Defining moments in your business

Do you know the ‘Success Defining Moments’ for your business or department?

 

Every part of every business has its own ‘Success Defining Moments’ and it is these moments, these points in the business that define its success or failure.  So what are they and how do we identify them?  Put simply ‘Success Defining Moments’ are the defining moments in a transaction that create the most value to our clients and our own business, get these moments right and success is inevitable!

 

‘Success Defining Moments’ can be internal or external.  Internal being the points that make the biggest difference to business and external being the points that make the biggest impact to the client.

 

For example and estate agent who does not have any property to sell is not going to be successful.  So it is very clear that a ‘Success Defining Moment’ for an Estate Agent is when they meet a new client to value their house and get instructed to take it to market for a client.  However if they won’t sell it without getting anyone to view it and they defiantly won’t sell it without getting offers on it.  These are three easily identified ‘Success Defining Moments’, most defiantly not all for this business and even these can be broken down again.  

 

For example is the representative on time, professional and well prepared?  Are they congruent with the property they are valuing, does the owner trust and respect the salesperson? These are all external as it’s all about the customer’s perception. Internal elements of the same processes are what margin did the salesperson negotiate, did they get an exclusive period and did they get the house at a value that it will sell at.  These are the elements that with make all the difference to the success or otherwise of the business.

 

So how do you identify your ‘Success Defining Moments’?  

 

Step 1

Create a process map of the entire business process.  This will be very large and very complicated, requiring input from the entire team in every department to make it accurate and fully comprehensive.

 

Step 2

Go through the process map and carefully identify points in the process that are critical to success (internal and external).

 

Step 3

Take these points, allocate them to the team that they are most relevant to and get them to identify ways to maximise results and optimise performance.

 

Step 4

Agree with the team actions and changes that will deliver results and implement them into the business.

 

Step 5

Create systems to control and measure the results of the new initiatives with measurement systems to monitor ongoing returns.

 

Step 6

Finally make this a cultural change.  Integrate ‘Success Defining Moments’ into the induction, training and measurement system of the business and encourage continuous improvement in these areas.