Grow with systems, NOT acquisitions

Growth is not hard. It’s all in the systems.

Many companies have succeeded in creating successful systems for administering this or that transaction, but they have failed miserably at creating replicable systems for growing their companies.

Here are a few of the systems you need to focus on if you want to grow your company:

1. Create a system of sales questioning for each inquiry. Companies across all industries need to consciously develop a procedure that will raise the sales attempts during inquiries from two percent to 100 percent. We once worked with a bank that had been stuck at $40 million for four years. Within two weeks of using our system of sales questioning, they picked up $2.5 million. Within six months, they had grown to $60 million. That’s a 100 percent annualized rate of growth!

2. Develop a targeted database. The days of mass mailing and radio broadcast ads are numbered. The cost effectiveness of mass communication is dismal. The effectiveness of logging every inquiry into a relationship database and creating a flawless system for follow-up, on the other hand, is proven to grow business cost-efficiently.

3. Systematize referrals. Most companies operate as functional silos with no connection between departments. Create a system to refer business to other parts of the company, one that allows for follow-up.

4. Create a system for follow-up. Articulate a concrete plan. For example, all new accounts receive a hand written thank-you note sent within 24 hours. All new accounts are called within one week to check for satisfaction and penetrate other possibilities. “A” accounts are mailed customized mailings quarterly and called at a minimum every six months.

That’s a systematic approach to growth, one that has proven itself time and time again, allowing smart companies to sail past the burning, sinking wrecks of their competitors instead of taking the flames onto their own decks.

Healthy systems make growth happen. If you don’t have systems for growth, do NOT complain about how hard it is to grow!

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