Are you keeping up, or is the pace of life leaving you behind?
Everyone I speak with will at some stage express their surprise at how time is ‘speeding up’. Along with this, the speed of change also appears to be increasing. I cannot disagree, as I too find life getting faster and changes occurring daily, when previously I had time to adjust.
The good side to this is that many of these changes are for the better, or at least they would be if they are well researched, consulted, applied and measured. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. Often, new ideas are rushed, and unproven.
The classic example of this of course is Windows. Sometimes they left 6 years or so between revisions, a reasonable time to get the hang of the latest version. At other times they revised it every year. The useful aspects that you had found were now another menu down in the sequence and not always easy to get to.
With cars, the same thing happens. Unfortunately, this causes a higher risk of accidents as you often need to use a touch screen to dig through three layers of menu to find what used to be on the ‘front page’. Accessing now requires you to take your eyes of the road, even more than before.
What about your own business? Keeping it the same year after year makes it easier to understand and access, but can reduce the attraction for new customers. You don’t need massive changes to keep them interested. I believe a light refresh is all that’s needed. Every year or two you may want to add something to the offer, change the colour or style in some way or even just rename it. Most of the content, the main substance of the offer may be the same, but there is something there to help attract new prospects and develop their interest.
A few tweaks will appeal to those looking for improvements, but a major revamp may put off existing customers. Why not try a ‘test-run’ with some of your more established customers. This kind of market research can prove very valuable.
From my own experience, a while ago I wanted to offer a new workshop. I thought of some new topics with clever titles, thinking this would attract the new business I was targeting. I devised a short questionnaire, sent it to a dozen or so faithful customers, and was shocked to find the results. Nearly all wanted the ‘Essentials of Sales’, or the ‘Simple Sales and Selling’ titles. It was a good job I hadn’t gone with my assumption.
It is up to you how you consider and apply changes to your business. Do not be afraid to ask the appropriate questions of your customers. It may save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.