Leadership - Page 4

"Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends."  ~Walt Disney

Last week we explained the necessity in having a referral strategy. We also introduced you to three reasons a customer refers your business to others. And, we challenged you to think like your customers and experience why you would refer your business to others. The next step, and what we are covering this week, is starting to make the necessary changes so you are more referable.

Personal introduction, referral, recommendation - whatever the word or phrase you use, it can be defined as "your current customers bringing others to your business to also be customers." All businesses want their customers to have a remarkable experience. Even better, is a customer having such a remarkable experience, they want to share that experience with others.

As we've discussed before, there are always things that are happening to your business. Those things that happen to your business are difficult, because even when they are good they are outside of your initial control. This month we've looked at the point of view to take, how you can prepare, tools to assist in problem solving, and the importance of leadership. We want to leave you with a quick reminder. There will always be things that happen to your business. You may not be able to control them, but you can always choose to control how you react to them. Having the right resources is an important step in reacting to all the things that can happen to your business. Listed below are a few resources for you to consider:

This month we're focusing on how you react to things that happen to your business. We've discussed the importance of attitude andmaking time for preparations, but what do you do when it's go time? When you're in the middle of a crisis, or a new opportunity or challenge is coming straight at you? After all it's not like you can have a system for when things go wrong; a system for how to think through a problem; or, an opportunity that is happening or just on the horizon... or can you?

QUOTE: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."   
~ Abraham Lincoln

One of the criticisms we often hear about systems is that you can't cover all scenarios with a system. The truth is, we couldn't agree more! As a business owner, the number of items that you HAVE to be concerned about can be overwhelming. The sheer amount of threats and opportunities out there are exactly why you need systems in the first place. You need to be free to react and even better take advantage of things that are outside of your control, which is difficult to do if you're putting out day-to-day fires from things that are within your control.

This month we've focused on how, as a business owner, you get your team to take on ownership of a single task. If you've followed along you've defined what taking ownership of a task means, you've created a guide to handing ownership of a task over to an individual, and you've looked at the time you need to devote to this. The last step is making sure that the idea of ownership is not a one-and-done topic in your business.