The Business Mastermind group is led by Burgis & Bullock’s Sean Farnell,
supported by Enquir3’s Steve Darnell and Your Growth Partner’s David Mack.
Steve Darnell has shared his 7 top tips for increasing business productivity ahead of the group’s next session at Burgis & Bullock’s Waterloo Place office in Leamington on August 22nd.
Assess client retention and acquisition
“Whatever was happening in the past will continue to happen until you change something.
“How many people are buying your services? If you look at your retention and acquisition rates, you can make projections of how many clients you will have in the future.
“Focus on retaining existing clients, not just on acquisition to increase your client base.”
Understand your client base
“The return you get from your customers is not always equal, so it’s vital you understand the nuances of your client base.
“Generally 80 per cent of your profits will comes from 20 per cent of your clients. That’s 40 out of 200 clients, you need to look at those 40 and see what makes them more profitable.
“What differentiates them from the other 160 clients who probably take up all your time and resources? It is worth reassessing the type of client you are targeting and ‘firing’ your low margin troublemakers?”
Look at your business from the outside
“Assuming your prospects don’t know you, what does your messaging say about your business? Is it clear who you serve and what problems you solve?
“Most businesses focus on the services they sell, whereas the client wants to know something more specific. Focus on your clients, the problems you address or the dreams you make come true, what makes you different, special or unique, and present evidence, or ‘Social Proof’, to back up your claims.”
Analyse your average transaction number and value
“How many purchases per period does an average client make? What could you persuade them to buy more and more frequently? How would you go about doing it?
“You should also track the average sales value, increases, (or decreases), have a profound impact on sales and profitability.”
Focus on your gross margin and don’t be scared to put up your prices
“Distressed businesses frequently resort to offering discounts with catastrophic consequences, when they should almost certainly be doing just the opposite and safely increasing prices.”
“I frequently comes across clients who for years have endured price increases from their suppliers, but they haven’t passed these increases onto clients
“As long as you know your clients are happy with the service they receive, you can safely put your prices up, provided you explain why it is necessary.”
Reduce your overheads
“There are always opportunities to reduce overhead costs.
“Example: 90 per cent of businesses never check their utility costs, but you can save up to 50 to 60 per cent just by taking a few minutes to assess your outgoings.
“You don’t even need to change supplier, so long as you know what you are doing. If not Burgis and Bullock will introduce you to Utilitrack, making it a no brainer and it’s an easy way to save money.”
Staff engagement
“Having engaged and positively motivated staff is incredibly important. Keep an eye on staff morale. Like a well-motivated sport team, your staff are a team, when they work, they can deliver spectacular results.
“Get the right individuals together, doing the right jobs and look after your team.”
The Business Mastermind Group was launched in November 2017 by accountancy firm Burgis & Bullock, bringing together professionals business owners and leaders from a wide range of sectors for presentations, discussions and clear action planning on how they can improve their business.
Find out how Burgis & Bullock’s Business Mastermind Groups are supporting businesses.