We are interested in your second and third thoughts – and not just your automatic responses – to some searching business questions in the arenas of pricing, new sales, cost reduction, and productivity. Be sure to note down your ideas to grow your profitability, no matter how outrageous. Fresh seed ideas are how to work smarter. Not harder!
Pricing
1.  Pricing:

What if you raised some or all of your prices…+1%, +10%, or even +100%? What happened last time you changed your prices? What if you slashed your prices? How would your loyal customers react?

What if you stopped discounting? What if you started discounting? Which way would your profit margins move? What are your margins on each of your products or services? Your business is a complex system within a vastly more complex socio-economic system? You will be surprised by the answers!
Are your sales bought with price? Or do your people promote your value-earning business, or how you exceed customer expectations, or your excellent service? Your supply side costs are inflating all the time. How have you adapted your pricing to maintain or increase your margins? Just when is the right time to change your pricing?

2. New Sales:
  • What is the difference between order-taking and proactive selling? New Sales
  • Can you – hand on heart – claim a recognizable ‘sales model’? Or are you relying on personality?
  • Who are your ‘top 10’ prospects? What have you done for them today?
  • How are you converting those ‘walkers’ – customers that didn’t return – into ‘talkers’?
  • What if your sales people truly understood your customers’ pain?
  • How much bang are you getting for your marketing bucks?
  • What is your story – marketing message? Who cares?
  • What if you acquired your competitor?
Cost Reduction

3. Cost reduction: What if every single member of your team was an MVP? How great would that be? (see blog post) Up-grade your Team! Are you paying suppliers more than you should or could? Be a loyal customer only to those suppliers that exceed your expectations.
Which of your products are ‘cash cows’? Can you milk them better? Or even transform them into raging bulls? Which products are taking up time, attention, and money, for very little – maybe even negative – returns?
Did you know there are 8 distinct forms of waste? Who are you going to call? What are you going to do about those unprofitable customers? It seemed like a good idea at the time but ‘insourcing’ may be the right thing, right now. And talking about people. Is employee turnover eating into your bottom line?

Cash is king in business, so ask yourself; is there a less-expensive way to finance your debt? Is it time to get a second CPA opinion on your tax liabilities?

Productivity

4. Productivity: What are your chronic problems? Those everyday frustrations and hassles that are ‘just the way we do things around here.’ How often are you thinking ‘there has got to be a better way?…’ Well here it is! At PBC we call it ‘Thriving in a Matrix World.’

And finally, the most powerful question of all: “What are the profit-killers in your business that you know you should fix?” Create an action list based on your responses to the questions above (or the full white paper, 4 Secrets to Increasing Profits) and get started growing your profits today! 

Call PBC today for a free consultation on this topic or any other business issue. We put out these seed ideas to get you thinking and to spark your own ideas for making next year, your most profitable ever!

We here at PBC wish you all the best!