I speak to clients all the time who are frustrated and overwhelmed because:
- Their business isn’t growing;
- They don’t have any clients (or very few clients);
- And their income isn’t where they want it to be.
And after having many such conversations over the past few years, I’ve identified six key reasons why they’re not seeing the results they want to see.
Read through these reasons and see if you can identify with any of them yourself … you may have more than one!
1. No Clear Strategy or Vision. When you’re not clear on why you’re in business or the results your business is delivering, it’s very hard to grow it – you don’t know what direction to go in; what to do next etc. etc. and chances are you easily get distracted and get off track by following those bright shiny objects (in the form of the latest hot marketing strategy or product). It’s a bit like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle when you don’t have the box in front of you to show you what the end result should look like.
2. Focusing on the WRONG Things. Related to point 1 above, when you’re not clear on what you’re doing then chances are you’ll focus on the wrong business building and/or marketing activities. And then you’ll be disappointed with the results you get. This is because you either don’t fully understand the activity but you’re going ahead with it anyway. Or you don’t know how the activity relates to your business so don’t know how it’s going to help you build your business.
3. Lack of an Automated Marketing System. Without the proper automated marketing system in place, it’s very difficult to follow up with new subscribers (that’s even if you have a system for capturing new leads in the first place). If you don’t have a system in place for following up with your new subscriber, then how can you expect to turn them into a paying client or customer?
4. Lack of Systems. Forget about the automated marketing system, you don’t have any systems in place at all! You’re surrounded by paper piles; you can never find what you’re looking for; you have no idea of your business finances – these are all symptoms of a lack of basic business management systems. And this itself is a core reason why your business isn’t growing.
5. Not Clear On The Results Your Services Deliver. This again goes back to point 1 above, but it also means that if you’re not clear on the results your services deliver, then your marketing message is not clear either. Which means you’re not attracting your ideal clients (if any clients) and your business isn’t growing.
6. Not ASKING! This is a big one. I see it happen so many times. You’ll do anything and everything not to have a sales conversation with a client and ASK them to work with you. And this could mean not even asking them to have a strategy session/initial call with you to find out more about one another. You really do need to start getting into the habit of ASKING people to work with you.
Which of these reasons can you relate to? Is there more than one?
