Have you had an unexpectedly great month in your business? Do you know how this windfall happened? Before you do a happy dance and thanks all the Gods, a smarter move is to stop and deep dive into the reasons of your success.
Have you ever felt that wonderful joy of surprise when you discover your business has had a surprisingly good period? One of our clients reached out recently with news of the biggest monthly revenue of their business’ six year history, three times more than the prior month and almost four times higher than the same month in the previous year. They discovered during their monthly date with their numbers, they were, of course, incredibly delighted and excited, if not a little bewildered when we asked them how they did it.
There’s a temptation when things are going well with money consistently landing in your bank account to take a break from the deep analysis needed to know your numbers. However, it’s a really clever strategy to spend more time, not less, in understanding the drivers behind your success…so you know how to replicate it.
Having an intimate knowledge of your numbers means you can easily identify what is working in your business, as well as what’s not. It gives you an opportunity to evolve your business strategies, be agile and continue to grow your business. When you have an insight into why something worked (and had such a spectacular result) it makes it easier to recognise if it is something that can be replicated, or if it were something that was simply luck – a one off order from a left of field client, for example. Spoiler alert- it rarely will be luck; even if it appears to be something unexpected, often it can be turned into an ongoing,/ considered strategy.
There is a level of detail necessary to deeply analyse wins. It’s this clarity from knowing your numbers that allows you to learn more about your clients and customers and what they want from your products and services. You can explore which marketing strategies are working, and which are working overtime. You can leverage off what’s working hard and effectively for your business and double down on these. Did the boost in your income come as a result of you spending some dedicated time engaging with your network on LinkedIn? Did that Facebook ad campaign turn followers into buyers? Did you meet a new client at that networking event you attended?
In the case of our client doing their happy dance, their deep dive into their great period revealed that the largest portion of their income came as the result of a direct referral from another client. Clearly, they are giving such a wonderful experience that their clients are spreading the word and doing their marketing on their behalf. They are now going to create a dedicated strategy around nurturing their existing client list and directly requesting referrals, with a ‘thank you’ practice that includes gorgeous pamper packs. Bottom line- rather than celebrating their win and then moving on to the next month, they sat down, worked out why it eventuated, and created a plan to allow it to happen again.
How well can you explain your income wins? This is the kind of data that absolutely lights us up – almost embarrassingly so. If you’d like a hand understanding your numbers, please reach out.