Spend any substantial amount of time with me and you’ll hear the phrase “Ideas Are Currency” I’ve long held the belief that time devoted to the creation, recording, testing and debating of ideas is the central premise behind the most successful of Organizations, regardless of vocation. A team dedicated to the belief that ideas can serve as the difference between championship success and mediocrity is where I have had the most success in my career and those situations, while rare, are memorable enough to attempt to replicate every day.
When you’re trading in the currency of ideas your approach to growing a business is often viewed in a longer-term lens, which has a tendency to put pressure on early-stage sales results. We suffered from this problem for a bit in the process of building toward our longer-term goal, but the linchpin in the process was creating enough data to analyze and determine where best to apply our somewhat limited resources to scale success – in layman’s terms, we needed as many interactions with prospects as possible in the shortest amount of time manageable and we knew it so we passed on a “dialing for dollars” approach in favor of something more strategic.
By taking a data-driven approach to our sales activities, we were able to identify some key areas where we could design solutions in an innovative way that would solve problems for entire categories of clients we’d interviewed in the process of data gathering – instead of starting the entire supply-chain process over again with each new opportunity, we’re using the information we’ve gathered to solve the same problem for multiple clients at the same time.
It’s much more efficient to sell a winning solution to a known problem to as many people with the problem as possible than to start the process anew with every additional opportunity.
The idea isn’t new. The dedication shown to ensuring the process is not only built but done so in a way that ensures each step in the process of growth is being managed is often talked about, but rarely executed with the degree of dedication necessary to be a catalyst for significant growth.
As an industry of small business owners in a consolidating market, it’s imperative we continue to find ways to add value to our relationships with those giving us their time and money. By focusing on ideas and striving to find the most efficient ways to sell the most amount of product to the most amount of people looking to solve a similar problem, we evolve our attention away from a purely product-driven tool-kit to one designed to solve problems using various products in purposeful execution.
Each of you reading this has a fantastic story about a sale where you came up with a great idea, sourced and decorated it well, delivered it on time and delighted someone. It’s one of my favorite questions to ask when I’m at industry events – watching faces light up with delight telling their stories are among my favorite memories. If you too have those stories, why not go find some more people to buy those same ideas? #IdeasAreCurrency
Roger has spent 20+ years making complex concepts more understandable for both buyers and sellers alike, and has devoted the majority of his recent career to injecting purpose via philanthropy to his sales and marketing efforts. He’s intent on making the world a better place and his nirvana exists at the intersection of Mission, Passion, Profession and Vocation. He loves the outdoors and seeks memorable experiences whenever possible. Contact Roger at roger@socialgoodpromotions.com or 810-986-5369.