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We have all heard the expression – “Don’t Sweat the small stuff”. I would like to modify this to “do sweat the basic and simple stuff!”
This sounds slightly strange, but really what I am referring to is that if you do the simple stuff consistently, over and over again, you will not have to worry about almost anything else. This does go to the keeping things simple idea. Rather do fewer things, but do them well. The rest will take of itself.
In business the simple stuff means things giving good service at all times, good pricing for services and goods and doing what you say you will. There are many others, but it amounts to simple but powerful principles.
Most business owners will roll their eyes at this point. Most people will say “yes I know that”. “This is basic stuff”. The problem is do you do these simple things? Do you do them consistently every day too? Are these simple things so intertwined in your business, that they form the core of your business? Is your business known for doing something well or is it known for performing in a certain manner that makes it stand out?
Is everyone who does work for you or comes into contact with your business aware that you will not compromise on these underlying principles in your dealings with them? Your customers or clients have high expectations of you and you have high expectations of all those that you bring onboard to assist you in delivery.
So sweating the simple stuff until it becomes something that is natural for you and your business is really the answer to building a successful business.
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We all have to deal with companies and corporations in some way or another. As consumers, by the products we buy and use. In our business lives we are in touch with other businesses constantly for our supplies, our inventory, our customers and clients. We all have seen good and bad businesses through our interaction with them. We have all heard horror stories about bad service and bad products. The bad ones really stand out.
As a small business owner, you should always have your eyes and ears open to determine just how other businesses operate and perform. You should be always taking notes if you come across something that impresses you or something that you dislike about a company. This could be anything from service levels to a product or to the customer service.
Naturally the things that you dislike you would want to avoid and those that impress you may want to think about incorporating into your business. There is an old expression that “standing on the shoulders of giants one can see even further”. This is the very essence of this article.
Determine who is a leader in their field, and try to determine what makes them great. Now evaluate whether you can utilize these same qualities or similar methods and procedures to lift your own business to its next level. By the same token determine what qualities are found in the bottom rung of their field, and try consciously to avoid these in your own business or do your best to eradicate them from your business.
High standards of performance are achieved through careful and consistent monitoring of the actions that you and your company does every day. None of the leaders in their field got to the top without a culture of constant improvement. Toyota has used this principle to tremendous effect, unlike the North American vehicle brands.
Study what made the best great and utilize these lessons in improving your business.
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For more articles concerning business interests , review my blog Archives as well as consulting my other published Ezine Articles
Tags: Small Business
Managing your client’s expectations is one of the fundamental ways to having happy, and satisfied clients or customers. For the purposes of this article, I am going to use clients and customers interchangeably. What I have to say applies to both in equal measure.
Manage expectations assumes that your client has some to begin with. An agreement to perform some job of work was entered into between the client and your small business. In agreeing to do the work, there was some deliverable that would have to be delivered by some date or at some date in the future.
So far the client has already got some expectations as what is to be delivered and when it should be delivered. Other items such as the quality of the goods or service produced by your client must have been discussed too, as well as the conduct of you or any other persons representing your business while producing this service or product for the client. There once again are another bunch of expectations that the client has of you.
So the client has a picture of what they expect of you and your business. Your task is to ensure that this picture is painted as close as the client has in his or her mind. Not easy to read anyone’s mind. The answer has always been to write these expectations down, that both parties agree with. Depending on the work being performed, this may take the form of a formalized contract or a detailed order form. Whatever the format, the signoff by the client and a representative of your business is required. Also copies of this written agreement and any other subsequent agreements should be given to all parties. This will ensure that if there are any issues, the agreement can be referred to and the matter settled easily.
So now, all you have to do is deliver on these expectations. That means price, quality and time elements must be met and in a manner that is pleasant and causes the client the minimum of bother. If these are hiccups from either party such as an expansion of the scope of the work or the non delivery of certain materials, then these should be discussed. Any changes to these expectations should be noted and signed off too. All parties should be “on the same page” at all times. This ensures that expectations of all parties are fully understood.
This sound pretty easy, however it is amazing how these very simple steps are just forgotten in the heat of the moment. Some expectation is not met and the finger pointing starts. Often this can escalate into a nasty situation that could end up being dealt with by a bunch of lawyers.
It is worth taking that extra time up front to ensure that everyone involved, both client and service provider are in full agreement and everything is understood and signed off by all parties.
Manage expectations and you manage your client. No come backs, no drama!
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Don’t you just hate calling a company and the phone rings 100 times before someone picks it up. Worse still you do not reach anyone and you are shoved into electronic telephone hell. You know where you would like to go to and all you get is the run around pressing one number after another and then back to the beginning again.
The latest thing now is to speak to the electronic mail. It asks you where you want go but is not capable of understanding what you have said. You feel like you have just been speaking to a brick wall. Frustrating would be a mild description of how one feels!
What’s wrong with companies? Do they not recognize that your call or any communication with them is potential business?
E-mails are another one. How often do see the words “contact” or “contact us” on a web site. You complete all the required details as well as your questions or issues and then you send it off. Firstly, you may or may not even get a reply. Worse still you get a reply from a person whose job has absolutely nothing to do with the issue that you had e-mailed the company about in the first place. You might just as well have e-mailed the moon!
My point is companies seem to have forgotten that today phone calls and e-mails are the first point of communication between the customer or client and themselves.
Someone should to explain to them that they lose X number dollars in business because of their inability to make communications easy with their customers. You may be losing out to your competition because of this. Wake up!
There is competition out there that may not even offer as much as you do, but the customer either gets fed up or does not even get to know how much better your business is, because they cannot get hold of the correct someone to deal with.
Having the technology is one thing, but being able to use it correctly and in a way that helps, rather than hindering your business, is something entirely different. Yes, this technology can save your business money, but when not used properly actually loses money for you all through the day and every day!
Here’s a lesson for small business owners. Make sure that your telephone and e-mail communications with your customers is the best it can be, or perhaps get used to having fewer customers!
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When you go into business the fate of the business is more often than not what business you got into but who you got into business with. I would categorize suppliers as being your business partners. Without them, you just do not have a business. They are any bit as important as customers. No supply, no demand. It’s that simple.
Good suppliers can become lifelong suppliers, just like customers. You build up a relationship with them that needs to be nurtured constantly. You need to give them feedback and they need to know that they can give it back to you too. That way the relationship gets beyond the pleasantries and to a level of constantly improving efficiency. Your suppliers need to know what your business is all about to be able to serve you correctly. So work together with them. Treat them as being an extension of your business as if they are part of your team.
What do you need and want in return from your suppliers?
You need to know that you can trust them. They need to know what standards of quality, terms, delivery windows you have for their products and fulfill these product and service requirements. You also need to know that they will be able to help you on the odd occasion when you have a sudden late order that requires their products at the last minute. You also need to know that as your business grows, they will be able to continue to grow with you and support new levels of demand as it rises.
What do your suppliers need from you?
Late payment on your end does not endear you to your suppliers. Continued late payment strains the relationship to the point where your business is no longer trusted. So pay your suppliers within the terms that you both agreed upon. Also be reasonable with your demands. A late order and expedited delivery is unavoidable on some occasions, but not if it becomes a weekly or daily habit. This too will strain the relationship.
Give and take on from you and the supplier as well as fairness is the key to a successful supplier relationship.
Remember good, timely, reliable suppliers selling you quality goods are an important link in the sales chain. If there are issues with supply, your customers get to feel it just as much as you do.
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Tags: Small Business
Is customer service a reality today? I am not sure that it really is. Companies pride themselves on their customer service, but very few seem to actually deliver.
How often have you been asked to complete a survey on the service you received from a particular company? How often after speaking to a customer service representative, the person asks you to rate the service that you just received from them? Who compiles these surveys and who looks at them? What if you had rated the person a 2 or less out of 10? Would anyone actually take notice? Do they really matter at all, considering the person that just served you is the same person that wants the rating?
Do you not feel pressurized when being asked by the very same person to give them a fair rating, even though the service was less than stellar?
Do any of these surveys or ratings help you get any better service the next time you contact the company? What happens to these surveys once they are collected? Are they just packed away on some dusty shelf somewhere?
I am tired of being asked to complete any customer survey. I have not managed to find any evidence that by giving someone my input that it has made my customer experience that much better. In fact all I see is a whole bunch of employees just going through the motions and doing whatever they were told to do. I do understand that companies need to have some understanding how they are doing with regards to their customer service, but it strikes me that perhaps this route just does not deliver.
These surveys, ratings and questionnaires are not very accurate at best and I am sure most companies have a false sense of how they are really doing.
Besides the usual bunch of rate the following from 1 to 10 type questions, ask instead how well you are doing, ask how the company can do better. Sure, not everyone will give you the detailed suggestions that you would require as a company, but those that you would receive would tell you more than these ratings do.
Also spend more time on really helping cure complaints, and giving the representative that the public has to deal with real power to make things right when they do go wrong. How often does the person who you complain to have the power to fix things? Not that often. And then you still want the customer to complete a survey?
Only give out surveys to random customers and ask only randomly, instead of this shot gun approach of asking everyone. This current approach gets you answers that reflect customers just wanting you to go away. I dread dealing with companies whose customer service representatives always ask every time I call the company to rate that service.
Somehow it just seems to me that the initial idea of keeping track of customer service has gotten lost somewhere along the way. New approaches need to be found. Companies out there – please become a little more creative!
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For more articles concerning business interests , consult my other articles
Tags: customer service
Einstein said that genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. That is exactly what starting up your small business is all about. How to hang in there until the dream becomes a reality.
How often does one hear about the story where if the person had just dug 3 feet further he would have hit the mother lode? There are many stories just like it. Many of the world’s best known businessmen have said very much the same. Donald Trump has said that one of the qualities that has served him best is his ability to never give up, and to just keep on trying. Edison tried thousands of different types of wire filament in his electric light bulb before it was a success. Some success! We all use a variation of his original design today in all of our homes for our lighting. Imagine what our lives would have been like without his electric light bulb.
Often it is tough and the setbacks are many.
Also an emotional downward spiral often accompanies these setbacks. Particularly in today’s tough economic climate, it is easy to become discouraged and disappointed. As long as you can keep things in perspective and have a positive attitude, you are closer to success than you were yesterday. Every journey is made up of many small steps. Unless one takes each step, even if some are backwards and some sideways, you will not get to your destination in the end.
Remember each time one fails to hit your goals, you are that much closer to meeting them! Each time you think of quitting, ask yourself the following question. What if you knew you were just 3 feet away from hitting the mother lode? Would you give up? I doubt it!
Please review my other published business related articles at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Mark_Bergman
Tags: Small Business, Small Businesses
Today I was sitting at my desk when the power tripped out leaving us in the dark. Nice, I thought! I knew that the power would come on eventually, but what about the work that I had been busy with when the outage occurred? When the power did come back on 10 minutes later, I found that I had lost everything that I had been working on. Fortunately I had just started writing an e-mail newsletter, so the loss was not that great.
So what’s the solution? One can go to a very costly high end solution by purchasing a generator. This would be able to take over from the utility supply when the electricity trips out in the area. Did I mention costly? Depending on the number of machines and lights that you want kept running, the size of the generator may vary. In any event you could be out of pocket to the tune of a few hundred to many thousands of dollars. In addition you do have to maintain your generator. It must be always fueled up and you need to service the generator’s engine for every so many hours of run time. Also it needs to be fired up on a regular basis as part of its maintenance cycle. There is also a noise factor. Generators may act as temporary power replacements, but they make a lot of noise when they are turned on. Also someone has to monitor fuel levels constantly when they are running and constantly keep topping up the fuel that it uses. Also remember that generators are engines by their very design, so they must remain outside the building and are susceptible to the effects of bad weather, like every other engine.
As a small business owner, do you really need the power to remain on in the event of a power outage? What if when the power went out you still had a few minutes to save your data? Basically you are given enough time to save whatever you are doing. You get a few minutes of time to finish whatever you are doing on battery power, and then once everything is saved you can power off, and then wait for the main supply to come back on.
The answer is an Uninterruptable Power Supply device or more commonly known as a UPS. These make no noise. They require almost no maintenance at all and cost anywhere from $75 to a few hundred dollars. Much lower cost than a generator. Like the generator they offer only temporary power, though even less so than a generator, but their function is data preservation and not power replacement. They offer a different focus to that of the generator, but should be adequate for most small business requirements. They run on battery power, though the battery is constantly being charged throughout the day while the utility power is running. You plug one or more PC’s into the UPS directly, the UPS into the wall socket. UPS devices are generally pretty small in size and take up no more space than a single PC tower. The added bonus is that they are really very simple to use.
A UPS offers almost the best of both worlds. Your data is saved, but the equipment to take over from the utility supply for that small window of time did not cost an arm and a leg, and requires almost no maintenance to run. UPS devices are obtainable at most office supply stores and are readily available.
Tags: Business Startup Questions, New business start up, New business startup, Small Business, Small Business Startup
