FOCUS x 6

It is all too easy for people to lose track of what is most important to their business. The tyranny of the urgent -- email, voicemail, cell phones, PDAs, . . . and the stack of papers!, etc. – keeps a strategic individual from being focused on the crucial concerns. Consider these six areas where focus is essential to success . . .


FOCUS on Customer Satisfaction
Your company’s primary focus should be squarely on exceeding the expectations of your customers. One business owner said, “I want my sales team to fall in love with our customers, their needs and wants. That’s the best way to switch their thinking from selling our products to being the solution-finders for our customers.” The real value of your business is tied directly to the future, predictable cash flow from your highly satisfied and loyal customers. Without customers, you do not have a business.
Value your customers, serve them well, and sniff out any customer problems or complaints. Keep your customers delighted and coming back for more! Create an environment in which the customer is your enterprise’s primary focus.

FOCUS on Getting Results
Activity is not necessarily accomplishment. Establish the company culture where:

• Thinking and planning are admired
• Actual results are valued more than busyness
• Effectiveness (doing the right things) is rewarded more than efficiency (doing things right)
• Intelligent, meaningful action is prized over procrastination (paralysis-by-analysis) and excuses.

FOCUS on Continual Improvement
If your company is not improving, it is declining. If you aren’t getting better, your competitors may well be.

You can easily stifle continuous improvement by creating a culture where the fear of failure and making mistakes keeps employees afraid to try or offer ideas. Do not let your employees fear failure or making mistakes. Just eliminate repeated mistakes. Failure is not fatal, but failing to change might be.
“If your company is not failing occasionally, either your goals are too low or your rate of innovation is too slow.”
Insist that your employees continually improve what they do and how they do it. Focus on thinking about how to improve their roles, responsibilities, and contribution. Improve systems and processes.
Try new things. If something works better, keep it. If it doesn’t, lose it. Admit mistakes and let go of failed ideas fast. Keep your ego in check. In my creative agency during the 90s I used to say that 95% of my ideas ended up in the trash can. But the 5% that survived made us a great value to our customers.

FOCUS on Profits
Focus on both top line and bottom line growth. Focusing only on revenue growth is often ego-driven. Cash flow and profits are your lifeblood. Keep your gross margins strong.
Avoid over-emphasizing the slashing of costs. Stay on the offensive, not the defensive. Revenue growth is nearly endless while cost cutting is limited – you can only cut so much before you do real damage. Some costs are really strategic investments in the future of your business (new equipment, advertising, training & development, etc.)

FOCUS on the Long-Term
Business is a marathon, not a sprint. Do what is right, always. Maintain the highest integrity and ethics. Your reputation is everything. Business is about sustaining lifelong relationships with customers, employees, investors, suppliers, advisers, etc. Repeat business is absolutely critical to the very life force of your company. Do not take shortcuts.
Calculate the Lifetime Value of your customers. For example, if a typical customer buys from you several times a year, yielding you a total annual profit of $1,000, and you generally retain such a customer for 5 years, the Lifetime Value for a typical customer is $5,000. Stated another way, every time you attract a new customer and serve them well, odds are that customer will be worth $5,000 to your business over time.
Once you know this number, it validates spending money to attract new customers and helps you to determine how much should be spent in the process. Invest a little to make a lot! That’s leverage.

FOCUS on Having Fun
Make business fun. Celebrate worthwhile progress toward your goals. Celebrate your company’s successes often and reward your employees for superior performance. Come up with excuses to praise your team and recognize success. Share the joy. Make coming to work a meaningful and fulfilling event.
Never forget that good employees want to learn and grow, be challenged and rewarded, and fulfill their cravings to be social beings. Make your culture an enjoyable place to work.

Check out upcoming Strategic Mindset Workshops!