CONSISTENCY IS KEY
We’re stating the obvious here, but it’s true. Consistency is one of the key pillars of personal growth, as well as business. It’s also one of the most difficult to achieve and maintain. The good news: consistency is a skill that can be practiced, perfected and—here’s your ultimate goal—maintained!
WHY DOES EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER OVER-EMPHASIZE CONSISTENCY?
You want to be known for being reliable, professional, and skilled by your potential clients and they won’t know that unless you consistently show that you’re reliable, professional and skilled.
Consistency is important because it helps ensure that your customers know what to expect from you. If you have a reputation for delivering high-quality products or services, people will continue to support you. If they know that they can count on you, then they'll be more likely to come back and refer others to you.
It's also important because it helps build trust between customers and businesses—when a customer knows what they're getting into before they even do business with a company, then they'll be more likely to trust that company's products or services. The more consistent your brand is, the more trustworthy it seems.
Here are some ways you can create consistency in your business:
SET GOALS
Goal setting is the first step to creating consistency in your business. When you're unsure of where you're going or why, it can be hard to stay on track. Goals give you a clear vision of where you want to go and why.
First, you need to think about what it is you want to achieve. What do you want to achieve this year? What are your long-term goals? How can you make these things happen? Are you trying to increase your sales? Have more repeat customers? Increase the visibility of your business?
Once you've figured out what it is that matters most to your business, put it into writing and create SMART goals:
Specific
Measurement
Achievable
Relevant
Time-based
Once you know what your goals are, it's time to make them happen! Why?
Because if you don't have goals, you can't plan for the future. If you don't have a plan, you can't make decisions about what to do next. Without decisions, there's no action. Without action, there's no progress. Without progress, there's no growth—and without growth, there's no business!
So: goals = consistency = progress = growth = success (and vice versa).
CREATE A ROUTINE AND STICK TO IT
Routines help us stay on track so that even when life gets hectic and we have to do things out of order or in a different order than usual, we know how to get back on track quickly. And if we use routines for our business as well as our personal lives—well, then it's pretty much guaranteed that our days will run more smoothly from beginning to end!
Routines are simple ways to make sure that you're doing the things that help you achieve your goals, but they also make sure that you're not wasting time on things that aren't important.
Set aside time every day or week to do things that are important for your business. This could be anything from reviewing sales reports to sending out social media posts, but make sure it's something that you do consistently and that ladders back to your goals.
Write down your schedule: Keep track of all the tasks you need to complete and make sure they're written down so you don't forget them (or worse—skip them!). You'll feel more organized and less stressed about getting things done if everything has its place on paper too!
We strongly recommend reading Atomic Habits by James Clear for practical ways to develop routines and habits in your everyday life.
IDENTIFY TOOLS AND SYSTEMS THAT HELP YOU MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY
The number of things you have to juggle as a business owner – It's no wonder so many businesses fail to stay consistent! But if you use tools and systems to help you maintain consistency in your business, you can easily keep things running smoothly no matter what comes up.
There's no substitute for having a solid system in place. Your systems should not only keep you organized but also allow you to streamline processes so that the information flows smoothly through your business. This will make it easier for employees to work together and make decisions quickly and efficiently.
Second, tools help us stay on top of things. From project management software to CRM platforms like Salesforce, there are many helpful tools out there designed specifically for business owners who need help staying organized with their day-to-day operations. Start with the following systems for your business:
A CRM (customer relationship management) system will help keep track of your clients and their needs so that you can give them the best possible experience every time they interact with your company.
A project management system will allow you to manage your team's workloads and deadlines, as well as stay on top of all the projects that need to happen at any given point in time.
An email marketing platform will let you create automated email campaigns so that you can reach out to customers without having to manually send out individual emails every time someone makes a purchase or requests information from your company.
A content calendar helps you keep track of what content is coming out and when, and it helps with planning ahead.
Tools and systems are what make all of the difference when it comes to maintaining consistency in your business. When you have the right tools and systems in place, you can be sure that everything is running smoothly, and there will be no mistakes made.
FINALLY
Consistency is the name of the game in business.
It's not enough to have a great product or even a great team. You have to be able to deliver on what you promise, every single time.
If you don't have consistency at your core, then how do you expect anyone else to trust that what you're offering them is real? How do they know that they can rely on your product and service? How do they know they'll get what they paid for?
It takes time and effort to build up your brand and create trust with customers, but once that trust is there, it can take you far.
Comments