Ep. 271 Business Health Check

Joe Pici helps you assess the health of your business and prepare for the new year. 

Voice over:

Get ready for an unfair advantage over your competition. This is The Sales Edge podcast. Where globally recognized sales expert and trainer Joe Pici helps you sharpen your skills for booking more appointments and closing more deals. And now here’s your host Joe Pici.

Joe Pici (JP):

We will Define some of the characteristics of businesses.

That may be in trouble. Welcome to the sales edged podcast number 271. I am your host Joe peachy, you know, let’s thank our sponsors. This thing pitching PT ink, which is a speaking coaching training consulting firm absolutely focuses on helping our clients, get in front of that Target Market, close more business, get through the gatekeeper, navigate all of the obstacles for getting in front of the right person and sell more virtually.com as our membership. Platform. I’m out there every Thursday Night Live doing a master training or coaching downloads e-courses right now. We’re featuring the nine Essentials of sales success as a free webinar, but most of all we want to thank you. You are a team, our audience that continues to grow and share this message. So as all businesses go through stages. Okay, you know, it would be great if we could tell when we were headed in a

And Direction, you know, if we could correct it before our business got cancered up and destroyed itself. It lost its culture its Revenue, its ability to deliver projects on time on scope and on budget and working with thousands of companies and individuals. I’ve observed certain behaviors. That determine growth or no growth. So are we growing? Are we dying? So A, I’d like us to take an assessment. I mean I’m sitting here and I’m assessing our business even though it says Dawn and I we do have tentacles. Like we have to Source out, things like web design. And there anybody, you pay anything to becomes part of your corporate culture in your team. I’m going to give you some things to alert be ready for, but we’re going to talk about the growth stage. This is stage 1 in stage, 1 years, tremendous.

Adam is mmm. Everybody in your company’s excited. People are looking for Success tears growth. There’s High creativity, you know, you’re in the zone and when you’re in the zone people become more and more creative, your team and yourself are highly productive. You’re focusing on the productivity of your business. Everyone is solution-based instead of finding a problem. They’re finding a solution which is their living by the adage. Let’s just find a way to get it done 100% client-based which is the best for your client. In other words. You become 100% client-centric. All of your focus is how do you serve your client? How do you make things better for them? How do you deliver the results?

Here’s something. Net number six is just tremendous Clarity. Top to bottom. Everyone is on the same page. Everybody is on the same Mission. There is tremendous in Clarity. Everybody knows what is the end result of every project. Everything we’re doing. If you’re a solopreneur, if you’re a small company, you know, you know the metrics. If you’re a big company, everybody every Department had knows their metric nose.

Why are we doing this? So that, you know what? Is that you want to accomplish as quantifiable? They know when you want it to be accomplished and they certainly know why, why are we doing this? And this permeates the culture of your business? It’s top to bottom number 7 is just tremendous Focus. Everyone stays on course, they do their job. It keep the main thing, the main thing and they stay within the business. This model, I can tell you here at peachy and peachy that we’re constantly looking at our business model, making sure we keep the main thing. The main thing, which keeps us from getting distracted getting off course and, you know, and wasting time which really creates clear messaging. Number 8 is high execution. Your execution will be at a very Peak. People are proficient at

Securing their non-negotiables. So if it’s in sales, your sales team knows how to generate the least. They know how to pick up the phone and book an appointment. They know how to deliver a quality course story. They know how to deliver a proposal. They know how to close the deal. They know how to follow, they are tremendously proficient and all of the strategies and skills of their job. If you’re marketing, your marketing department, It is driving leads to your sales team. Everything that’s going on in marketing. The messaging has to be congruent in line up with sales and vice versa. But everything they do is streamlined and process into verticals into silos and into funnels. And if it’s the implementation team, which is their whole world is delivering your product, your service, what you do for people on time on

Scoop it on budget and this is happening. So, when you have the high execution, there is strategic and tactical skill, Mastery thousand number 9, everyone takes responsibility for Success. Another words. Everybody has their area of concentration. Everybody knows what has to be done, and everyone takes the responsibility to get the job done. Number 10, is our metrics are growing. So when all these things are happening during the growth stage, you see metrics growing and number 11. Everyone is accountable. People are accountable in this modern day. People are so afraid to hold themselves and employees accountable. But when you are in the growth stage, accountability is a very big factor that we execute. Let’s

About the stage to, which I call the danger zone, the danger stage. This is where growth slows down all of a sudden we go from flow down to trickle excuses, why things aren’t happy. So people start to use excuses, why things are not happening, you know, it’s there’s always an excuse and in the book Think and Grow Rich. Read the second chapter.

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Ah, I’ve said in the past, when I, whenever I coached my football players. I used to tell the men wherever you shave, take a bar soap and right, never make an excuse, but when you’re in the danger zone excuses will begin to permeate your culture. The next one number three is defensiveness on why we can’t. So now we start to defend why we can’t get the job. Done this excuses and defense excuses and defense. Yes, and people defend and read the book leadership and self-deception where you will see why people defend themselves on why they don’t get things done. Number four Communications are breaking down both internally and with your clients, you know it, there’s growing conflict. There’s people issues all over internally externally, so when communication is begins to

Down, you’re going to have tremendous conflict and it’s going to start to put you in that Danger Zone. Number five is we are self-centered reality, rather than clients that are now. We’re thinking more about what’s best for us versus what’s best for the client. And so that begins to create danger, number six is we lose focus, you know, we get out of our lane. Now, it’s the idea of the month, this morning Dawn, and I were talking A about some talented people, we know and there’s so great, but they never quite seem to get to Elite because they have the idea of the month club. This happens inside the corporate cultures. It happens in size, small businesses. It can happen to an individual and that becomes a danger zone, which is number 7, we lacked consistency. It’s very dangerous. When there is not a high amount of consistency in the actions number.

Is accountability, there’s a tremendous lack people want to hold themselves accountable people that want to hold their employees accountable and in the modern day, people are so afraid and worried accountability because all he keeps saying is, but I don’t want to lose that person or I can’t find good people. We just need to work harder, but accountability is a pillar of consistency. Number 9 is just tremendous confusion. Ian, which means you lack Clarity where confusion is high decision-making is low. Things are not moving forward, and there’s a tremendous reduction in productivity. So that’s your danger zone. So if you’re out there and you’re looking at these characteristics, you may start to see some characteristics and say, you know what, we’re heading down that road. Now, let’s get to what I call the alert stage folks. You really don’t want to get here.

The alert stage is the blame game. The sign of all losing is when people begin to blame your employees their peers, the boss, the clients. It’s not my fault. They begin to point the finger and that is the most dangerous. I always know this when a company or an individual gets into the blame game, the game. It could very well be over number. To there is no accountability, people do exactly what they want to do. They’re not doing what they’re hired to do. And so business owners really are no along, don’t know, longer accountable to their own priority management. They go off the reservation. Number three is culture, is lost. We no longer have that internal culture, you You know, that we have been fighting for and culture draws clients. Now, number four is just tremendous turnover, both in your employees. And in your clients. Also number five, another characteristic. There’s tremendous backbiting and gossip. I call it water cooler talk. This is unresolved conflict and folks unresolved conflict. I have a whole list of what unresolved conflict. Creates.

Number 6, no one takes responsibility. It’s no longer about I’m responsible. I have a plaque in my office and it says, I’m responsible here at peachy peachy Joe. And on peachy. Take responsibility. We only hire vendors that take responsibility. Next. There’s no Clarity. There’s your nobody knows why we’re doing what we’re doing.

To what end lost Focus. People are not on track. There’s very little execute, very little execution. And I will tell you this. This is where the doors May close. So, here’s a couple things, what you can do, a couple tips. There’s a lot more, but I created maybe some things you could do to reverse to get back to that creative stage. You get back to stage one. One number one, we want to assess our business and that can be. Even if you’re a solopreneur. You are your business. We need to assess our business. Do we see danger signs? Do we see alert signs? Can we isil? Can we isolate these factors, you know, in negotiation, when you’re negotiating you always isolate what you’re negotiating over. Well, there are certain dangers.

Signs. There are certain alertsite that we need to isolate. Number two. We need to create a plan of action to get back into the growth stage. What are the steps to process the procedures that we can execute to get back to that growth stage? Number 3. We need to have a team meeting. I don’t care. If it’s two of you, the whole company departments. We need to have a team meeting and address general characteristics of concern. Which means we need to re-establish our standards. We need to let everybody know. Folks. These are the stages of business were moving into a danger zone. We need to correct this. Then number four. We need to meet individually with people. That may be exhibiting these negative behaviors. You trained in Mass. You correct privately.

Let me say that again, you trained in Mass. But you correct privately. And so we need to we need to be politely blunt and we need to be able to call things for what they are, and we need to allow that person to decide. Do they want to stay on board or not. We need to re-establish number five, the vision of the company. The purpose, what we’re here. Or what we want to accomplish as a team when we want these things accomplished in y. So, we need to repaint the vision. We need to repaint Clarity from there. We need to establish our non-negotiables or in traction, the Rocks. What are? We not going to tolerate for not getting done. And what are the penalties of it? You know, it’s kind of like when I was a football coach. I used to have a contract for every player in college and high school. School, I’d have a contract for the player and the parent and we would have our training rules in everything. What, what everything, that went on, and then what the penalties were for not doing. And therefore, if they broke a training rule, I would take the contract and slide it over and they were literally disciplining themselves. So, make sure your non-negotiables are in writing you get people on track.

Number 7. Let’s make sure. Establish. Our accountability standards accountability standards without doing them without backing them up or waste of time. And then we need to train the deficient areas. If there’s deficiencies on the team, let’s train those things. Let’s get the team better, but first have to get the attitude straight number 9 is reinforced that we are a team one team, you know, we win together. We lose together. We’re going to lose.

Tracks, we’re gonna lose clients. We’re going to have bad days. But we win and lose as a team. We don’t need to point the finger number 10. If there is a concern that cannot be fixed. We need to cut it out and replace it. So if there’s an individual on the team that won’t get on board tolerating bad, behavior is a Cancer and you give them an opportunity like a performance Improvement program. But if they don’t do the job, it may be time to replace them. Number 11, begin to re-establish that positive culture, do the things, it takes to build culture and re really reinforce positive action. So hopefully this is giving you an assessment of your company’s. Our companies. We’re doing this all the time. Hey folks take out your phone and type in sales, edged one word.

And texted the five, five, six, seven, eight, and right there, it will take you to a peachy peachy link. Go to a split that will take you to a splash page. First thing that’s going to pop up. Sell more virtually a free webinar, 9, Essentials of sales success. That’s our gift to you. Enjoy. It. Consider being part of our sell more virtually membership platform to Great program. Also, if you would do me a favor of voting is closing out soon if you would go on. On global Googe dot org and give Joe peachy of boat for sales, and I would certainly appreciate it. But hopefully this has been a great topic for you. As we’re assessing. We’re getting towards the end of the year. This may be a great time to assess the health and well-being of your business. Thank you so much. If this is a value to you, like it, share it. Make a comment on it. We’ll see you at our next podcast.

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Thanks for listening. New episodes will air each Tuesday and Thursday. So make sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and give us a five star review. The Sales Edge is sponsored by Pici and Pici Incorporated. A firm which provides training, consulting, and keynote presentations. Empowering corporations and individuals to attract and retain quality clients, for higher revenues and growth. Make more money in sales, speak with Joe in person by calling 407 947 2590 or visit www.piciandpici.com