by Al DiGuidoCommit to Your Vision for 2020
As we all turn the page on a new decade, this year’s resolutions should hold a special emphasis in our minds in terms of the level of commitment that we place on making the course corrections that we need in both our personal and business paths. We must do more than visualize the changes that need to transform our lives and business in ways that represent the best version respectively.
In the new year, we must be clear about the work that is required to change, and become obsessed with doing what is required to achieve the business outcome that we truly and passionately desire. To take your business to the next level you need to establish a plan and rigorously follow it in order to reach and surpass your goals.
Commit today that this year — 2020 — will be your best year yet in contributing to making your business successful at a new and higher level. When you set this goal early in the year, each and every step you take will be subject to this outcome.
[Photo by Andrea Davis on Unsplash]
Here are some tips and questions that will help you craft this year’s vision and the path to achieving your business outcome.
- How well do you understand your customer’s needs?
You need to understand your customer’s needs, and the relationship between your product offering and those needs, in order to be compelling in the market. If you aren’t relevant this year to those needs, then get working early to gain that relevance. - What new products and/or services are needed?
As you understand your customer’s needs, you must be brutally objective in making an assessment about your current product portfolio. Are there new products and services that need to be developed in the near-term in order to remain compelling in the market? You should’ve started working on this effort yesterday. - What’s needed in order to retain more of your customers?
There is a difference between generating transactions and building a loyal customer base. If you’re losing customers, begin by asking a simple question — why? Then figure out what has to be done in order to retain more of them and build a strong revenue base. - Are you clear about how your customers form their buying decisions?
The market for your products and services continue to change in real-time, so you must anticipate how your customers and prospects make their decisions in 2020. Understanding their buying process is essential to targeting prospects and engaging customers. - Who are the players in your competitive set ?
It would be nice if you were alone in the battle to grow your business. You aren’t. The more that you understand your competitive set and the work they do to compete with you, the smarter your strategy will be in the year — and years — ahead. You must become a student of the competitive set in order to win your outcome. - How can you reach and engage your target audience efficiently?
You aren’t working with a limitless marketing budget. The challenge ahead is to cost effectively and efficiently leverage media. It’s all about the ability to reach a high concentration of prospects for your product, and, most importantly, engage with them to drive the desired outcome. The vision for 2020 is to leverage an optimal mix of media and messages that gets the job done. There is no way to achieve this goal without proper attention and performance monitoring of established KPIs.
The results of your efforts in achieving your vision for 2020 must be measured on a real-time basis. In a highly competitive market, you have no time to waste in terms of getting started and executing. We cannot delay our work — not even by a month or a day. Doing so will open up your efforts to the competitive set and provide them with a huge opportunity to take advantage of your lack of decisive business-building action. You cannot waste time with the misguided hope that you can make up the gap later in the year.
Commit today to a better vision for 2020.