Details Matter (#3)

In fact, details can be all that matter. If you can’t have a step by step process that at least accommodates for some variation then you won’t be able to scale effectively.

Think in terms of the resources you have, be it people, computer processing power or vehicles (just to name three). If nobody on your team knows where these things are or what they have to be doing at any given time then you’re going to have a serious lack of accountability.

This can be hard when you’re trying to scale regionally, nationally and internationally.

But details go beyond pure logistics, it means have complete work that is ready to implement should you get the green light. It means instead of talking about “local social media influencers in your area” going out and building relationships with them. It means instead of suggesting Facebook and Instagram Stories, making them and having the posts show exactly what you mean.

Actions speak louder than words – don’t be afraid to let your creativity shine through when the opportunity presents itself, just always make sure to keep your audience in mind.

And details matter…

Marketers Sell (#2)

And vise versa. That is, salespeople are marketers. Understanding that these two teams have to work together to be the most effective at moving your revenue line is critical*.

It’s the job of marketing to build a cyclical path to and from the sales team, keeping clients year over year. It’s the job of the sales team to close out the deal in the way the customer expects it. If marketing has presented the path to purchase one way and sales has delivered it another then you are going to have clients who are confused and drop off.

This can be said of sales and manufacturing too. A product which was sold with the belief of being waterproof should definitely be waterproof, otherwise you’ll have some very unhappy clients.

So keep sales and marketing close to each other, because ground level data with clients is critical, but so is the perspective of seeing the whole customer lifetime cycle.

*That’s only a piece of the puzzle, though, running a truly great business means having all of your departments working symbiotically – thriving off of and enhancing each other.

Entrepreneurs Do (#1)

This is the first post of 100 consecutive days of content – trying to take a lesson from the title I suppose.

An insightful professor* of mine once told an entrepreneurship class not to be afraid with sharing their ideas openly with others. I’ll admit at the time I doubted what she was saying. Looking back I couldn’t agree more with the point she was trying to make.

Everybody gets ideas…everybody. For an idea to be worth something you have to go out and turn it into something real, something tangible, and the truth is most people won’t – even when they claim their idea could make millions if not billions.

The manifesto of entrepreneurs is “do” because if you aren’t doing anything you aren’t getting anywhere. So talk openly about your ideas and work diligently towards where you want them to take you. You may even find others willing and worthy of joining your cause.

Just make sure to separate the “idea people” from the “doers”.

*(Kelley Packalen – Entrepreneurship 405, Smith School of Business)