Why consistency is the key to being successful in business

There are lots of ways to be successful in business, and many other guides or mentors will emphasize adaptability and being willing to change. However, the opposite side of the coin is also valuable; in fact, being consistent is one of the keys to being successful in business. While you should still be adaptable, there are lots of reasons why you should emphasize consistency within your business practices as well.

CONSISTENCY IMPROVES PRODUCTIVITY

For starters, being consistent will improve your productivity. Consider the various strategies or processes you might use to manufacture goods, serve your customers, or otherwise carry out your business. If you settle on a strategy you think will work, your team will eventually become more efficient at that particular sequence of tasks.

A great example is a fast food restaurant adopting a single cooking and meal prep process for a cheeseburger. Maintaining that same consistent strategy will only result in that cheeseburger being cooked better and more quickly, servicing your customers more efficiently.

On the flip side, if you continually alter your strategy in the pursuit of even greater efficiency, or if you think that the current strategy isn’t working out so well, you’ll have to essentially restart your efficiency clock as everyone learns how to do things again.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t change your strategy if things aren’t working out. But you should give a chosen strategy enough time to be properly judged before shaking things up again.

CONSISTENCY HELPS YOU MEASURE YOUR STRATEGY’S SUCCESS

This is related to the above. You can only truly measure the success of a given strategy, process, or way of doing work/business if you give it enough time to actually produce results.

For instance, a manufacturing company that comes up with one way to make their products will only know if that production cycle is worthwhile after several complete cycles. Changing things up and completely altering the way a particular product is made after every new batch of units is a recipe for disaster.

Instead, you and your company should endeavor to fully try out a strategy or process before looking to change things. Even if initial results aren’t extremely promising, it may take some time for your employees or other aspects of your business to fully catch up with the game plan.

Sometimes great strategies take a little time to show their worth. But you’ll never know that if you aren’t consistent, at least in the short term.

CUSTOMERS LOVE CONSISTENCY

Another big benefit of consistency is that your customers will love it. Specifically, customers appreciate brand consistency and product consistency in equal measure.

Consider the infamous case of New Coke. Coca-Cola had been a stable soft drink for decades and hadn’t modified its primary formula in all that time. The resulting fan base that Coke took for granted loved the soft drink for what it was, not what it could become.

When Coke made the switch to a new version, completely altering the formula along the way, customers turned against the new soft drink entirely. The resulting debacle turned out huge losses for the Coca-Cola Company and cause them to switch back to the old formula as soon as they were able.

It’s a great example of why you shouldn’t change things just because. There should always be a reason to alter something in your business; otherwise, consistency is a much better strategy.

YOU BECOME KNOWN IN YOUR INDUSTRY

Furthermore, the more consistent your business is, the better you’ll become known in your industry. This may not seem like much of an advantage, but it can be very significant if your business relies on attracting new clientele frequently.

For instance, consider the position of a law firm. Such a firm always needs to be bringing on new clients in order to bring funding for partners, infrastructure, supplies, and so on. A firm that does things consistently (and, in turn, achieves consistent success) will be more likely to get new clients to approach them instead of having to go client hunting themselves.

Furthermore, consistency is somewhat translatable to integrity or honesty. While the two traits may not be related in reality, people believe that consistent businesses and individuals are better for doing business with. This is a matter of predictability – if your business is known for its consistency, people will be more willing to do business within your industry since they know what they’ll get.

YOU’LL USE RESOURCES MORE EFFICIENTLY

Another big bonus to being efficient is that you end up using resources more efficiently. This is true both when it comes to ordering raw materials and resources and actually using them for the production of your products or services.

Consider, for instance, a manufacturing hub or center that makes a particular type of product over and over. If they practice consistency in their manufacturing processes and business strategy, they’ll be able to order raw materials in bulk and at more affordable prices. Such an advantage will help the company’s bottom line.

Then, because the company practices consistency, they’ll be able to use those resources more efficiently one producing their products. This, in turn, saves the company more money, help the company turn out better products for their customers, and improves company reputation across the board.

EMPLOYEES EVENTUALLY BECOME EXPERTS

One last advantage to practicing consistency within your business relates to your employees. Over time, and as they practice the same procedures, employees can become experts within their fields or at your organization. This translates to better productivity for whatever you do and a lower employee turnover rate, as employees that feel comfortable with their job will be less likely to experience dissatisfaction.

For instance, employees that know how to work a kitchen like a well-oiled machine will enjoy being there every night and will be less likely to feel stressed out, even when far too many customers come to eat at their restaurant. The same cooks will also produce better food and become masters of the menu… so long as you keep the menu consistent, that is!