Work-life balance
is not the only equilibrium that need be of concern to business
leaders. An imbalance between sales and service is the reason that most
companies are not achieving their full potential. Even many of the best
organizations that are growing at a rapid clip suffer from at least a
slow drip of lost opportunity as a result of this asymmetry. To see a
picture of this phenomenon, check out the process visual at the bottom
of this post.
Strategies, tactics, and cultural factors each have an impact on the Sales Momentum or Service Momentum
of a company. The good news is that momentum can be measured and
rebalanced to create a sustainable system that continuously stimulates
profitable growth.
Where to start? One of the five factors is the current level of
effectiveness of your company. Answer the following questions:
- Are the revenues from any one customer more than 10% of your total revenues?
- Are your gross profits from your top ten customers more than 40% of your total gross profits?
- In the past year, did you find yourself doing less delegating when compared to the previous year?
- Do your salespeople struggle to meet or even exceed sales quotas?
- In comparing the past two years, are you spending more time on tactics versus strategy?
- Besides your sales efforts, does your company rely more on advertising and Internet marketing than on referrals?
- In comparing the past two years, have your gross profits shrunk?
- When your customers demand a rate or fee reduction, do you ever give in?
- Does technology ever interfere with efficiency?
- Do you struggle to retain at least 90% of your staff for at least five years or longer?
The more “yes” answers you have, the more that effectiveness, or lack
of it, is a key factor in any imbalance in your sales and service
systems. This is where to start—turning those “yes” answers into “no’s.”
Achieving Stimulative Symmetry will allow you to
achieve higher profits more quickly and with less effort. What a
wonderful contributor this can be to your work-life balance as you have
more time to do things other than work!