Everyone wants to build a strong company culture, and it’s easy to see why. Whether your goal is attracting new talent, increasing retention, or simply improving the workplace to boost employee morale, building — and maintaining — a healthy corporate culture is essential to both your employees’ well-being and that of your business.

However, it’s important for leaders to recognize that there’s a difference between communicating corporate culture and creating it.

The most important thing to remember is to keep innovating. Your corporate culture will change as your business does, as your employees do, and as you do — and that’s a good thing. Embrace those changes and lean into them if you want to thrive.

• How can one Foster Personal and Business Growth?
• How do you Foster a Company Culture?
• What is Foster Growth in Business?
• How Can I Contribute to the Growth of a Company?
• How are you Helping Others Grow in the Workplace?
• How do you Foster a Positive Work Environment?
• Why is it Important to Foster Workplace Culture?
• How can Organizations Foster a Growth Mindset?
• What are the 4 Growth Strategies?
• How do you Attract Customers?

How can one Foster Personal and Business Growth?

The need for employee engagement is pivotal as it’s profoundly understood to directly impact performance. It will impact absenteeism potentially becoming higher turnover rates, productivity, and consequently profitability.

Drawing back on the short example earlier of your belief falling short from hiring a new candidate, you’ll see that it was their performance being affected. In saying so, let’s look toward personal growth as a tool for engaging employees.

Read Also: How to Get High Visitor Retention Rate

Personal growth in a nutshell, is advancing your skills and expertise along with developing your qualities. It’s an important and given aspect in the workplace environment. To add, it’s one of the main reasons why individuals seek to work for organizations – aka. the desire for career development. Why we should seek to foster for our employees’ personal growth are the following reasons being:

1. They add value to your company – Daily growth will see your employees flourish in their field. When they flourish, you’ll notice the knowledge and wisdom they possess become more diverse. Your employees can then apply this new knowledge to their tasks producing state-of-the-art pieces of work. Quality work produced before deadlines? Doesn’t that seem beneficial for both you and your company as well as for your employees? (It’s something to consider…)
2. They become more interesting – As part of what makes an employee stand out, as well as being an underlying reason to their commitment to work is their interaction with others. When you provide mechanisms to grow personally, your employees will be able to hold and maintain conversations over interesting topics. (The jaw-dropping new episode of Game of Thrones anyone?) With your employee exhibiting this quality about them, you see that they have the ability to grasp onto the attention of others. It’s a social psychological aspect that employees need to perform.
3. They remain sharp beside learning curves – To keep up with society’s inevitable changes to technology and processes, it’ll involve fostering for personal growth by building knowledge and skills. You’ll see the effectiveness that your employee has in overcoming challenges your company faces. By doing so, they’re able to help you see they’re worthy of securing their position in the company.

While each of these factors is beneficial in different forms, the real question left to answer is how do we foster this personal growth? There are many ways in which a quality leader can utilize to reap these benefits:

• Pay attention to your employees’ interests and help expand them – Know what they want and how you can help them achieve it.
• Implement monthly team training sessions – It could be going through new cases together and sharing new skills and knowledge.
• Understand that your employees are not “machines” but “a community of individuals eager to learn” – Hear them out and understand them on a personal level. Treat them as mentees rather than slaves.
• Prepare employees to attend seminars with professional development speakers – Evoking inspiration every now and then will remind your employees what it’s all worth.
• Organize one-on-one health counselors with your employees to help achieve growth related to health – Showing that you care about your employees’ well-being will see their need to do so.
• Encourage to grow by providing incentives – Spark growth with a bit of motivation.

In order for your company to grow and advance, it starts with gripping onto the ability to help others grow.

How do you Foster a Company Culture?

Investing in positive and productive work culture as an employer or manager reaps rewards beyond a better work-life balance and a feeling of purpose for workers. It also improves productivity and, as a result, profitability for the organization.

Furthermore, by improving employee motivation, health, and happiness, managers can expect less absenteeism, job turnover, and workers’ compensation costs. The health of an organization’s culture is really a great long-term predictor of the business’s potential to expand and prosper, given the simultaneous variables of higher efficiency and lower costs.

Here’s how you can foster a productive work culture for your team;

1. Establish the organization’s culture and principles

It is critical to have a set of defined corporate core values that are properly conveyed and debated with employees so that they feel a sense of belonging. It is an organization’s or a company’s commitment to certain policies and initiatives, such as “to become green” or “cultural reform.”

It is critical to take demonstrable actions on a regular basis so that workers feel a sense of personal responsibility for these principles. This will allow students to assess and take pleasure in their own attitudes toward these positive core principles. Pleasant attitudes and activities contribute to productive work culture.

2. Be a mentor

It is the duty of company leaders to act as mentors to employees and project team members and to enable those workers to become mentors to others. Employees’ fear of being ignored or criticized is reduced by an open-door policy that promotes and welcomes them to share new ideas and make suggestions, building the climate of mutual trust that is so important to an organization’s success.

Leaders who are involved in their employees’ creativity and self-improvement are more likely to be rewarded with loyalty, efficiency, and productivity.

3. Adopt corporate wellness

Take steps to improve the physical and mental health of your employees. Addressing the problems of office work — hours of sitting, typing, and staring at screens – is critical in our digitally-driven society. A business that genuinely cares about its employees’ physical and psychological well-being should help members achieve the best versions of themselves.

When developing or enhancing the workplaces in which employees work, as a leader you need to keep in mind the health of your employees. Uncomfortable working conditions such as – inadequate lighting, low-quality furniture, and old equipment, may aggravate the already existing pressure employees face, and eventually, lead to a major problem.

4. Promote cooperation and communication

A leadership or a management style that promotes cooperation, as well as open and honest communication, is necessary in order to create a healthy workplace atmosphere.

Open and honest communication means regularly checking or evaluating how individuals engage with one another, how criticism is accepted or taken into account, and how possibilities for social connection are enabled. This allows team members to build and foster relationships with all their team members or co-workers.

5. Be flexible

Avoiding rigid job descriptions and permanent office space is one approach for organizations to give employees more freedom and flexibility. Allowing employees/team members to merge their skill sets with the purpose of achieving common goals maximizes everyone’s strengths. Flexible work hours and remote work are other ways to provide team members with flexibility, it has grown increasingly important during the COVID-19 epidemic.

6. Be supportive

The most effective method to ensure your employees’ long-term productivity is to plan for the inevitable. The fear or occurrence of an illness, loss or any other unforeseen event can prevent employees from performing tasks effectively. As a manager or a leader show that you care. This can ease your employees’ worries and subsequently improve your employees’ productivity and overall performance. 

7. Be appreciative and reward employees

It is the role of leaders and managers to make employees feel valued. Organizations should recognize, encourage, promote, and reward team members or employees for their success. Self-improvement and learning is other important component of productive work culture.

The ultimate reflection of how many business values and supports everyone’s continued growth includes activities and benefits that assist employees’ continuous enlightenment and progress.

8. Be open to feedback

One thing that all top teams have in common is excellent communication. If your team runs across problems, they need to feel confident that they can express them without their competence being questioned. As a result, including a continuous feedback loop into your corporate culture helps project managers and department heads to remove any barriers to job efficiency, such as excessive workload.

The core of your company is its culture, which is made up of your company’s values, vision, and goals. Building a company culture that reaches everyone throughout their numerous locations is considerably more difficult when people work remotely.

Your organization’s management must foster a culture of productivity and belonging that draws the entire team together, even if they are located all over the world. Here’s how you can spread the culture of your organization with your remote employees;

• Make your culture visible

It is important to describe what the company culture is, and act accordingly. Especially if you are working with a remote or with a dispersed team. Your company’s culture should be inspiring, straightforward, and articulate, as well as clearly understandable. When you have a remote team, new team members will have a harder time grasping your culture because there is little or no face-to-face contact with them. Your company culture should be reevaluated on a regular basis as you develop and evolve. You need to constantly examine your culture and values if you want to build a healthy corporate culture with a remote team.

• Encourage open communication

Communication will determine whether your remote team culture succeeds or fails. If possible, schedule an all-hands meeting on a weekly basis. If time zones make this impossible, attempt to schedule two meetings to ensure all members of the team are on the same page. Keeping your team’s communication channels clean and open will encourage transparency while also allowing for the critical team collaboration that businesses require. Open communication can do wonders to foster a productive work culture. Eliminate any formality connected with communication to avoid employees just being silent, which is no good for them or your organization.

Select tools that are appropriate for your team, and culture and that help you promote communication: It is critical that the tool reflects the culture you are seeking to build when your team collaborates “within” an app rather than at an office. Make it as easy as possible for your remote team to remain up to date, in addition to picking remote work solutions for collaboration and communication that reflect your culture.

• Work on trust

It is critical to discuss higher-level choices with your team during one-on-ones and weekly team meetings; and let them know that you trust them to complete their work, even when they are working from home, in order to foster a good remote culture. Show your appreciation for your coworkers’ or employees’ work. This will help create a flourishing productive remote culture. Trust and autonomy is another great way to foster productive work culture.

What is Foster Growth in Business?

Business growth happens in many ways, from personal development to increase revenue and expanding your team. Unfortunately, growth isn’t always a linear journey. All businesses experience times of peaks, valleys, and plateaus. The latter two can be quite challenging to move beyond but are often where the greatest growth happens.

Ask yourself one simple question.

To foster business growth, Akarshana recommends asking yourself one simple question – if you continue to do the same thing, will anything change? “You either stay the same or you decide that you have to open your mind,” he says. This question forces you to take a step back and evaluate where both you and your business are currently at. If you can’t see a clear path for growth, it’s time to take a new approach.

Look at things from a different perspective.

A great way to foster business growth is to challenge yourself to see things from another perspective. Ask a colleague for their input, play devil’s advocate and question all of your thoughts and assumptions, or put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Better yet, try all of these things and more. The more ways you can look at something, the more likely it is that you’ll come up with a solution and find ways to grow.

This is also a useful practice when you’ve hit a business plateau. It’s easy to get tunnel vision and not be able to see other alternatives, especially when you’ve been working at something for an extended period of time. By challenging yourself to take a new approach, you can find ways to move beyond that plateau.

Identify where you’re stuck.

Sometimes it’s a feeling of being stuck that inhibits business growth, but it’s hard to get unstuck if you don’t know specifically what’s causing it. Do a deep dive and try to uncover the source. Once you’ve identified it, you can figure out how to overcome it and keep moving forward.

Zero in on your purpose.

The most successful companies have a solid purpose that drives the business forward. Think about who your business is serving, as well as how you’re helping and why. When you have the answer to all three questions, you’ll have found your purpose. “It can also be helpful to shift your thinking to how you can best help people instead of how you can make the most money,” advises Akarshana. This mindset helps you focus on the impact of your business rather than solely on revenue.

Focus on the present.

It can be easy to dwell on the past or get too far ahead dreaming about the future, but true progress and growth happen when you’re focused on the here and now. It’s what you do in the present that matters most. “Don’t fear the future or the unknown and don’t be upset about the past,” Akarshana advises. “A lot of opportunities will be missed if you are not present in the moment.” To keep yourself focused on the present, create short-term goals so that you have something tangible and measurable to work towards.

How Can I Contribute to the Growth of a Company?

Whether you’re a serial entrepreneur or starting a small business for the first time, the good news is that the success of your company isn’t down to luck. You can directly influence it!

With the right strategy and skills, you can set your company on the road to success. Here are a few ways that you can do just that.

Be Goal Oriented

As an entrepreneur or business owner, being able to visualize goals and then make them a reality is arguably one of the most important steps to success. Your goal will keep you focused and help you to direct all of your efforts into a clear plan. Operating a day-to-day business without a clearly defined goal in mind often results in a company that stagnates and fails to thrive.

Communicate Effectively

Communication is an essential part of running a business, especially when you reach the point where you start taking on employees. Poor communication and miscommunications will result in wasted time and frustration. It’s important to take the time to communicate – and listen.

Manage Your Time

Time management is a necessary component for success. Being able to prioritize the most important tasks is an important skill for anyone who is hoping to make the most of their time. For business owners, having the right tools to help you to manage your time can be a lifesaver, such as a daily planner.

All planners are not created equally! Choose a schedule that allows you to map your day out purposefully. The right planning system will help you prioritize, live intentionally, and maximize your hours in the day.

Learn to Delegate

Delegating tasks is one of the first things that every entrepreneur should learn to do. While it’s easy to overload work schedules, learning to delegate is important and will help free you up to spend time on important aspects of running your business – focusing on sales and other crucial tasks that will directly contribute to the success of your company.

Understand the Importance of Time Away

As a business owner, there’s a good chance that you naturally spend a lot of time in your workspace. Late nights and long hours are the names of the game. But it’s just as important to spend time away and to take periodic breaks. It’s important to balance your day – for your physical as well as mental health. Taking breaks helps you to recharge your batteries and allows you to come back fresh and ready to work!

Learn to Ask for Help

Finally, it’s important to be able to ask for help when needed. As business owners, it’s all too easy to forget that we don’t HAVE to do it all alone. Talking things over with a friend or even calling in a professional can be extremely beneficial. Sometimes asking for help can be the best thing that you can do for your company’s continued success. Don’t be afraid to reach out, ask questions and seek advice as needed.

While a successful company isn’t built overnight, it’s important to remember that your company’s success is something that you have direct influence over. By mastering these skills and intentionally setting goals and strategies to help you to chart the course of your business, you can help to set your company up for long-term success.

How are you Helping Others Grow in the Workplace?

Knowing when and how to offer support to colleagues at work can be a challenge, but helping others encourages a collaborative work environment. Here are tips for helping and supporting your colleagues:

1. Communicate often

Communicating with colleagues helps build a relationship and can inspire teamwork. Here are ways to establish good communication:

• Greet coworkers: Say hello to your colleagues when you see them. Make an effort to acknowledge them.
• Check in: Ask how your colleagues are feeling and how their day is going.
• Listen: Pay attention to what they say.
• Make eye contact: Maintaining eye contact is important for respectful communication.
• Show respect: Be respectful of boundaries and be conscious of how you behave when communicating.

Consider establishing a channel or method by which communication is easy and comfortable for all team members such as a social media group, a work app for an employee chat or you could schedule weekly meetings.

Example: You can install a team app on every work computer to provide easy contact among all employees and encourage colleagues to share about their work progress.

2. Recognize their challenges

Be aware of your surroundings at work and try to notice what may cause a colleague to struggle. You can ask how you can be of help when you see they are dealing with a challenge. Use your own experience to help recognize when others are struggling. For example, when there is a new colleague starting at the company where you work, consider what challenged you when you first started working there and see if you can offer help with orientation tasks.

Example: If you notice a colleague is stressed and working hard to meet a deadline, stop by their desk and ask if there is anything you can do to help. Listening to their concerns can show empathy and help them feel less stressed.

3. Volunteer your time

If you notice a colleague needs help or has a large workload, offer to help them complete some tasks. Sometimes offering moral support is enough if you do not have time or are not permitted to help with their work tasks.

Example: Your colleague may be responsible for contacting clients. If your company policy does not allow you to speak with the clients in your assigned job role, you can offer support to your colleague by bringing a coffee to their desk while they make calls.

4. Give advice

Giving advice is a great way to offer support to your colleagues at work. Draw on your experience with the company and from your own job duties to advise other team members. Use these tips to help guide your advice:

• Ask. Before offering advice, be sure it is something your colleague wants.
• Be kind. Try not to judge your colleague, and give advice that is kind and helpful.
• Be honest. Honesty helps ensure that the advice you give is helpful.
• Listen. Hear what your colleague has to say and pay attention to how they respond to your advice.
• Collaborate. When giving advice, try to find a solution together to fix the colleague’s problem.

Constructive criticism is a form of advice appropriate and often encouraged at work. Providing colleagues with useful feedback on their work helps them to improve and may increase productivity at work.

Example: If there is a new colleague starting at the company, offer to give them an office tour and share your tips on how to be most efficient while at work.

5. Build a relationship

Building a relationship with your colleagues at work can prepare you to support each other when needed. Take the time to learn about your colleagues’ interests, since these can be topics to talk about when establishing daily communication. Be aware of professional boundaries, but try to be friendly with all of your colleagues. This can help establish a collaborative environment to work in.

Example: Establish a weekly email for featuring a colleague where they can share their hobbies with other colleagues.

6. Offer praise

Acknowledging achievements can show colleagues that you care. You can praise your colleagues for minor accomplishments to boost their confidence and show that you appreciate them.

Example: Assign a space in the office where colleagues can write messages to congratulate each other and recognize their accomplishments.

7. Perform an act of kindness

Doing something kind and unexpected can improve someone’s day. Here are examples of acts of kindness for colleagues:

• Bring in donuts.
• Get everyone a coffee.
• Submit positive feedback to the manager.
• Take a colleague to lunch.
• Leave a kind note on their desk.

8. Organize a group lunch

Organizing a lunch for your team is a great opportunity to talk and offer support and can be an effective exercise to develop teamwork skills.

9. Inspire positivity

Inspire positivity in the workplace by maintaining a friendly attitude. Your good mood may encourage a colleague’s mood, and this can help improve the overall work environment. Remaining self-aware and checking your own emotions can be key to promoting a healthy and stable workplace.

How do you Foster a Positive Work Environment?

Building a team is a two-way street. On one side, your employees agree to use their talents and experience to drive the organization forward. On the other hand, companies agree to compensate them for their work.

But there’s more to it than that. Setting your team up for success – especially in hybrid settings – comes down to the emotional, intellectual, and physical ways you support them. And it’s not as complicated as it may seem—the simplest things can create a positive work environment and leave employees feeling like more than just salaried workhorses, but valued members of the organization.

1. Remember Everyone Is Human

Human beings are inherently flawed – they are not machines or resources for your company. Accept some level of mistakes and oversights, or risk feeling constantly frustrated at the work produced, even if everyone is genuinely trying their best. Make sure you allow some flexibility and work/life balance for your employees to avoid them resenting their work. A level of respect back and forth is key to a pleasant office environment.

2. Recognise and Draw Attention to Achievements

People will be less likely to want to work hard if their achievements are not celebrated. If the only time attention is drawn to somebody’s work is when it’s negative, people won’t see any motivation to give something their all. Make sure you notice hard work – and let people know their efforts are not in vain.

3. Don’t Micromanage

Giving employees some level of independence is hugely important. It will make them feel trusted to do a good job, rather than unimportant and like their views don’t matter. In turn, this will allow creativity to flourish. When empowered in this way, employees are likely to work both harder and smarter.

4. Avoid Scare Tactics

An environment of fear is one of the worst places to work productively and positively. Try to instill in employees that mistakes are just opportunities and that taking risks should not be frightening. The ability to try and fail without fear will undoubtedly result in some surprising and innovative successes.

5. Be a Mentor

If you aren’t micromanaging and are allowing your employees more freedom with their work, you’ll likely have more time on your hands, too. Use this time both to innovate new ideas, and act as a coach to your employees. Offer your expertise and advice without over-asserting authority, and instill confidence in your team.

6. Invest in Training

One of the best uses for the company budget is in training. Workplace success depends on individual employee success, and the best way to allow employees to flourish is by giving them what they need in a consistent way.

7. Check in with Employees

If you’re feeling unsure about the workplace environment, you can always ask. Reviewing what employees think and working on things around them will keep them both happy and productive. Feeling like your opinions matter and issues will be taken into account is key to feeling positive about your work environment.

Why is it Important to Foster Workplace Culture?

Businesses with an organizational culture tend to be more successful than less structured companies because they have systems in place that promote employee performance, productivity and engagement. Having a strong company culture motivates everyone to do their best work.

Here are eight reasons why organizational culture is important:

1. Increased employee engagement

A work environment that possesses organizational culture is driven by purpose and clear expectations. This motivates and inspires employees to be more engaged in their work duties and interactions with others. It also leads to high levels of workforce engagement, which drives productivity. Having a strong connection to an organization and its people creates an atmosphere of positivity that is hard to ignore.

2. Decreased turnover

People who feel valued and respected at a company are less likely to leave it. That’s why it’s essential for brands to foster a winning organizational culture that supports their core values and mission statement. Happy employees mean less turnover, which saves companies time and money in the hiring process. Companies that achieve a strong culture must take steps to maintain and improve it.

3. Elevated productivity

When employees have the resources and tools they need to succeed, it helps increase productivity and performance levels overall. Organizational culture impacts the structure of a workplace in ways that bring people of the same skill set together. Those who share similar backgrounds and skills may work more quickly together when tackling company projects.

4. Strong brand identity

A company’s organizational culture represents its public image and reputation. People make assumptions about businesses based on their interactions within and outside of the company. If it lacks organizational culture or has a weak image, customers may hesitate to do business with anyone who is associated with the brand.

Businesses with a strong brand identity tend to attract more business and job candidates with similar values who support their mission.

5. Transformational power

Not all businesses have the power to transform ordinary employees into total brand advocates, but those with a strong organizational culture do. Companies that recognize their employees’ efforts and celebrate team successes are more likely to notice a change in employees as they experience a sense of accomplishment.

6. Top performers

Companies that promote community in the workplace are more likely to retain their best employees. People who are great at their jobs and know the value of their skills commonly leave negative work environments where they feel undermined and unappreciated. Organizational culture builds a high-performance culture that strengthens the work of people within the company, resulting in a positive employee experience overall.

7. Effective onboarding

More and more, businesses with an organizational culture are relying on effective onboarding practices to train new hires. Onboarding practices that include orientation, training and performance management programs help new employees access the right resources and better transition into their roles.

This promotes employee longevity and loyalty and reduces the amount of frustration some employees experience when they don’t have the information needed to do their job well. Onboarding is a great way for companies to ensure new hires understand the core values of their business.

8. Healthy team environment

Organizational culture helps improve workflows and guides the decision-making process. It also helps teams overcome barriers of ambiguity. Team members who are informed and knowledgeable about certain processes are often more motivated to finish projects. Having a clear culture that unifies employees and promotes organized work structures helps people work together with purpose.

How can Organizations Foster a Growth Mindset?

While a manager’s impact is typically limited to their team, it’s the leader who sets the tone for the entire organization. They need to take initiative to promote a growth mindset in the workplace. The idea that effort, hard work, learning and growth is valued more than talent shouldn’t be communicated only through speech, it should be demonstrated in their action.   

Apply these 3 strategies to promote growth mindset in the workplace as a leader:

1. Create learning opportunities

Launch programs where people can learn new skills. A leader of a technology department shouldn’t focus only on their people’s technical skills, but create opportunities for employees to build other skills that are also necessary for their growth. Communication, collaboration, conflict management, decision making, risk analysis, estimation, strategic planning and prioritization are equally important to have a successful career.  

Encourage cross-domain learning by enabling people to interact with others outside their department. E.g. people in technology to interact with marketing and design. It not only builds better relationships at work, but also leads to better problem-solving. Cross-domain thinking can be extremely powerful to recombine ideas from multiple disciplines and solve problems. 

People who have adopted cross-domain thinking have revolutionized industries. Charles Babbage’s invention of computational machines powered by punch cards was inspired by his knowledge of the silk-weaving industry, which used cards with holes to create patterns in the silk fabric.

Henry Ford’s idea of the car manufacturing assembly line was inspired by Singer sewing machines and meat-packing plants. Claude Shannon combined telephone call-routing technology with his knowledge of boolean algebra to encode and transmit information electronically. 

David Epstein wrote about how generalists triumph in a specialized world in Range “Increasing specialization has created a system of parallel trenches in the quest for innovation. Everyone is digging deeper into their own trench and rarely standing up to look in the next trench over, even though the solution to their problem happens to reside there…Modern life requires range, making connections across far-flung domains and ideas…Our greatest strength is the exact opposite of narrow specialization. It is the ability to integrate broadly.”

2. Message it right

When looking to hire people, don’t talk about hiring the best and the brightest, talk about opportunities to grow, develop and learn. Don’t tolerate toxic behavior even if it comes from your most valuable employee. Set the right example for everyone by helping the person correct their behavior or letting them go if they refuse to change. 

Don’t reward people for their exemplary performance, reward them for their hard work, their strategies, their ability to tackle challenges and for their perseverance. Use language that communicates a growth mindset message “we value learning and growth over talent and success.”

Celebrate failures with the desire to learn from them – actively kill ideas that don’t really matter, host idea funerals to create a safe space for people to learn from their failures, change KPIs to reward risks. These are just a few ways to promote the growth mindset in the organization. 

3. Overcome groupthink  

A fixed mindset leads to groupthink, a tendency to conform to ideas and beliefs with conservative thinking, ignoring potential signs of failure, and making decisions with incomplete and biased information. When such behavior becomes part of an organization’s culture, it gives rise to collective blindness to unethical ways, regressive thinking that ignores the future demands of business, and a propensity to ignore truth especially if it requires taking a hard stance.  

Carol Dweck writes in Mindset “There are so many ways the fixed mindset creates groupthink. Leaders are seen as gods who never err. A group invests itself with special talents and powers. Leaders, to bolster their ego, suppress dissent. Or workers, seeking validation from leaders, fall into line behind them.

That’s why it’s critical to be in a growth mindset when important decisions are made. By relieving people of the illusions or the burdens of fixed ability—leads to a full and open discussion of the information and to enhanced decision making.” 

What can leaders do to avoid groupthink and promote a growth mindset? She writes “Create ways to foster alternative views and constructive criticism. Assign people to play the devil’s advocate, taking opposing viewpoints so you can see the holes in your position. Get people to wage debates that argue different sides of the issue. Have an anonymous suggestion box that employees must contribute to as part of the decision-making process. Remember, people can be independent thinkers and team players at the same time. Help them fill both roles.” 

What are the 4 Growth Strategies?

Your business will never increase in value without growth. But business growth does not happen accidentally; it’s the result of strategic initiatives. There are four basic growth strategies you can employ to expand your business: market penetration, product development, market expansion and diversification.

Market Penetration

Growth through market penetration does not involve moving into new markets or creating new products; it’s an attempt to increase market share using your current products or services. Carry out this strategy by lowering the price of a product or service, or by increasing marketing efforts to lure customers away from competitors.

Product Development

Product development means creating new products to serve the same market. For example, a company that produces ice cream for institutional buyers expands its line to include gelato and sorbet. The company can sell these new products to existing customers and grow its business without tapping new markets.

Market Development

Market development involves introducing your products or services to new markets. You may want to enter a new city, state, or even country. Or you can target a market segment. For instance, a bakery that produces bread for the consumer market could enter into the commercial market by baking bread for restaurants and retailers.

Diversification

Diversification is the most radical form of growth. It involves creating a totally new product for a completely new market. This is the riskiest growth strategy because it’s the most uncertain. Failure is a distinct possibility, although the potential of a high payoff may be worth the risk for companies with sufficient financial means.

How do you Attract Customers?

It’s pretty obvious that without customers, you don’t have a business. But attracting new customers doesn’t happen automatically. You have to find ways to reach them, draw them in, and keep them coming back for more. Your business needs a marketing plan that addresses how to attract customers and increase sales.

A “marketing plan” can sound a little intimidating, but don’t worry! The good news is you don’t need a team of MBAs to bring in new customers. These affordable, easy-to-implement strategies will help you build a marketing plan that works for your business.

Offer Incentives to Get New Customers

Sometimes a potential new customer needs a gentle nudge to move from the consideration phase of the decision-making process to purchase your product or service. Incentives such as a coupon, a free trial period or bonus item, or entry into a contest for, say, a pair of concert tickets are a few ways businesses can move the conversion needle. 

“Incentives are a good way for many companies to get people through the door, providing they can absorb the cost of a discount or providing a trial,” Walker says. 

Incentives are also a smart way to keep the customers you’ve worked so hard to attract. Consider setting up a loyalty program and encourage them to refer your business to others. A combination approach may also be effective – one that rewards customers for referrals made.

“We re-engage our existing customers, asking them, ‘If you refer someone to us, they’ll get 10% off and then you’ll get 10% off your next order, too,” says Wes Dean, director of e-commerce sales at PFL, a direct mail marketer based in Livingston, Montana.

Follow Up With Former Customers

Customers may stop buying from a company for any number of reasons – their needs have changed, prices are better elsewhere, getting through to customer service was a nightmare, or they had one too many frustrating website experiences, to name a few possibilities. Nevertheless, hang on to their contact information and use a situation like a 50% off sale, new product features, or website enhancements as a reason to re-engage.

Another idea: Reach out to former employees who have since moved on to another company. “We stay in touch with those people to see if there’s an opportunity to engage them at their new company,” Walker says. 

Update Your Online Presence to Keep Prospects Engaged

Studies show first impressions are formed in a matter of seconds. That’s why it’s imperative to put your best digital face forward, be it your website, your marketplace page, social media, or anywhere else online. 

“Within the past year, we did a complete facelift of our website, which was put up in the early 2000s,” PFL’s Dean says. “There was really too much information on there. We wanted to bring it into the new digital age.”

Among the possible updates, you may wish to redesign your site, refresh web pages and content, enhance page-loading speed, simplify the checkout process, and add new features that make it easy for potential customers to get in touch.

“People are coming to your website, and if you don’t have a way of engaging with them, you are missing out,” Walker says. “All the work you’re doing to drive traffic does little if you’re not able to immediately engage with someone on your site. There are many types of chat widgets available, but everything should lead to a live conversation.”

Talk to Your Customers

“It is still a premium to be able to talk to someone on the phone,” says Dean. “The conversion rate is so much better because it’s a person-to-person interaction – even in the digital age – and we can demonstrate how we can help them.”

At Botsplash, cold-calling is a dominant tactic for getting new customers, though plenty of initial research happens first to determine the right people to contact, Walker says. “We have to work on finding decision-makers and then tell them a compelling story of how we can help,” he explains. “We usually start on LinkedIn to identify companies and then employees and roles.”

Barkville’s Haber understands the power of conversation, too. “I’ll have six dogs hooked up to me, we’ll be walking, and people will come up to me and ask how I do it,” she says. “That’s how I get clients.” 

Haber even chats with the doorpersons she passes along her dog-walking routes each day. “I give them my cards to pass along to dog owners in their buildings,” she adds. 

Leverage Social Media

Don’t let Haber’s feet-on-the-street approach fool you: She has also amassed an impressive number of followers – 1,630 and counting – on Instagram, where she posts photos, videos, and detailed descriptions of her training methods and experiences to attract new customers. Haber is strategic about which hashtags she uses, explaining that she’s “not looking for numbers” but instead “quality organic engagement.”

“I’ve also made great friends with influencers, who will share my educational content,” she adds. “Then suddenly I’m getting their followers onto my page.”

As a B2B company, Botsplash leans heavily on LinkedIn to attract new customers, Walker says. “We have a schedule where we’ll post regularly, around five days a week from the company, and we’ll also post personally,” he says. “We post content on the website first, and then we’ll post links to it from LinkedIn, as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.”

Share Your Expertise

Walker is also alluding to content marketing, which focuses on “creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action,” as defined by the Content Marketing Institute.

Content marketing takes many forms, including company blogs and articles, videos and webinars, white papers and reports, infographics, podcasts, and newsletters. 

“We’ve been posting 90-second weekly videos on YouTube and then link to our social media platforms to promote them,” Walker says. The clips include a mix of high-level, industry-focused videos aimed at prospects, videos about the company’s communication platform, and general-interest videos, such as how to attract new business on LinkedIn, he says.

But no matter the type of content marketing, “It’s important to stay on schedule,” Walker advises. “Consistency is really key as we try and build our own awareness.”

Optimize for Search

To make the most of your content marketing strategy, experts advise pairing it with search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to ensure the major search engines “see” your content and, optimally, present it at or near the top of a potential customer’s search results page.

Techniques include incorporating relevant keywords – the words your target customers most frequently use in their searches – throughout your content, linking to other content on your website, and, behind the scenes, using meta titles and descriptions. A variety of SEO tools exist to help guide how you select and compete on keywords.

Another way to improve your search engine visibility is to set up a free Google Business Profile, advises Howard Isaacs, marketing director and reputation manager at Las Vegas-based Superstar Auto Group. That way your business location will appear on Google Maps and in local search results, along with essential information about your business. You can also post content and images to your listing. But don’t set it and forget it. 

“Google rewards those who frequently update their pages, especially if you include videos and images,” Isaacs says. 

In addition to Google, consider how your brand shows up on other search engines, such as Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Yahoo.

Attend In-Person Events to Identify New Customers

Whether it’s an industry conference, a local Chamber of Commerce or city council meeting, or a business Meetup gathering, in-person events provide an unparalleled opportunity for small businesses to meet potential new customers. Bonus points if you can be part of a panel, lead a seminar, or sponsor a booth if your budget permits.

With larger events, merely being on-site can be beneficial – and a cost-effective way to meet prospects. “You can find out when the events are and just be in the hotel when they happen. You can camp out in a coffee shop or in the lobby,” Walker says. “You want opportunities to be where your customers, and potential customers, are. Go where you can see the most people at the least amount of financial investment.” 

Philanthropic and charity events are another avenue for meeting prospects, providing they align with your company’s and customers’ values, Walker notes. You may even consider hosting your event, such as a wine and cheese party celebrating your store’s grand opening.

Partner With Complementary Businesses 

Consider working with a company whose offerings and customer base are related to yours as a means of drumming up new business. For example, an independent computer reseller could pair up with a few local IT technicians, who refer their clients when they need new hardware. Likewise, the reseller would refer clients to the technicians when they’re in need of IT support. 

Read Also: How to Reach Out to New Customers

“When we’re looking at partnerships, we’re looking at whether their software complements what we do but is not in competition, and whether it can benefit our mutual clients,” Walker says. 

Barkville’s Haber actually embraces her competition. “I refer people out to other trainers and get referrals back,” she says. “In reality, there are thousands of dogs that need help all the time. If I can make relationships with other trainers, they’re more inclined to pass on clients, and I am as well.”

Lean on Testimonials and Online Reviews

The best way to show prospects what you can do for them is by letting your customers speak on your behalf in testimonials you can post online, says PFL’s Dean. Online reviews can also be persuasive: A March 2021 survey conducted by Bizrate Insights of more than 1,200 online shoppers found the majority (32.1%) cited review scores or ratings as the most important factor in their decision to purchase. 

Be sure to monitor the sites that may contain reviews about your company – and respond professionally, Superstar Auto Group’s Isaacs advises. 

“I answer daily, thanking people for their business or apologizing for, say, a poor service experience and ask them give us another chance,” he says. “Then someone from the service desk may call with a discount.”

Utilize Advertising Methods to Attract New Customers

Last but certainly not least is the centuries-old discipline known as advertising. Depending on your budget, advertising – whether digital, such as display, search, and social media advertising, or traditional, such as direct mail, TV, radio, and billboards – remains a tried-and-true way to generate brand awareness and attract new customers. 

If you’re like PFL’s Dean, you may even combine the two formats.

“We’ll get a list of leads and send them a printed postcard with a QR code,” he explains. “The [recipients] who scan it are brought to PFL website. The QR codes are specific to each person, so we can track how many people scanned it, and by geographic area, and then work that list down.”