Consistency is key to exceptional business results
The key to exceptional business results is consistency. If you do nothing else, be consistent. Consistency doesn’t mean being the best at something or providing the highest quality, it means providing predictable, reliable results to the customer or client every time you do business with them. Consistency creates the reputation that your business will be built on. Without consistency, you will constantly be learning from mistakes that you cannot afford to make and customers will leave you without giving you any indication as to why.
Consistency is what franchises are built around. McDonalds pioneered and embodies this idea. When you walk into a McDonalds anywhere in the world, you know exactly what you are going to get when you order a quarter pounder, right down to the exact ingredients, quantities, and order of toppings.
Implementation process:
- Focus on what's important (as opposed to what's urgent).
- Clearly identify the elements that make up consistency in your business. i.e. quality of the fries, service times, etc.
- Develop procedures that will give you consistent results i.e. create processes, protocols and standards.
- Have specific, measurable goals and communicate them to your entire team. For example, reduce defects below 1%.
- Make quality hiring a priority, and hold employees accountable.
"You’d be stupid not to try to cut your tax bill and those that don’t are stupid in business"
- Bono: U2