Life and Business Balance Part 4
October 17th, 2019 // 11:36 am @ Scott Manning
Last week, we took a look at the various parts of a business and the “balance” that you have to have in order to grow.
Most businesses are lopsided, too much focus on product or service and not enough on new customers and sales, or too much focus on leads and no work on the back end to improve the value and delivery of the experience.
When a business is built to do all of the above (and do it simultaneously), you end up with a healthier business that has more ability to grow profitably.
Now, the other side of “balance” within an organization whether it’s just you, a small team, or a large enterprise, you must balance training and development your people.
I can’t tell you how often we hear from even our best practices that they do not have time to do meetings and trainings. Then it is not long after that they end up in a bind with faltering communication, increased inconsistencies, and missed opportunities.
And all at the same time, I see Doctors who complain about team members who aren’t up to speed on certain systems or protocols and yet there is nothing in place or time dedicated to train them to make a difference in the first place.
Yes, we could just explain this as the whole preparation thing and an ounce of prevention principle; it is all of these things.
The bottom line is your business will only be as strong and successful to the degree in which you work on the development of the people.
The question is: what is your development approach?
How do you balance “working” on your business versus “in” your business and even more than that – how do you balance working on yourself.
For my Doctors, I remind them that their Team is their greatest investment and if the investment is only to go through the motions then you will never breakthrough. If on the other hand, they invest beyond just ‘paychecks’ and into training and development then you will see your people improve along with your results.
Here is the best way I can put it…
If you want to grow your business, you have to grow your people.
This means both your team and it means your customers. We often talk about your customers and what you can do to make them more valuable. Over the next few weeks I’m going to share with you many strategies around actually GROWING your customers to become better customers for your business.
This goes far beyond just marketing and sales or even education and experience. It goes deeper into positioning, psychology, and of course, the approach your team take with your customers (beginning with you).
When it comes to ‘balanced’ development this is everything from the the way you talk to customers to the internal communication systems. How you and your team stay on the same page, discuss key points with each other, and help to ensure every team member stays focused on their key responsibilities and priorities every single day.
An activity I have my best Doctors do at least a couple times a year (and the more often the better) is to assess every person, including yourself, and ask in what ways can this person become more valuable to your business, to their role, to themselves, to the team, and to the customer.
In other words, how can you get more out of them, how can they become a more pivotal contributor for you, how can you get more return on your investment in them?
Now, these random questions are important. What is more important is the decision that this part of your business becomes a priority and it is built into your culture. That you embrace the idea of balance internally, not just with the business externally towards customers and money but in terms of people and systems.
Whether you relate it to sharpening the axe or working smarter not harder, all of the above apply and are important if you want to grow a business by having everyone working at their highest level. It is the only way to prevent falling into ruts or hitting plateaus.
Simply take last week and this week to make sure you have a comprehensive focus on all aspects of your business and approaching it in a balanced way. You will be amazed how much many leverage points and breakthroughs you will discover if you start going to work on, not just in, the business and the people inside.
I hope this week motivates you to take a closer look at the development of all of the individuals that make your business possible.
Category : Blog
