BY TIFFINY FLAIM
Recently, I attended a business seminar at which the speaker introduced something called the "Success Triangle." What appeared to be a simple exercise to increase business success has profoundly reframed the way I think and now operate my business. I believe it can work for your business as well.
As an owner/operator in the spray foam industry, it’s not unusual for you to wear multiple hats. You form relationships with customers, supervise employees, work with vendors, oversee daily operations, review financials, perform long-term planning and much, much more. You bring your own skill sets to all these tasks but admittedly, some may be stronger than others. The Success Triangle works to improve all of them.
Utilizing the Success Triangle diagram, begin by rating yourself on a scale of 1-10 regarding your work, sales and technical knowledge. For example, you may have an abundance of technical knowledge about your product and the business. In fact, you might be so well-informed on the topic that you could write a book about the spray foam industry, detailing every technical aspect of the products and their benefits. As such, on a scale of 1-10, you might rate yourself a 10.
"The Success Triangle is simply a tool to help you assess where you need assistance and which skills you need to grow. It can greatly impact your business, helping you improve all your skills, rather than just continuing to focus on those areas at which you excel."
Next, consider your record in sales. While your technical knowledge is vast and you could sit with a customer all day long explaining how spray foam works, your strength might not lie in actually closing the sale. If that’s the case, you might then give yourself a 4 on the sales side of the triangle.
Finally, when it comes to getting your work done, there’s no doubt you put in the hours and meet your deadlines. But perhaps your organizational skills are lacking, and your productivity suffers because of it. You might then rate your work skills at a 6.
Now that you’ve rated yourself on the Success Triangle, connect the dots. If you’re stronger in some areas than others, you’ll note that you’ve drawn a lopsided triangle inside the larger triangle. This demonstrates where your weaknesses lie.
To be successful in this industry and improve profitability, it’s critical to be a well-rounded professional, strong in each of these areas. How might you achieve that?
If you’re a person whose strength lies in technical knowledge, but you are lacking sales skills, you may not be terribly excited to attend a seminar on improving sales. And who can blame you? It’s human nature to gravitate toward the areas to which we’re most attracted. However, if you attend a sales seminar rather than a tech seminar, it won’t diminish your strengths, but it will strengthen your weaknesses.
The Success Triangle is simply a tool to help you assess where you need assistance and which skills you need to grow. It can greatly impact your business, helping you improve all your skills, rather than just continuing to focus on those areas at which you excel. As a result, you’ll achieve balance and your business will become even more profitable.
Sometimes, the simplest things can elicit the most profound change.
Tiffiny Flaim, BIOFOAM SPFA President