How To Make Your Business More Valuable

You want to replace the element of ‘chance’ within your business with the element of ‘certainty.’ Moreover, have you ever considered which single business development characteristic provides the biggest payoff? The answer is consistency. Consistency is a seldom-discussed attribute, yet it distinguishes the average professional business from a thriving one. The concept of consistency has been proven to be the single most important factor in determining how introduce-able we are, and therefore, ultimately contributes to our professional success.

Whether you know it or not, your clients are already “connecting the dots” and determining what you do and when you do it; whether it’s your process for onboarding new clients or your ongoing process for working with existing clients.  If there is a pattern of inconsistency, your clients will, at best, fail to introduce anyone else to your services. A more severe outcome of inconsistent behavior is that your clients will simply seek the services of another professional in your field.

Most of us can think of someone who has been extremely successful in their business, even though we cannot see any obvious qualities or character traits that contribute to this success. We wonder, “How can that person be so successful?” We may even use the professional as a personal motivator, saying to ourselves, “If they can succeed in this business, then anyone can!” The professional’s success begs the question: what is their secret? How did they accomplish this? As boring as it sounds, the answer is usually the same. The professional had a plan and regardless of how simple or mundane it appeared on the surface, they tenaciously persevered with their plan. Ultimately, their plan bore fruit and their success is now apparent.

Odds are these successful professionals were consistent in their activities, appearance, approach, and customer service. They share the consistency and patience of the tortoise from the fable. Although they don’t necessarily dazzle their clients with the ‘flash’ of the hare, they win by persevering like the highly effective and wise old tortoise. With the consistency and patience of the ‘tortoise’ approach, clients learn what to expect and become comfortable and trusting with the approach. The benefit of all this hard work is that consistency creates trust. And with your clients’ trust, anything is possible.

Here are several simple ideas to make your business more consistent, effective, and valuable:

1. Document your processes so that you and your team deliver consistently every time.
2. Use an agenda in all new and existing client meetings to stay on track and avoid going off-topic.
3. Be consistent with marketing material and other collateral (brochures, letterhead, business cards, and website).
4. Set aside specific days of the week and specific times of the day to meet with your clients. Make sure clients are aware of the time that you have allotted for each consultation.
5. Schedule regular holidays well in advance, notify your clients when you will be away, and let them know what to do in case of an emergency.
6. Be aware of any changes you make in your business, no matter how small, and ask yourself and your team how they impact your consistency.
7. Leverage technology by automating your processes in your CRM system. We recommend automating your processes using Toolkit’s co-pilot. You can learn more about this powerful, yet simple feature here