Growth Road Map Part 2: Steps 3-7
4. So What?!?
So what are the problems your ideal customers are looking for solutions to?
By understanding their struggles and goals you can develop products/services that address their specific needs and which provide them with the feeling they want. So what can you develop that will move the bar in terms of innovation or simplicity or quality or value?
So what can you do to stay relevant? No, to stay essential to your customers?
5. Daily Rituals
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” – Aristotle
Athletes warm up before a race, racing drivers warm the engine and tyres before the start of a race. Warm you mind and body up at the start of each day. Spend time each morning:
Being Grateful for the things you have in your life/ the things that are going well. Being grateful for what you do have calms the impatience of getting to your destination when constantly striving for goals and helps you to appreciate what you have achieved.
Visualise. Take your goals of the next 1, 2, and 3 years and imagine yourself having achieved them. See vividly what you would see and, importantly, focus on the feelings of delights, satisfaction, achievement that you will get with attainment. Visualise your day ahead and see you achieving the things you want. Plan your day in your minds eye going the way you want it to go.
Move. Whether it is an hour in the gym, 20 minutes walking the dog, a 7 minute workout app or parking a little further from work so you walk the last 10 minutes. Move and get oxygen flowing to your brain.
Hydrate. Most people drink too little water. The brain and body are 70% water. Aim to drink at least 2 litres of water a day. You will have more energy, your skin will be better and you will feel more alert. Some may even say you look younger.
6. MTO
With the traditional way of setting goals you feel good if you achieve your goals and feel bad if you don’t. Make your goals about progress not about winning/losing.
For each goal, use a system developed by Raymond Aaron and set a Minimum level, a Target level and an Outrageous level. Minimum is what you can be counted on achieving based on your track record. Target is the stretched goal. Outrageous is what you know you cannot achieve.
For Example: Minimum: Increase sales in the next quarter by 10% Target: Increase sales in the next quarter by 30%; Outrageous: Increase sales in the next quarter by 50%
Fuel your motivation with progress.
7. Build Relationships and Tribe
In a noisy world where our social media feeds bombard us with so much data about hundreds, if not thousands, of ‘friends’ we can feel ‘connected’ but with no connection.
We can feel alone because of the lack of meaningful relationships. Whilst the trend is for increasing amounts of trade to be done online, there is a counter trend of good old fashioned meeting up face to face and building relationships.
People buy from people they know, like and trust.
Build a tribe of fans, people who follow what you do and who may become a customer at some stage. Add value to them. Create a sense of community that people want to be a part of. Always be adding value to your tribe.
To watch a half hour webinar where I take you through these points in more detail, click here.
