February 2, 2022
SHOW ME THE MONEY
Okay, youâve piqued my interest.
File that under #samesies. But apparently, research has found 7 key tactics you can use to drive more business through your online efforts. And thatâs some timely info considering that 70% of SMBs have been investing more in their digital presence since the start of the pandemic. But to boost that revenue stream, youâll need to look at your sales funnel first.
Back up â my sales funnel?
Your sales funnel is every step of an online business transaction, starting from a customer visit to your website all the way through product or service purchase. Working to fully optimize each element of your funnel can have a huge impact on your businessâ profitability.
Will I have to trash my current website?
Nah. (Youâre not on Geocities⊠right?) But you may have to tinker with it. More on that in a sec.
The tactics:
đ Dive into the 7 tactics.
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
Tell me the bad news first.
Through November 2021, an average of more than 3.9 million workers quit their jobs each month â with a record of 4.5 million workers having resigned in November alone.
And the Great Resignation isnât over. In fact, economists say that worker shortages are likely to persist in 2022.
Will it be harder to hire or keep people?
Tough to say. Per WSJ, there were 2 unemployed workers for every 3 job openings in the US last month. Which gives you some steep hiring competition. Not to mention, it puts all the bargaining power in the hands of the workers.
On the other hand, now is a great time to be a prospective candidate for a new position. People see this as an opportunity to pursue a new career path, seek a more desirable work environment with a better work-life balance, or even start their own business.
So, whatâs the good news?
Even though economists suspect that the Great Resignation will continue through the year, they also expect for numbers to ease up. And in the meantime, there are steps you can take to entice prospective candidates and persuade your on-the-fence employees to stay.
How to get more competitive:
Here are some ways to attract perfect additions to your team and get good people to stay:
đ Read more recruiting and retaining tips.
SCALING TIME
Wait, why do processes matter?
Plainly put, when it comes to growing your business, you need to make sure that anyone can run your day-to-day operations. And that means having repeatable processes that employees can learn and implement quickly and efficiently.
Sounds easier said than done.
Youâre right. But, that's why we asked 3 of our certified consultants to give us the no-BS approach to build processes that actually work. And since each of these consultants have helped many small businesses scale, their strategies are tried and true.
Awesome! So, whatâs their first tip?
Get crystal clear on the end goal for your business, suggests Tamara Kemper, founder of The Process Mavens. That means defining your companyâs vision and long-term goals before you build the processes.
âThat clarity will provide the rest of your team clarity on how their role fits [into the business],â says Tamara. And when that happens, your team is able to identify the most important processes that need to be built first.
Love it. Letâs hear the second tip?
Practice patience. Now, as a small business ourselves, we know what itâs like to want to make progress faster. But according to Josh Fonger, CEO of WTS Enterprises, taking the time to develop important processes is crucial to scaling your business.
That means setting aside time and energy to document those processes out, audit whatâs working and what isnât, and shifting your strategy wherever necessary.
And the last tip?
Get buy-in from your team, suggests Christopher Gwinn, founder and CEO of Great Lakes Advisory. Meaning, your team should be in alignment with your processes as you implement them.
A good way to do this is to start rolling out processes with a single department. Once other teams see how well processes work in real-time, theyâll be more excited about implementing processes for their own teams.
đ Get the full playbook.
TL;DR
â