We are a marketing-led business.
As the one in charge of marketing, I kinda liked it whenever the founder and CEO I worked for said this.
At the same time, I wasn’t a huge fan of this approach.
Even in the first few years of the business when the revenue was $100k-$240k/yr, we were doing a ton of different marketing activities: email, blogs, videos, Instagram, Facebook groups, ads, podcasts, workshops, live events, and ongoing launches to attract new people to our world.
And our world included many offers over the years.
We had more than a dozen group programs of varying sizes and length, planning workshops, several 1:1 offers, a 4-week course, a digital product, a live event, mastermind retreats, two different 1-yr programs, a high-end mastermind, and a cohort-based-course.
On top of leading the marketing, I was also managing sales, coaching, collaborating on programs, and more.
I appreciated being involved in all these areas because I was able to see how I might run my own business differently.
Pretty early on, I knew I wanted a simpler business.
So, I took note of the things I thought were essential for both meaningful revenue and the people who made that revenue possible.
This was the key piece for me.
What I didn’t like about a marketing-led approach was that the people didn’t come first.
A marketing-led business tends to prioritize attracting customers and getting them to buy. It’s about the number of leads we get into the funnel. (I’m allergic to that whole last sentence).
Now, don’t get me wrong. We did look after our members and clients, thanks to some truly amazing team members. But the overarching culture and approach was still focused on the numbers.
When I considered how a simpler business might work, I knew that what mattered most was the one thing you need to have a business: customers.
A minimalist business is customer-led.
What does this look like?
1 – Boost people’s confidence in making their decision.
- Make it easy for your customer to buy from you.
- Stick to 1 main offer.
- Make your offer clear and specific so they understand whether or not you can help them.
2 – Make room for happy customers.
- What’s your capacity for growth?
- Do you have the resources to look after more customers in a way that makes them feel taken care of?
- Do you know what your customers value most about what you offer?
- Can you consistently deliver the goods?
3- Strengthen your relationships.
- Gather meaningful information about your clients and the people who interact with you and your business. This helps you develop a richer understanding of who they are.
- Create a simple and effective system to keep track of everyone who engages with you and your business. (Also known as customer relationship management.)
- Automate tasks where it makes sense, but add personalized touchpoints where it matters, e.g. after purchase, feedback requests, celebration milestones, responding to specific types of interactions like email replies, etc.
If you have many offers and you’re taking on new clients, even though you’re barely managing as it is, find time to step back and recalibrate.
Easier said than done, I know.
When I want to make a dent in a project that’s important but not urgent, I step away from all devices and go analog.
Focusing on delivering quality service to your clients is great, but you still need to keep working on the business you envision—one that’s simpler and more sustainable.