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I want to share a simple concept with you that can help you grow your business, close more sales, make more money and be more successful in just about everything you do. The good news with what I’m about to share is that it isn’t complicated or hard, in fact, it’s just the opposite – it’s simplicity itself.
The following excerpt comes from an article in “The Economist” by the author Schumpeter. I think it speaks for itself:
The Economist
“Keep things simple," said Schumpeter. That is the key to a successful business, according to Bain & Co. consultants Chris Zook and James Allen. In their new book, Repeatability, they lay out how the world’s most successful companies “make a cult of simplicity” and relentlessly apply stripped-down business models to new opportunities. You can see this winning formula of “simplify and repeat” in Ikea’s flat-packed furniture, McDonald’s hamburgers, and Berkshire Hathaway’s buy, improve, and hold approach to investing.
“Lego learned the lesson the hard way. In the mid-1990s, the Danish toy company expanded feverishly into theme parks, television, and clothing lines; that led to years of dismal results. Only when it went back “to its roots”—those little plastic bricks—did big profits return. Businesses have a natural tendency “to grow more complex as they mature,” and that complexity can be a “silent killer.” For all the worries companies have about being “crushed by the next big thing,” the best way to survive dramatic change is to “keep hammering away at the simplicity mantra.”
The great thing about this article is that it reminds us all to focus on the fundamentals of what makes us successful, and I can tell you from my own experience that is right on the money.
Here are a couple of examples:
1) When I was a struggling sales rep prospecting and closing business, I was always on the look-out for the latest technique (you know, the one that happened to work on the last close) or the best leads (there had to be a better lead source than the one that I was calling), or I was looking for some other easier way of finding deals.
I spent a lot of time changing my approach, searching leads, etc, but in the end what I learned was that I was the most successful when I just called a lot of leads and used the proven scripts I had developed months before. In fact, I closed a lot more deals when I concentrated on following the proven scripts and techniques that always worked. When I concentrated on the simple fundamentals of properly qualifying leads and following up with proven buyers, my business took off.
What I ultimately learned was that there was no easier, softer way to write business – I simply had to do the things that were proven to work. And once I accepted and concentrated on being the best qualifier and closer in the office, and once I combined that with making more calls than anyone else in office, that’s when I became the top closer out of five branch offices.
It was as simple as that.
2) Fast forward to my current business as a sales consultant. I have spent a lot of time and money chasing the next (complicated) best thing. In my line of work there is a new distraction (supposed to be an easier way of getting clients) being promoted seemingly every day. There are new leads generation programs, new social media groups to join, new ways of delivering my content – heck, the list really is endless!
Now I’ve chased a lot of these new (complicated) programs and without fail, they all cost me a lot of time, energy and money. Did they bring me a lot of new business? No. What I learned is that when I just focus on my core competency of teaching business owners how to grow highly successful inside sales teams, my business took off. It’s as simple as that.
Could I improve my CRM system? Sure. Could I start yet another group on LinkedIn? Sure. Could I start a membership site for residual income? Sure. Would all those complicated and expensive measures earn me more money than simply concentrating on what I do best? No.
My simple business truth – just like the little Lego’s – is that I make the most amount of money and help the most amount of people when I focus on my fundamental core skills – helping business owners grow their inside sales teams. And that’s what I’ve focused on over the past two years. And, coincidentally, I’ve had the best two years of my business!
Now it’s time for you to think about your core competencies. What do you and your company do best? If you’re a sales rep, when was the last time you concentrated on the fundamentals of selling? If you’re a business owner, when was the last time you focused on how you help people the most? By going back to basics and perfecting those fundamentals, you will likely grow market share and be more successful.
It really is as simple as that.