So often, a lost deal feels like a defeat and we quickly move on so we can find our next prospect and get another win. Losing never feels good, but there are insights we can learn from lost deals when we analyse them. It’s important to focus on the positive, but if you don’t analyse why the deal was lost then you won’t know what can be fixed in the future.
At Totem, our main goal is to help businesses grow. This is one of the reasons why we continually run business workshops where we facilitate business owners to identify what areas they need to focus on and where to make improvements to help their business to continually succeed.
Over the last few years we have been gathering key business principle information that has helped us to create a free online business health check that we encourage all our clients and contacts to complete. The free health check report enables all parties to review their scores against how they benchmark against the 6 Key Business Principles that drives business success.
Why did we create the Totem Business Health Check?
The main goal of our Totem Online Business Health Check is to provide you with a free and unique business report that will show you how your businesses’ health is.
The Totem Business Principles encapsulates strategies, skills, values, experience, ethics, expertise and techniques. This helps define a company’s objectives, culture, focus, adaptability, resilience and the capability to deliver what’s necessary for sustainable growth.
Have you thought what your business might look like in the future? What shape will it be in next year and what will your 3-5 year plan look like? How will your team adapt and develop? Can you weather the inevitable storms? Are you able to embrace the technological advances that could benefit your customers?
These are just a few of the key questions we ask to assess how healthy businesses are – and how they perform against the Totem core Business Principles we believe underpins every organisation’s success.
If used correctly, the weighted results from your Totem Business Health Check will help you focus on the areas of your business that need attention, and arm you with the steps you need to take to ensure your business is ‘future fit’, now and in the future.
Unfortunately in business, a lot of what we do (especially in sales) comes down to how much we instinctually like or dislike someone. Approximately 70% of all lost deals are due to something “not feeling right”, miscommunication, or one company operating in a way that doesn’t mesh well with another.
Involving your teams
Following on from the point above, many deals don’t go through because the communication channels haven’t been clear enough, especially early on in the deal. When the communication channels aren’t open and clear it breeds uncertainty and mistrust, and this will kill a deal faster than anything else.
As you know, your business doesn’t only rely on you. It also relies on your teams, staff and leadership capabilities. The Health Check is a great way to see how the business is perceived across teams within your business – where you can compare different divisions as well as across the whole business.
You can expect to see a wide range of information that will show you the areas of your business that demand more attention right now. Besides, you will also get a great insight into the areas that will show results in the medium and long term. But running a business is not simply thinking about the present but also thinking about the future.
Within your Totem Business Health Check results, you will also notice some recommended ‘Top Tools’. These easy-to-implement tools are there to help improve the principle areas within your business.
So, what do I do next?
Sometimes, a deal will fall through because you just can’t meet with the client on the cost. They want more than you can realistically offer for the price they want, and you know that if you say yes to them it will breed resentment in your company and they are much more likely to take advantage of you later. This is unavoidable from time to time, and you should consider how your marketing attracted the wrong client.
As a business owner, you are always thinking about what you can do to improve your business. However, most business do not have the time to focus on the complete business all of the time. With the Totem online Business Health Check, it just takes 10 minutes to complete and can provide a clear snapshot on how your business if performing.
Why not spend just 10 minutes of your time and see how your business performs against these key business principles.
Just go to www.totem-healthcheck.co.uk or click the hyperlink and take the Health Check today…