Being consistent in business builds trust and improves efficiency. Consistency is important, especially in challenging times when people want certainty and reassurance.
Your Plan – follow it consistently
Your business plan will define your purpose, vision, goals and strategies to achieve those goals. Changing circumstances may force a rethink of certain aspects of the plan but business direction and niche should remain consistent.
Follow your plan consistently. Changing your plan too early or not following it through will incur costs without the resulting benefits.
Your Brand and Promise – define it and stick to it
Your brand is more than your logo, images, colours and fonts – your brand is reflected in everything you do and every interaction with your customers.
Creative entrepreneurs get bored easily, but we must resist the urge to change our brand frequently or unnecessarily. A consistent brand appears professional, reliable, and trustworthy.
Consistency keeps your customers happy
Consistency in product and service delivery generates trust and demonstrates professionalism. For example, if we sometimes deliver late or if quality is variable then those inconsistencies will affect our reputation, customer perception and retention.
Be consistent in everything. For example, perhaps you get great haircuts from your barber. But sometimes you’re offered coffee, and sometimes no refreshments are offered. Sometimes you get a scalp massage, and other times you don’t. Such inconsistency affects your perception of the service, even although you may get a great haircut.
Lead consistently
Consistently hold your team accountable for their performance – haphazard accountability and unpredictable consequences will damage morale and performance.
Annual performance reviews and quarterly bonus payments should be consistently applied if they are part of your HR process.
Consistent Marketing and Customer Interactions
You may decide to ramp up your social media marketing and post on social every day… for 2 weeks. Then you get busy and don’t post for 4 weeks! Or you may decide to publish a “quarterly” newsletter – and only do it once!
Such inconsistent efforts waste resources and may damage your reputation. Better to be less frequent, but more regular. A monthly blog is preferable to random and inconsistent posting.
Be consistent in all areas of your business
Your business is a machine that runs on systems and processes. How well your business runs depends on how consistent you are in all ten departments of your business. Talk to us about how you can build consistency into your business machine to become more successful.