What Are You Doing with 95% of Your Time?
Greetings!
In a recent study 95% of companies’ time is being spent on defensive measures such as cost cutting and a mere 5% on offensive actions like finding new customers or expanding into a new marketing niche, marketing, training and motivating staff.
Since downsizing has left companies with fewer personnel doing more, having to stay closer to the office rather than out prospecting. Marketing and training has probably been put on hold or eliminated totally. On one hand dollars are being saved but on the other hand you are losing awareness and presence in the marketplace and employees are not being challenged and developed. If it continues, by the time the markets start a turn around, you will be spending more to play catch up.
We need to use our time brainstorming about how we can find new customers and expand existing relationships. Invite and involve employees from different areas of the company to identify opportunities and develop strategies. Challenge the group to identify 3-5 ideas and then develop several ways each of the ideas may be accomplished. This activity does several things. One it makes employees feel their ideas are valued; two it promotes synergy among different departments; and three they may come up with some great ideas!
Employees that have been retained with the company are the A and B levels. I doubt if many businesses kept the C level or below par players. The employees need to be motivated, challenged, and developed and it is a great time to ensure the desired culture is illustrated and demonstrated. Take time to increase the quality of customer service, practice effective networking, enhance communications and augment business development. Remember employees are your marketeers. They are the ones that interact with your clients and send the messages of who and what the company is all about. Now is the time to spend time and dollars –this is an investment that will have a high ROI.
Invest more than 5% of your efforts in these areas and you will be out in front of the competition.
Until next month,
Nyda
View my on-air show The Magnolia at www.TheMagnolia.TV, YouTube.com/TheMagnoliaTV, or http://www.nydabittmannneville.com/themagnoliatv.cfm
UPDATED 10.28.09 View the building of the North Carolina mountain house.Click on the link below and check out the recent postings. The title is Rainbow and More! The article in the local newspaper is there now. http://nydabittmannneville.com/northcarolina_mtn_home.htm