The Lifeblood of Your Business

A wise florist once said, "Nothing happens until somebody smells something." The lifeblood of a business is where it all begins, the true source of the company's progress (or failure). In a recent online post, I suggested that the lifeblood of a business is not profit, customer loyalty, cash flow, or even its employees.

By any other name, it would still smell as sweet.

A company's lifeblood is its ability to attract customers, through effective marketing and sales strategies. Without a clear vision of who you are, what you do, and who you do it for, your business will never be able to create results. And really, that's what profit, loyalty, and cash flow are to a business: the results of effective strategies, from an efficiently run business.

The lifeblood of a business is where it all starts - without it, there is no business -and that is marketing and sales. To extend the metaphor, if the blood is healthy, the organism (organization) thrives. To be sure, an organization requires many parts to make a whole, and it would be foolish to minimize one part over the other (is the hand more important than the kidney? Kneecap vs. intestine - who would win, in a cage match? Likewise, finance vs. engineering, marketing vs. customer service. Although, come to think of it, Iron Man vs. Spiderman has often crossed my mind...that would be interesting...)

This guy would win and you know it.

All parts of the team must work together to create a meaningful result. But it all starts with attracting customers. Attraction is the lifeblood of the business.

To deliver results in terms of cash flow, loyalty, and profit, it all starts with reaching out to the customer. It doesn't matter whether you are a Fortune 500 company, or a one-man-band. If your customers don't stop and smell your roses, all the other stuff will never follow.