Eliminating Low Value Business Activities

TRANSCRIPT

We’re critical to the growth of our businesses. I mentioned that I had a little newsletter. I used to do that newsletter monthly. It was a good newsletter. It took me a day to write it. I had an original 2500 word article in there. I did tips. I did polls. We did hot links. It was an amazing newsletter. And, a day out of my life once a month would go into the production of that newsletter.

And, about two years ago I got the flu and I rarely get sick but, I was out, I was down and I told my staff, I just can’t do it. I just can’t do it this month. We’re going to have to skip this month’s newsletter. I know we’re going to hear it. Wailing and gnashing of teeth. “Laura where’s your newsletter. I didn’t get your newsletter.” Guess how many people noticed? Three, out of a thirty thousand person distribution.

This is really good information for me wouldn’t you say? So, I started calling up some of the people and saying, you know, I didn’t send my newsletter and you didn’t notice. Do you read this? Do you actually read this newsletter? And some people were going…”Well, you know, I made this folder like you taught me Laura and, I had this rule set that when I get your newsletter it goes into this folder.”

I’m like, “Do you ever read them?”

“Well, there’s like nine of them stacked up in there and I mean to read them when I’m on the plan but…” Bottom line people just said they’re too long, they’re just too long, they’re too much.

I said, “Well, what do you want?”

“Can we have a paragraph?”

And so now it takes me about twenty minutes once a week to write this instead of one day a month. That’s better. Right? That’s better. And, I think we just continue to provide these services and all that without really understanding is this even meeting the client need. Does my customer even really value this?

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