In-Person Relationships vs Online Convenience & the Power of Goal Mapping with Hailey Myers

In-person relationships are vital to the success of many small "local" businesses, but does that mean online sales will sabotage your efforts?

Not necessarily..

LET'S GET REAL

• (03:54) Both of my children have been raised in the store. They don't have babysitters. My customers kids come in and play with them. We actually have a playroom at the store for my kids and all the other kids to come play. So it works out and we just mom and run a business at the same time.
• (04:36) Some days it is absolutely insane, but everybody seems to understand. They're usually moms or grandparents that have experienced the same thing so they allow me to parent right beside them and we just keep going. It's built a closer bond with my customers and I. It's a really fun experience. 

There is power in humanizing your brand. You don't need to be Amazon, you need to be YOU. Behind your company is a person. A real human being. Step out from behind your logo and put a face to the name! 

• (19:37) I love nothing more than watching people post on their social media page or getting to see them at church dressed out completely in my little Fancy Pants gear. It makes me so happy. The opportunity to reach more people and serve their family is exciting. I can remember one of my customers from the very beginning, she had a little tiny preemie baby and I remember the outfit he came home from the hospital in and just getting to, I provide

Take the relationships you've built and magnify them! These people will be your biggest brand advocates and your biggest affiliate marketers because they love you and they believe in what you're doing. They're going to shout it from the rooftops and share it with friends and family. Allow them to be a part of your story.

Don't be afraid to ASK your customers what they want. Use those relationships to gain intel and help define your goals. For example, "As I'm trying to provide a greater value to you, would offering up a convenient way to shop be of service to you?" Hear their words and allow them to help secure the direction you head in and propel you towards a commitment to your goals. 

We want to make sure that everybody feels like they are our number one customer. We want everyone to walk away feeling that they are valued because they are. Because without every one of our customers, who would we be?

GOAL MAPPING

• (06:22) I want to create an app. I don't know how to do it. I haven't started really digging into how it works, but that is my next goal so that I can reach customers.

If it's not on the calendar, it's not going to happen.

A dream, or rather a "goal" without a plan is just a wish. If you truly value it, PRIORITIZE it! Set your completion date on the calendar and then back into the steps you need to take to make it happen in the weeks and months preceding your committed deadline.

This might look like:

• November 1st - Launch date! All user experience testing completed.
• September 15th - Importation of all products completed.
• September 1st - Host provider & account setup completed
• August 15th - All research is completed. 

If it's on your heart, it needs to be on  your calendar. If it's not on your paper, then it becomes susceptible to external reactive situations that are always going to divert our time and attention, pulling us away from ever actually accomplishing what's on our heart to accomplish.

1. Commit. Get a date on the calendar and WRITE IT DOWN. No excuses.
2. Back into your completion date with landmark dates for small, consistent, actionable steps to be completed.
3. Return and report. Secure an accountability partner that you will report your progress to. Someone who's willing to challenge you and keep you on track!

We have been trained as mothers and parents to be reactive. We care for these little people who do unexpected things so we often forego intense planning and schedules to remain sane. As business owners we cannot successfully operate this way. In order to manage our goals we must make clear our intentions.

The way we approach business and motherhood must be different.

• (15:01) I get up earlier than the kids. I will listen to a sermon or pray for a moment, listen to music and just get centered for the day so that I can handle the chaos that is about to happen. 

Third party platforms, whether it's Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Instagram, etc is someone else's business. It's is not a home base. It's a vehicle to drive people to your home base. As you secure your "home base" whether it be a website, mobile app, or even an email or SMS list, it provides you the opportunity to service your customers better, without being subject to 3rd party platform changes.

GROWING PAINS

The larger your teams grow and the more hands get in the cookie jar, the more propensity there is for error. So how do you cut through the noise?

1. Create a shared "Ownership Log" on Google docs. Block out all the tasks associated with your day-to-day operations from marketing to fulfillment to follow up. Get as granular as possible within each sphere of your business. Rather than "Facebook" it's broken down to posting on Facebook, replying to Facebook messages, engaging on Facebook posts, monitoring Facebook suggestions and reviews, etc. Assign an owner to each task. This way, even though there may be multiple people that help with each task, there's one person who was in charge of making sure that nothing slips through the cracks. 
2. Create a grading scale or "KPI" (key performance indicator) for each task. In order to scale your business, consider how you might grade or measure the effetiveness of each avenue. For example, if the task is posting on Facebook look first at whats being done. One post a day? Two? Then set the standard. Maybe it's three because at four times daily you see a drastic reduction in engagement. From these you can optimize the task. What types of posts are working best, etc? How might we adjust the content we are posting in order to drive that engagement and increase conversions?
3. Return and report. Take 15 minutes at the beginning of each day (mark in on the calendar and make it a habit) to round robin and report out on what's working and what's not. Allow each team member to give a quick recap of what they're working on, the progress they've had and the hardships they've had. Allow them to identify the problem but also offer up a potential solution. "Based off of my projections or expectations, this underperformed yesterday, and I think it was because of this. So today I intend to try this instead..." Create a culture of intentionality and empower your team to step forward based off of the things that they have ownership over to take it to that next level.

Without a clear "owner", we remain in maintenance mode. However, maintenance mode is not growth mode. Growth mode requires something different. Growth mode requires intentional action.

When you give people ownership, they take it so much further than if it's a group effort where everyone is using the team as their crutch. There's ownership and responsibility, and that breeds pride, and all of that propels your company forward.

As amazing as you are, no one person can grow a company and reach all the goals alone. You've got to have your whole team on board. Empower them and give them the jurisdiction to make those calls, to call those shots.