Let's Get To Work And Find The Breakthrough To Additional Profits
FOUNDATIONS
1. What is the business current annual revenue (turnover)?
2. What is the business current gross profit margin as a %? (From the gross sales you have covered direct costs of producing the good or service, commissions, etc. which is your gross profit. Divide the gross profit by the annual revenue X 100 to receive your gross profit percentage)
3. What is the business current net profit margin as a %? (This is your annual revenue less all direct costs less all other expenses. Divided by the annual revenue X 100 to receive the net profit percentage)
VALUATION
(This valuation is not a formal valuation of a business or something you can take to the bank; it's simply allows us to see the potential impact on your business value that will be indicative of the possibilities.)
1. Over the past three years, has your revenue been steady, or growing, or declining? Add or subtract the percentage of growth or decline (enter 100% if steady).
2. Is your industry in a steady state, or is it in general growth or general decline? Add or subtract the percentage of growth or decline (enter 100% if steady).
3. If you were to sell all your inventory and assets, what do you think you would get for them? (Give a ballpark figure.)
4. Do you have financials prepared by an accountant with historical, current and predicted revenue and expenses?
5. Do you have one customer that accounts for at least 15% of the overall revenue?
6. Are a large extent of all your systems, processes, policies and procedures in place?
7. Are your marketing and sales processes documented so that sales are predictable?
8. Is your business model scalable? (A business that scales well will be able to maintain or increase its efficiency and/or performance when large-scale growth occurs)
9. Does a large percentage of your business come from recurring revenues? (repeat purchase of same products, repeat business from clients, etc.)
10. What has your business been valued at? (Enter Zero if unsure)
1. Why did you start your business?
2. When did you start it?
3. What role do you play in it?
4. Tell more about your business? What is your core product or service offering?
5. What are the three biggest challenges you face in your business?
6. What does it cost you to get a client?
7. What's the Lifetime Value of a client? (On average - How long clients stay in your business and how much revenue generate to your business while being your clients? )
8. What do you see is your easiest or fastest path to growth?
9. Where would you like to see your business 12 months from now?
PROFIT AREAS & CALCULATOR
The following process while designed to reveal your strengths, it also uncovers your weaknesses. It is natural to feel discouraged if your business is not succeeding as you wish, but please ignore the temptation to make the situation look better than it is.
The questionnaire is designed to help us help you—not to impress us or anyone else. Imagine someone asking for directions, “Can you tell me the way to the Trafalgar Square in London?” I reply, “Sure, I can show you the way—but first, tell me where you are now.” Give me a false starting point, and my instructions would be useless—and you will not gain the desired results. I would say, “Turn right here and left there and go straight” and you’d end up in Hackney.
But give me an accurate starting point, and then I can show you the very best way to the square! We are going to find you profit in various areas and you'll see that profit this year. But the great thing is that as we systemise your business, you'll continue to see those profits year after year. So we look at the profit impact this year, but also over the next 5 years as well because that's the real impact you'll realise. Furthermore, if you ever want to sell your business one day, it's also good to see what the impact will be on your business value.
ACCELERATED 25 PROFIT DRIVERS ASSESSMENT
This Profit Assessment is at least 1000% more comprehensive than any other business profitability assessment. It allows us to systematically hunt for profit opportunities across 25 areas, processes and systems in business day-to-day internal and external functions. As such it will give a good insight as to whether you and your business will benefit from potential strategic business advice and consultancy. During this process of evaluation, even if you believe that a certain intervention can double your current results, try to be really conservative so that at the end our numbers are manageable and achievable.
1. Market Dominating Position & USP
You might be unique, but it won't matter to your prospects unless it's a hot-button issue for them. A Market Dominating Position is basically a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) or distinctive advantage targeting the hot buttons of your market. (E.g. McDonald’s advertise a “Drive Thru” so parents don’t need to get out of the car. A drycleaner advertises 1 Hour Service. A drug company advertises “Instant Pain Relief”. A mouth guard supplier advertises “No more concussions”. A sales trainer advertises “No More Cold Calling”. )
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
What advantage do you advertise to the market so that they would be foolish to go to anyone else?
If I were to walk through your business and ask your employees what your Market Dominating Position or USP is, to what degree would I get the same answer?
If you could create a Market Dominating Position that addresses both the problems of your clients and the results you provide, by what percent would that impact your business? By what percent?
2. Strategy
A great strategy will always overcome time, effort and money. If you’re a strategic thinker and you incorporate good strategies throughout your marketing and sales efforts, your tactics will achieve much higher results.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Do you think through your ultimate strategic objectives before initiating a tactic?
When you meet with a prospect, how many purposes do you have for that meeting, besides making a sale? (E.g. build trust, get referrals, be known as the expert)
Are you consistent in your use of these?
If you chose 3 to 5 strategic objectives and you could consistently utilise those every time you initiated a marketing tactic, what impact would that have on your overall growth of your business? By what percent?
3. Trust, Expertise, Education
Positioning yourself as an industry expert is a strategic move that has a very powerful effect on the marketplace. Building respect leads to trust, which leads to action.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Does your market trust you?
Do you have a supply of customer testimonials, success stories, or endorsements that are very measurable?
Do you have a system in place for soliciting and capturing testimonials or success stories on an ongoing basis? (E.g. Do customer interviews and many of the talking points would likely become testimonial worthy.)
What would be the impact if you created and followed a system to systematically capture and use testimonials or success stories or endorsements to build trust in your market? What impact do you think we should expect in this area? By what percent?
4. Policies & Procedures
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
What policies and procedures do you have in place for your sales and marketing.
Do you currently have established policies and procedures for customer solicitation?
For follow-up?
For post-sale reassurance?
For relationship building?
If you incorporated policies/ procedures/ rewards/ consequences for your staff to follow, and you followed through on them, what impact would that have on your business? By what percent?
5. Leads
Leads (or prospects) are the fuel of any business—the first point in the sales process that eventually lead to sales. A business with an effective lead-generation process will increase their probability of success.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
What has been your best lead generation success to date?
Do you use “direct response” marketing? (Direct response advertising is designed to evoke an immediate action, visit, call, or purchasing decision.)
Are you using internet to drive new leads?
What would it take to improve on past successes?
What impact would creating consistent leads generating actions have on your growth? By what percent?
6. Alliances & Joint Ventures
A business can form alliances or joint ventures with a number of different entities besides other non-competing businesses.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
How many alliances or joint ventures do you currently have with other businesses or services?
What products or services do people normally buy before, during, and after they do business with you?
If you could form an alliance with one or more of these groups, one joint venture partner that referred business to you, each quarter or if you became a joint venture partner for a synergistic product/service and made a strong commission for each sale? What would be the financial impact on your sales revenue? By what percent?
7. Referral Systems
It is often possible to generate far more customers from referrals than it is by any other means. It carries the least risk and the highest impact of any marketing action. And there is no reason why you should settle for just one type of referral system. You could incorporate many.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Do you have a systematic referral process?
How many referral systems do you have?
Are they consistently followed?
What would be the impact if you had one or more systems for referrals that were consistently followed? If you worked on improving the process, what impact could it have? By what percent?
8. Internet Marketing
Optimisation in internet marketing is elusive. The opportunities change nearly every week. Would you agree?
(E.g. Paid Advertising, Social Media, Niche Networks, Video and Audio, Pictures, SEO, Buying Lists, Blogging, Forming a group on Facebook or LinkedIn, Online press releases, affiliates, directory listings, link sharing, and mobile.)
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Does your internet marketing strategy compel your prospects to give you their contact information?
Does your strategy include staying in contact with prospects who don’t buy from you initially?
What are your greatest weaknesses in relation to IM?
What opportunities do you see for improvement?
If we were to put together a comprehensive internet marketing improvement program for your company, by what percent do you think we should be able to increase your overall number of leads? (If you are getting 1,000 leads a year from the internet, is it conceivable that you could grow that by 5% without much effort? 5% is 50 leads a year. That’s 1 lead a week.) By what percent?
9. Publicity & PR
It is impossible to overestimate the value of free publicity. A business could spend £1,000 or more on a newspaper advertisement and not see any increase in business.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Do you understand the impact of free publicity as compared to paid advertising?
How many times have you been interviewed where they focused on some unique advantage that your business offers?
Do you understand how to get free publicity from the media?
Recognising that free publicity has about 5x to 10x the impact of an ad, what impact do you think it would have on your business if we could increase the occurrence of free publicity? By what percent?
10. Direct Mail
Using direct mail is like having an army of salespeople in the field. The advantage is that they get into the target businesses at a very low cost and have the chance to tell the full story in a carefully crafted proposition with no fear of rejection.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
How much prospecting mail do you send each month?
Is it targeted directly at your ideal client or niche market?
Are your mailings “direct response?” (Direct response letters are designed to evoke an immediate action, visit, call, or purchasing decision.)
What is the return on investment for your mailings?
Have you ever used telemarketing as a follow up to a direct mailing?
Do you send out multiple direct follow-up mailings?
Do you see room for improvement?
What would be the impact if you had a systematic direct mail campaign and you followed up with well-scripted and timed telephone calls? By what percent?
11. Advertising
There is a difference between running a beautiful advertisement, and running an advertisement that pulls large amounts of customers.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Do you follow a proven marketing format or formula that is consistent?
Does your advertising contain a compelling offer that addresses the problems that people have but don’t want, and shows how you can give them what they want, but don't yet have.
Are the results measurable?
What impact do you think you should expect on your lead flow if you could grow your leads with a well executed strategic advertising campaign? By what percent?
12. Compelling Offer
There are two types of offers that have a dramatic impact on your marketing results:
The first is the Incentive Offer (such as "buy one, get one free"). It targets 1%- 3% of the prospects that are already on the buying journey.
The second is the Informational Offer (such as a free report or self-assessment, etc.) It builds trust, builds relationship, and appeals to the 97% to 99% of future buyers... BUT will also attract those who are ready to buy now!
Offering appealing information is the KEY to getting an immediate and direct response.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Does your current marketing make your prospects a compelling offer – one that is so irresistible they can’t refuse it? (E.g. Idea Guide, Consumers Report, Live Seminar, Webinar, One to One Consultation, Money Back Guarantee etc.)
Does your offer provide recognisable VALUE to your target prospects?
Are you currently using risk-reversal in your selling?
What would be the impact on your growth if we created and implemented a compelling educational offer?
By what percent?
13. Sales-force
There are many working pieces to the puzzle of the sales force. An effective, finely tuned sales force can accelerate the growth of a company. Conversely, a team that underperforms in one or more areas limits the growth of the company and therefore the profitability.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
What is the typical way a sale is made, from start to finish?
What is the typical value of the first transaction from a new customer? What is the profit on that sale on average?
What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing (regarding your sales force)?
What do you think the solution might be?
If you could get a consistent selling process in your business, what impact do you think it might have?
By what percent?
14. Scripts
Preparing scripts allows you to prepare for your communication with potential clients so that your words are strategic and impacting, thus resulting in more sales.
Examples of key situations to have scripts would be:
1. What you say when you first meet,
2. Questions you ask (Asking powerful questions positions you as an expert and authority),
3. Dealing with objections,
4. Closing the Sale,
5. Point of sale up-sell and cross-sell,
6. Elevator Pitch,
7. Leaving a message on an answering machine,
8. Your voice mail message (after all, you've got someone on the phone; why not use the opportunity to sell something or prove your expertise?)
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Do you or your sales people currently use scripts in their selling?
Are they used consistently?
Do they need updating?
What would be the impact if you had a script tree that you or your staff could use so that they would know what to say no matter which direction the conversation went? By what percent?
15. Initial Close Rate
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
How does your sales process work?
What are your close rates?
Do you have several potential closing offers (up-sell / cross-sell / down-sell)?
Do you see opportunities for improvement? If so, what are they?
What would be the impact if you instituted some policies so that you knew exactly what stage of the sales process you or your people were in, what is being said, and you could get reports measuring results on each one?
By what percent?
16. Follow-up Close Rate
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
What are your close rates?
Do you have several potential closing offers (up-sell / cross-sell / down-sell)?
Do you see opportunities for improvement? If so, what are they?
What would be the impact if you instituted some policies so that you knew exactly what stage of the sales process your people were in, what they were saying, what they were sending, and you could get reports on each one?
By what percent?
17. More Appointments
Questions to find opportunity:
What are your metrics for getting … and keeping appointments?
What are your goals or targets?
What do you see as acceptable results?
What policies and procedures have you implemented in your business that your sales force must follow to get appointments and make sure those appointments are kept?
How confident are you that you could see an improvement in your metrics to get more appointments and keep those appointments? By what percent?
18. Down-sell
Down-selling means backing off from your original offer when your potential customer appears to reject your offer, offering something less expensive, then once the buying relationship is established, up-selling and cross-selling at a later date. The key idea is to get the buyer to enter into a long-term relationship.
An example would be a car salesman who tries to sell a £30,000 car, but when he meets too much resistance, he tries to sell the £20,000 car, and if he's successful, will try to cross-sell the extra warranty and other options.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Do you have down-sell processes and strategies?
What other product or service could you offer at a lower cost if the customer doesn't buy your primary product or service? (E.g. smaller quantity / lower quality / stripped down version / special purchase offer)
What would be the financial impact if you could maximise your down-sell processes? By what percent?
19. Back-end
The Front End is the package of services you offer at first. The Back End is the array of products or services you can offer after the buying relationship has started. Developing the back-end requires a new attitude - that is, realising that your job is to bring as much value to your clients as you can and it is not just to sell them your service. It is to sell them your services and, in the process, gain their trust, understand their needs and bring them improvement in the quality and prosperity of their lives, through whatever means you are able to create.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Have you created a list of everything your ideal client wants / needs / finds of value?
Do you have a systematic process for selling customers additional goods or services?
To what extent have you worked on maximising the revenue from each customer?
Are you aware of any opportunities where you could see improvement?
If you had a systematic process for selling additional goods and services, what impact would this have on your business? By what percent?
20. Reactivate Former Customers
Reactivating former customers may be one of the simplest, lowest cost methods of growing a business. There could be any number of reasons why clients stop doing business with you, many of which have nothing to do with the way you performed for them in the past.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Why do customers normally stop doing business with you?
How many customers on your list are inactive versus those that are active? (Note: if you need a ballpark number, there are usually about 4 times as many inactive customers as those that are active.)
Do you continue to communicate with your inactive customers?
Do you have an established policy or procedure (E.g. special offer) or system for reactivating former customers?
Of the customers on your list, how many do you think could be persuaded to start buying from you again?
If you have 100 clients and 400 inactive clients, and you could persuade just 5% of the inactive ones to come back again, that’s an additional 20 clients, which is a 20% increase in revenue. What impact would that have on your business? By what percent?
21. Increase Frequency of Purchases
Customers buy from you at a certain level of frequency. They also have many choices of sources to buy their products/services. The frequency is often determined by their habit or need. Increasing the frequency of purchase so that they not only buy more often but buy from you is a key area that will lead to increased profits.
For example, if customers normally buy from you every 120 days and you get them to buy from you every 110 days, you've just grown your revenues by 9% but that could mean a 20% or more increase in profits.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
How often do your customers purchase from you?
How often should they? (If you see an opportunity, continue.)
Do you have a system in place to maximise their frequency of purchase?
Do you see any opportunity for improvement?
If you worked on improving the process, by what percent do you think you could see improvement? What would be the impact if you had a systematic reorder process or system to bring customers back in on a more frequent basis? By what percent?
22. Increase Price
Sometimes the market will allow a certain price increase but they will embrace it more easily if you clearly state the reason why. If you clearly state the reason for your higher prices in a manner that is logically acceptable (and true, remember) to your market, then this extra profit represents enormous leverage through your entire business.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Do you have a pricing strategy?
Do you provide any value-add services so that the customer perceives your product/service to be more valuable?
Is there anything you could provide (or communicate) that would raise the perceived value of your product or service?
If you could create a perception of higher value and communicate it to your customers in such a way that they understand and accept that value, by what percentage could you raise your prices?
By what percent?
23. Up-sell and Cross-sell
This involves offering the buying customer, at the point of purchase, a higher quality or more of what they just purchased (up-sell) or an additional product or service that is related to what they just purchased (cross-sell) - something they need or want but did not think about purchasing at that time.
An example of an up-sell is "Would you like to Supersize your order?" A n example of a cross-sell is "Would you like Fries with that?"
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
Do you have up-sell or cross-sell processes and strategies?
What other products or services could you offer when a customer shows intention to buy your primary product or service?
Do you currently package products or services (or options) that are complementary to each other as a way to increase your average purchase?
Are you aware of any ways we could maximise your up-sell or cross-sell processes?
What would be the impact if we help you initiate some up-sell and cross-sell strategies to maximise the monetary value that each customer spends with you? By what percent?
24. Increase Longevity of the Buying Relationship
How much time do you spend with your staff developing ways to make a customer’s experience more delightful? Remember this: you cannot service too much, you cannot educate enough, you cannot inform too much, you cannot offer too much follow-through and follow up, you cannot make ordering too easy, you cannot make calling or coming to your business too desirable.
As an example, if people normally buy from you for 3 years (36 months) and spend a total of £3,600. If you can increase that to 39 months, you'll increase the revenue by 8% but you'll likely increase your profits by 20%, depending on your gross profit margin.
Questions to find opportunity:
What percentage of your first-time customers/clients come back?
How long do your customer purchase from you?
How long should they?
What do you do to maximise longevity? (To motivate them to come back?)
Do you have a systematic process for motivating customers to buy from you for life?
What would be the impact if you had a systematic customer satisfaction and customer relationship program in place? By what percent?
25. Cut Costs
It's important to remember that the one guaranteed way of keeping more money in your bank account is by doing everything in your power to cut costs at every available opportunity. It sounds simple and many business owners don't think there are any more ways to cut costs, but studies have shown that a large number of businesses operating today are nowhere near maximising their cost saving opportunities.
Questions to help you identify opportunity and increase potential:
What do you see is the gaping hole where you could cut costs immediately?
Would you commit to cutting costs there?
How much could you reasonably save a year?
What impact would that have on your profits? (If you think, “I could cut expenses by 5%”, then enter 5% in the space provided.) By what percent?
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