Developing your ‘North Star’
“Character may be manifested in great moments, but it is made in the small ones.”
One of the biggest things I’ve been working on as part of CK Collective is what I call, ‘The North Star.’ A North Start by definition is: A star positioned along the line in space that includes the axis (see also axis) of rotation of the Earth. For this reason, the star does not appear to move in the sky, but remains fixed above the North Pole.
But, in business, it can literally just refer (or mean to ask); where are you going?
A North Star is a simply, yet common way to align an agency or businesses goals. It is often a series of questions, comments, and concerns designed to get at the core of your own issue as a business and align your team members on common answers.
Things such as:
Who
What
When
Where
How
Often times, an agency or a business can get so mired down in the bog of the day-to-day menial tasks that employees, or even owners themselves can often lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel. I remember starting my own business a few years back and where I ended up was completely different than what I thought I had set out to do. So, at that point, when I realized it, I sold my share of the business to my partner and I left.
Why did I do that? Because I lost sight of the vision at the end of my tunnel. I lost my ‘Why,.’ I lost my purpose, and now that I’ve founded another business (focused on new business), I’m in the process of helping a great number of my clients figure out and maintain their, ‘Why', in both their personal and professional lives, which I firmly believe are completely connected.
Anyway, as ancient cartographer’s used to use Polaris as their ‘North Star’ to map and chart courses across the seas, it is my full intention to bring businesses to find their own Polaris - their own ultimate goal of where they wish to be 6 months, 1 year, 3 years and 5 years down the road. That is because, when you know what you are aiming for, you are much more likely to hit it. You can have the fastest car in the world, but if you don’t know where you’re going - what’s the point?
That is why I developed a list of questions that YOU (yes, you) and all of your team members can copy, and write the answers to in a separate document. If you are looking to develop your, ‘North Star,’ then use this document to compare your answers, find out what is aligned, and what you must reconcile with your team on. I find this exercise to be vastly efficient and great for teams to work on together.
Finding your North Star
Feel free to copy and add into your own sheet. For more questions, send me an email and we can talk about this directly. Just write down the first thing that comes to mind. Try to only keep it to a few short words, no more than 1-2 sentences each.
North Star Questionnaire
Who are we?
What do we do?
Why do we do it?
Where do we do it?
Who do we do it for?
When do we do it?
How do we do it?
What verticals do we work in?
Where do you want to break in?
Where have we had trouble?
What over verticals do we want to tap into?
What do we have to outsource vs. what can we handle internally?
Where are we beating our competitors?
Where are we losing?
What makes us different?
What is our value proposition?
What sales territories do we have?
Where are we getting the most work?
Where are we producing the most work?
Who is funneling us the most work?
Who are we partnering with?
Where do we want to break in geographically?
How are we impacting business?
How are we making them feel?
What leads are we getting from an inbound perspective?
How much outbound are we getting?
Do we have a content or paid strategy? If so, what is it?
How consistent is our social media - and what is it doing for us?
What are we offering in our posts?
What clients are calling or emailing us?
What clients are we calling?
How are we leveraging thought-leadership or our executives?
Are we doing any interviews, panels, podcasts, awards or more?
What does our YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn & Medium pages look like?
What does our funnel process look like?
How do we show value and expertise? Case studies etc.?
What makes us different from our competitors?
How do we qualify leads? What does the process look like?
What questions do we ask during the ‘Qualifying’ phase?
What are we looking for?
What traps do we fall into? Do we get catfished? How do we avoid this?
How do we tackle inbound and outbound opportunities? How does the process differ?
CRM or master sheet?
Do we leverage previous clients, testimonials, or have any hang-ups with prospecting future clients?
Where do we want to look for leads? I.E. LinkedIn, trade materials or publications, other sources?
How do we do a capabilities walkthrough?
What technologies do we prefer? Phone, in-person, email?
What does the entire process look like?
Client/prospect examination?
Partner examination?
What questions do we ask partners or prospects (always)?
Outreach templates - do we have them? Should we build them?
How do you paraphrase yourself to prospective clients? What keywords would you most like to be associated with?
Overall strategy - where do you want to allocate the most time to? Phone, emails, LinkedIn, social media?
Housekeeping - where do you want this data (leads) stored?
What questions are you most often asked by clients, partners and prospects?
What does your dream client look like?
Do we want more retainer work, or project-to-project?
What does the ideal client scenario look like to you?
Where do you envision your company a year from now?
What kind of work do you want to be doing in the next 6 months to one year?
How do you want leads and opportunities coming in?
How are you currently prospecting or creating new opportunities for repeat or referral business?
Lastly…..I encourage all of you to watch this video if you haven’t seen it before. Even if you have….watch this video. It will be profound and you will be inspired to answer the sales manifest from above.
Let’s work together and do some business coaching.
Shoot me an email: info@ckcollective.co
Cheers,
~ Cam