In my last article we looked at the 8 signs that your company cannot change direction. Now that you know what they are, let’s look at the opposite view on how to change direction.

Business direction changes can occur as a reaction to economic conditions or as a decision to change your business objectives. Change is difficult, and we all react to change with varying degrees of resistance. So if the change is something you want to do or have to do, here’s how you can make the process easier.

1. Stop selling products and services. That’s what most of your competitors are doing. Start selling desired results or solutions to problems. Nobody pays a fee to a copywriter to write a copy; they pay a fee for the results of the copy you write.
2. Stop thinking that your clients, clients or patients are different. Dan Kennedy says, “There are no yogis in the woods. There is no such thing as being smarter than the average bear.” Unless you’re selling to aliens or different life forms, you’re selling to people.
3. Listen to your clients, customers and patients. If you don’t have time, survey 30-35% of your top customers. Find out what they think and why they do business with you. You may end up very surprised.
4. Salt more. At a minimum, join your local association and a group of multiple business owners. Maybe it’s the local Chamber or Service Club, a business forum or some networking group.
5. Start an idea and swipe file. Great ideas are all around us. The best ones are impossible to hide and someone else has already paid to prove that they work! Great marketing arrives in your mailbox and in the publications you read every day. Begin to become a collector of ideas and advertisements. Write them down, but don’t file them; Start using those ideas.
6. Turn on Google. Find other great companies in your field outside of your market and see what they are doing. Pick up the phone, call the owner, introduce yourself and start a dialogue. Try it with a non-competing company in your own city!
7. Read. Read the trades in your own field or industry, read the trades in any target market, and read to expand your general knowledge. Tip: add a novel of two to the mix, there are ideas in them too. Caution: Don’t start reading all day thinking you’re accomplishing something. Just one hour a day. One dose, 2 thirty min. sessions, or 3 twenty min. sessions It goes directly to investing in yourself.
8. Get responsibility. Family, friends and associates are not good advisers. They have their own agendas and opinions about what is right for you and how what you do can affect them. Get a business coach, not for advice, but to hold you accountable for your plans to do things differently and set new goals.
9. Maintain, or acquire, the habit of acting. Without action, deliberate action, nothing happens. Of course you know that, so keep up the good work.

The ability to change direction comes directly from your determination to remain flexible. When something doesn’t work, you need to make changes to get the results you want. When you find yourself resisting change, remember:

Anything else has a higher chance of success than what doesn’t work at the moment.