How To Prioritize & What To Focus On
When it comes to sales-related activities do you ever struggle with how to prioritize?
How about what to focus on, ever feel overwhelmed and confused because there's just so much to do?
These are two of the topics that are frequently asked about and discussed with my clients. Frankly, who doesn't want or need more sales? Very few people would say, “No thanks, I'm not looking for any additional business.” Most of us have the capacity to take on a few new clients. Yet, when's the last time you thought about prioritizing and focusing on the areas that make you money?
Do you know which aspects of your business make you the most money? Where are you getting the biggest bang for your buck? Is there a particular area of your business you'd like to grow? Are you spending your time, energy and money on bringing new business in the door?
How To Prioritize: Do This First
When my clients ask me what they should be doing or focusing on, my answer is always, “Revenue generating activities first”. It's too easy to get caught up in the fun stuff like your website, your graphics, your memes, etc. However, if a good portion of your business isn't directly coming from your website and/or from social media, that shouldn't be your priority.
Recently during a VIP intensive day with a client, we were going through the different types of revenue coming into her business. She'd had a few friends pushing her to focus on growing a certain area of her business. When we looked at the numbers, she had to bring in 20 new clients for the service her friends were wanting her to push vs. 1 client for the main service she offers to make the same amount of money. Which do you think I advised her to focus on? In this case, it's taking her the same amount of effort to book a new client in either of the service categories. When that's the case, you focus on the one that brings in the most revenue.
Is It All About The Money?
Maybe some part of you feels uncomfortable talking about or even thinking about the money you're earning in your business. That's not uncommon. Although, when you're not making any money, you have a hobby, not a business.
Generating revenue should be one of the main goals of your business. The more revenue you generate means you're helping more people. It also allows you to focus on the areas that make the most sense and hopefully brings you the deepest sense of satisfaction.
Revenue Generating Activities
Do you know what types of activities tend to generate revenue for you? If so, make those activities a priority every week in your business. Do those first. In order to be sure they get done, block out time on your calendar.
Depending on your business, these activities may vary. However, here a few universal activities that most people can attribute revenue to:
- Follow-up: Who do you need to reach out to this week?
- Repeat business: When's the last time you touched base with former clients to see if there's anything new you can support them on?
- Samples: How do people who've never worked with you/tried your product get a sense of what it's like to work with you and are then invited to buy after sampling? (Struggling to come up with a way to offer samples of your product/service, consider booking a strategy session so we can strategize on how best to do this and make an offer.)
What's one thing you'll do this week to generate revenue in your business?
Wishing you continued success this week.
