Yes, we’re on day 13 and I’m talking about your top 10.  If I had thought this through a little better, we’d be doing this little exercise three days ago.  Oh well, here we are.

You can approach your top 10 list in several ways.  Pick what’s right for your business or do them all.  Here’s a hint, you should do them all but if you’re pressed for time, pick the one that will make the most impact and focus on that one first.  Just be sure to block some time on your calendar to come back to this exercise and finish the other top 10 lists.

Here are a few top 10 lists you can make:

What are the top 10 problems my products and/or services solve?

If you only have time for one list, this is the one to start with.  Sales is all about offering someone an opportunity to solve their problem.  You don’t want to sell them anything, ever.  You want to be a solution provider for them.  Oh and of course they need to pay you for it because your time, knowledge and products are valuable.

Once you have this list, share it with your team.  Make sure they can recite the answers to this in the manner in which is consistent with your brand standard and always speaks to the solution.

What are the top 10 questions my customers ask me about my business or products?

This list will serve two purposes:  1.  You want to make it visible so that your customers can find the answers easily and readily.  Let them prequalify themselves as your customers.  2. You want every member of your team to know these answers and be able to recite them at a moment’s notice.  Every person in your business is a sales person, even that person who is working the technical support call center.

What are the top 10 objections my customers make when presented with a purchase?

This one is important to know because if you can speak to the objections in the beginning of the sales process, you can shorten the sales cycle – either by getting to the yes faster or getting to the no faster.  Either way, it will enable you to move on to the next person who needs your solution.

What are the top 10 questions my employees ask me over and over?

This one is my favorite.  I am a firm believer that you must educate and empower your employees.  If they are asking you the same questions over and over, that means you have not done a good enough job of either training them or holding them accountable to their own learning and job responsibilities.

We talked a bit about scheduling your vacation.  If you really want to be able to go on vacation, make sure you to complete all the top 10 lists and that your employees know the answers to every single one of them.  Then, you will have created a Rockstar team who can handle their roles and responsibilities whether you are physically present or not.

Need More?

Need a little more guidance planning for the success of your business? I'll let you in on a secret - I need guidance all the time!  Really!  The absolute best thing I have ever done for my business was to decide not to do it all alone.

That's why I built the DoverDrive Experience.  I know what it's like to carry the weight of a growing business on your shoulders and feel the pressure of having to know everything at all times.  It's exhausting and impossible.

Inside the DoverDrive Experience, you're getting learning/doing content shared with you EVERY week.  That means you create a cycle of business development.

You see, the biggest mistake that business owners make is that they only work ON their business when something isn't going right or when they don't have enough business to meet financial goals.  The truth is, if you work on yourbusiness continuously, you'd have less problems and less periods of feast or famine.

Join us inside the DoverDrive Experience and let's get started GROWING your business.