The 3 Blind Mice in Your Business

I am inspired to relate the popular nursery rhyme of Three Blind Mice to three of the most common business issues that blindsided many owners and management. By the time these are detected, it will be a long and hard road to rebuilding your brand.

Here we look at what these 3 mice are in elaboration.

USING CRM AS A DATA DUMPING GROUND

It never fails to surprise me when the question of "what do you expect your CRM to do for your business" was brought up to many business owners, the answer I got back was point blank - to have information of our customers.

CRM by definition is a term that refers to practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth.

And yes, it has the ability to compile information on customers across different channels which could include the company's website, telephone, live chat, direct mail, marketing materials and social media (which many companies are familiar with).

But more importantly, the right way of using CRM systems is to drive growth and customer experience throughout their lifecycle. It is not just a data storage that is only utilized when you find the need to blast marketing EDMs or demand generation mailers.

TOO MUCH DISCOUNTING

Giving away discounts are a good way to bring in sales, but too much use of it will only hurt your business and its pockets. Why give away money when you have other ways to close the sale?

Worse still, your business do not want to be remembered for the discounts you are giving instead of the value it brings to the customers.

So a good visibility of the number of discounts you are giving over a period of time is a good litmus check on the health of the business.

Read more about the impact of this in our previous blog, "2 Red Alerts to Watch Out For In Your Business".

LACK OF PEOPLE INVESTMENT

Another blindsided notion is the perception of investing for the most priceless business resource you have - YOUR PEOPLE.

We invest lots of money in operational infrastructure to keep a business running smoothly.

We pour in money on tools to keep us vividly clear of where we are heading and where (and how) your prospects are being engaged.

But at the connecting juncture of these, are your people who engage the prospects either face-to-face or on the phone. They are the only live resource who provides the WOW experience to a prospects and consequently convert them into customers.

Sadly, investment in this area is often seen as a cost centre, and for very good reasons. For one, many people do not mindfully know if their people need motivation or training. There is a huge difference. See here on our past article on this - "What Is Happening???"

Another reason for this is because organizations expect their people to come back as rock stars after a training, which never happens. It takes reinforcements on both the training entity and your company to ensure behavioral changes and business impact.

"Three Blind Mice to three of the most common business issues that blindsided many owners and management. By the time these are detected, it will be a long and hard road to rebuilding your brand.

- Cherry B

---

These 3 blind mice may not be new to you when you read this article, but it is one of the most mis-looked areas in a business. Watch out and be mindful of these mice running amok in your business.

If you have a different perspective to this article, we welcome your comments. Or if you love to hear from us on any specific topics, drop us a note too. We'd love to hear from you.

#Consideration