Business Media Club blog: Are you a winning business – and if not, why not?

05 Sep Business Media Club blog: Are you a winning business – and if not, why not?

Being a winning business means more than measuring how much money you make.

How we define success has evolved. Rather than being solely focused on the bottom line (though that’s obviously important), it is increasingly about character, image and reputation – making a positive impact for the greater good and to benefit society.

For CGM, these worthy aims are what being a ‘winning business’ is truly about – more than simply spreading the love but having solid ethics and values and putting them into action to make a positive difference to people’s lives so you are a walking, talking, living, breathing advocate of all the things you want to be – original, authentic and true. Why else would you get out of bed in the morning?

Yet none of us can exist without having customers – or indeed for that matter partners, suppliers and employees.

How we ‘win’ business and win people over to our cause is therefore all important – and the link between how we ‘do’ business and how we ‘win’ business go hand in hand. The former helps the latter.

Being a ‘good business’ – a winning business – is about a myriad of features. Ethics, values and culture for sure, but also the ability to reach out and appeal to people.

Most of us buy on emotion. Why else do we say we have a ‘gut instinct’? It is all in our heads yet how we feel it is often far more important than features like price and speed of service.

We invest meaning into the products and services from trainers to washbags, cars to sports clubs. They all mean something.

And there’s the rub. For while we like to buy – and more often to buy into our favourite brands – few of us like selling or being sold to.

We’re reluctant to seem ‘pushy’ and hate it when a pushy salesperson ventures our way. It is why so many of us prefer to hide online and do things remotely.

Pitching for business somehow feels unworthy. Difficult. Not in our nature.

Well, it shouldn’t be. We need to be proud to promote ourselves and our wares – to get good at explaining the thinking and values behind what we do – the features and benefits but also the thinking behind it. Get savvy at influencing people. Stand loud and proud of what we do, make, achieve and the relationships we have.

We need to stand up and out from the crowd. Prepared to pitch for new business. Not with in your face sales techniques but with calm, clarity and confidence – capable of making a splash, not with a brazen belly flop that drenches everyone indiscriminately but with lasting ripples that quietly spread far and wide.

In September’s Business Media Club, we are linking the desire to be a winning business to being a business that can win new business and will show just how easy it is to create your own winning pitch deck presentation.

Become a winning business – ways to win new work – is the theme of September’s Business Media Club meeting on Friday, September 24 (10am-midday), repeated on Thursday, September 30 (2-4pm).

The specific skill we’ll focus on is: Creating your pitch deck presentation.

To book visit our Eventbrite page for this webinar.

For further information about the Business Media Club visit our dedicated club page.