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How to stay on top of your game, get the results that you want in business, and maintain peak performance….it all comes down to having a system, or a process. Consistent output does after all usually result from consistent inputs….but putting in the right amount of the right things is what leads to peak performance.
There is a formula to it, which like all good things is a simple one.
6 P’s are the reminders for the process which leads to consistent results and growth instead of the frequent ups and downs of business that can be so demoralizing and stressful.
It all begins with marketing – it really is the main thing. I recall hearing from Winston Marsh once that “you have to be a better teller of what you do, than a doer of what you do“. Drucker famously wrote “All business is marketing” – and he knew a thing or two about building great businesses.
They are right – it doesn’t matter how good you are if nobody knows it. And they won’t necessarily come and find you just because you are great – unless you are one of the absolute elite at the top of the game with a truly international reputation and strong personal brand. But even those people are constantly marketing…
The point of this system is to stay focused on the daily activities that create value and generate business. It is a cycle that doesn’t stop. And it all begins with marketing – every day. So here are the 6 steps to producing ongoing peak performance:
Promote:
Marketing should be a daily activity, not just an annual think-tank & planning session. Apply the strategy daily, and keep sending the message out to your target market continuously. For example: if your primary marketing strategy is to establish credibility and authority in a particular market niche and dominate that niche, then they need to see and hear from you continually – you have to be the voice that is listened to. A daily routine of providing content via Twitter and Facebook (both aimed at your target market), supporting your content and positioning on LinkedIn, might be your daily “promotion”.
Produce:
The next most important thing is to generate revenue. Constantly. It is the next most important focus, and you must be doing that, and working upon doing more of it, daily. No matter how nice the fee or commission for any particular piece of work, it will be gone in no time. (I’ve seen many spend it twice – the day they make the sale it is often spent in anticipation, and then again on the day the revenue actually arrives). You have to keep selling. Marketing isn’t enough, as that just provides the opportunity to sell. Selling gets the dollars in the door – it needs constant focus. You might do this by ensuring that you are in front and presenting to “x” number of people per day.
Pitch:
You have to continually top up that sales funnel. There is no point in having a heap of well qualified prospects that you are not doing business with, and there is even less point in not doing business just because you are worried you will use up all your prospects. At a personal level – the prospecting part of any sales process – you have to be pitching daily. Pitching just means “tell your story” to people – not corner them, or try and sell them straight away. You know that the best clients come from a well established, trusted relationship, and that can only be built over time. Take the pressure out of the business by ensuring that you are talking to people each day who will be future clients – not today’s sale. You might do this by ringing and talking to to “x” people per day who are at different points in the sales or relationship building process.
Process:
Look for an area to create just a little efficiency within your business each day. aim for 1% improvements daily – not giant leaps forward. Incremental process improvement is easy, and far more quickly than you would think it leads to a very efficient business machine. It is the same approach as the ant trying to eat the elephant….just one bite at a time. You might do this by standardising one letter, or paragraph for reports, each day that you can use continuously to save time or make the job easier in the future. Keep building and refining processes for a more efficient business.
Perfect:
The act of perfecting, or working on, something that can be improved inside the business even if it is just a little each day. Refining templates, creating shortcuts, sharpening a message, training the staff, getting better financial or management reports… there are so many things to do and continually work on in building a great business. Working on them constantly in easily digestible chunks (remember the ant eating the elephant?) leads to continual improvement. The goal here is not “perfection” in reality either, it is about continually refining and improving efficiency and capacity.
Plan:
Every day, review the activity plan. Not the business plan as such, but the work the diary for the days and weeks ahead, together with the next round of the 6 P’s. Scheduling the work, knowing who you are going to call and work with, knowing where you are going and what you will be working on next lead to better peace of mind as well as better productivity.
…then it starts again: get on and promote your business….
This simple daily routine will keep the wheels turning in your business, and ensure that all the important components in building a great business are being worked on regularly – while keeping the revenue coming in the front door. It removes many of the peaks and troughs that are so deadly to us in business, as it creates a process of constant inputs that matter, and which in turn produce the constant outputs that we want.
Attaining peak performance is simply a matter of having a good process that focuses your time and effort in the right proportions on the right things. Then being able to get into the routine (habit) of applying it.