Are you ever guilty of complaining about what’s not going well in your business? Do you look for solutions or instead spend time thinking about the problem? Dwelling on things gives them a level of importance in our minds and sometimes a very unintended importance resulting in further expansion of the negative situation.
How about dwelling on the positive – the “what’s going well”? – do you spend time appreciating what’s working and putting further emphasis on those positives? I think it’s an important part of creating consistently great results. By focusing on what is working, we’re able to give ourselves the motivation to repeat those same positive behaviors or processes, which then leads to consistency.
In preparation for our annual networking event, BGNLive!, we asked each agency to come prepared with a brief (10 minute) presentation to share with the group. The topic was pretty open: Share something with the group that your agency does well. Of course, there are some additional descriptions and suggestions, but that’s the gist of it.
I was really surprised at how difficult an exercise this was for some. It really made me think about the value of self-reflection for a business. Sure, we do annual planning and talk about what we want to achieve and then run off to focus on how we’re going to get there and what new systems and processes we can create to make it happen. But during that planning process or at other times, do you take time to look at your business and ask yourself and your team,
"What do we do well? What are our selling points of differentiation that we share with clients & prospects? What do we brag about to our clients, spouses, friends, or family that we’re really doing well?”
If you don’t immediately have answers to these questions or your answer is something along the lines of “Nothing”, then it might be time to call a group meeting.
Ask Your Team
Pose these questions and see what kinds of answers the group has.
- Brainstorm a list of company culture and processes, sales efforts, and team dynamics that work well. Think about what things team members appreciate, what clients appreciate, what generates great results, what makes people say “Thank you!” or “Wow! That’s totally different!”– no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.
- Look for the areas that really seem to make a difference, and focus on doing more of that!
Ask Your Clients
You might also try incorporating a couple of questions into regular client meetings and collecting feedback & ideas year round:
- What is the one thing we are doing or providing that adds the most value to your business? This should be something other than a standard product or service offering.
- What is the one greatest need you currently have for which you would like a solution?
Your team will feel the energy generated from the positive and will be motivated to continue the behaviors to ensure those feelings of energy. Another great outcome of this exercise is that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel – or your processes – to develop a great action plan. You’re already halfway there – tweaking is much easier that starting over.
Do you make “What’s going well?” a part of your review process? Tell us about the results.
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