5 Easy-To-Implement Resolutions To Grow Your Small Business Success

It’s a new beginning! 2017 has the potential to be a refreshing new start for your business. I’m excited for what this year holds for small business. I really believe it will be the year of the small business rebound.

Here are 5 easy-to-implement resolutions that cost only a little of your time, but each one can have a BIG impact of your small business success. Do these 5 things and you’ll get yourself out of the day-to-day fires so you can focus on the overall health of your company.

Print these out.

Write them down.

Review them once a month.

If you want 2017 to be a turning point, here is your starting point:

Resolution #1: My business will treat everyone like a client, not a customer.

Customers are one time sales. You invest marketing, signage, sales training, to get a customer in the door so they give you money. Then that customer leaves, and like a revolving door, you’re already sweating where your next customer will come from. There is no relationship.

Clients, a term that originated in the legal and accounting industries, refers to a lifetime relationship where the individual comes under your professional care. Clients form the basis for a thriving business. Customers may never be seen again.

Control the future of your business with a mindset that you will treat anyone who buys like a client.

Resolution #2: I will understand the Client Lifetime Value (CLV) and make decisions based on that.

Client Lifetime Value can drive more decisions, give perspective, measure profitability simply, and forecast the future easily. It is the value of a client who, through a nurturing relationship, stays with you for multiple sales over multiple years.

Use a client’s average sale per year and multiply it by the average number of years they stay with you. Now use this decision to budget for more new clients based on the cost per lead sold – #3 on the list!

Resolution #3: I will compute Cost Per Lead Sold and use it in decision making and budgeting.

Knowing how much money is needed to get, not just a lead, but a lead that converts to a client, is very critical. If you are investing more than you get back from any media, it’s time to re-evaluate. The first step at looking at marketing effectiveness is computing the cost per lead sold.

Resolution #4: I will not have “Shiny Object Syndrome”

Don’t follow the crowd over the cliff following the latest media shiny object. Just because “everyone else is doing it” doesn’t mean it makes sense for your business. If three new types of social media spring up this year, don’t be distracted until you have measured every media you already use to determine the ROI.

Don’t be deceived by “free” media. Nothing is free. Count any time you work on social media into the ROI computation.

Don’t buy media from people coming into your business. Anyone arriving at your doorstep with a proven solution is only thinking of themselves, not you. Unless they ask 10 specific questions before they talk about their offer, they are just another media salesperson. Don’t fall for it.

Resolution #5: I will consider current and past clients in my marketing.

There is an entire market of proven buyers sitting in your files and client lists. While everyone else is chasing new customers, you should train, educate, and sell your existing clients!

Instead of constantly chasing new customers, have a special sale or event for those you already have! Their cost to acquire is zero – you already have them. And many feel slighted when you treat new customers better. Or ignore them completely. They can be a rich source of revenue and profit, too.

These are not “lose 50 lbs in 8 days” resolutions. You CAN implement these easily. And the results will be surprisingly profitable.

Happy New Year!

(NOTE: If you struggle with figuring out what marketing campaigns to do every month, check out the Silver Platter Marketing Membership – it’s like having marketing handed to you on a silver platter!)

About Stacey Riska

Stacey Riska, aka “Small Business Stacey” is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about saving small business and rebuilding Main Street. She helps small and local business owners become a #SmallBizMarketingWiz by teaching them marketing strategies that get MORE: MORE leads, MORE customers/clients, MORE sales, and MORE money. Stacey is the founder of Small Biz Marketing Specialist, THE go-to place for marketing tips, techniques and strategies that get results. Stacey is also the creator of the Daily Deals for Massive Profits Training Program, an online video training program that teaches small and local business owners how to use daily deal sites like Groupon to skyrocket their business growth and get massive profits. In this program she teaches from experience, as it was the key strategy that transformed her coffee and smoothie business from being $500K in debt to a 7-figure profitable business. When not saving the small business world, she enjoys sipping red wine, eating chocolate (who doesn’t!) and spending time with her amazing husband.