Five Tips to Manage Overwhelm

Does it seem like you need to accomplish more in less time than ever before? Just about every small business owner I know is overwhelmed with everything they need to do. Many factors are contributing to this feeling: new technologies, increased government regulation, a need to market harder, and less access to capital are just a few examples.

Is there truly a way to find an extra hour each day? Yes, there is, and here are five tips you can put in place to reduce the feeling of overwhelm, free up time, and feel more in control of your business.

1. Get stuff done off prime time.

Most people drive to work between 7 and 9 and come home between 4 and 6. Save yourself 15-30 minutes per day or more by coming in before or after the rush.

Apply this same idea to your weekly errands or times when you need to stand in line. Go to a restaurant a little early (or late) to avoid the busiest times. Go to the grocery store during the week instead of on Saturday.

Doing this for 10-12 errands per week will save an hour a week or more. Combine that with the time you’ll save in rush hour, and you could save as much as three hours a week using this idea. Even if you can apply this idea to only one or two days a week, you’ll still be ahead of the game.

2. Delegate clerical or personal tasks.

Make a list of all the tasks you are doing that a minimum wage earner could do, and hire a college student for a few hours a week. You’ll benefit from systematizing the tasks you delegate – they will get done more efficiently – and you will have freed up a few hours a week once your worker is trained.

3. Practice Power Hour.

Carve out one hour a day to complete the most profitable task for your business. This might be making sales calls, meeting with a power partner, or designing a new service or product to offer clients. It’s best if it’s the first hour in your day. In any case, the time should be sacred, with no checking email, no answering the phone, and no texting.

Your business will really accelerate when you make Power Hour a regular practice.

4. Check email and social media less often.

Turn off automatic send and receive in your Outlook or email application. Instead, close (yes, close!) your email application for most of the day. Check it only at 8am, noon, and 4pm. When you can break the addictive cycle, you will have fewer interruptions, be able to focus, and do higher quality work.

Likewise, if you need to spend time on social media, set a timer before you start. When the bell rings, that’s it! Get back to work.

5. Nail your time wasters.

The only real way to determine where your primary time drains are is to track your time, minute by minute for a couple of days. When you review the log, you’ll be able to see what’s going on and what you can do to prevent time from slipping through your fingers.

When you can use your time wisely, you’ll not only get more done, you’ll get the things done that matter to you.

Seven Strategies to Fire Up Your Fall Sales

The fall months are a great time to rev up your business revenue.  Many business owners are freshly back from retreat or vacation, and they’ve had time to refresh and rejuvenate themselves and their staff.  Now it’s time to benefit from all that creativity that’s been unleashed and put those ideas to work.   

If you’re ready to rev it up for the fall of 2011, here are some fresh ideas to help you invigorate your fall sales. 

1.       Conduct a Client Survey

If you’re wondering how to discover the next big revenue blockbuster for your business, go to a wise source:  your clients.  Send a survey asking them what their current challenges are, what keeps them up at night, and what they could use help with.  Tools such as Constant Contact surveys or SurveyMonkey make sending surveys a snap these days.  You’ll gain valuable intelligence on where to focus your revenue development efforts so that you can serve your clients even better while increasing your income. 

2.       Ask for Referrals

The fastest and most cost-effective way to find new clients is by tapping into the network of current clients who are pleased with your work and know others who could use your services.  To make sure your clients know you are looking for more clients just like them, you might have to tell them!  They may not put two and two together like you think they should.  Prime the pump by creating a referral program and making it known you’re in the market for new clients. 

3.       Make Yourself Skillful

There’s nothing like adding new skills to your tool belt to help you increase your value in your client’s eyes.   Learn a new software package, design a new procedure, read a book, or take a training class that will give you ideas on how you can add value to and extend your current service or product line.  Once you’ve mastered it, you can train your team on what you’ve learned and make it a new offering which brings in more revenue.  

4.       Collect Testimonials

Collecting testimonials has multiple benefits.  First, you can use them on your promotional material so that new prospects can read about what it’s like to do business with you.  Second, you’ll learn something about what the client values by reading them.  And third, every communication you have with your clients increases “top-of-mind” awareness, making it more likely for the client to use more services or refer you.  That’s a triple win.

5.        Change Up a Current Service or Product

Add a whole new service by changing something about your current service or product.   If you offer products or services a la carte, bundle some together and make a package offering.  Correspondingly, if you offer a package, break it down into smaller offerings.  If you offer services via the phone, offer them in person as well.  Join with a trusted partner to offer your products and theirs together in one packet.   Or subcontract with a vendor you trust to expand your offerings even more.  When you offer three options, a discount, regular, and premium version, your clients will have more choices to fit their changing budget.  You can also change up the packaging, add extras, subtract items, change the color, change the timing, and much more. 

6.        Upgrade Your Marketing

Invest in your marketing skills and materials so that your company is more appealing to prospects.  Redo your website if you need to, or perhaps there’s a flyer you can design that you can hand out at networking meetings.  Learn how to write a great proposal and how to communicate well during a sales call.  Or learn how to use social media to engage and educate your prospects on what you do.  When your marketing materials are a notch higher, your business will be more attractive to higher quality prospects.

7.        Cross-Sell and Upsell to Current Clients

Your current client base is a gold mine of potential.  They already trust you and know you through the services you are currently offering.   It’s possible they may not know everything you do.  It’s your job to let them know about all the other services you offer.  When you do, you’re highly likely to do more business with them. 

Try these seven ideas to fire up your fall sales.