ave you defined a business growth strategy? Is it a continuous process as your company tries to keep up with business change? You would be surprised how many of our clients say they are happy with their size and therefore don’t have a growth strategy. In this blog, we share some Anita Campbell growth questions that can stimulate your thinking.
The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.
–Peter Drucker
In the life of a business, there are only two options … you can either keep up or surpass your competitors through a business growth strategy or lose market share.
Business growth obviously can be planned in various degrees. If your business is at the size you desire, a minimum or status quo strategy may be the best for you. In any case, you need to execute some form of a growth strategy to at least maintain the status quo.
How often do you review your small business growth plan or strategy? In the life of a business, there are only two options … you can either keep up or surpass your competitors by business growth planning or lose market share. Are putting enough focus or getting ready as Henry Ford says?
Business growth obviously can be planned in various degrees. If your business is at the size you desire, a minimum or status quo strategy may be the best for you. In any case, you need to execute some form of a growth strategy.
In a time of overwhelming competition, the increasing rate of marketplace change, and significant marketing message noise and clutter, even maintaining your current customer base is difficult … and real growth even harder. We define growth capabilities as composed of four key components. These are customer focus, creative marketing, adaptation and innovation, and your team.
Related: Define a Competitive Business Growth Strategy like In-N-Out Burger
Here are some ideas and questions to help you frame your thinking to define your growth strategy:
Anita Campbell growth questions … customer focus
Build customer relationships and trust
Customers choose businesses based on their confidence, strength of relationships, and trust.
Today there are many communication channels to engage your customers, build communities, display your brand’s values, deliver on your promises and ultimately build relationships and trust.
Every customer touchpoint in each channel is an important marketing opportunity.
Customer-centric
Do you know who your customers are and your most valuable customer segments? Do you engage your customers to build your relationship and to gain valuable insights? Do you frequently rethink the question of potential new customer segments?
Take nothing for granted
Don’t take a customer’s loyalty for granted, especially when dealing with a first-time buyer. The key to customer loyalty is not just by providing a quality service or product, but how you service and support it.
Meeting customer expectations in a first sale may not be enough. First-time buyers want to know you care. For loyalty to endure, it must be noticed and acknowledged.
Delivery channels
Are you considering ways to broaden your reach to more customers and improve your customer service by adding a new delivery channel? If so, are you thinking about how to integrate the customer experience across the channels effectively?
Anita Campbell growth questions … creative marketing
Integrated marketing strategy
Creating marketing messages that will be heard, remembered, and, most important, talked about, is very difficult in a world where customers have precious little time to listen.
Achieving creativity in your marketing messages delivery is essential to winning your customers’ choices, and then their loyalty.
Remarkable growth lessons … marketing initiatives
Are you adding new, collaborative ways to communicate with your customers? Do you consistently refresh your value proposition to ensure your discrimination is still valued, deliverable, and believable to customers?
Business Information: How to Completely Change Your Success Priorities
Anita Campbell growth questions … adaptation and innovation
Adaptability
The digital and network revolutions have unleashed rapid and significant marketplace changes that impact your ability to engage customers, and the rate and amount of change are accelerating.
Businesses must interpret and understand the implications of these changes and rapidly respond to creative ideas and innovations to maintain their competitive edge.
Learn from key competitors
Do you frequently observe what your key competitors are doing in the market space? Have they spotted a key trend that you have missed? What changes are they making to their merchandising and their value proposition?
Observing trends
Are you sensitive to the changes in your customer segments and to developing market trends? Do you consider how you might capitalize on these trends?
Do you frequently observe what your key competitors are doing in the market space? Have they spotted a key trend that you have missed? What changes are they making to their merchandising and their value proposition?
New white space opportunities
Do you combine your customer insights with your competitor and trend observations to derive new white space opportunities? Do you innovate on your business model and your product and services? Have you considered collaborating with local businesses and your customers?
Anita Campbell growth questions … your team
Building an effective team
Your team is your business, quite literally. It is only as good as the weakest link and your ability to provide strong and effective leadership.
You, as a business leader, must be a talent hound for future hiring, be a strong mentor and coach, and continually work to build your leadership skills and a staff that works effectively as a team.
Takeaways
As a business, you can either grow or shrink … where is your small business growth focus?
Are you satisfied with your progress? Do you have a growth story to share?
Lots of ideas on business growth here that can be easily replicated … which ones do you feel could benefit your business?
How could you improve the social media marketing campaign for your business?
There are many great business growth campaigns we can learn from. Please post your comments below, offering questions or your great examples of business growth strategies.
