It’s mid-July. Half the year is gone and it’s not coming back.
Where did the time go? Where did you focus your business energies?
Did you hit your sales and revenue goals?
Do you have more happier and referral-ready customers today than you did in January?
Half of 2023 is not the only thing that is gone and not coming back.
So are the growth opportunities that you may have missed while you were engaged in the daily grind. It’s called Lost Opportunity Cost for a reason.
It is the expensive, sometimes business threatening, penalty you pay for postponing a critical decision, not keeping up with changes in customer needs and market demands or choosing the cheap way out even when your gut tells you that you should be investing more.
Here’s what I’m talking about.
A manufacturer that is neglecting to invest in digital transformation. In the manufacturing industry, failing to embrace digital transformation can result in significant lost opportunity cost. Consider a manufacturing company that hesitates to adopt automated systems or modernize its production processes. By sticking to traditional methods, they miss out on the increased efficiency, streamlined operations, and cost savings that their competitors are enjoying. What have they lost? Productivity gains, competitive advantage, and improved customer satisfaction.
A software company that fails to recognize changing customer needs. Imagine a software company that clings to its legacy product, disregarding user feedback and market trends. They will lose touch with their customer base, see a decline in sales, and damage loyal customer relationships. The anguish of lost opportunities echoes through missed product enhancements, dissatisfied customers flocking to competitors, and the ever-present fear of becoming irrelevant in a dynamic market. It serves as a haunting reminder of the missed chance to secure long-term success and maintain a loyal customer following.
An IT company that refuses to adapt to emerging trends. It happens more often than you’d think. An IT company fails to stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends. By not proactively embracing new advancements and failing to offer innovative new solutions, they risk falling behind their competitors who are quicker to capitalize on the changes. The lost opportunity cost here extends beyond potential sales and revenue growth. It means a tarnished brand reputation, diminished market share, and the potential loss of key clients seeking cutting-edge solutions.
These scenarios of lost opportunity cost are all too agonizingly common when company management and marketing teams are trapped in the daily grind of routine tasks.
The antidote to avoiding lost opportunities is not easy but it is surprisingly simple. It is to install operating systems in your business, financial and marketing departments.
When your company is running on predictable, sustainable operating systems your team has the time to look up and around to seize new opportunities in emerging trends. They have the resources to adapt to changing customer needs and to invest more heavily in digital transformation.
Let’s not let the second half the year disappear without evaluating your progress in all key areas of your marketing operations.
Download this accelerator card to evaluate your progress and make 2H 2023 your best year ever.