Our #1 Secret To Business Success

Building a multi million dollar business is not something you do alone!  You need to really listen to your clients and staff and implement constant improvements and upgrades.  The way we were able to take our real estate business from a business worth $100,000 to $3.6million other than hard work - was working smart.  We really listened to our team and our clients and the best way we were able to do this was our Planning Days which we did every 6-12 months throughout the 12 years we owned the business.

Firstly, what is a “Planning Day”?  In my own words, I would define a planning day as:

“Taking time out of your business with key team members,  or the whole team,  to focus on improving and/or growing your business and creating a clear action plan which identifies responsible parties.” 

The topics you might include in a planning day are really limitless, but I would suggest some of the area’s a typical day might cover are:

• The business owner sharing the business vision with the team  (no more than half hr)

• The business owner sharing the business goals and or business plan with the team (no more than half-hour)

• Identifying and/or Solving specific issues in the business

• Survey your clients prior to the planning day and analyse the results and areas for improvement. 

• Allowing team members to bring pre-prepared ideas to the day and present them to the team.  This might relate to any part of the business including growth, processes, customer service improvements etc.

• Growth ideas

• Guest speakers who are experts in their field ie, psychologist, guru in your industry, motivational speaker, sales trainer, software expert.

• Customer service plan or ideas session

• Looking at past customer complaints or issues and identifying areas of improvement.

• Process & Checklist  improvement ideas

• Marketing ideas

• Team building activities

Tips To Running an Engaging Planning Day

1.  Have a clear agenda - I’d start with planning the agenda and how much time you want to spend on each topic

2. Get the team excited and engaged before the day.  Giving them a small task to do before the day will get them more engaged.  It could be reading a relevant story or article (ie a case study on customer service), or coming up with an idea for the business they can present to the team.

3. Choose a venue off site that has a nice environment and that can provide morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea etc.  If it’s more than a one day event you can look to organise accommodation and conference room at the same venue - ie 4-5 star hotel or local hotel if you’re regional, golf courses and larger wineries also often have good conference and even accommodation. 

4. Organise a quality guest speaker. They don’t have to be a paid person, but you may choose to invest some money in this.  It could be someone that excels in your industry or someone that is outside your industry but will talk to relevant topics (ie psychologist, motivational speaker, customer service expert etc).  I would also recommend that you have met the speaker in person or at least chatted to them on the phone etc.  you want to make sure it is someone that your team will gel with if you want to get maximum impact.

5. Incorporate some breakout sessions so the team can workshop ideas in smaller groups, have a representative from each group present their ideas/solution etc to the whole group.

6. Ensure sufficient breaks for food and chatting, returning calls etc., I’d suggest 15-20 min for morning and afternoon tea and 30-60 min for lunch depending on venue and style of lunch.

7. Phones OFF except in breaks

8. Access to an outside area is ideal - fresh air will refresh their minds.

9.  Don’t make your powerpoint slides too wordy!  Keep them simple - nothing worse than when presenters just read the slides!

10. Having a few different people present keeps it interesting and takes the pressure off you!

11. Create an action plan from the day so that you really get the most out of the day and that you get the positive changes in your business that you want.   This can be done on butcher paper during the day as the sessions unfold or have someone in the planning day whose role it is to create an Action  Plan and allocate responsible parties and also date action is to be completed by.  This action plan should then be shared with the relevant people within 24 hours of the planning day and then checked regularly to make sure all parties are on track with their responsibilities.

12. Have a bit of fun with the day and get a bit creative!  You want your team coming out of the day positive and excited about the months/year ahead!

So, book a date and just do it!  If you don’t have a team or it is a very small team you can still do these planning days by yourself or with a business coach or trusted business advisor.

Good Luck!!

Tamara Lloyd