Feb. 11, 2025

Breaking the Revenue Ceiling: Hidden Opportunities Your Competition is Missing

Breaking the Revenue Ceiling: Hidden Opportunities Your Competition is Missing

In this episode, we'll reveal how business owners can find and capitalize on overlooked revenue opportunities that exist in almost every business. We'll explore three major areas where money is hiding in plain sight: current customer relationships,...

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Season 1

In this episode, we'll reveal how business owners can find and capitalize on overlooked revenue opportunities that exist in almost every business. We'll explore three major areas where money is hiding in plain sight: current customer relationships, operational inefficiencies, and market positioning gaps.

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WEBVTT

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The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests and not

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those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We

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make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,

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or products mentioned on air or on our web. No

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liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio

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or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should

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be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing

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W FOURCY Radio.

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Welcome to Powerful Business Strategies, where you will find out

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that everything you have ever learned about growing your business

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is wrong. Finally, a show where you'll learn the right

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way to grow your business by learning business and financial

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strategies that your competition isn't doing. And now here is

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your host, President of NeXTSTEP CFO, Michael Barbarita. And joining

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Michael for today's show as an executive moderator is Chooky Obio.

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Welcome to Powerful Business Strategies. And once again, the reason

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why you don't hear that energized voice of Chucky Obio

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welcoming you all to the show is because Chucky's wife

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and Chucky recently welcome their first baby, Chelsey A day's

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a obio to the world. So Chucky will be on

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leave for a few weeks. So in the meantime, my

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name is Michael baber Rita from Next Step CFO and

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I'm the president of the Next Step CFO. And Next

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Step CFO is a fractional CFO and strategic implementation firm,

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and business owners hire us to double and triple their

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profit through implementing business and financial strategies that their competition

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isn't doing. And our vision is to ensure that overwhelmed

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business owners achieve the time, freedom, and consistent profits to

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build a legacy and the life they desire. Our mission

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is dedicated to guiding small business owners to leveraging their time,

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exploding their profits, and building a meaningful legacy. This show

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powerful business strategies in our book of the same name

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is a step toward accomplishing that vision and mission. And

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so Chucky and I are both affiliated with a number

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of different organizations and Chucky currently serves as the Managing

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director of Business Development for Veta Price, a global business

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focused law firm, And in addition to that, Check and

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I collaborate to moderate business roundtables around the country and

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around the world and document those insights as part of

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our book Powerful Business Strategies. But please note that the

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views expressed on this show are personal views based on

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our own successful experiences. So here's something that I'd like

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to share that I announced before. If you have a

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business problem that you'd like us to answer, or a

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business question or a question about a strategy that you

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would like to ask about, please email us at ask

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that's ask at NeXTSTEP CFO dot net. Doesn't matter what

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the business problem is or the question, will answer it.

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And there are a couple of things that we do

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ask thember one, please state whether it's something that we

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can answer on the air or if it's confidential, and

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of course if it is confidential, we won't put it

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on the air. And number two, please provide your phone number,

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because business problems can get complex and we might need

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more context or clarity to your question. That email address,

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again is ask at NEXTSTEPCFO dot net. And I do

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want to point out that we have had a couple

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of questions but they requested confidentiality, which of course we

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will always honor. You know, I've worked with hundreds of

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business owners and I've noticed something really really interesting. The

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day before a breakthrough often feels exactly like the day

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you want to quit. So the day before a breakthrough

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often feels exactly like the day you want to quit.

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And I've seen that over and over again. A business

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owner is ready to throw in the towel, but they

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pushed through just one more day, and that's when everything changes.

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I remember working with a client who was ready to

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close his doors. He maxed out his credit cards, he

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was missing his kids events, he felt like he was

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just letting everyone down. But he made a crucial decision.

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He decided not to quit on a bad day. Instead,

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he took a step back and looked at his business

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with fresh eyes. Within six months, he had turned everything

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around and it was more profitable than ever. And here's

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what I'd like you to understand. The challenges you're facing

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right now, they're not signs you're failing. There's signs you're growing.

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Every successful business owner I know is face moments where

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quitting seemed like the only option and the best option.

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The only difference between those who made it and those

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who didn't was the decision to keep going. Remember this,

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you didn't start your business because it was easy. You

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started it because you saw an opportunity to create something meaningful,

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to make a difference, to solve problems, to build a legacy.

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That vision you had when you started it's still valid.

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The obstacles in your path right now are not roadblocks,

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they're stepping stones to your next level of success. So

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if you're having one of those days where everything seems impossible,

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take a deep press, don't make any big decisions when

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you're exhausted or frustrated. Instead, remember why you started. Focus

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on the problem you can solve that today and keep

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moving forward. Because here's the truth. Success in business is

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it about never falling on your face. It's about getting

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up one more time and taking the next step after

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the fall. So today's in today's topic, every business has

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hidden buried treasure within it. I know this because I've

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helped hundreds of business owners uncovered hundreds of thousands of

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dollars in overlooked revenue. And you might be thinking, well,

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not in my business. I've looked everywhere. But here's the truth.

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The opportunities on hiding where you're looking. They're hiding where

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you're not looking. And today I'm going to show you

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exactly where to look and how to unlock revenue potential

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that you didn't even know existed. Because the greatest opportunities

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often lie in plain sight. You just need to know

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where to focus your attention. So today we're tackling something

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that every business owner needs to hear, breaking the revenue

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ceiling hidden opportunities. Your competition is fishing. You know. I

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recently worked with a client who was convinced that they

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maxed out their revenue potential. Now, they were doing everything right.

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They thought they were good marketing, solid operations, decent customer service,

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but they hit a ceiling that sounds familiar when we

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discovered three We then discovered three pockets of hidden revenue

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in their business that changed everything. Within six months, they

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increase their revenue by twenty eight percent without spending an

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extra dime on marketing or advertising. And today I'm going

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to show you exactly how they did that, and more importantly,

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how you can do it. A listeners asking why do you, Michael,

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why do you think so many businesses miss these opportunities? Well,

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great question. I mean it's what I call operational blindness.

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When you're in your business every single day, you stop

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seeing it. With fresh eyes. You develop routines, you develop

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habits that feel productive but might actually be hiding massive opportunities.

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So let me give you a quick example. So, a

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plumbing company was desperately spending money on marketing to get

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new customers. Meanwhile, they had a database of three thousand

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past customers that they hadn't contacted in years. They were

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literally sitting on a gold mine, but couldn't see it

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because they were too busy looking elsewhere. Today, we're going

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to break down three major areas where revenue was hiding

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in plain sight, and that includes your current customer relationships,

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your operational inefficiencies, and your marketing your market positioning gaps.

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More importantly, going to show you exactly how to find

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and capture that revenue. The best part is that these

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strategies don't require you to spend more money on marketing

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or advertising. They don't require you to work longer hours.

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They simply require you to look at your busin differently

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and make some small, little strategic adjustments, little tweaks to

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what you're already doing. So let's dive into the first

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major area where revenue was hiding in plain sight. Your

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current customer relationships. You know Most businesses are sitting on

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an absolute goal mine of untapped revenue in their existing

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customer base, but they're too busy chasing new customers to

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see it. And let me remind you or maybe even

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share this statistic for the first time. I think I've

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said it before on the show. It costs five times

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more to acquire a new customer than to retain an

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existing one. Yet when I ask business owners about their

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revenue growth strategy, ninety percent of them not talking about

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getting new customers. And here's a real example. A commercial

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cleaning company that was spending ten thousand dollars a month

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on marketing to get new clients. And then they realized

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and then they am sorry. They analyzed their customer data

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and they discovered that they were losing thirty percent of

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their customers every single year. But they had no idea why.

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So they implemented what they called the revenue recovery system.

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So first they looked at every customer they lost in

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the past two years, and they discovered that seventy percent

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of them left not because they weren't happy, but because

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they never heard from the company, except, of course, if

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it was time to pay a bill. But this is

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this is very, very common where we're overlooking current customers.

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So what this company did is they created a simple

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three step process that any business can implement right now.

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The step one was to create a customer reactivation campaign,

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reach out to every lost customer with a we want

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you back offer, and the response was unbelievable because twenty

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three percent of those customers came back within sixty days.

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And keep in mind to that a lot of this

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is about understanding the data. God, we business owners hate

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the data and the numbers. We've got to we've got

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to identify as much data as we possibly can because

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because it makes it makes it much easier to make decisions.

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This company, if they didn't do that revenue recovery system,

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they wouldn't have known that seventy percent of their customers,

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that they lost seventy percent of their customers, but that

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they weren't coming back, or that they didn't come back

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because they weren't being contacted. The step two is implement

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a customer touch point system. They mapped out every interaction

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with customers that they had and identify gaps where they

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felt ignore it. Then they created automated touch points to

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fill those gaps and that could be as simple that

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automated touch point could be as simple as a drip

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CAMPAIGNE three develop a next logical purchase map for every

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service they offered. They identified what a customer would logically

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need next. Well, is that a great strategy. Then they

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created triggers to offer those services at exactly the right time.

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Next logical purchase map real valuable. Something to do with

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you map out how the customer buys from you. Ooh,

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it's effective. And let me give you a quick example.

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When they did a deep clean of office carpets, they

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knew that within three to four months those carpets would

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need a maintenance clean, so they set up automated reminders

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to reach out at the three month mark with a

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special offer, and their maintenance cleaning business increased by forty five.

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But here's the thing. They discovered that offices that got

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regular carpet cleaning also tended to need window cleaning services.

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So they started offering a bundled package regular carpet and

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window cleaning at a slight discount. Eighty percent of the

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customers took them up on the bundle, effectively doubling the

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revenue per customer. And so let me share Another example

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from a completely different industry. So an auto repair shop

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was spending a fortune on advertising, and they realized from

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their customer data that they found that over five thousand

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customers were in their database that they hadn't been and

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they haven't been contacted in over a year. So they

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created a simple vehicle health check program. Every customer who

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hadn't been in for twelve months got a personalized, personalized

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invitation for a free twenty seven point inspection. Thirty percent

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took them up on the offer. Eighty percent of those

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needed some form of service. You know, especially in auto repair,

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every time you go have something done, they find three

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other things that are wrong. There's a perfect example of

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what of how this auto repair company took it advantage

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of this and they generated an extra one hundred and

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twenty seven grand of revenue was just ninety days from

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customers they already had. So let me share another powerful

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strategy for uncovering hidden revenue in your customer relationships. I

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call it the value ladder analysis. This is something that

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transformed to business in the home services industry. So this

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HVAC company was doing what everyone else does, annual maintenance

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contracts and emergency repairs. But when they analyzed their customer data,

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they discovered something really interesting. Once again, customer data, the

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customers who spent the most money with them weren't the

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ones with the biggest houses or the newest systems. They

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were the ones who understood the value of preventative maintenance.

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So they created what they called the total Comfort Journey,

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and instead of just selling maintenance contracts contracts, they mapped

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out a five year plan for each customer and it

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started with basic maintenance, but included indoor air quality assessments,

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energy efficiency upgrades, and smart home integration. That's educating the

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customer on these preventive maintenance programs that they offered. The

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key was that they weren't just selling services. They were

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creating a roadmap for their home, for their home comfort,

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for the customer's home comfort, and they showed customers how

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each step built on the previous one and how they

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could save money by planning ahead. And here's what ended

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up happening. Their average customer lifetime value increased from thirty

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two hundred to eighty seven hundred. And why is that Well,

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because customers could see the whole journey in front of them.

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They weren't making isolated buying decisions. They were following an

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actual plan, and the same strategy works in any industry.

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A dental practice was struggling to get patients to accept

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treatment plans used, and they used it Stead of presenting

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each procedure as a separate decision, they created a lifetime

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smile journey where patients could see how each treatment built

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on the previous one, and case acceptance rates increased by

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forty percent. We have a question, So here's a question, Michael.

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What's the biggest mistake you see businesses make when trying

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to reactivate old customers. Great question, Well, the biggest mistake

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is leading with a discount or special offer. Businesses think

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they need to broad customers to come back, but that

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actually devalues your relationship instead. That was what I call

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a value first reactivation. Is how that worked. First, reach

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out with something valuable, whether it's an industry insight, a tip,

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or some type of useful information. For example, a client

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in the h ACT business who's sent there in active

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customers a simple guide on seven ways to cut your

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energy bills this winter. No sales pitch, just pure value. Then,

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after providing value, acknowledge the gap in the relationships, something like, well,

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we notice we haven't served you in a while, and

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we'd love to understand why. This opens the dialogue instead

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of just pushing for a sale. When you take this approach,

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two things happen. First, customers appreciate that you're trying to

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help them, that's umber one, and not just sell them. Second,

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you often discover why they left in the first place,

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which helps you fix the stemic issues in your business.

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Another question from the audience, Michael, how can businesses identify

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their own next logical purchase opportunity? Another great question. Let

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me think about that a little bit. Well, the key

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to identifying next logical purchase opportunities is to look at

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your best customers, the ones who buy the most from you,

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and map out their buying journey. Since they buy the

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most from you, you can map out their journey and

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maybe it'll give you ideas on what else you can

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sell them as well. And let me give you an

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example of that. Back to that auto repair shop. They

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discovered that eighty percent of their customers who got their

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brakes done needed new tires within six months. That became

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their next logical purchase opportunity. But here's the thing, don't

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just look at what customers buy, next, look at why

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they buy it, because understanding the trigger events is crucial.

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In the Autoshop example, they started checking the tirewear during

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every break service and giving customers a simple tire life report.

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This proactive approach double their tire sales. So the goal

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is to help customers make smart decisions about their future purchases,

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not just sell them with stuff. And when you approach

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it this way, you're not selling, you're consulting at that

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is what builds long term customer relationships. So before I

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continue this discussion, we're going to take a ninety second break.

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Hey there, business owners, let me ask you something. Are

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00:19:13.240 --> 00:19:16.799
you tied of blending in with your competitors? Frustrated with

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slow growth and slim margins? Well, I've got news for you.

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Everything you've ever learned about growing your business is wrong.

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Don't worry. I'm here to let you in on a

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00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:32.000
secret weapon. Your position of market dominance. It's what sets

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you apart, makes you irreplaceable, and has customers lining up

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at your door. My name is Michael Barbarrita from Next

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Step CFO. I know what you're thinking. Sounds great, Michael,

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How do I find my position of market dominance. Well,

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00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:50.960
that's exactly why we've created our game changing implementation program

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called Next Step to Market Dominance. In just ninety days,

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00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:57.000
we'll guide you step by step to a position of

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market dominance by uncovering your unique strengths that competitors can't touch.

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By crafting a message that resonates deeply with your ideal customer,

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by building a strategy that turns you into the go to.

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Expert in your field. Now this is in theory.

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These are battle tested strategies that have helped businesses like

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yours double triple and quadruple their revenue. Don't let another

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quarter go by struggling to standout. It's time to dominate

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00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:28.799
your market. Period. Go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net forward slash contact.

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00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:32.039
Fill out the form and in the message section put

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00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:35.839
the word dominate or call us at seven eight one

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three two six three A two two. That's next STEPCFO

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00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:43.559
dot net forward slash contact or call us at seven

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eight one three two six three A two two. Well,

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00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:53.160
welcome back. Having a little technical difficulty today, I tickets.

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So now let's talk about the second major area where

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revenue was hiding. Operational efficient but I'm not talking about

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cutting costs. I'm talking about finding and fixing the inefficiencies

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that are actively costing you sale. So let me share

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a story that illustrates this perfectly. A manufacturing company was

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consistently missing delivering delivery deadlines. Now they thought they needed

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more staff and equipment to fix the problem, but when

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they analyzed their operations, they found something really interesting. Their

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production capacity was that the problem. The problem was their

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quoting process. It was taking them so long they get

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quotes to customers, and by the time they won the business,

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we were already behind schedule. And they implemented a new

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quoting system that reduced quote time from three days to

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four hours, and their on time delivery went up from

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went from sixty five percent to ninety five percent, and

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their win rate on quotes increased by forty percent. Problem

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in sales was actually causing production issues. So this is

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what I call the revenue ripple effect. Every operational inefficiency

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creates ripples that have eventually impact revenue. And let me

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share the three most common revenue killing inefficiencies that I

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see in businesses. First is slow response times. So a

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real estate agent who was getting plenty of leads but

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wasn't converting them. And when she analyzed her process, she

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found it was taking her an average of eight hours

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to respond to inquiries. So she implemented a simple system

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to respond within fifteen minutes during business hours. Her convision

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rate doubled. Second is inconsistent follow up. A landscaping company

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had a great sales process for getting initial projects, but

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they had no system for following up after the job

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was done. They created a thirty sixty ninety day follow

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up system and they repeat, they repeat. Business increased by

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sixty percent. Third is manual processes that should be automated.

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A company client in the professional service industry was spending

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two hours every day manually scheduling appointments. They automated that process,

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which freed up ten hours a week, and then they

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use time for a client consultations and increased revenue by

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eight thousand a month. And here's a question from a listener.

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These seem like simple fixes, Michael, but why don't more

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businesses identify these issues? Well? As I kind of alluded

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to at the beginning, they're looking at their operations through

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the wrong lens. They're focused on efficiency instead of effectiveness.

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And let me give you a framework that I call

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the revenue impact analysis. Take any process in your business

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and ask three questions. Number one, how does this process

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directly touch customers? Two? Does it impact how quickly customers

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can buy from you? And three does it affect the

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customer's decision to buy again? If you answer yes to

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any of these questions, that process is directly tied to revenue.

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So let me give you another real example. A restaurant

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was struggling with table turnover and how many times did

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the tables turned? And they thought they needed more tables,

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but instead they analyzed that process and found their bottleneck

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was the payment process was taking too long. So they

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implemented a new mobile payment system that reduced payment time

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from twelve minutes to three minutes. And this simple change

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a lot of them to serve thirty percent more customers

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during peak hours without adding a single table. And I

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want to share another critical aspect of finding revenue at

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operational efficiencies. It's calledlled the customer effort score. And this

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was implemented in a retail store throughout their operations. They

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were proud of their efficiency, quick checkout times, well organized store.

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It was a well organized store with competitive prices but

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when they surveyed their customers, they discovered something that really

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took them back a little. The number one reason customers

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weren't buying more wasn't price of selection, it was the

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effort required to get product information. So they implemented what

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they called an effort mapping. They tracked every step a

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customer had to make to get information about a product,

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make a purchase decision, and complete a transaction. And what

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they found was kind of eye opening. I mean, customers

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had to customers had to ask a staff member to

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unlock display cases, wait for someone to check stock in

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the back, and oftentimes wait again to get pricing information.

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00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:03.240
And each of these friction points was causing customers to

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abandon their purchases. And so they reorganized their entire operation

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around reducing customer effort, and they installed digital price displays

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and created QR codes for detailed product information, and gave

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staff mobile staff mobile devices to check inventory instantly. And

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the result is their average transaction increased by twenty two

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percent because customers were more likely to purchase additional items

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when the process itself was easier. The same principle transformed

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a law firm's client intake process. They thought they were

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being thorough with their intake questionnaire, but it was actually

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00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:51.240
costing them clients. And they streamlined their process and their

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client conversion rate increased from thirty to forty five percent.

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Here's another question from the audience, Michael, how can a

403
00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:10.839
business owner identify which processes are actually impacting their revenue. Well,

404
00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:17.799
there's a simple but powerful method I call revenue touch

405
00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:20.319
point mapping. Take on a piece of paper and draw

406
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your customer's journey from the first contact to final purchase.

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At each step, ask yourself two questions, how long does

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it take? How long does this step take? And could

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the customer abandon the purchase at this point? And let

410
00:27:36.119 --> 00:27:39.160
me give you an example of that that's coming to mind.

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Our kitchen remodeling company actually did this exercise. They discovered

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that their process for providing quotes was taking five days,

413
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and when they dug deeper, they were losing forty percent

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of their prospects during that waiting period. But the key

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insight was the actual work of creating the quote only

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took two hours. The other four and a half days

417
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we're spent waiting for internal approvals and handoffs between departments.

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And they streamline this process to provide quotes within twenty

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four hours and their close rate increase by thirty five percent. See,

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the process is impacting your revenue the most usually ones

421
00:28:16.039 --> 00:28:20.599
touching these critical conversion points, and your response time to inquiries,

422
00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:25.599
your your quote turnaround, your invoicing speed, and your follow

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00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:32.200
up system. Here's another question, what's the fastest way the

424
00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:37.920
determine if a process needs to be automated? Well, well,

425
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I use what I call the four X rule to

426
00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:46.240
make quick automation decisions. So take any repetitive process and

427
00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:50.279
multiply the time it takes by four. If that number

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is larger than the time it would take to automate it,

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00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:58.119
that process needs automation. Now that's a quick and dirty

430
00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:00.720
way to do it. And give you an example. A

431
00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:04.400
company was spending thirty minutes every day manually creating work orders.

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That's two and a half hours a week, or about

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one hundred and twenty hours a year. Using the four

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00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:12.279
X rule, that's four hundred and eighty hours of potential impact.

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00:29:13.079 --> 00:29:15.519
So they spent eight hours setting up an automated work

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00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:18.039
order system and it paid for itself within the first month.

437
00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:21.839
But here's the critical pot Don't just look at the

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00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:24.960
time saved. Look at the revenue impact. In this case,

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00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:29.039
the automated system not only saved time, it also reduced

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00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:32.640
errors and sped up their billing cycle by three days,

441
00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:36.680
and their cash improved by twenty thousand dollars in the

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00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:43.079
first month alone. Remember, automation isn't about saving time, It's

443
00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:48.839
about removing the bottlenecks that are strangling your revenue growth.

444
00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:52.240
So before I continue this discussion, we're going to take

445
00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:55.400
a ninety second break. Hey, their business owners, let me

446
00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:58.240
ask you something. Are you tied of blending in with

447
00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:02.559
your competitors, frustrated with slow growth and slim margins. Well

448
00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:05.920
I've got news for you. Everything you've ever learned about

449
00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:10.440
growing your business is wrong. Don't worry. I'm here to

450
00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:13.359
let you in on a secret weapon. Your position of

451
00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:17.359
market dominance. It's what sets you apart, makes you irreplaceable,

452
00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:21.200
and has customers lining up at your door. My name

453
00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:24.839
is Michael Barberrita from Next Step CFO. I know what

454
00:30:24.839 --> 00:30:28.240
you're thinking. Sounds great, Michael, How do I find my

455
00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:29.759
position of market dominance?

456
00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:32.519
Well that's exactly why we've created.

457
00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:36.160
Our game changing impleentation program called Next Step to Market

458
00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:39.359
Dominance in just ninety days. We'll guide you step by

459
00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:42.440
step to a position of market dominance by uncovering your

460
00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:46.279
unique strengths that competitors can't touch. By crafting a message

461
00:30:46.279 --> 00:30:49.279
that resonates deeply with your ideal customer, by.

462
00:30:49.160 --> 00:30:51.720
Building a strategy that turns you into the go to

463
00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:54.599
expert in your field. Now this is in theory.

464
00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:58.240
These are battle tested strategies that have helped businesses like

465
00:30:58.279 --> 00:31:02.720
you as double, triple and druple their revenue. Don't let

466
00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:05.960
another quarter go by struggling to standout. It's time to

467
00:31:06.039 --> 00:31:11.279
dominate your market period. Go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net forward

468
00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:14.720
slash contact. Fill out the form and in the message

469
00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:18.759
section put the word dominate or call us at seven

470
00:31:18.839 --> 00:31:22.440
eight one three two six three A two two. That's

471
00:31:22.519 --> 00:31:26.480
next STEPCFO dot net forward slash contact or call us

472
00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:30.039
at seven eight one three two six three eight two two.

473
00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:34.440
So we in our final segment today, let's talk about

474
00:31:34.519 --> 00:31:40.440
perhaps the biggest source of hidden revenue market positioning gaps.

475
00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:44.920
These are the opportunities your competition is missing because they're

476
00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:49.640
all fighting over the same obvious market space. I call

477
00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:53.160
this the blue Ocean strategy, and it's something businesses used

478
00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:56.519
to double a triple their revenue without necessarily working harder

479
00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:00.160
or spending more on marketing or advertising. So let me

480
00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:02.920
share an example. A home cleaning service was stuck at

481
00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:07.039
a price war with their competitors. Everyone was offering the

482
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:10.759
same basic cleaning services at similar prices, and when they

483
00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:15.680
analyzed the market, they discovered there was a huge unmet

484
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:20.039
need for specialized cleaning services for families with severe allergies

485
00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:25.039
and asthma. So instead of competing on price, they developed

486
00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:30.759
a specialized alligen free cleaning program using specific products and processes,

487
00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:34.119
and they became the go to service for this niche

488
00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:36.720
and were able to charge forty percent more than this

489
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:40.839
standard rates. Within six months, this program kind of for

490
00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:44.720
thirty five percent of their total revenue. So here's a

491
00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:53.799
question from a listener, how can other businesses find similar opportunities? Well, basically,

492
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:57.759
it starts with three simple questions, and these other questions

493
00:32:57.759 --> 00:33:00.359
that you need to need to be asked if you're

494
00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:03.200
creating your position of market dominance. These are questions that

495
00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:07.799
need to be asked, but they also work here in

496
00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:12.240
finding hidden revenue. The first question is what problems in

497
00:33:12.279 --> 00:33:16.519
your industry does nobody solve? Well? But what problems in

498
00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:22.759
your industry does nobody solve? Well, Second, what customer segments

499
00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:27.680
are being ignored or underserved? What customer segments are being

500
00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:35.079
ignored or underserved? And then third, what additional services do

501
00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:39.359
your best customers wish you offered? What additional services do

502
00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:43.359
your best customers which you offered. So let me give

503
00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:48.400
you another example. So a landscaping company that was competing

504
00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:54.079
in a crowded market had a situation where everyone was

505
00:33:54.200 --> 00:34:00.440
offering the same services mowing, planning, basic maintenance. The market

506
00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:04.960
gap analysis, they discovered that many of their residential clients

507
00:34:05.119 --> 00:34:09.119
also owned rental properties but had to deal with multiple

508
00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:14.679
vendors for those properties. They created a property manager's complete

509
00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:20.960
solution that bundled landscaping, snow removal, and basic exterior maintenance,

510
00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:25.239
and they became the only company in their area offering

511
00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:28.239
this comprehensive service, and their average revenue per customer increased

512
00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:32.559
by eighty five percent. But hence where it gets really interesting.

513
00:34:33.639 --> 00:34:37.519
Once they had this unique position, their marketing became much

514
00:34:37.559 --> 00:34:40.119
more effective. Why they had a position of market dominance.

515
00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:42.960
This is what we've always talked about. So instead of

516
00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:45.679
saying we do great landscaping like everyone else, I hope.

517
00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:49.280
So marketing, we've talked about that in the past. One

518
00:34:49.360 --> 00:34:52.480
call handles it all. Never worry about your rental properties

519
00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:56.360
exterior again. So this isn't just about finding new services

520
00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:00.280
to offer. It's about finding gaps, gaps in how your

521
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:04.880
industry serves customers and then positioning yourself to fill those gaps.

522
00:35:05.480 --> 00:35:09.639
Exactly what a position of market dominance does. And let

523
00:35:09.719 --> 00:35:12.000
me give you one more example that really drives us home.

524
00:35:12.039 --> 00:35:15.719
An IT service provider was struggling to stand out a

525
00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:18.920
crowded market. Everyone was offering twenty four to seven support

526
00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:22.760
quick response times, and they discovered that their small business

527
00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:27.159
clients were most frustrated by unexpected IT costs throwing off

528
00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:33.280
their budgets. So they created an all inclusive IT management

529
00:35:33.320 --> 00:35:40.000
package with predictable monthly pricing that covered everything hardware, software support,

530
00:35:40.280 --> 00:35:43.440
and upgrades as well. And they were the first of

531
00:35:43.480 --> 00:35:45.880
their market to offer this, and within one year, seventy

532
00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:48.159
percent of their clients had switched to this model and

533
00:35:48.199 --> 00:35:50.960
their recurring revenue increased by one hundred and forty percent.

534
00:35:52.599 --> 00:35:55.480
So let me share one more powerful strategy for finding

535
00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:59.440
market positioning gaps. I call it problem stacking and it's

536
00:36:00.119 --> 00:36:02.639
something that helped the software company triple their revenue in

537
00:36:02.679 --> 00:36:06.480
eighteen months. See, they were selling project management software in

538
00:36:06.519 --> 00:36:11.079
a crowded market. Everyone was focusing on features, better scheduling,

539
00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:18.239
better resource allocation, better reporting. But through their analysis, they

540
00:36:18.280 --> 00:36:21.800
discovered that their most successful clients were just using the

541
00:36:21.880 --> 00:36:25.719
software for project management. They were using it to solve

542
00:36:26.119 --> 00:36:36.360
three connected problems project management, client communication, and team accountability,

543
00:36:36.440 --> 00:36:39.800
and no one was marketing this software as a solution

544
00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:45.159
to all three problems together. So they repositioned their entire

545
00:36:45.239 --> 00:36:48.880
offerings so instead of competing on features, they became the

546
00:36:48.920 --> 00:36:54.920
only solutions specifically designed for the triple challenge of client services.

547
00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:59.119
Their marketing spoke directly to the frustration of trying to

548
00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:04.599
juggle these three problems with multiple tools. And what ended

549
00:37:04.679 --> 00:37:07.559
up happening is their average deal size increased by forty

550
00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:11.800
percent because we are now solving a bigger problem in

551
00:37:11.880 --> 00:37:15.760
that industry. Exactly what a position of market dominance does.

552
00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:20.559
Their sales cycle shortened because they weren't competing on features anymore.

553
00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:24.199
They were the only ones addressing the specific combination of problems.

554
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:30.039
The key insight here is that your market positioning gap

555
00:37:30.119 --> 00:37:33.920
might not be about finding a completely new problem to solve.

556
00:37:33.920 --> 00:37:38.440
It might be about identifying how customers are already using

557
00:37:38.440 --> 00:37:41.599
your product to service to solve multiple problems and then

558
00:37:41.719 --> 00:37:47.840
making that and then making that your explicit focus. So

559
00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:50.760
a commercial cleaning company uses the same strategy, and instead

560
00:37:50.760 --> 00:37:56.239
of competing on cleaning quality, they position themselves as experts

561
00:37:56.239 --> 00:38:00.760
and cleaning, restocking, and recycling. Their average contract value increased

562
00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:03.679
by thirty five percent because they were solving a stack,

563
00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:09.559
that bigger stack of problems. So I have a question,

564
00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:13.760
how long does it typically take to implement these kind

565
00:38:13.840 --> 00:38:18.679
of positioning changes. Well, that is a great question, and

566
00:38:18.760 --> 00:38:22.920
actually the answer might surprise you a bit because while

567
00:38:23.480 --> 00:38:27.159
a complete positioning transformation can take let's say three to

568
00:38:27.239 --> 00:38:31.239
six months, you can actually start seeing results as little

569
00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:33.199
as thirty days. And let me give you an example.

570
00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:38.079
So a commercial cleaning company that wanted to reposition as

571
00:38:38.119 --> 00:38:42.760
an allergen free workplace specialist. Instead of trying to transform

572
00:38:42.840 --> 00:38:45.880
their entire business overnight, they sat it with a little

573
00:38:45.920 --> 00:38:49.440
pilot program for just three of their best clients. Remember

574
00:38:49.480 --> 00:38:52.400
I've said in previous shows the beautiful thing about being

575
00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:55.920
in business is you can test things. So they tested

576
00:38:55.960 --> 00:38:58.159
it with a pilot program for just three of their

577
00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:02.719
best clients, and within thirty days they had testimonials and

578
00:39:02.800 --> 00:39:06.719
case studies for these pilot from these pilot clients. Within

579
00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:09.440
sixty days, they are refined their process and pricing it

580
00:39:09.480 --> 00:39:11.880
by the ninetieth day, and they were rolling it out

581
00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:16.960
with all that new positioning. And the key is is

582
00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:20.239
they were generating revenue from the new positioning while they

583
00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:24.280
were developing it. And here's what I tell every client.

584
00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:28.440
Don't wait until everything's perfect. That was a small segment

585
00:39:28.480 --> 00:39:32.000
of your business. Prove the concept, concept, and then scale

586
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:36.000
it up. You know, this approach not only reduces risk,

587
00:39:36.719 --> 00:39:38.960
but it actually speeds up a p invitation because you're

588
00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:43.880
learning and earning at the same time. There's another question,

589
00:39:44.599 --> 00:39:50.239
another question, what if a business owner tries this and

590
00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:56.159
their competition copies them. Ah, A good question. Well, this

591
00:39:56.320 --> 00:39:59.679
is probably the concern that I hear I would say

592
00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:03.199
the most, and I love addressing it because it reveals

593
00:40:03.199 --> 00:40:08.039
a fundamental truth about market positioning. When you do it right,

594
00:40:08.840 --> 00:40:12.719
it's actually very difficult to copy effectively. And here's why.

595
00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:17.079
True market position isn't just about what you say, it's

596
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:20.880
about how you operate. Let me share a quick example.

597
00:40:21.320 --> 00:40:24.000
Remember that it company I mentioned earlier that created this

598
00:40:24.039 --> 00:40:28.079
all inclusive, predictable pricing model, But within six months, three

599
00:40:28.119 --> 00:40:32.239
competitors tried to copy them. But here's what happened. Those

600
00:40:32.280 --> 00:40:35.719
competitors couldn't make the model profitable because they hadn't done

601
00:40:35.719 --> 00:40:38.960
the operational work behind the scenes, and they had no

602
00:40:39.239 --> 00:40:43.360
data to look at once again, data, and they didn't

603
00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:46.599
have the systems, the processes, or the cost management structure

604
00:40:46.639 --> 00:40:50.480
to make it work. They were copying the message without

605
00:40:50.599 --> 00:40:55.719
copying the methodology. And this is why I tell clients

606
00:40:55.719 --> 00:40:58.480
don't worry about being copied. Focused on being first and

607
00:40:58.599 --> 00:41:01.719
being the best. And by the time your competition tries

608
00:41:01.800 --> 00:41:04.360
to copy you, you should already be innovating the next

609
00:41:04.400 --> 00:41:08.920
evolution of your positioning. Remember, the goal is to find

610
00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:12.480
a position you can defend forever. The goal is to

611
00:41:12.519 --> 00:41:19.880
stay one step ahead by continuously evolving. So before I

612
00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:22.760
continue this discussion, we're going to take a ninety second break.

613
00:41:23.559 --> 00:41:26.119
Hey there, business owners, let me ask you something. Are

614
00:41:26.199 --> 00:41:29.719
you tied of blending in with your competitors, frustrated with

615
00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:33.320
slow growth and slim margins? Well, I've got news for you.

616
00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:37.519
Everything you've ever learned about growing your business is wrong,

617
00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:40.639
don't worry. I'm here to let you in on a

618
00:41:40.679 --> 00:41:44.920
secret weapon, your position of market dominance. It's what sets

619
00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:48.800
you apart, makes you irreplaceable, and has customers lining up

620
00:41:48.800 --> 00:41:52.119
at your door. My name is Michael Barbarrita from Next

621
00:41:52.119 --> 00:41:56.519
Step CFO. I know what you're thinking. Sounds great, Michael,

622
00:41:56.840 --> 00:42:00.320
how do I find my position of market dominance? Well,

623
00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:03.840
that's exactly why we've created our game changing implementation program

624
00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:06.199
called Next Step to Market Dominance.

625
00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:08.159
In just ninety days, we'll.

626
00:42:08.039 --> 00:42:10.280
Guide you step by step to a position of market

627
00:42:10.280 --> 00:42:14.320
dominance by uncovering your unique strengths that competitors can't touch,

628
00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:18.119
By crafting a message that resonates deeply with your ideal customer,

629
00:42:18.440 --> 00:42:20.559
by building a strategy that turns.

630
00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:23.280
You into the go to expert in your field. Now

631
00:42:23.320 --> 00:42:26.280
this is in theory. These are battle tested.

632
00:42:26.039 --> 00:42:29.199
Strategies that have helped businesses like yours double triple and

633
00:42:29.360 --> 00:42:33.920
quadruple their revenue. Don't let another quarter go by struggling

634
00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:38.480
to standout. It's time to dominate your market. Period. Go

635
00:42:38.559 --> 00:42:42.719
to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net, forward slash contact, fill out the

636
00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:46.440
form and in the message section put the word dominate

637
00:42:46.920 --> 00:42:48.719
or call us at seven eight.

638
00:42:48.559 --> 00:42:51.280
One three two six three A two two.

639
00:42:51.719 --> 00:42:55.679
That's next STEPCFO dot net forward slash contact or call

640
00:42:55.760 --> 00:42:58.960
us at seven eight one three two six three A

641
00:42:59.079 --> 00:43:04.199
two two. Welcome back, and remind remember if you missed

642
00:43:04.239 --> 00:43:07.119
any part of this show or any of the previous shows,

643
00:43:07.440 --> 00:43:11.320
you could go to our website Powerful Business Strategies dot com.

644
00:43:11.320 --> 00:43:15.360
That's Powerful Business Strategies dot com and you could catch

645
00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:18.920
up on everything, including all of the important shows regarding

646
00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:23.360
position of market dominance by his journey I hope so marketing,

647
00:43:24.039 --> 00:43:26.880
the seven step Pathway to Profit formula, and all of

648
00:43:26.920 --> 00:43:30.480
those wonderful strategies and so, as we wrap up today's

649
00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:34.519
show on breaking the revenue ceiling, let's recap the three

650
00:43:34.519 --> 00:43:37.599
major areas where revenue is hiding in your business and

651
00:43:37.639 --> 00:43:41.960
the specific actions you could take to capture it. First,

652
00:43:42.280 --> 00:43:46.679
we talked about mining your current customer relationships. Well, remember

653
00:43:46.719 --> 00:43:51.199
that three step revenue recovery system. Reactivate lost customers, implement

654
00:43:51.400 --> 00:43:56.400
regular touch points, and create your next logical purchase map.

655
00:43:57.360 --> 00:43:59.599
Stop by listing every customer you haven't heard from in

656
00:43:59.599 --> 00:44:04.519
the past year. That's your immediate opportunity list. Second, we

657
00:44:04.559 --> 00:44:08.599
covered operational efficiencies that are killing your revenue and use

658
00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:12.800
the revenue impact analysis framework that we discussed. Look at

659
00:44:12.880 --> 00:44:18.000
every process that touches customers or impacts their buying decisions,

660
00:44:18.039 --> 00:44:24.199
not with your response times. That's often the quickest win. Finally,

661
00:44:24.840 --> 00:44:30.159
we explored market positioning gaps. Use the market gap analysis

662
00:44:30.239 --> 00:44:34.239
questions we covered to find underserved needs in your market.

663
00:44:35.199 --> 00:44:38.480
You know, remember, you don't need to reinvent your business.

664
00:44:38.519 --> 00:44:42.119
You just need to package and position your services in

665
00:44:42.159 --> 00:44:46.239
a way that solves problems that your competition is ignoring.

666
00:44:48.480 --> 00:44:51.159
There's a quick question from a listener, Michael, if I

667
00:44:51.239 --> 00:44:56.559
listen to this, if we want to start implementing these strategies,

668
00:44:56.599 --> 00:44:59.199
what's the first step that they should take that we

669
00:44:59.239 --> 00:45:02.440
should take. Yeah, well that's another good question. So start

670
00:45:02.440 --> 00:45:05.440
with the customer reactivation strategy. That's always the path to

671
00:45:05.800 --> 00:45:08.920
least resistance, and it's the fastest path to revenue because

672
00:45:08.960 --> 00:45:12.199
these are people who already know and trust you. I mean,

673
00:45:12.239 --> 00:45:14.960
I look at that as as now revenue. You know,

674
00:45:15.039 --> 00:45:18.199
you have this this this customer database you need to

675
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:21.840
you need to constantly communicate with it, and then make

676
00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:24.079
a list of every customer you haven't served in the

677
00:45:24.119 --> 00:45:28.320
past year and reach out with a value first approach,

678
00:45:28.480 --> 00:45:32.039
not just a sales pitch. You know, you have to

679
00:45:32.079 --> 00:45:37.960
remember that the revenue ceiling, it's just a it's just

680
00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:42.800
a limitation and how we think about our businesses when

681
00:45:43.400 --> 00:45:46.400
it's really not a real thing. The revenue ceiling isn't

682
00:45:46.440 --> 00:45:49.239
really a real thing. It's like I said, it's this

683
00:45:49.400 --> 00:45:52.360
limitation on how we think about our businesses. When you

684
00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:55.559
start looking in the right places, you'll find opportunities for

685
00:45:55.599 --> 00:46:00.960
growth that your competition is completely missing. I to give

686
00:46:00.960 --> 00:46:05.800
you a little bonus uh information uh and content before

687
00:46:05.800 --> 00:46:10.840
we sign off. So we talk a lot about position

688
00:46:10.880 --> 00:46:20.119
of market dominance, and it's really it's really the strategy

689
00:46:20.239 --> 00:46:23.599
that drives all of your all of your all of

690
00:46:23.639 --> 00:46:27.360
your revenue and all of it. It's really the strategy

691
00:46:27.920 --> 00:46:32.320
that your competition isn't doing, and it stops. We talked

692
00:46:32.320 --> 00:46:34.280
about it a little earlier today, We've talked about it

693
00:46:34.280 --> 00:46:38.079
in previous shows. It starts with identifying the problem that

694
00:46:38.119 --> 00:46:42.039
the customer has and doesn't want. And one of the

695
00:46:42.199 --> 00:46:47.760
ways that I have found to be very effective identifying

696
00:46:47.800 --> 00:46:53.199
the problem is identifying your ideal customer to writing a

697
00:46:53.360 --> 00:46:55.960
customer avatar. Now I know you've heard it before I

698
00:46:56.119 --> 00:47:00.480
got to get it. And uh, but but what it

699
00:47:00.519 --> 00:47:03.639
does is it really opens up your mind. And in

700
00:47:03.679 --> 00:47:08.280
your customer avatar, you talk about one customer and one

701
00:47:08.559 --> 00:47:14.000
customer only, and you'll be surprised by the way it's

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00:47:14.039 --> 00:47:19.000
your ideal customer, and you'll be surprised on the things

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00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:22.440
that you'll uncover that are problems in your industry that

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00:47:22.480 --> 00:47:25.599
you're think because you're thinking like this ideal customer. And

705
00:47:25.599 --> 00:47:28.159
you really got to spend some time on this. And

706
00:47:28.239 --> 00:47:31.320
remember we're talking about one customer. You need to name

707
00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:35.400
that customer in my customer avatat my customer's name is

708
00:47:35.400 --> 00:47:38.599
Harry Hopper. He's forty three years old. He's in the

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00:47:38.599 --> 00:47:42.360
construction business. And so you need to get right down

710
00:47:42.360 --> 00:47:45.360
to the detail. And I've got details in my avatar,

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00:47:45.480 --> 00:47:49.599
including some of the vices that Harry has that's preventing

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00:47:49.679 --> 00:47:52.840
him from being the business owner that he can be.

713
00:47:53.880 --> 00:47:56.280
So you get right into it. And by the way,

714
00:47:57.880 --> 00:48:07.119
never use a a demographic range of business owners for

715
00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:12.000
your avatar. Uh uh. One person, that's it. You name them,

716
00:48:12.079 --> 00:48:15.320
You name their wife that they're married. You also talk

717
00:48:15.360 --> 00:48:18.800
about their children if they have children, the events that

718
00:48:18.840 --> 00:48:21.159
they might be missing, the events that they go to,

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00:48:21.199 --> 00:48:23.519
the vacations they go on. All of that needs to

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00:48:23.559 --> 00:48:26.559
be in your customer avatar. And remember this, I never

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00:48:26.599 --> 00:48:29.800
met a single person between the ages of twenty five

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00:48:29.840 --> 00:48:34.559
and fifty five. That's why in your avatar there is

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00:48:35.159 --> 00:48:38.880
a specific person that you're talking to. And if you

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00:48:38.960 --> 00:48:42.920
do that, you'll start to develop ideas on how to

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00:48:43.000 --> 00:48:47.199
create identify, how to identify the problems that the customer

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00:48:47.239 --> 00:48:51.119
has and doesn't want, and the problems in the industry

727
00:48:51.199 --> 00:48:54.719
as well. To get a copy of the book Powerful

728
00:48:54.760 --> 00:48:58.280
Business Strategy, simply go to our website www dot Next

729
00:48:58.280 --> 00:49:03.400
stepcf dot, CFO dot. It's totally complimentary until next Monday

730
00:49:03.880 --> 00:49:06.639
at noon Eastern time for Chicky Obio. My name is

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00:49:06.639 --> 00:49:11.360
Michael Barbarita. And remember, don't keep doing what your competition

732
00:49:12.159 --> 00:49:12.599
is doing.

733
00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:17.519
You have been listening to Powerful Business Strategies finding out

734
00:49:17.519 --> 00:49:21.199
that everything you ever learned about growing your business is wrong.

735
00:49:21.480 --> 00:49:24.679
Tune in next week and every week at noon Eastern

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00:49:24.760 --> 00:49:28.199
time on w four CY Radio with your host Michael

737
00:49:28.239 --> 00:49:32.880
Barbarita of NeXTSTEP, CFO and moderator Chucky Obio.