A Tale of Two Leaders

This is a true story about how two different business leaders approached the challenges they faced, what they did and didn’t do… and their respective results. 

Both leaders run businesses that help people. Both have been in business for decades. Both have stellar reputations. And… both had the same business coach/consultant.

Both faced similar challenges. Organizational profit was too low to sustain, let alone grow their businesses… which if not corrected, would soon force them out of business. They both had organizational issues in that their overhead was bloated and their teams, although good people, were not qualified in the business aspects of their organization. Both leaders produced products and services that people love… yet that did not reflect in their revenue or bottom line profit. The businesses were very unhealthy and in desperate need of assistance.

That assistance took the form of our identifying and fixing the root causes of their ill health. It is never the latest fad… the newest “quick fix” gimmick that gets a company healthy and profitable. You can’t build a solid house upon a crumbling foundation. And, unfortunately, most business leaders mistakenly believe that their solid foundation is their product or service. It is not. That solid foundation is their BUSINESS, which delivers that product or service to their customers… profitably.

First order of business for both leaders was to identify their core customers. Not merely a historical look back on their prior customers—but an intelligent analysis of who would benefit from their products and services NOW as well as the near future. Far too many business leaders are erroneously fixated on past customers, who are dwindling in numbers more and more each day.

The next task was to identify their core customer’s problems… those problems which they would gladly pay to have resolved. The next step is to refine their products/services to make them relevant to these core customers and price them for proper profitability. If you are not profitable at the product level… you can never be profitable at the organizational level. Leaders who try to compensate for low product profitability through volume are doomed to fail.

Next is to create cogent marketing messaging that highlights the prospect’s problem, the reason for their problem… and the solution... AKA your products and services. Next is to get those messages out to your core prospects in whatever watering holes they frequent. Online, offline… find where they gather and be great at delivering those messages, generating leads and closing the sales. You must be great at telling stories which your prospect can quickly understand and see themselves succeeding when they engage your products and services and then hone the process of closing the sale. Leads are useless unless you can close the sale.

And… the final part of this strategy is to have the team in place to effectively perform these vital business functions instead of sabotaging them. 

Leader A had the courage and fortitude to embrace these changes in thinking and take action. We identified their core customers, revamped their services and products, repriced for profitability and made the changes in their team needed to facilitate these changes.

Leader B, was unfortunately stuck in the past. They had agreed with what needed to be changed… yet they didn’t. Months and months of financial decline, and yet no meaningful action. Their business model remains trapped in the prison of their inability to change and take action. They know what to do yet don’t do what they know. In other words, they couldn’t get out of their own way.

Leader A’s business is thriving and growing. 

Leader B’s business is continuing to spiral downwards.

Same problems… different leadership.

Leadership is hard… especially when it comes to running a business. Most business leaders are well trained and experienced in their craft… their profession… yet don’t possess that same depth of expertise in the area of the business of running a business. The only problem you really have is you. 

“Nothing gets better until you do.” — Daniel Tresemer

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather…” —  Goethe

Getting Out of Your Own Way — Insight into Action™ 

✅ Step outside of your familiar and comfortable malaise and look at yourself and your business with fresh eyes. Abandon your preconceptions. You have to change before anything can get better… which means stepping outside of yourself. Stop chasing the “quick fixes”.

✅ Identify your highest potential customers for TODAY and the near future. Identify their problems. Understand their pain points… those things which they would gladly pay you to resolve.

✅ Refine your products and services so that they are relevant to these core customers. They don’t necessarily need to be “new”. You may be able to revamp your existing products so that they are more appealing to your new customers.

✅ Look at your product/service profitability. Remember that anything that is not included in the cost of the product/service is paid for out of profit… including your business profit. 

✅ Look at your messaging to see if it states the customer’s problem, the reason for the problem and your solution. Most leaders mistakenly place their product and service front and center of their message, and then wonder why they are in a price war with their competitors. People make buying decisions in the realm of emotion first, then justify with logic. Effective messaging stays in the realm of emotion.

✅ Then take a courageous look at your team. Most businesses hire the best practitioners they can… yet don’t have those same exacting standards when it comes to things like marketing, sales, business analysis and advice, operations, etc. Being a leader necessitates making hard decisions. Your primary responsibility is to ensure the health and wellbeing of your company. Without it… you, your team and your customers suffer the consequences.

That is what we do for our clients… we help you get out of your own way, so that you have a thriving, profitable business. If you would like some assistance… we love to be of service. It all begins with a conversation.