Small errors can ham a significant impact, in business and in life, and may lead to undesirable consequences.

A husband was away on a business trip and texted his wife:

“I am having such a wonderful time! Wish you were her.”

How about this one: You send out an email, then notice a glaring typo or grammatical error, only after hitting “Send.”

OOPS!

Did you hire someone to perform a task, but then you realized they weren’t up to the job. What did you do?

These may seem like small, tolerable mistakes, but when it comes to sales and marketing, the little stuff adds up to a lot over time. You have customers, you’ve been doing this for a while so, okay, you are already doing most things right. Recognizing areas where you can deepen your knowledge and gain new skills, particularly in sales and marketing, is critical to unlocking your full potential!

The Compound Effect

We love this concept, developed by Darren Hardy, summarized by James Clear. The compound effect in marketing is the strategy of reaping huge rewards from small, seemingly insignificant actions.

Small choices + consistency + time = significant results.

It’s especially true when it comes to sales and marketing. Every small mistake or missed opportunity compounds over time, resulting in lost revenue and missed opportunities.

In addition to sales and marketing strategies, customer experience plays a crucial role in business growth. Small mistakes in this area result in negative reviews and loss of business, fueled by poor communication and slow inquiry response times.

Your Biggest Competitor

When you wrote your business plan, did you research “the competition” to see who you’d be up against in the marketplace? It’s likely that you found a list of names of other companies that offer similar products and services in your target demographic. We have a revelation for you – your biggest competitor is not another company, it is your customer’s inability to make the buying decision.

According to Simon Sinek, “They just feel that something is wrong in their gut.” Why? You made them feel that way and even though they cannot put their finger on why, it’s often caused by something that was missed in the sales process. It could have been an inadvertent mistake on an email, an odd analogy shared in the features and benefits conversation or a poorly worded proposal. How can you counteract – or better yet, avoid – the negative impacts of these “little things gone wrong”?

Focus on the Customer Experience

We have good news if you think the little things are plaguing you. There are steps you can take to generate positive feedback, word-of-mouth, repeat business and referrals. Here’s what we recommend:

•        Don’t rely on guesswork or assumptions to guide your investment decisions. Prioritize data analysis to make informed decisions so you maximize your resources.
•       Treat your customers like the valuable people they are. Treat your communications and responsiveness with the importance they deserve. 
•        Invest in ongoing training for you and your team to stay up to date on best practices and trends. Don’t allow your company to lag the market and become outdated!
•        Consider hiring a business coach, consultant, or agency to provide additional expertise and support. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to see where you’re going right – and possibly going wrong.

It’s About the Bottom Line

Small mistakes and oversights in sales and marketing can have a significant impact on your business’s bottom line. However, by prioritizing data analysis, customer experience, ongoing training, and outside expertise, you can improve your strategies and avoid the cost of getting the little stuff wrong. Remember, consistent actions over time can compound to create significant growth and success for your business.

By the way, did you catch the small typo in the first sentence of this blog post?

Small errors can ham a significant impact…

Don’t worry, it was intentional, and spell check didn’t catch it. It goes to show how easy it is to make small mistakes – and how important it is to catch them before they become big ones. If you’d like help identifying those small mistakes, and learning how to avoid them, please don’t hesitate to contact us here. We’d love to help you out!