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3. Stop solving problems you don’t have yet. Early on, we’d get one or two similar but minor complaints, and we would add a double-check for every customer going forward. Sometimes, it was a training issue or customer preference. Sometimes, it was just a one-off problem we’d never see again, but all of a sudden, those issues turned into a permanent process change. Then another. Then another. Eventually, we had this ballooning checklist of never- ending double-checks for issues that were rarely or never repeated. We were building elaborate systems for one-off problems while sometimes ignoring the issues hitting us in the face every day. Not our best for sure. Real problems show up screaming multiple people affected, consistent patterns, and measurable impact. One- off problems whisper. When we finally focused on solving the pain we could actually measure, rather than hypothetical scenarios, the business drastically improved. The lesson: Focus ruthlessly on urgent problems, schedule time for important but not urgent issues, not catastrophes that exist only in someone’s head. 4. 68% leave because they feel forgotten. Here’s a stat that should scare you: A study by the Rockefeller Corporation found that 68% of customers who leave a business do so because they feel the company doesn’t care about them. Not price. Not product. They just felt forgotten. Early on, before I started Newsletter Pro, I made the same mistake most business owners make. I’d close a deal, deliver solid work, then immediately chase the next sale. I figured good customers would stick around and remember me when they needed us again. Wrong. The brutal reality is this: If you’re not consistently in front of your customers, they forget you exist. And when they forget you, they’re
Those five days brought the entire project to a standstill. My team was ready to move. But because I inserted myself into a decision I didn’t need to own, I became the problem. Teams with high autonomy are 26% more productive than those with low autonomy, but I’d still convince myself I needed to be involved. The shift happened when I started asking one question before touching anything: “Am I the only person who can do this?” If the answer is no, I step back. I set clear outcomes, let my team own the “how,” and only check in at agreed milestones. When I stopped being involved in every decision, the company grew faster with far less stress.
The lesson: If you’re in every decision, you’re also in the way.
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“I told my assistant that if we ever have to cut costs, Newsletter Pro should be the last thing to go. People love the newsletter so much that we would have an outright rebellion on our hands
if we stopped sending it.” –Geneva P, Promise Law
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