It’s hard to believe that we’re in the final stretch of 2013 and we’re barreling full speed ahead into 2014.
Don’t go reaching for the cookies and egg nog just yet. This is the time of year when we need to reflect on our past year and make plans for the coming year.
Here are some questions to help you reflect and consider the opportunities ahead:
1. Is your business worth more today than it was a year ago?
2. Are you evaluating your customers by their current and future value? Are you maximizing the value of your most profitable customers? Are you taking steps to increase the value of less profitable segments of customers?
3. Are you building deeper, more meaningful, and impactful relationships with your customers? Have referrals increased? Have you developed deeper and more actionable insights about your customers?
4. What potential growth opportunities exist? How can you hit the ground running in 2014? What investments do you need to make? What help or assistance do you need and how can you get it? Do you need new talent, new processes, or new systems in place? What do you need to put into motion now, rather than later?
Too often we wait until the New Year to look back, or ask the tough questions moving forward, and before you know it, it’s March before we’re really cooking.
If you want to hit the ground running, hold off the egg nog for a few more weeks.
