This time of year, your kids are back in school, you still have hot weather, the holidays are ahead, several family holidays to celebrate. All these interruptions seem to break the concentration of your Team and seem to break their rhythm for the fourth quarter. Don’t fall into that fourth quarter trap of coasting to the finish line. Step up, review your business, get your team together and get them all energized and motivated to finish the year strong.
Five Ways to Drive Your Business to the Finish Line!!
1. Stay the Course.
Stay focused on the fourth quarter; don’t let your Team slide to the end of the year.
If you have the year “in the bag”, set “stretch” goals and find a tasty reward for exceeding the full year goal. Something around the holidays. A bonus or extra time off for everyone. Maybe a Super Holiday Celebration.
If you appear to be coming up short, refocus your team, adjust the targets a bit, make it tough but achievable and make it something they can achieve and feel great about. Celebrate, just not as big. No one likes to end the year with a “glad that year is behind us” feeling.
2. Put a Bow On It!!
The fourth Quarter that is.
Look over all your projects and make sure you drive them home and don’t let them “rollover” to next year. Whether these are capital projects, database cleanups, for accounts receivable assign accountability for a year end push and meet regularly to review progress. Celebrate the successes with your Team. Don’t forget the human resource files, performance reviews, employee annual trainings and succession planning. Get all your lose ends taken care of and come time for the holidays the only thing you will be putting a bow on will be presents under the tree.
3. Let the Big Dog Eat!
Is your sales team driving your bus, or just along for the ride?
What are your KPI’s (Key Productivity Indicators) for your sales year-to-date? Are you tracking and holding your sales function accountable for Revenue, Margin, and New Business? Do they know where they stand on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and YTD basis?
Where do you stand on any new business proposals that are out and yet to confirm the awarding of the business? Is someone following up? Are your Marketing efforts tied to your Sales Team? Are all leads/referrals fed directly to sales and verified that they are followed up on? Leads are expensive and in the small business world, 73% of all leads are never followed up on. Where do you fall? Do you know for sure, or just “believe” you know?
4. Where do you stand with Marketing?
Do a year-to-date review on the effectiveness and status of the Marketing budget?
Every dollar you spend is VERY valuable and is an investment, not an expense. You should know the result of your marketing budget before you spend it … not spend it and see what sticks. “Trial and Error” is not how Marketing is supposed to be executed. If you don’t know the result, don’t spend the dollars. Test and Measure each strategy prior to giving the green light for the full expenditure.
List all the ways you are spending your valuable marketing dollars. Business cards, newsletters, flyers, yellow pages, website, social media, networking, conferences, trash and trinkets, etc. Then determine the number of leads, appointments, and Clients each of your strategies garnered over the year. What is the cost per lead, cost per appointment and cost per Client for each marketing strategy? Your Marketing Return on Investment. (I have an Excel spreadsheet for this. Let me
know if you would like a free copy)
5. Finish Strong and Run Through the Tape.
There are 12 months and 52 weeks in the year … don’t let your Team, or you as their Leader, languish over the finish. Finishing strong is a trait every organization should strive for. It puts the stamp of a strong work ethic and that every employee needs to “earn their keep” every week. No
free lunch.
Let your competition be the ones that work half days and call casual days as the year “winds down”. A lackadaisical attitude with your expectations will result in a “soft” fourth quarter. A slow finish is invariably followed by an equally slow start to the New Year. Drive to the finish and break the tape on 2024 with a burst of energy and a lean to the line and into 2025!
Jay McDowell started his Coaching business nearly 18 years ago, after a highly successful career as an EVP of Logistics and Supply Chain for the nation’s leading home healthcare provider. He is passionate about coaching business Owners and business Leaders. He is one of the top coaches in Southern California and delivers proven results.