Eight ways to make your business grow faster learnt from an American tech company

I am pretty sure you all want to grow your business. However, I am also sure you find that this is easier said than done! 

This week I witnessed the blueprint of how to grow rapidly. My wife Sarah Riegelhuth is launching a new business called Get Rich Slow, which uses a software called Infusionsoft. To learn more about how to utilise it we attended their conference of 3000 entrepreneurs in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Australian contingent was lucky enough to be given a private tour of their offices, and I was blown away. If you can find a way to improve any of the below areas in your business, I know you will see some great growth.

1. Do what you say you are going to do

I am sure at the start of each year you set a bunch of goals for your business and you have great intentions of achieving them, but as the year goes on you lose sight of these goals and make excuses as to why you can’t achieve them. This is not an option at Infusionsoft, where they have a saying, “We do what we say we’ll do.”  

Not achieving goals (or failing) is not an option at Infusionsoft, it is a core part of every team member’s DNA to achieve and this is why they have achieved every goal they have ever set.

We were told a great story where for the first time last year they saw their CEO not optimistic and confident when he announced to the team, three weeks from the end of year, they were not going to hit their targets. The team were not going to let this happen and they all pulled together and pulled off incredible sales to hit their goals.

2. Your leadership team needs to be passionate and consistent

Passion flows from the top down. How can you expect your team members to be passionate about what they do unless you are? Every person I spoke to at Infusionsoft was incredibly passionate and it was clear from the way they spoke about the founders and leadership team that they must ooze passion for what they do.

3. Everyone needs to be selling, and it can be fun

Let’s face it; the only way you can grow is if you sell what your business does. Unfortunately in Australia people are scared to sell and it is the biggest reason as to why businesses don’t achieve their goals. If you believe in what your company does then you should see it as your duty to sell as you will want as many people as possible to benefit from what you can offer.

At Infusionsoft it was clear which department was sales as they were having the most fun. They had big balloons in the shape of dollar signs hanging above their tables and every time someone made a sale music was played and they all cheered. It was so clear that they believed in what they do.

4. Keep focused on what you are good at

How many times have you changed your service offering or product to try to cater to different target markets or customers? As a small to medium business, you cannot cater to everyone.

Focus on an area which you are good at and can scale, and stick to it. Infusionsoft caters for small businesses only and they will stick to that no matter what. They are committed to helping small businesses become bigger businesses, but they will not cater to large corporates.

5. Dreaming is great

If you help people to fulfil their dreams then they will forever be grateful to you. You should be looking to help your customers as well as your team members get closer to their dreams.

I have never heard of a job title called “Dream Maker” before, but Infusionsoft has one! His role was to help every staff member dream bigger, believe that anything is possible and to make a plan on how they could reach their dreams. This shows that the leaders value everyone in their team and I guarantee that this makes everyone happier, more loyal and a better worker.

6. Create a culture of accountability

This links back into the first point of doing what you say you will do. Break every goal down into a list of tasks and assign someone to be accountable for making sure that it is achieved in the designated time. If you don’t assign accountability it makes it too easy for people to pass the buck. At Infusionsoft they put up their goals on a wall, clearly visible in their office, and had listed each person who was responsible for each goal.

7. Create a community which is almost cult-like

If you have read any of Jim Collins’ books you will know that all of the “great” companies have had an almost cult-like following. Although this sounds a bit confronting, there is nothing wrong with this. People love being part of something meaningful and they like being surrounded by like-minded individuals. The power of word-of-mouth is unbelievable and if you can create a community which loves what your company does then you have the greatest and cheapest sales force you could imagine.

8.  Have a great on-boarding process

Let’s face it, first impressions last. In order to have people in your team who will ensure that all of the above points are adhered to you need to attract the right people and train them the way you want them to be.

Infusionsoft has a two-week training program where they learn how to live and breathe the values of the company. To ensure they only attract the right people into the company they make everyone at the end of the course say why they want to join the Infusionsoft team, and to make it a little bit more compelling, they offer $5000 ‘no questions asked’ to anyone who turns down the opportunity. The amazing thing is that they have only ever had one person take the money – what does this tell you about the culture of the company?

Finn Kelly is the CEO and co-founder of award-winning Gen Y financial advisory firm, Wealth Enhancers, along with the parent company, premier private wealth management firm WE Private.