I heard an interesting comment recently. One I COMPLETELY disagree with.

The comment was from someone who said they didn't like to put structure and systems into their business because it stifled spontaneity.

And that since we lived in a “dynamic and ever changing world” our client's environment and organisations apparently change daily and so being structured ties us down too much and stops us responding dynamically.

Bobbins.

Those are the words of someone who's ill-disciplined and is looking for excuses.

Now I'm pretty ill-disciplined myself, but at least I recognise it and am trying to do something about it.

We may live in a dynamic world, but our clients don't change everything in their business on a daily basis.

Establishing basic disciplines like devoting the first hour a day to marketing, making at least 5 “keep in touch” calls a week to old contacts, or making notes on all sales meetings and tracking follow-up; none of that interferes with responding quickly to changes in the business world.

And establishing systems and having discipline frees you up to be creative and spontaneous where it's valuable. It doesn't stifle you.

I've developed some simple checklists of steps to take triggered by key events in my business. Stuff like taking on new clients, finishing a client engagement, or follow-up after a sales meeting.

Every time one of those events happens I simply follow my list of steps and I know I'm going to do a decent job at that critical point.

So, for example, every new client gets a welcome letter, details of our commercial arrangement, an invoice before we start, and they get tagged on my system for client follow-up.

Because I've written those steps down I don't have to invest brainpower in recreating them every time I get a new client. So I can focus my energy on coming up with extra new stuff that will make a difference.

That's where your spontaneity and creativity are best funnelled. Into really adding value, not reinventing the wheel on the basics.

All it takes is to write down what the critical tasks you have to perform are for key events like new clients or sales meetings. Then make sure you do them consistently every time.

Simple stuff. But powerful.

Have you done it yet?