Harness The Power of Back to School & Get Back to Business
Having just waved goodbye to my 6th grader on the first day of school, I could feel the excitement of a new school year. There are new clothes, backpacks, students, and as Patti LaBelle might sing, “a new attitude.”Let’s not let this “back to school” mentality only apply to our children. Now is the perfect time for you to put away your white shoes, your summer schedule, and get back to business!
The Back to School Phenomenon
There truly is an entire back to school mentality that influences consumer behavior. When I was at Quaker Oats, for example, we saw huge swings in sales of Instant Oatmeal at the start of the new school year even if the average temperature hovered in the 90’s! I witness every year this phenomenon with my speeches: September always has record-breaking attendance records.
Do a Little Analysis and Thinking
Think of this week as the start of a new year. Start answering some of these key questions:
- What are your goals?
- What do you want to accomplish?
- If you could add only one new client, who would it be and how can you earn the business?
- What has been working so far this year?
- What marketing efforts have fallen on deaf ears?
- Where is your revenue coming from?
- Has your percentage of business coming from each service or product line shifted over the last 9 months? Do you want to foster this change?
- What is your most profitable product or service? How can you swing more business in this direction?
- What one step could change your entire business for the rest of the year?
Convert Thinking into Action
Based upon your insight into the above questions, it’s time to start formulating a plan. And, don’t be shy about asking for help! If you can assemble an informal board of advisors, do it. If investing with someone now will help build your sales later, it might be worth the cost. After all, as I blogged last week, inhaling your own fumes will not move you ahead!I, too am putting together a plan. It has five major goals, action steps, and a timetable assigned to each step. For example, I want to increase the number of members in my Branding Club to 100. I will advertise it in my newsletter this week, post it to my site, and then make 10 phone calls each week to past clients as a route to achieve this goal.
What are your goals and how will you turn them into reality? Don’t let this moment slip away. Carpe diem!