The first move taken in a game of chess is significant, but it is the moves after that define who will win.
I often wonder what the first move is when management discovers their businesses profits are down. I can imagine a moment of denial followed by deep reflection on the shape of the business. Once the initial shock has passed the next moves taken, define whether the business will win or lose.
The other day when I was doing some googling, I think I stumbled upon one of the next moves.
Most people are aware of the handy feature on Google that pops up with the most searched suggestions when entering your queries. These can help aid you in formulating what you want to search, but it is also a fascinating gateway into the minds of others. It is often reassuring to see that others have googled the same topics/questions/things as you.
So I was googling away when I saw something interesting. One of Googles most suggested questions is, “Why are my sales down?” Being the inquisitive person that I am, I poked my head down the rabbit hole and had a look the various articles, blogs and question/answer websites Google suggested on the topic. I highly doubted any of these sites ability to directly be able to help ME and MY Business.
After reading a lot of generic and blasé things, I decided it was in NO way directly helpful to my business. To some, however, I believe they could just click on an article, read about how the economy is down, and people are spending less, and think “Ah that must be it” and leave it at that.
Stop wasting your time!
Surely this cannot be going on! This move is nothing but pre-emptive time-wasting and hand holding for management who do not want to face the ugly truth of their business. This is not the move of a business that wishes to win! Even with the unconquerable mountain of information, that is the internet, you can’t beat a human’s perspective. Another scenario is getting fooled into thinking that a similar company, which is on the other side of the world, can provide you with answers to yours.
Don’t Google your company’s symptoms in hope for an explanation. Google is not your company’s doctor. If you want to know why your sales are down, start by finding out your company’s barriers to growth through careful examination of both internal and external factors facing YOUR Business. If you find the issue lies with your sales team, then start there and look for training programs instead of googling, ‘What’s wrong with my sales team?’ Simple.
Originally posted on LinkedIn.
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