Wow…….over the past few weeks my business has increased significantly. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen a 20% increase in the past 3 weeks alone. Many of you may think it’s driven by a change in the economy. Nope, same old sluggish economy with the same old president making the same old groundless promises. His wife even promises that Obama Care will be the cure for cancer. I hope they hurry up because my cigar habit is bound to catch up with me soon.
What has changed is my approach. I’ve made it a point to communicate more, stay in the office less in order to increase my face to face time with my new, prospective and existing clients. This is an old time strategy that still works today. While I’m a huge supporter of “Sales 2.0” and its process of focusing in areas such as social media, email marketing, web meetings as well as other means of reducing travel and time, I still believe that face to face is also a key part of business success. Tom Peters the author of the 1980’s book “In Search of Excellence” gave it the acronym of M.B.W.A. (Management by Wondering Around).
Getting out of the office has multiple benefits. It allows me to have a different perspective on things while enjoying the direct contact with many of my existing and prospective clients. It’s hard to be creative behind a computer or with my head in a file. The M.B.W.A. approach allows me to also allows me to focus on the solutions for the B.A.P. (Big Ass Problem) of the day. The fact is, when you solve the B.A.P. as quickly and effectively as possible your level of success is greatly increased. This can be a client or employee problem. It may even be a problem with a key part of your operation. But once the B.A.P. is resolved you can move on to the more productive things that play a key role in growing your business.
So my advice to you is to start your own M.B.W.A. (Management by Wondering Around) program in your business. While you’re wondering around key in on that B.A.P. (Big Ass Problem) and its solution. You’ll be surprised what you will accomplish.
Oh yeah, don’t forget my favorite acronym……E + R = O (Event +Your Response = The Outcome). Acronyms……aren’t they great?