If you’re in business, there are certain things you need to be thinking about all the time.
It just isn’t good enough to be status quo anymore. One of the things that is directly related to the success of my client featured in The Globe and Mail last week, is that we’re constantly revisiting these five super important areas.
1) Your Content. Content is one of my three Cs of an Evergreen business. An evergreen business is one that stays green year-round. It’s focused on retention and loyalty and it reaps the benefits from that focus. This is what I help my clients do. Content is the shorthand I use for what you’re selling. For the restaurant it’s food; for the consultant, it’s the expertise; for the barber, it’s the haircut.
You can’t let your content stay the same all the time. You need to be constantly improving the value you bring. If it always stays the same, it’s boring.
2) Your Marketing. Most businesses are terrible at marketing. It’s shocking considering you can throw a stone out the window and hit a marketing expert. All your marketing should be revisited on a regular basis. You should be constantly tweaking, testing, and trying new things.
3) Your People. It’s often said that the hotel doorman is the most important person in the hotel experience. He’s the first person customers see when they arrive, and the last person they see when they leave. Today, everyone is your doorman. Anyone dealing with customers needs to paid and treated well. On the flip side, you need to set the bar high. Train your employees and constantly be looking for ways to better their dealings with customers.
4) The Experience. Constantly improving the experience is often far more valuable than the content itself. How can you make the experience extraordinary? When I stayed at the Trump SoHo in New York City, it’s not just another hotel – it’s an extraordinary experience from the moment you walk in the doors. They’ve crafted and created something that transcends the simple experience of “just a place to sleep.”
5) Your Community. What are you doing to create a sense of community amongst your customers? The Internet and Socia Media have provided us with something more powerful than the ability to pin and poke. It’s the ability to create community structures for our customers to come together. How are you harnessing this power?
