What drives your company, the offense or the defense?
I went to a football game recently. My team won 33-22. You may think that the offense ran away with the game, running up a whopping 33-points and really sticking it to the competition.
The truth is that the offence was non-existent. The offence only managed to gain 121 total yards. As a matter of fact that is the fewest yards ever by a team in the National Football League that scored 33 points!
What happened? Simple. The defense carried the team. They forced seven turnovers, scored one touchdown and they set up two others. The defense came to the rescue of the offence.
In business it can be the same way. Your offense, sales and marketing, can really drive your company. They can generate a lot of interest and enthusiasm in your products and services. They usually get the credit for superior performance. You hear it all the time. “They had a great year. Sales were up 20%!”
But, building a successful business requires teamwork. It takes offense and defense. Let’s look at the defensive areas that you can focus on to build a better business.
Customer Service
Building relationships with your clients brings them back, increases the average sale amount, and generates referrals. Creating an effective customer service department can mean a growth in sales from behind the scenes.
The investment in marketing has been spent. You or your sales team has worked to acquire the client. Now, what happens as you move forward? Your customer service efforts will play a major impact on your return on investment from sales and marketing.
Relationships not only attract clients, but they also retain them. It’s a proven fact. Everyone in your organization that comes in contact with your clients must take the responsibility to build relationships.
My clients have retained my services because of relationships with someone answering the phone, someone in production, and someone in field service. In my manufacturing business, my truck drivers built relationships with our clients, and they came back with a lot of useful information. The clients enjoyed doing business with everyone they came in contact with.
Production
If you are in manufacturing, then you know that production can make or break you. Yes, the sales department needs to make the sale at a profitable dollar amount, but production must be efficient, produce quality products, and provide a quick turn around time.
An efficient manufacturing facility can give you a competitive advantage. It will help you to be more profitable, have higher than normal quality, and have faster then industry standard delivery times that can be parlayed into powerful marketing tools.
Internal Support
It is very difficult for anyone to be successful on their own. We all need support and assistance in our endeavors. In any business, there are people whose work and efforts provide support for others in the company.
The person answering the phone interfaces with the client. By answering the phone in a warm and welcoming manor, the client can be put into a good mood and be more receptive to the sales professional and her ideas.
Someone in accounting can provide a service for someone else in the organization thereby helping the second individual be more productive, more effective, and achieve greater results.
My daughter, Jackie, plays very serious soccer. After nine years of playing forward and midfield her coach moved her to defense. This past weekend Jackie told me that she always has to cover two players as the midfielders never seem to come back on defense like they should. Jackie said, “It took playing someone else’s position to fully understand how what I did impacted them.”
Look for ways to provide better support for others in your organization and reap the benefits.
Cost Containment
You can increase gross revenues by selling more customers, selling them more often, and selling them larger quantities. You can impact your bottom line without increasing sales by containing your costs.
Cost reductions turn into instant profits. An increase in sales by one dollar might put ten cents on your bottom line, but reducing your costs by one dollar will increase your profits by a full dollar.
Are there redundant jobs in your organization? Is there a more cost effect way of purchasing or better purchasing sources? Can great performance efficiencies be turned into cost savings?
Proactively drive your costs down as a never ending daily endeavor, and over time you will watch your profits soar!
A team is made up of many individuals who perform a variety of tasks. By getting all of the members of your team on the same page, or your offense and your defense, you will find that it is easier to build your business. And, on those days where one subgroup of your team is having a tough time, others will pick up the slack and help get the job done.
Work both your offense and defense, and you will be more accountable in Building a Better Biz.
Action step:
Choose one “defensive” area of your business and focus this week on making it stronger.
