There are a few ways to be successful in business. Unfortunately, there are many, many ways to be unsuccessful. A lot of this comes down to how you handle the 4 “pillars”.
“What are the 4 pillars?”, you may ask. Great question! They’re what I would consider to be the areas of your business that really make it run… and run well. They’re your partner as you work to develop a great product or define a valuable service. The pillars help you grow stronger.
Pillar #1: Systems
Systems organize information about your leads and customers, your sales process, your hiring process… in fact, they keep track of everything. Connect your accounting system to your collaboration system so the right people have the right information. Systems make your work better.
Systems organize information about your leads and customers, your sales process, your hiring process… in fact, they keep track of everything. Connect your accounting system to your collaboration system so the right people have the right information. Systems make your work better.
Pillar #2: Marketing
Preparing your customers to buy is more than showing someone an ad or a great presentation in hopes they’ll buy in. Lifecycle marketing and lead generation make selling easier. It helps you turn leads into engaged leads into actual customers. Technology combines with great direct marketing approaches to deliver significant returns on your marketing investments. Make sure you keep track of all your efforts with analytics to enable smart decision making.
Preparing your customers to buy is more than showing someone an ad or a great presentation in hopes they’ll buy in. Lifecycle marketing and lead generation make selling easier. It helps you turn leads into engaged leads into actual customers. Technology combines with great direct marketing approaches to deliver significant returns on your marketing investments. Make sure you keep track of all your efforts with analytics to enable smart decision making.
Pillar #3: Automation
All that marketing goes hand in hand with automation. Automation can save you time (and money) in many ways: it can qualify leads, regulate your sales process, and respond when you cannot. Make all systems in your business automatically ‘talk’ to each other with tools like Zapier and Infusionsoft. One approach we love is to find the ‘best in bread’ of each category of online tool and then get them all to work together automatically.
All that marketing goes hand in hand with automation. Automation can save you time (and money) in many ways: it can qualify leads, regulate your sales process, and respond when you cannot. Make all systems in your business automatically ‘talk’ to each other with tools like Zapier and Infusionsoft. One approach we love is to find the ‘best in bread’ of each category of online tool and then get them all to work together automatically.
Pillar #4: Security
All this success means nothing if you can’t protect it. That’s why security is the last pillar. Password Management tools prevent data leakages (even if accidental). Strong passwords, 2 factor authentication and encryption are foundational technologies that need to be considered. Many of our clients use Google’s G Suite to enable secure collaboration, and all kinds of messaging and data sharing. Additionally, securing your website with an SSL can put your customers at ease knowing their data is safe.
All this success means nothing if you can’t protect it. That’s why security is the last pillar. Password Management tools prevent data leakages (even if accidental). Strong passwords, 2 factor authentication and encryption are foundational technologies that need to be considered. Many of our clients use Google’s G Suite to enable secure collaboration, and all kinds of messaging and data sharing. Additionally, securing your website with an SSL can put your customers at ease knowing their data is safe.
Once these four pillars are in place, you’re in good shape to start taking on the world. Even if you are improving one step at a time, moving forward is better than standing still.
