14 Strategies We Attribute to Our Recent Business Excellence Award
Out of the blue, I received an email from the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce one day notifying me that we were nominated for a 2016 Business Excellence award.
Say what?
Once I got past my shock and disbelief that they must have the wrong Susan... it began to sink in that someone out there thought we were worthy enough of this nomination. Wow, what an honour!
Part of the nomination process consisted of a 30-minute interview in front of a 3-judge panel. Imagine being forced to actually brag about yourself for a half an hour! Talk about squirming in my seat!
Fast forward to last week where the awards ceremony took place. Much to my relief, our category was up first so I could relax the rest of the evening.
To be honest, I wasn't all that anxious - I knew the odds of winning was only 1 in 7 so I waited patiently for the winner's name to be announced, not at all expecting it to be us.
But it was! We were declared the winner!
Say WHAT???
Shock and disbelief once again came over me as I took a moment to grasp what just happened. Walking to the stage was quite the blur but I managed to do it without tripping up the stairs to get our award.
In the aftermath of winning this wonderful recognition, I reflected some more about that judge's interview and how they deemed us the winner from the other worthy nominees in our category.
With that in mind, I wanted to share some of the attributes I feel helped us win this prestigious award. Without further ado, here's what it took for me to create an award-winning business:
1) Be Passionate About What You Do
We are not the first business I've created; there's been plenty others ranging from creating craft pieces to faux finish painting. But no matter what I did, I was very passionate about it.
Don't waste your time trying to run a business just to make money. You're going to tire of it very quickly and it will be harder to make sales.
But when you're passionate about what you do, others will immediately see that and will be drawn to you like a magnet.
2) Love Working With the People You Serve and Offer Exceptional Customer Service
One of the truest joys I receive is the knowing how much we are able to help a new business owner get their online presence up and running. Being a part of their joy at seeing their dream materialize into something tangible gives me just as much joy.
If you avoid answering the phone or responding to emails because you dread having to talk to a client, then you need to adjust your marketing so you attract the right people to work with.
If you don't love who you're working with, then it's hard to establish a successful business that needs to cater to your clients by making customer service a #1 priority. And that means answering the phone, responding to emails in a prompt manner, and treating every person as if they were your only client. And when you're attracting your perfect ideal client, then this should be easy to do.
Make your business about them, not you. Just remember, if you had no clients, then you'd have no business.
3) Know Your Stuff
Before even thinking about starting a web development/digital marketing business, I ensured I got the education I needed first. I attended the Vancouver Film School in their Multi-Media program and then later earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Computer Information Systems (with an A+ GPA).
Not to mention the countless online courses I've taken over the years to ensure my skills are kept up-to-date with this ever changing industry.
Sadly, I see a lot of entrepreneurs wanting to start a business with not a lot of skills or experience under their belt and then they wonder why they're struggling.
Reading a book or taking one on-line course is probably not enough to reach award-winning status. But if you're passionate about building a successful business, you'll find a way to ensure you become as qualified as needed.
4) Be Committed
Is working 15 hour days, 6-7 days a week committed enough? Yep, that's what Daniel and I do every week. We have to in order to fulfil points 2 and 3 above.
It takes a lot of time and effort to ensure your clients are taken care of properly. You also need a "do whatever it takes" level of commitment.
You might not need to work such long hours as us and trust me, we're continually working towards lessening that kind of volume but until then, we are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure our business is successful. Are you?
5) Be Consistent
Consistency shows up in many forms when running a successful business. For me, it's being consistent with my message, my brand, my Social Media presence, my newsletters, my team management, and the level of quality we bring to our clients.