Aided by apps and the latest tech wizardry, we’ve all become obsessed with juggling as many balls in the air as we can. But are we any more effective at getting things done than previous generations? And is this really helping our businesses?

Today, in trying to do everything, people often come away with having achieved very little – or at least the output is half the quality they wanted. From recent news reports and surveys, it doesn’t appear to make people any happier or satisfied and many feel resigned to settle for second best – seeing quality as an inaccessible luxury.

Why less is more makes commercial sense

So is there an argument for cutting back on a whole load of ‘stuff’ clogging up your business to achieve fewer things but brilliantly? I’m going to hold my hand up here and own up to being rubbish at this, but the idea has got me excited. Here’s where I think some of the clutter and distractions could be culled from our business lives (we probably need another article here on how to cull it from your personal life!).

6 de-cluttering ideas for businesses

1. Social media

– If your customers and key business contacts aren’t engaging with social media stop burning time on it. Be tough on yourself – is this marketing tool really going to deliver sales or business opportunities in the long run? If it is then fine and invest time to do it properly – rather than dipping in and out. If not, use that time more wisely. Social media is addictive, it will eat as much time as you let it and, unless you’re getting commercial value from it for your business, seriously rethink the energy you’re devoting to it.

2. Pareto’s law

– You’re probably familiar with the statistic that you get 80% of your business from 20% of your customers. If that’s the case then consider how you service those vital 20% of customers. How are you apportioning your time? Are you wasting energies on customers who are never ever going to seriously contribute to our 80% revenue bracket? Do you need to cull these attention diverters, albeit in the nicest possible way?

3. Forever chasing new customers

– Are your marketing and sales efforts focused primarily on chasing new customers? Of course we all need a degree of new business but actually, our existing customers (if we do a good job and they like us) can be encouraged to send more our way. They are also more likely to recommend us to their friends and contacts. So look at what percentage of your marketing and sales spend is on existing customers and perhaps rethink the balance.

4. Trim down your service or product lines

– If you have tried to jump on the ‘choice’ bandwagon and provide a wide range of products or services to your customers, think again. Consider which ones sell well and which you are really good at (they’re probably one and the same). Don’t be afraid to offer less choice as by doing so the quality of your output will improve and so will your customer loyalty. Choice is not always a good thing, in fact, in today’s ‘noisy’ age our brains can’t cope with too much of it. Also, consider the experience your customers receive in buying from you. More and more the experience around the product or service is key to differentiating. Get it right and contribute positively to your customers’ lives and they’ll be happier to pay a higher price tag and stay loyal to you.

5. Networking, advertising, your website and other marketing and promotions.

Before you get sucked into the ‘busyness’, spend 15 minutes thinking about all the time and money you invested in promoting your business. What worked in terms of bringing in leads or making sales and what didn’t? Cull those that didn’t deliver a return and plan how to make the ones that did even better.

6. Ditch the gadgets, alerts, apps

… and give yourself time to think. Try a couple of hours without your gadgets, phone, alerts etc to see how more effective you are. If you are trying to concentrate whilst emails are ‘bleeping’ away at you or social media updates are ‘pinging’ for your attention then switch them off. Allocate time in your day or week to action these and give them your undivided attention when you do. At all other times, ignore them so you can get on with the task at hand. Don’t feel guilty about doing one thing at a time.

For more advice on marketing your business contact us or tel. 01483 429111.