EPISODE 114 OF THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS PODCAST: I LOVE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME BASIC

Sonya:
 

In recent years, the term basic has become a term commonly used to insult someone.

And while I’m thrilled that the “I’m rubber you’re glue” of my schoolyard days is long gone, I believe that being basic is actually a COMPLIMENT.

In fact, I built an entire business around the concept.

In this episode, I’m going to share with you why the fundamentals should be your TOP priority, and why I wear the Basic Badge with pride.

You may not realise this, but I chose the name of my first business - Kiss Marketing - because

a) I needed a business name (no great shock there!)

But also because when I was talking to business owners in the onboarding phase, they were focused on things that were going to come WAY further down the line.

What I needed was for them to keep it simple. KIS…S.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in business for years, we’ve ALL done that thing where we’re focused on the wrong things.

You might be focused on your logo, when you should be focused on building your lead generation pipeline. OR, you could be focused on growth strategies when you should be spending time cleaning up your website so your ads send customers to a site they WANT to buy from.

And while I’m a big fan of starting before you’re ready, I DO think you need to at least have the basics down BEFORE you start growing your business.

For my service-based businesses:

• Do you have a system in place that takes people from enquiry to appointment? It doesn’t have to be complicated, you could have a paper diary for all I care, but is there somewhere you collect your appointments, and is the process for setting an appointment with you CLEAR for your clients?

• Do you at least have SOME sort of web presence, even if it’s just a landing page with a number to contact you on? If you’re relying solely on socials and word of mouth, you’re probably missing out on a lot of search traffic - not to mention, when you DO try to set up Google Ads down the line, you’ll be seen as a brand new business, even if you’ve been operating for years.

• What about follow ups? Do you have a system in place for booking someone in for their next appointment while they’re right there in front of you? If you’re a service provider who generally sees clients every 6 months or annually, do you have some sort of email or SMS reminder service set up? If not, why not set that up BEFORE you try to chase new business? Your most valuable clients are the ones you already have, after all.

Product-based businesses, you’re up:

• As I said before, does your website encourage sales? People love to hear your story, and they love to see what you’re up to, but at the end of the day, your website’s main priority is to MAKE SALES.

• Do you have some sort of system in place to collect reviews? It can be as simple as an automated email, sent two weeks after a product is shipped, but reviews are ESSENTIAL for product based businesses - especially if you’re just starting out.

• Finally, how do YOU follow up with abandoned carts or products designed to be purchased on repeat? Do you have a system? Can you create a subscription model, even?

I see plenty of business owners, and their designated marketing people, making the mistake of patching their businesses together as issues or opportunities arise.

And NO SHADE! That’s how we all start out!

But there does come a point where you have to break things down to build them back up again.

So, where do you start?

This is actually something I’ve been doing with my business in the last 9 months or so, so I AM somewhat of an authority on the subject… And if you can’t pick up on my sarcasm there, believe me - my tongue is firmly in cheek when I say this.

I’m STILL refining our processes as we learn, and as our team grows.

What I have learned though, is that you need to look at EVERY aspect of your business, not just the ones that are causing you difficulty.

- Where are things taking too long?

- Which tasks are getting overlooked regularly?

- What aspects of your business do YOU take seriously, that your team doesn’t place as much importance on?

- Which tasks are done every day, week or month?

Once you have the answers to these questions, you can get started on building out Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPS.

Now you may already have SOPs in place - but when was the last time you actually looked at them? You may have changed team members, or software, or have a new process entirely!

You’ll never know unless you examine your processes.

I have my team time track. NOT so I can see where they’re potentially wasting time, but so I can get a better idea of how long things take. And for my team, the same task may take a different amount of time, depending on the team member or the client!

BUT, I wouldn’t know this if I didn’t take the time to investigate.

After time tracking for a couple of months, I have a better idea of how long each task takes for my team - and I can assess workloads and task allocation accordingly.

And your team may have some clever insights, too!

After all, they’re the ones DOING the work - why not ask them for their tips and tricks for doing things better, or quicker, or in a way that makes sense to them?

A lot of business owners may have started out their career as a technician, but things change quickly, and if you’ve been off the tools for more than 6 months, your team is probably more up to date with industry developments and advances in technology.

Once you have your standard procedures in place, THEN you need to crack down on enforcing them, and THEN you can start thinking about growth marketing strategies.

Because if you don’t have a solid foundation, your business is going to be built on shaky ground. And it only takes one busy month to reveal the cracks in your operations.

I’d love to hear the lessons you’ve learned from making things complicated in YOUR business. Why not join us over in the Boom Your Biz Facebook group?

Just search for Boom Your Biz, and hit that “request to join” button.

And if I’m rubber and you’re glue? I hope some of those ideas for simplifying your business have stuck.

Long may we be basic.