This is the time of year that we all reflect on this past year and start planning for the upcoming year. We weight what worked well in our personal and professional lives and make resolutions on where we can make improvements. This year, instead of committing to going to the gym, starting a new diet, or sticking to your budget, let’s focus on a few resolutions to add to your list that will help your business stay fit.
- Update your website – If you haven’t already updated your websites to be mobile responsive yet, this is the most important thing you need to do in 2017. Seriously! 70% of Walmart’s online sales over Black Friday were done on a mobile or tablet device. Additionally, 57% of users said that they won’t refer a company who has a poorly designed mobile site. Luckily, DistributorCentral can help you with this resolution, offering cost-effective, mobile-responsive websites. We can either convert the website for you, or you can do it yourself with our self-service solution. Get a head start by signing up for our webinar on Dec 14th.
- Learn something new – Just because you’ve always done it that way, doesn’t mean that it’s not incredibly stupid! Taking a step back and re-evaluate what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and how much you’re spending on it. This is another resolution that you can check off your list early in 2017. With lots of education opportunities at PPAI Expo and ASI Orlando, including one from our VP of Operations, David Shultz is teaching at Expo about Customer Engagement in a Digital World. Additionally, Tiffany Tarr, VP of Sales is taking one-on-one appointments at our booth at Expo.
- Give back to the community – Volunteering with your local regional association is a great way to build professional relationships. Whether you’re new to the industry or an industry veteran, you can make a difference within your association. When reaching out to your regional association, make sure to let the executive director understand your interests, ability, and time commitment availability so that he/she can fit you to a task, committee, or opportunity that works for both you and the association.
- Confront the brutal facts – Not doing the wrong things is as important as doing the right ones. Drop what’s not working and move on. Don’t be scared of the truth, look at it objectively, then you can make a decision about it. Is it that customer that takes up way too much of your time for how much they buy from you? Is it that product that isn’t selling? What are you doing that you keep saying you’ll see the long-term return on, which just isn’t happening? Just because something didn’t work doesn’t make it a failure. Life is all about trial and error. Understanding what doesn’t work will allow you to make time and resources to try something else.
