3 Systems You Need If You Want To Grow!

March 30, 2020

Okay, you’ve come this far, so what’s the secret?

Drum roll, please….

It’s called Building a System! 

WAIT! Don’t click off!

Okay, I’ll admit that this isn't a very sexy topic, and sure we might have purposefully not said upfront what it was about, which yes some people might consider a fib. But you know what? A fib isn’t a lie, particularly if it’s for your own good. So, just like your mother making you eat your veggies, let’s talk about the 3 systems you need to get you to a new level which will have you working less and making more (Shoot, you might get so used to the easy money you’ll run for political office). 

So, what are the 3 systems? I’ll give you a condensed version and then one that's a bit more detailed

1.A system for Hiring

1. Hire slow but fire fast
2. Train you people and check in often
3. Trust their skillset and don't constantly micromanage

2.A system for Selling

1. Create a funnel- How are you getting customers should be top of funnel thinking
2. Start with your goal in mind and work backward
3. Figure out this year's promotions (loss leaders, discount, flash sales, etc)

3.A system for Finances- 

1. How are you keeping track of expenses
2. How are you maintaining or increasing your profit margin
3. Annual and quarterly goals and details on how to achieve those

So let’s talk about:

A System for Hiring

Hire Slow… Fire Fast

I’m sure this has been around for some time, but I first heard this on a Tony Robbins Podcast (shoutout to Tony). This requires you to take a deeper dive into any candidates you might have. 

• Do they know what you’re going to need done? 
• Do they have a portfolio? 
• Do they have the ability to do it quickly? 
• Are they going to fit into the company's culture? 
• Heck, do you even like ‘em? 

Those are all questions you should be asking yourself before you pull the trigger on hiring. I’d say that hiring a “project” is more problematic in the long term than waiting for the right person EVERY TIME. Now, just like there is no perfect soulmate out there, I mean except for Darian of course...sorry, I thought she was comin upstairs!

Anyways, just like there isn't a perfect person out there doesn't mean you shouldn’t hire anyone. See what things they need help working on and see if those are things you're willing to compromise the time you’ll be spending on your training to do.

Now, let’s say that this person seemed like the absolute perfect fit. You know, the type of person you already see making the 2nd head of your future multi-million dollar company, but after a little, while they just don't get it. They return assignments late, always seem to be busy, aren't communicating, and just generally doing a crappy job.

Well, then you need to ask yourself two questions 

1. Did I do everything I could to make sure this person knows my expectations? 
2. Did I do everything I could to train this person?

If the answer to both of those questions is a yes, then it might be time to “allow them to be happy somewhere else”. 

*Many of you are actually terrible at managing people, it’s not that you’re a bad person but it’s a skill that requires a lot of refinement and flexibility. If you feel like you need help getting through to an employee or contractor message me at admin@dncmarketing.org or text me at 601-565-2679. I’d love to brainstorm ways you can improve and am more than happy to train you if the problem isn't something that is easily fixed in a few texts. 

Train Your People And Check In Often

This isn't micromanaging, but the phrase trust but verify fits incredibly well here. Especially in the beginning phases of someone's employment and particularly if they are messing with money. 

You can think of this as their teenage years, they are growing up and you can't quite trust ‘em with your Mastercard, but they at least made it past the stages where you’re banging your head on the wall every time they ask “why?”.  

It’s important to have lofty goals but low initial expectations. You shouldn’t be barkin orders at them and the first time they do something incorrectly start saying “If you can’t do this right, I’ll have to find someone else”. Not only do messages like that make you seem like the tail end of a donkey but it hurts the worker’s morale. They don’t leave excited to come back, they are heading home and looking at job postings.

The easiest way to combat this is to allow them to take a few steps after you’ve trained them and then explain what went wrong along the way. I remember at my old corporate office, I overheard one of my sales reps tell a client that a project would be done within the week. They were so excited about closing the sale that they committed a grave sin “over-promising and under-delivering”.

See this rep knew that at the earliest we’d get it to them within 2 weeks after the customer left I asked him about it and his response was a simple “I figured one of the managers would handle any issues if they came up.” Well, right then and there I had him pick up the phone, call the client and tell them that his timeline was mistaken. The client canceled the order and the sales rep was upset.

Now I know there are a few sales managers reading this that are pulling their hair out asking “why would you do that?” Simple, this guy always had someone to smooth over any customer issues and was willing to say anything to close a sale.

By allowing him to close the sale, not interrupting, and then making that phone call and canceling the order himself he learned that it wasn't all about money, but about truthfulness, and relationships. He learned that he wasn't going to be able to pass the buck regardless of “whose job it was to deal with customer complaints”.

I trained him, allowed him to make a mistake, corrected the action, explained myself and the company's core value system and from then on never had another incident like it. 

I’d rather lose a sale and sleep easy then dread work the next day knowing that I’d have my sales staff and managers dealing with angry and irate customers every day. 

Trust their skillset and don't constantly micromanage

Now, you might be saying “Julio, doesn't this go against what you were just talking about? First, you told me to trust, but verify and now you’re telling me to just outright trust ‘em?” 

Listen, you hired them for a reason and they have made it past all the hurdles and grown through the growing pains. Just like a parent at some point, you need to let them go, but also let them know that you're just a phone call away. If you want to grow your business at some point your focus needs to be on bigger picture plans. 

You need to know that you’ve trained, re-trained this person and have experienced this person's growth. They need to know that the buck stops with you, but that they shouldn't be calling you for every little thing and that you’re not looking over their shoulder every time you pass by. Allow their confidence to blossom, praise them in public and deal with issues in private. This will gain you loyal and hardworking employees. 

Remember, at the end of the day you might have a bunch of initials after your name or some sort of appointed title (and they should respect that) but you need to remember that employees are people and people want to be trusted, loved, respected, and feel useful. Treat them as if they own a piece of the company because the truth is that they do.