Do you always do what you say you are going to do? And do you always look at ways to make the best out of a bad situation. In other words do you face up to your problems, take responsibility for them, and then deal with them?

Behaving in this way in business (and in life generally) can help you to gain trust and respect, which in the long term is far more likely to bring you loyal customers and repeat business. Doing what you say you will do is essential, because whilst you may get away with it on the odd occasion, generally speaking it leaves people feeling frustrated and dissatisfied if you renege on your word. There may be a good reason, but it is always best to contact people before you let them down to tell them you cannot honour your commitment. Be it a delivery, a payment, an email or anything else large or small, if you find you are no longer in a position to do what you said you were going to do, face up to it and speak to your client to explain why not. Although they may be a little annoyed initially, 99 times out of 100 they would rather know that you are letting them down, as long as they know they can trust you in the long run.

That is why we always talk about “under-promising” and “over-delivering.” Don’t build up people’s expectations if you know you will struggle to fulfil them. It is far better to make things sound less good initially, and then do something which surprises them in a positive way.

I have always found that keeping communication going with people is the best way forward, however tricky the situation may be. Don’t stick your head in the sand and hope it will go away, as it never does, and problems tend to just keep building up. Face up to the issue, discuss solutions, and find a way that keeps both parties happy. It is amazing what you can achieve by doing things this way. Trusting and contented customers, and sometimes friends for life.

Recently I have been spending a fair amount of time with a number of my clients on their sales, and perhaps more importantly, their sales process. Systems and processes are essential for any business in which the business owner wants to gradually let go, delegate and finally sell their business, but one process which is often neglected is that of sales.

The thing is, a good sales funnel should capture plenty of leads in the wide top part, and they should then fall smoothly down the sides, and fall out of the bottom as customers. However, if you do not have a slick and carefully analysed system, there can be any number of bottlenecks in your process, where prospects can easily escape. In other words, you end up “burning” what should be good leads.

So you need to analyse and write down your process(es), from your pre-sales first contact, through the face to face meting, right through to the after sales follow up. You need to write out scripts which work, you need to examine what you need to take your meeting, you need to consider what you wear, and you need to plan and prepare meticulously. A lot of the sales process can actually be achieved before you even meet, so that when you do see them your job is that much easier. Be consistent, and don’t surprise them with things they weren’t expecting, and always go with a view to signing people up first time, because that is when they should be most excited by what you are saying.

The value of having a sales system which works well is enormous, so take some time to analyse it, write it down, and then ensure you carry it out time after time. After all, at some point you will need others to do the selling for you, so if you have a system which works, why not pass it on to them.

I am pleased to say last year was a much better year than the previous two, and I hope the same could be said for most of you who read my blogs. The economy certainly seems to be on the mend, and I am delighted to say that many of my clients had excellent results, with all but a few increasing their turnover and profits significantly. A lot of them took on new staff, and I have no doubt that things will be even better for them and for me this coming year.

Of course there will be further setbacks along the way, the election may well be one of them, and with all the recent news, who is to say whether terrorist attacks will have an effect on the economy. However, with oil prices looking like they will remain at their recent low, and with inflation sinking below 1%, we all feel a little more confident that we will have a bit more spending money. If we have more spending money, then let’s hope more people start spending it, which will all help to contribute to further recovery (who knows there may be any number of pensioners rushing out and spending their pensions from April onwards!!).

The point is no-one can be quite sure what the year ahead will bring, good or bad, but if you haven’t done so already, set your budgets for the coming year optimistically. Go for growth, raise your prices, and commit to doing the things you know will make a significant difference to your business and your life.

There is no time like the present to go for it. You only get one chance at this, so make it count!