How to Create the Ripple Effects that Will Increase Business Growth
If business growth is on your list of goals for the New Year, it's time to get cozy with your most valued customers. That means going beyond the par-for-the-course customer profiles you've completed in the past and driving down the green. Your customers will be your ultimate source of inspiration, if you allow them to be. When you think beyond the scope of your business and delve into depth of their whole lives, you understand how your business fits into their bigger pictures. For me, that's the easiest way for a business to "grow" in any direction. I pose this question in my new book, The Art of Growth:
Who will take what your business creates and do the most good with it?
We got into business because it was a channel for good, right? Good for our customers, good for our communities, good for ourselves, good for our families.
The good my business does need not be limited to the good I create.
The scope of the value it offers is not constrained by the number of clients it serves, widgets it produces, or readers it reaches. My business creates ripple effects. When a product I've created teaches a new skill or inspires fresh action, that customer creates good beyond herself. She serves more clients, she supports her family, she gives back to her community. When her product makes her customer feel more beautiful and confident, that customer finally asks for the raise, talks to the guy at the bookstore, or starts shopping her novel. While we must consider the immediate good our products create or the acute need our services fill, when you consider the ripple effects your business generates through your customers, you get a greater sense of its place in the wide world. Your messaging, marketing, and sales process is grounded to the deep social good it creates. Your business, and the products it offers, become a point of connection instead of a point of disassociation. When your business is deeply connected to the people it serves and the community it thrives in, it will experience business growth. That growth might take the form of a strong referral network, an independent team, or widespread reach. Instead of cherry picking the surface-level growth tactics you'll see others advocating, try diving deep and exploring the uncharted territory of your customers' worlds. Consider the opportunities your business has to create ripple effects in your customers' families, businesses, personal lives, and communities. Ground your business in that purpose and you'll experience some ripple effects all your own.