My Master Business Growth Plan

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PEQ

My Master Business Growth Plan

By Chet Holmes and Jay Abraham

Copyright @2002. This product is intended for use only by the purchaser. Passing this product onto others who did not purchase it is a violation of Federal law and will be prosecuted to the highest extent of the law.

In the interest of not having to refer to each of us separately for each statement, when referring to one of us, we may just say “I,” or “we.” We are not so much interested in the credit as we are in helping you absorb the material properly.

Let us begin:

Research

In order, if you really want to dominate your market, the first thing you should do is conduct research. For example, when we had a calendar company as a client, we helped them discover that their market was shrinking, hence changing their strategy from going after small gift shops to going after large chain retailers like WalMart. So point one, you want to look at the size of your market over the last several decades. The United States Census Bureau keeps outstanding records of every industry. Number of units, employees and gross sales, and the data can go back into the ‘50’s.

You get some great “wows” (explained on videos) when you look at data over several decades.

Research items you’d like to know, just to make yourself an expert.

1. Size of market:

1. Annual billings for the entire industry. For example, if you’re in real estate, you want to know how many houses are sold each year and how much money is spent in this area. This positions you as an expert. So for any industry, you want to find out how many units sold, or how much spent, etc…
2. You also want to find out how many brokers there are. How many people employed, etc.?
3. You also want to find out how these numbers have changed over the last few decades. It is in THIS part of the research that you find the “wow’s,” as described both in “Strategy Versus Tactics” and in “Effective Presenting.”

1. Major trends? Most trade journals that cover an industry do an “annual wrap up” on the industry. What they don’t do is compare that data over the years. So if you can get ten years of that particular industry, you can find correlations that literally make your clients say “wow” out loud. We had one client where we did some research and then laid out for them all these trends that they had never noticed, even though all the data came from their trade journals that they read religiously. When you’re looking to make correlations, it changes perspective and gives you superior weapons to your competitors.

1. The bad news. Ultimately, bad news motivates much more than good news (explained in the videos). What’s going on in your industry that’s painful? Are companies going out of business? Is competition out of control, etc.

1. You have a sense of your own industry; so can think through other areas that would be telling. What other areas are there that you’d want to research? Market data arms you over your competitors. They never stop to work ON the business and this gives you a superior advantage. Even if you’re in a retail setting, know the details, you’ll find the trends. For example, if you’re in the jewelry store business, find out how much is spent on each area, how has it changed over the years, how many jewelry stores are there, etc. Knowing your market better than your competition will give you some surprising advantages.

1. For a more detailed example of an actual research document, see: “Research Doc For Teaching.” This lists a ton of bullets that dramatically set up the “core story” this company ended up telling. A core story that had a 35% increase on their business in the first year, after a several years of no increases at all.

But for now, RIGHT now, list some areas that you would like to have researched:

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More guidance/stimulation to come.

Core Story Elements

A.)Name at least five pain points that would motivate your buyers to become more interested in your products or services. Be clear, this is the step where you are trying to get their attention. Motivating them to buy ONCE you have their attention is the next step. For example, if you were selling to Foundries, you might say: “Half of all foundries have gone out of business in the past few decades. Learn why and how to avoid it.” Another example: If you were selling training programs to HR executives, you might say: “98% of all HR executives admit that they’d like to do a better job on retention. Here’s a superior method that’s totally painless.”

Both of these statements, by the way, are true. To discover these things, we researched the market on behalf of our clients. This step is to force you to think through how market data might help you find the pain points that really GRAB the attention of your buyers, helping to open the doors more easily for you. This is thoroughly explained in “Strategy Versus Tactics.” At this point, we want you THINKING before you deploy. List more pain points/research items that might really grab the attention of your buyers.

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What measurable data, facts, comparisons, illustrations, construction, performance levels and buying criteria do you want, need to know and include. Where will you get it, i.e., research, vendors, analyzing data, etc?

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B.) Name at least five pain points that would really motivate your buyers to buy

faster. (The first exercise was to find ways to “grab attention.”) Now you have their attention, how do you motivate them to take action faster.

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Describe, define, name the problem, challenge, question or issue for which your company, product, or service is the only viable solution. Explain why you alone can do it for them.

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C.) Name at least five pain points that would motivate your buyers to buy more (this is different than faster).

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Name five pleasures the prospect/client should want to attain, achieve, experience or get from your product, service or company at work for them.

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Future pace - what it will be like when they have your product device transactionally performing in your client’s life or business. List at least five expectations.

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D.) Name at least 10 more things you want to (or already have) researched in order to support the previous four sections.

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E.) Now write a compelling title for your core story.

F.) Now outline the sections in your core story (no more than five).

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Complete these sentences:

Write 12 headlines for your product/service/company that explains the biggest single payoff, benefit, result your product, service, company at work for a client produces/delivers. Go at it from every angle.

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Write five ways your product/service adds specific, measurable benefit or value to your client.

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Write ten advantages you have over your competition, tangible or intangible.

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Make a list of all the specific, direct and indirect competition you have for the problem your product/service/company solves.

G.) Now tell the five things everyone should look for in a product or service like yours (without directly referencing your product or serviceyou’re setting the market’s buying criteria here, so these should be things you do that your competition doesn’t, or that they haven’t delineated. For example, if you’re a real estate broker you may find that all your competitors help guide the homeowner through the process AFTER the sale, but few real estate brokers make this part of their presentation in order to get the listing in the first place).

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Provide five metaphors or similes that analyze or illustrate what else having your product or service in their lives is like.

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1) My Master Strategy Is:

Now that you’ve “thought” through (for perhaps the first time ever) all of the ways you can “strategically” outsell your competition, can you tie it all together? What is your ultimate Strategic/Preemptive Position (how I differentiate from all the rest). Watch Jay’s section on “Strategy Of Preeminence,” it gives a profound positioning for ANY company. Now spell it out for YOUR company (and note that this will grow even stronger when you have market data):

2) Stadium Pitch: If we could gather all your customers in a stadium and give you an opportunity to present to them all at once, what would you say? (See “Strategy Versus Tactics” video for rules, full understanding of the concept and the “Pyramid of Buyers” concept.) Again, now you can begin to see how much stronger your stadium pitch will be when you have hard data that can rivet the attention of your audience from the start. Outline your stadium pitch. This should be much stronger now that you’ve done all these other exercises:

Now say it in a single sentence. This is your slogan/strategic position, that statement that goes under your logo every time.

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Nine Drivers / Improved

There are only nine things that ultimately “drive” revenue. Here they are. After watching strategy versus tactics and all the videos that outline how to “get clients,” you are ready to think more thoroughly through how you’d improve each of these drivers.

CurrentImproved

How am I going to

1.Marketing (covered in other sections)improve my marketing?

2.Strategy (same as above)

CurrentImproved

3.CapitalIntellectual, Human, Financial (list what you have, list how you’ll improve, expand or better utilize each area.).

CurrentImproved

4.Business Model (Describe)How to make better.

CurrentImproved

5.RelationshipsStrategic, Vendor, Collegial, Clients, Industry, Key Influencers, Associates, Experts. List each and THINK through how to get more out of each area.

Current - Whether Fully

Leveraged or NotImproved

6.Distribution Channels and Markets/Niches AddressedList current and how you can improve markets and segments served.

CurrentImproved

7.Products and/or Services CurrentDescribe and Pricing. How to improve, or add new, or take on affiliates. Include proprietary and licensed/joint ventures.

CurrentImproved

8.Procedures/ProcessesCurrent training in place, current mgmt structure, current selling systems, and current referral systems. List current and ways to improve. Include revenue generating and operational.

CurrentImproved

9.IdeologyBusiness belief systems about why I am in business. Philosophies about succeeding, what I think or believe about different aspects of business in general and my business specifically.

CurrentImproved

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What’s The MNW (Lifetime Value of a Client)?

List each area and then a plan to improve/expand. Watch Jay’s video on “Three Ways to Grow a Business.”

Average Unit Of SaleMy Goal To Improve

Profit Per Transaction

Frequency of Turnover

Current Back EndsAdditional Back Ends

Deming 101

What are the key processes currently driving my revenue and how do they perform both transactionally in a timeline-denominated basis and measurably in a quantifiable basis. Meaning, taking sales as an example. You may have one person who is very good at getting new clients, but terrible at keeping them. Then you have another person who keeps them forever, but has a terrible time getting in the door. Each of those situations offers a “process” that can be defined, examined and then improved and duplicated. But first you have to study them.

You may also have marketing efforts that work better at some stages than others. You may also have delivery issues (for your product or service) that can be broken down, examined and improved. This is your opportunity to work ON your business. To look at each of these areas and look for incremental gains. For each area, we suggest a “workshop” with your crew in which you use everyone’s brain power to improve. So list each aspect of the functions of your company below and then the current levels of performance/results, and then; either what you can do to improve them, or at the very least, define the title of the workshop you will have, i.e.; “Do workshop with crew on improving our shipping department.” Or, “Do workshop with sales team to improve our closing ratio and test closing.” Or “Do workshop with crew to improve our rapport skills. Or, “Do workshop with technology team to streamline our information flow.” Workshops are covered thoroughly throughout the entire series.

List Areas of ImpactPerformance Levels

What other companies, individuals or industries can I turn to for borrowing higher and better performing success procedures. List:

CompaniesIndustriesIndividuals

How Many Different & Complimentary Ways I Can Use My Marketing Weapons.

Several pages of choices follow, but lets begin with “the Seven Musts.” There are dozens of ways to use each of these marketing weapons. This has been explained in detail on the videos. In this section, you’re planning “what” you can do. In the next section, you will plan “how” you will do it, and in the following section, you will actually plan WHEN you will do what. So under each area, let’s begin with which of these weapons is appropriate for you and what are some of your ideas/goals for utilizing this area. Remember, goals focus the mind. So let’s write some down.

Salespeople Plans/Goals

P.R. Plans/Goals

Trade Show Plans/Goals

Direct Mail Plans/Goals

Advertising Plans/Goals

Internet (web, email, affiliates) Plans/Goals

Promo Pieces

& Brochures Plans/Goals

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Increasing your lead generation through:

•Referral systems. What will they be, who will deploy them? What is the plan? (Put into calendar and into area that asks for “strategic objectives”).

•Acquiring clients at breakeven up front and make a profit on the back end

•Guaranteeing purchases through risk reversal

•Host-beneficiary relationships

•Using telemarketing

•Running special events or information nights

•Acquiring qualified lists

•Increasing the perceived value of your product/service through better client education

Increasing your client retention rate by:

•Delivering higher-than-expected levels of service

•Communicating frequently with your clients to nurture them

Separate focus, that may involve the same weapons, but now with a different objective. This is designed to help you THINK more.

Increasing your conversion from inquiry to sale by:

•Increasing sales skills levels of your staff (more on this later)

•Acquiring clients at breakeven up front and make a profit on the back end

•Guaranteeing purchases through risk reversal

•Host-beneficiary relationships

•Advertising

To Increase the Average Transaction Value, You Can Focus On:

•Improving your teams’ selling techniques to up-sell and cross-sell

•Using point-of-sale promotions

•Packaging complementary products and services together

•Increasing your pricing and hence your margins

•Changing the profile of your products or services to be more “up market”

•Offering greater/larger units of purchase

To Increase Transaction Frequency, You Can Focus On:

•Developing a back end of products that you can go back to your clients with

•Communicating personally with your clients (by telephone, letter, email, etc.) to maintain a positive relationship

•Endorsing other people’s products to your list

•Running special events such as “closed door sales,” limited pre-release and so on

•Programming clients

•Price inducements for frequency

From all these past several pages what will also serve as what Chet calls: “A superior access vehicle?” (Something that by design gives you superior access to your prospects.)

List ideas here:

Why and how have I been limiting or keeping people from buying from us? What is slowing down, hindering or stopping sales from being made?

What key factors must I now test?

FactorsHow Will I Test ThemWhen

Who can endorse our product, services, company?

From who can we get testimonials?

NameWho To Do It/How

How can I make my risk reversal stronger?

What do my clients value most in the area in which I occupy?

What weaker companies could I acquire the products, services, distribution, sales force, or clients and prospects from?

CompanyKey Assets To Target

Marketing Weapon Objectives

Target Goals per Marketing Weapon

Weapon Here / Goal You Want to Achieve / How Many Ways I Will Test This Weapon

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Marketing Weapon Objectives