Last week I checked in on those New Year’s Resolutions that I had made with such great intention almost a month ago.…

• Drink a smoothie every day – FAILED
• Start a compost bin – FAILED
• Set up a budget and savings plan – FAILED
• Start doing yoga – FAILED
• Read a novel – FAILED
• Grow my own vegies – FAILED
• Own chickens – FAILED
• Send actual birthday cards to my friends – FAILED

Ok, so not a great result …. absolutely nothing had been achieved. How depressing.

But there is good news! According to the many articles about ‘achieving goals’ and ‘getting organised’ that have entered my inbox this year, one of the key reasons we fail to achieve the goals we set is because we put too many things on the list.  

A long list is overwhelming.  We don’t know where to start, so we don’t start anything at all.

So the advice is to have a list of one.  Choose just one thing to focus on, and when that one thing has been achieved and we are happy that it is now part of our life, move onto the next thing.

I thought this was really good advice for New Year’s Marketing Resolutions too.  At BrandHook, we know there are 7 key areas that businesses should focus on to truly understand how to better deliver what their customers need. We call this practice ‘Closing the Gap’. It includes;

1. Bring the customer voice to the decision making table
2. Understand the customer experience in the digital, complex & non-linear world
3. Make dealing with your brand an effortless and responsive experience
4. Tell your brand story and demonstrate what you stand for
5. Collaborate with key customer groups to fill NPD pipelines
6. Understand competitors
7. Measure marketing ROI within the customer experience

But this list can be a bit overwhelming to work on all at once.  So let’s pick one area of focus to start…and make it part of our day to day business:

1. Bring the customer voice to the decision making table – Start talking to your customers…often and regularly. In the store, online, in cafes, on the train… wherever they are.

When you have a decision to make, run it past your customers and get them involved.  Make this common practice.  You will be filled with confidence that the direction you are heading in with any decision (be it big or small) is anchored in what you know your customers actually want.  Because they have told you and you were there to listen.

Then, after knocking number 1 off the list, moving onto the next item will feel very natural and easy. When you are already regularly talking with your customers then the conversation about how they operate in the digital world will evolve naturally.

Look at that …. And we are at item 2 on the list already. One step at a time and anything is achievable.

As for me and my personal goals … well, I started with the smoothies …and after day 5, I realised I was throwing out an abundance of peels and cores …. So I started a compost bin.  Ah ha … I am at item number 2 of my list too. Success!!