Are You Thinking Strategically or Transactionally This Year?

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Chances are, you’ve revisited your business goals and you have a clear idea of what to do this year. At this beginning point in Q2, it’s time to make sure that your plans and actions match up with that goal - and most importantly: are you achieving those goals with a strategic mindset, or a transactional one? Let’s take a look at what those mean for you, and how you can make sure you’ll hit your targets this year.

Strategic vs. Transactional Mindset

A transactional mindset is hyper-focused on smaller parts of success: individual sales, closing specific deals, and making sure that your bills are covered. For sales and marketing departments, this is the main type of mindset you’ll usually find. While it’s effective in the short term in order to grab those monthly or quarterly targets, it’s only part of the bigger picture.

Let me ask you a question: Why did you open your business? What is its purpose? If you thought “To make money!”, that’s only part of a business’s purposes. The main goal of a business is in order to fulfill a need or relieve a pain that a potential customer is dealing with - and making money from that transaction is the byproduct. You help someone with your service or product, and you get paid as an added bonus. In order to achieve long-term success, business leaders need to switch over to a strategic mindset. While sales leaders are focused on transactions and the short-term results, business owners are looking at the market landscape and making decisions that will impact the business for years to come. And while we can’t predict the future, we can at least prepare ourselves for everything and set plans that will work towards the business goal for the next year, at least.

Tips for Developing a Strategic Mindset

Value is King

While transactional techniques include offering discounts and deals to customers in order to entice them into buying your product or service, offering value is going to help you in the long run. Think of it this way: Would you rather buy a cheap $1 pen that’ll last you a month and then fall apart, or pay a little extra, say $20 for a pen that will last you years and comes with the possibility of new ink refills from the company? The same goes for companies that offer a service - a decent service gets the job done for a while, but a great service that costs more will help the customer relieve the pain they came to you with more effectively.

Aim high, and let go of the customers who aren’t willing to pay extra for your excellent service or product. Delight the customers who are willing to pay.

Customer Loyalty

Making sure your customers are delighted with your service or product is a surefire way to make sure they come back for additional purchases. On the other hand, mistakes or lazy work is a great way to lose a loyal customer. If you’re focused on strategy, you’re also focused on giving great customer service and going above and beyond for those that legitimately need your help. Bolster your customer service team, and remember that the little things count: remembering and using a customer’s name, making sure they feel heard, and actively listening are ways to make sure your customer will be delighted.

Patience

For companies that offer better service or products than their competitors, their sales cycle is often longer. This means it may take longer to see results, but the benefits you’ll reap are often better. After all, good things come to those who wait. In this case, “good things” may be more repeat customers, better word-of-mouth advertisement, and/or more sales.

If you’re looking at shifting from a transactional mindset to a strategic one in order to boost your business's financial situation, feel free to reach out to a CFO that can make this happen.

We discuss important topics like these and many more in our Financial Elevation Group. We meet for 1 hour each month to discuss your business and your finances. You get access to a Virtual CFO (CFO Adam) for only $97 per month. You also get the opportunity to network with other business owners. We meet virtually, (socks and shoes not required). Curious? Check it out here.

Are you ready to feel the financial benefits of a Fractional CFO?

Schedule a consult today so we can discuss your options.