Answer: If you knew, it wouldn't be a blind spot.

Accelerate the performance of your business in 2008. Find your blind spot and fix it.

There are 7 common blind spots with 4 common causes.

The most common blind spots have to do with…

1. customer profiling.

What traits do your customers have in common other than the fact they all buy from you? Are you seeing your customers as they really are, or are you seeing them as you wish them to be? False profiling leads to expensive mistakes.

2. reputation.

Consider the people who don’t buy from you. Are they buying elsewhere because they haven’t heard about your company, or is it because they have? I’ve never met a business owner willing to believe their company had a bad reputation.

3. relevance.

Most “unique selling propositions” are irrelevant to the customer. Are your ads answering questions no one was asking?

4. location.

Yesterday’s right location is tomorrow’s wrong one. Has the future arrived and left you behind in a weird part of town? Or did you fall into the happy trap of cheap rent only to find yourself invisible?

5. staff.

How consistently is your staff delivering the experience you’ve crafted for your customer? The fact that your staff is perky and happy doesn’t always mean they’re doing their jobs. Have you been confusing attitude with performance? Are you one of those big-hearted bosses who will excuse incompetence as long as the employee seems loyal and sincere?

6. price credibility.

Do you know the prices of your competitors in your product or service category? Or do your customers know more than you? If you say to me, “I don’t worry about what the competition is doing, I just worry about what we’re doing,” I swear I’ll slap you.

7. media myths.

Are you anxious to find a more effective media? If so, you’ve got really bad ads. I’ve never seen a company fail because they were using the wrong media or reaching the wrong people. But I’ve seen thousands fail because they were saying the wrong things. A powerful message will produce results in any media.

The most common causes of blind spots are…

1. entitlement.

Do you believe your business deserves to grow each year simply because it’s had another birthday?

2. preference and denial.

Do you mistakenly believe that other peope think like you do? Are you so focused on your goals that you can’t see reality? Have you attended one-too-many positive thinking seminars? If so, you’re on dangerous ground, amigo. “Well, that can’t be true because, well, it just can’t.” Is this really your answer?

3. misinformation.

Do you usually believe what you’re told? A dinner companion says to you, “The food here is terrible. I’m never coming back.” But when the smiling manager arrives at the table and asks, “How was everything?” your companion replies, “It was great.” Are the people around you telling you what you want to hear? Are you part of a group of business friends who telephone each other for false reassurance?

4. risk aversion.

Did you work hard to “build up your business” and now you’re taking it easy a little, enjoying the fruits of your labor? Congratulations. That warm glow you’re feeling means you’re about to be toast. If you’re not acutely aware of your competitive environment, you’re coasting, losing momentum and in danger of being overtaken. You became a self-made man or woman because you took big chances when you had little to lose, right? But now that life is good, you abandoned this aggressive behavior and expect good things to happen because “you earned it.” Remember the tired old elephant whose butt you kicked to get where you are today? The new elephant is you.

Am I your enemy or your friend?

This was a dangerous memo for me to write because folks tend to be sensitive about their weaknesses. So if at any time you felt belittled, insulted or offended while reading this memo, there’s a pretty good chance we found your blind spot.

Still friends, right?

Yours,

Roy H. Williams