people who are negative.
19. Respect your employees. Value their work and praise them when they do a good job.
20. Never assume you are right. Before you criticize, ask for the facts. It is amazing how often you will be wrong in assuming the worst of people rather than the best.
21. Have controls and mechanisms in place so that you can see what is happening at any time in the business.
22. Learn to delegate, but teach your employees about effective prioritization. You might be the key to everything but you cannot do everything and grow at the same time.
23. Relax; treat it like a game and you will think better.
24. Give your business a full health check at least once a year.
25. Analyse what you already know because what you assume you knew may have changed.
26. The market is not a perfect communication forum. Just because you make an offer to one group of customers in one month does not mean that they will remain in the same place four months down the track.
27. Every time someone tells you that they are impressed with your organization, write down a testimonial. Do not ask them to send it to you because 80% of people will forget to. Write it down and send it back to them, asking for their approval to use it.
28. Never pay full rates for advertising without asking for a discount.
29. Be honest.
30. Be up front.
31. Never go back on your word, even if it hurts.
32. Make a point of getting personal, but not personal enough to get involved with problems.
33. Spend less time on penny-pinching and more time on business development.
34. Get excited about your product, business, or service.
35. Leasing computers and office equipment is a great way to justify the expenditure. However, be careful because every lease you sign is a new long-term overhead.
36. Happier staff offers better customer service.
37. Enthusiasm is contagious.
38. Don't stick to one single idea. Play with many ideas and see which ones bring money and success.
39. Create a marketing plan. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
40. Listen to your customers, they are your lifeblood.
41. Focus, focus, focus. You must be disciplined enough to create your business.
42. Motivation, coaching, and management of staff morale, productivity, and profits can easily be destroyed without ongoing involvement.
43. The successful entrepreneur lives in a world of likelihood but spends money in the world of reality.
44. Create a sales plan. You need a realistic map of where sales will come from—how and from whom.
45. Never give up.
46. Build and maintain a customer mailing and contact list on database software.
47. Build your image with well-designed letterheads and business cards.
48. Design a brochure that best explains the benefits of your services.
49. Design a mail order campaign.
50. Design a point of purchase display for your product.
51. Design a telemarketing campaign.
52. Be a walking example of how effective your product or service can be.
53. Seek to serve instead of just seeking to sell.
54. Encourage your prospective customers to expand their professional goals and dreams; this will ensure that you, too, expand.
55. Encourage your existing customers to use and maximize the potential of your product or service, as this will benefit you.
56. Always listen to feedback from your customers.
57. People like to be around popular people. By honing your relationship and communication skills with others, you too can be well-liked.
58. See your customers as your sales team. Allow them to generate business for you through referrals.
59. Educate others in strong selling techniques. This will strengthen your future.
60. Encourage those around you to never place a ceiling on themselves.
61. The sky is the limit.
62. Challenge others to grow, and coach them to achieve success.
63. Procrastination is the enemy of growth.
64. Engage others in both developing and employing strategies.
65. Always say it as it is.
66. Provide bonuses to your key staff; this will encourage optimum performance and loyalty.
67. Hire the right person for the job.
68. Ongoing training and nurturing of skills creates highly professional people.
69. Remember that pride is more of a motivating factor than money. Be sure to verbally reward your employees for a job well done.
70. Treat your staff well; they are the key to your future success.
71. Innovation is creativity in action.
72. Use trade-related shows and exhibitions as opportunities to acquire new customers.
73. Source new customers through industry-related publications such as newspapers, magazines, and other literature.
74. Always communicate your goals, visions, and priorities to your staff. This will enable them to know what to work towards.
75. The best-performing staff are those who are kept “in the picture.”
76. Identify strengths and weaknesses in your staff and match your employees to the areas that they excel in.
77. Never scold in public; this will only create disgruntled employees.
78. Do, however, praise in public.
79. If you develop an Exit Strategy two to five years in advance, you can double the eventual sale price of your business.
80. Create acceptable boundaries and encourage your staff to do the same. This way everyone knows where they stand.
81. Plan successful marketing strategies by identifying the features and benefits of your product/service.
82. Always consider the needs of your customers. Where possible, provide samples or a trial.
83. When hiring, never compromise on quality of staff. Set the job requirements and find someone who matches those competencies, not vice versa.
84. Always be prepared and punctual for meetings with customers. This is your opportunity to showcase your offerings.
85. Hold weekly meetings with your staff to discuss and resolve any issues.
86. Use a central location, or CRM system, to document all issues.
87. If you want good employees, be a good employer.
88. Visualize what you want your future situation to be. Look at where you are now.
89. Analyse the contributing factors that have led you to where you are now.
90. Invest in activities and relationships that make you happy.
91. Change your outlook. See the bigger picture.
92. Schedule time by blocks rather than tasks.
93. Learn to predict reactions, objections, and responses.
94. Spend Mondays planning with your staff.
95. Be passionate about your products, services, and corporate identity.
96. Be passionate about success.
97. Allow staff to dress casually on Fridays.
98. Always spend one day a week at home planning.
99. Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb; the rewards are usually far greater outside your comfort zone.
100. Learn from stumbling blocks; they are the stepping stones of life.