Ep 117 | 6 Steps to Finish Your Business Year Strong with Brian Gubernick

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Today we are going to get better at business and leadership. And how are we going to go about doing that? I want to talk about how to create momentum how to create energy going into the end of the year, right? So here we are, this podcast is being, is being played for the first time in September. So we have a few months left in the year, call it 4 months, 3 and a half months or so left in the year. And we need to close out this year strong. We also need to create energy and momentum as we roll into the next, the next year. So the question becomes, how do we make sure that we're doing all that we can as a business? And how do I make sure that I'm doing all that I can as a leader to finish the year strong and keep that momentum going into the next year? Here's a list that I've put together of some things I'd be thinking around if I wanted to create this energy that I'm talking about. Number 1, here we are, September, got 3, 4 months left. Let's set very clear goals around what we want to accomplish by the end of this year. Now, typically when we set goals, they end up being 30-day goals or maybe annual goals. Very rarely do we go out and we set 3.5-month goals, but I'm going to encourage you to do so. I'd want you to ask yourself, then ask your business, your team, what do we want to accomplish in the next 100 days? What would make the next 100 days the most successful run that we've had this year? So what do we want to accomplish in the next 100 or so days, or whatever that number may be based on when you're listening to this? So set very clear goals. Now, number 2, as we've set those clear goals in number 1, number 2 would be plan accordingly. Plan the tactics to be built around the strategy that drives to number 1, that goal. So plan. More specifically, let's make certain that we know all of our team members understand their roles and know exactly what's in it for them. In terms of supporting that, that strategy and ultimately achieving those goals. So if number 1 is set clear goals, number 2 is plan accordingly. More specifically though, make sure that every player on the team knows exactly what's expected of them, how they're contributing to the achievement of the objective, and what is in it for them. In other words, why are they putting in the effort? What are they getting out in return? And We've talked about this on a previous episode. What's in it for me? That's just human nature. That doesn't make anybody a bad person. Everybody asks that question. So let's proactively address it. Now, number 3, remember we've set goals, we've planned. Number 3, we've got to create motivation. How do we do that? Incentives, bonuses, maybe just contests, right? I want to create energy around all that we're doing. I want to motivate. So I think around incentives and bonuses, but I'm also thinking just around contests. And when I'm creating these incentives, these bonuses, and these contests, I like to look at lead measures versus lag measures. In other words, things that are effort-based that lead to results, those results being the lag measures. So I will build a contest around an effort-based metric. Like if you're in sales, Maybe it's quantity of contacts or conversations had, right? If you're in any sort of operational type business, maybe it's completion of a task list or steps checked off of an outline that we needed to knock out. Whatever it may be, I like to motivate the team, particularly at the end of the year, by setting up some sort of incentive-based contest where we go achieve collectively as a unit some objective, some contest. Maybe it's a short run, maybe it's a long run, maybe it's the whole 100 days, maybe it's the first 30 days. Doesn't really so much matter. I just want to create that energy. Number 4, the 4th thing that you could do to create momentum and energy as we close out this year and in the next, focus on customer engagement. Maybe for you and your business, it's offering specific promo, uh, promotions. Maybe if you're in real estate, it's a focus on your sphere of influence, right? Like take advantage of the time of year, right? Like it's, it's towards the end of the year. We have Halloween coming up. We have Thanksgiving coming up. We have Christmas and the other holidays coming up. We have New Year's. These are great opportunities to engage more so with our customers. Be it through promos or just outreach, because it gives you plenty of reason to talk with them. Number 5, roll out a new service or a new product. Now you want to be calculated here, it goes without saying, but again, the objective is create new energy and momentum. If you set clear goals, if you plan around those goals, if you motivate your team through contests, if you Engage or re-engage your customers. Then number 5, if you roll out a new service or a product, that's just new energy. So what could you offer that's either completely new or builds upon something that you already have in place? And in doing so, it invigorates your team. It gets your people fired up to go charge towards the end of the year and in the next. The last thing I want to talk around, and I've used this word a handful of times, I've said momentum. Right? So the objective of all 5 of these things I just listed is to create momentum. But number 6 is in fact momentum because momentum is something you can go achieve. It is something you could plan around. And what do I, what am I saying? What is momentum? How do you create momentum? Stack small wins, just stack small wins and compound them. And that compounding effect will lead to momentum and energy. And will support all of these things we've just talked around. So be purposeful in the creation of the momentum by acknowledging, recognizing, and celebrating the smallest of wins. So if we launch today to create new energy, figure out a small victory you can get today and celebrate it, acknowledge it, share it with others, share it with the team. Tomorrow, do the same. Tomorrow, the day after that, do the same. Continue to stack these wins, and these small wins amount to big wins. And these big wins start to create the momentum and the energy. So to state it one more time, number 1, set clear goals. Number 2, plan around these goals, specifically what's in it for me, address that with your people, making, making sure that your people know exactly where they fit into that plan. Number 3, motivate your team through incentives, bonuses, or specifically contests, contests based around effort. Number 4, customer engagement. Maybe it's offering promotions. Maybe it's just engaging with your customers and your sphere of influence, leveraging the time of the season, time of year, because of the holidays and whatnot. Number 5, roll out a new service or a new product. This fires up the team. This invigorates the team. And then number 6, be purposeful in creating this momentum by celebrating the smallest of wins and letting that compound over time. So there's 6 things you can do starting right now to finish off or start to begin the process of finishing out the year strong and rolling into the next year on a high note. I think you could all draw something from these 6. Maybe it's all 6, but maybe it's just 1 or 2, and that would be awesome. That's what No Days Off is all about, getting a little bit better in all that we do. And today It was about business. It was about leadership. That's all we have for you today. The No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.