Posted by Robert Bylett at 7:56 AM
in Business Owner, Economy, Efficient Business Systems, Happiness, Profitable, Suppliers
You’ve likely seen stories in the news about major companies
extending the amount of time before they will pay their suppliers for the
materials they’ve purchased – sometimes even by double! In an economy where sales are down and cash
flow is tight, that probably sounds like a smart business decision, right? Not likely.
Although large companies could probably get away with it
because of their size and power, the ultimate cost still makes it a bad
decision no matter what size your company is.
First, just because you choose to pay later, that doesn’t mean that the
supplier will willingly adjust the finance charges and late fees they impose on
payments made beyond their acceptable terms.
So it literally costs more to pay later.
Continue reading "Keeping Your Suppliers Happy is Crucial in a Bad Economy" »
Posted by Robert Bylett at 6:10 AM
in Business Owner, Efficient Business Systems, Happiness, Outsourcing, Profitable, Small Business
Outsourcing has gotten a lot of bad press because it often results in job layoffs within a company. Large
companies looking to reduce costs and eliminate overhead often outsource non core business services. Although those are also benefits for small businesses, where small businesses have the largest margin for gain is in the ability to refocus all of their attention on the core functions of the business – which is also what they do best!
What exactly is outsourcing? Outsourcing is when you contract out part of your business function to a third party for a substantial period of time. The third party is then responsible for the success of that function. Commonly outsourced business functions include accounting, catering, cleaning, maintenance, human resources, marketing, advertising, customer service, etc.
Continue reading "Outsourcing – A Great Way to Increase Happiness, Efficiencies and Profits in Small Businesses" »
Posted by Robert Bylett at 3:50 AM
in Business Owner, Client Relationships, Communication, Courtesy System, Happiness, Happy Business, Small Business, Work Life Balance
Over the past several months, I’ve been talking about several themes of small business management; namely building a happy business, the Courtesy System, attracting perfect clients, etc. After serious reflection, I’ve come to realise that these topics fit into a simple formula that you can use to create a business and a lifestyle that is not only enjoyable, but profitable. I call this formula the Happiness Equation.
Over the coming months all of the blog posts will comprise at least one part of the equation. The “Happy People” variable of the equation includes anyone (and everyone) who interacts with the business – customers, suppliers, employees, partners, service providers, and even your family! The “Efficient Business Systems” variable addresses all of the processes and procedures necessary to make your business run. The end result – when implemented and applied correctly – is Profit.
Continue reading "Happiness Equation: Happy People + Efficient Business Systems = Profit" »
Posted by Robert Bylett at 8:50 AM
in Business Owner, Client Relationships, Client Satisfaction, Clients, Communication, Small Business
Here are
some widely quoted statistics from the U.S. News & World Report about why
clients leave:
- 1% Death
- 3% Move Away
- 5% Buy from
a friend
- 9% Sold by
a Competitor
- 14% Product
Price
- 68%
Perceived Indifference
To boil it
down...what it says is that if you are a business owner, more than two thirds
of the clients who stop doing business with you, do so because they believe
that you do not care that they’re your client.
So the question is, have you told your clients recently how much you
appreciate their business? Better yet,
have you shown them?
Telling
your clients once in a blue moon that you are happy to have them as a client
won’t cut it. Neither will a rare, grand
“client appreciation” event (for the most part). Just like any other relationship, your
clients will believe that you care about them and their business based on the “small
stuff.”
Personal
Information
Get to know
your customers on a personal level – information about their family, background
and interests. If you have difficulty
recalling such information, then that is where the beauty of CRM software comes
in – take good notes, enter the data in the CRM database and then review if
before you meet with the client. Even if
it is something you couldn’t have recalled on your own, the client never knew
and is likely impressed that you “remembered.”
The
personal information street also goes both ways, so don’t be afraid to share
information about yourself with your clients.
The closer your personal relationship, the harder it is for the client
to leave you. Think about it...on
average 5% of clients leave to do business with a friend. If you’re a friend you almost eliminate the
possibility of a client leaving you for that reason.
Communications
Regular
communications with your clients is crucial and the communications should be a
mixture of business and personal. Communications
between companies and their clients often tend to be one-sided and nothing but
business – us, us, us, sale, buy more, us, etc.
Nothing in those types of communications makes the customer feel special
or appreciated. Therefore, make sure
your communications are crafted so that the relationship is a two-way
street. Request feedback, give special
offers/opportunities that are truly unique to select clientele, and recognition
of personal milestones (weddings, birth of children, special accomplishments,
etc.) are but a few ways to develop more interactive and personalized client
communications.
Indifference
is your enemy. Make sure your clients
know you care and they’ll likely stay clients for a long time to come.
Posted by Robert Bylett at 3:26 PM
in Business Owner, Client Relationships, Client Satisfaction, Clients, Marketing, Profitable, Small Business
If you’re a small business/enterprise, you likely don’t
have huge amounts of capital and resources to throw at finding new clients. It costs a lot more money to find a new client than to keep an existing client. When used correctly and effectively, CRM software is an amazing tool that drastically reduces the already lower cost of keeping clients. However, the key words are using the software “correctly” and “effectively.” Information is power, but data doesn’t become “information” until it is organised in a format that tells us something meaningful.
So, how do you correctly and effectively use this amazing tool? Business Process Analysis
The first step is to conduct a thorough business analysis to ensure that you understand all processes and systems that have an impact on client service (which we talked about in the last blog post). You need to document all of the envisioned (or existing) company procedures. Preferably do this by using a workflow diagram or flowchart. Be careful to design all processes to be as ‘client facing’ as possible (beneficial to the client from their point of view) – after all, the vital rationale for the entire exercise is to ensure that service delivery matches your clients’ expectations.
Continue reading "Working Your Client Retention Strategy with Your CRM Software" »
Posted by Robert Bylett at 9:12 AM
in Client Relationships, Client Satisfaction, Clients, Coaching, Small Business
In the past, we’ve talked about client satisfaction and we’ve more recently been talking about client management. So, if you’ve been diligent about frequently taking your clients’ temperature on how satisfied they are and you’ve implemented new processes and procedures for managing your client base, then you should have put good client service in place – right? Hard to say! Have you been measuring your client service? Many businesses measure client satisfaction and business performance, but not nearly as many measure their client service. What’s the difference?
Continue reading "Measuring Client Service – It’s Much More than Just Client Satisfaction" »
Posted by Robert Bylett at 9:20 AM
in Business Owner, Client Relationships, Client Satisfaction, Clients, Communication, Marketing, Small Business
One of the hardest parts of acquiring new clients and building strong client relationships is managing the follow-up process and keeping track of what had been previously said, done and promised. In the days of yore – before there was a personal computer on every desk – this was often accomplished with elaborate card filing systems. To say that those systems were a bit cumbersome is putting it lightly – and that’s not even mentioning that if you lost one of your precious cards, the entire client/prospect history was gone!Thankfully, we now have fire, the wheel and CRM software! CRM stands for Client/Customer Relationship Management and it is software that helps you track, manage and plan your client communications and activity. And, it is 10 times more important in today’s market.
Continue reading "CRM – Client Relationships and Computers" »
