August: Don't Play Catch, Play Catchup
Have things been sliding throughout the year? Hopefully not, but it happens to the best of us.
As we discussed in a previous newsletter, the school year is undoubtedly a busy time for many of you. During the summer, you are still working, of course, but you might have just a little more breathing room. This is why summer is a good time to revamp your marketing efforts.
But summer is a good time to catch up on other things, too. Now that it's August, it's time to turn your attention to the things that might not have received your attention during the school year.
August is good time to revamp your client-relationship efforts. This means that it's time to make that long-planned, but-never-implemented trip to visit your client in his place of business. This also means that it's time to send clients some friendly e-mails, perhaps including articles of interest to them personally or professionally. This lets them know that you are thinking about them—and gets them thinking about you.
Planning is an ongoing process. If you haven't been evaluating your plan throughout the year, August is a perfect time to do so. If a certain aspect of a plan is not working or needs some adjustment, change it. Even junking a strategic plan is acceptable when circumstances and assumptions warrant. However, a replacement strategy should be developed in its stead, not just a series of jumps from here to there.
You should be current with your financial statements, which summarize the results of a business's transactions during a specific period of time. If you are not current, get current immediately! August is the time to look update your balance sheet, cash flow statement, and income statement.
If you're thinking about heading to the beach, stop! Have you been letting things slide all year? If so, it's time to rectify that while you have the time.
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