Do You Have A Business System?

Do you have a business system in place that removes the guess work from your staff so that they can run the day to day operations without you constantly having to be there?

Too often we get caught up running the day to day operations of our business to take any real time to… “work on our business.”

Do you find yourself stamping out fires on a consistent basis, constantly dealing with unruly staff, not having enough clients or sales?

Have you ever wondered how Subway, McDonalds, and Wal-Mart  serves, hires, fires, promotes, and sells billions of dollars of products and services each and every year?

Every successful small business has an operating system to do for them, what they cannot do for themselves.

Now I understand that you’re not a billion dollar company, BUT you can still set up systems in your small business that will remove all the guess work. A system, that once in place, will run like a well oiled machine. You don’t have to be Wal-Mart or Subway to have a business system that sets up boundaries and expectations in order for you to create an exceptional experience for your clients, keeps your staff in check, and allows you more freedom.

But you should take into consideration that Subway, Wal-Mart, and McDonalds started out just like you…as a dream that was turned into reality, through vision, hard work, and systems.

So what’s your business system? Do you have one?

Let me share with you 3 critical business systems that will make your business more profitable and less stressful.

1.    Having a simple script that your receptionist can use will help remove your caller’s doubts, questions, and fears about doing business with you.

Have you ever called a business to find out more about their services only to be turned off by their receptionist? If you loose just one client a month because your receptionist isn’t out going, friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about your products and services you’re going to lose thousands of dollars each and every year.

Once you have your script in place have a friend or colleague randomly call your business to see how your receptionist is answering the phone. You might be surprised at what you hear.

2.    You have to have a business system for attracting new, and bring back existing clients consistently and cost effectively.

Are you running a consistent ad campaign, email campaign, postcard campaign, sales letter campaign, or an in store flier campaign? If you don’t have a marketing calendar filled out at the beginning of each year, how do you know if you’re hitting your financial goals. Are you waiting, guessing, or hoping for your clients and prospects to call, or stop in?

As a business owner you have to take the initiative in order to get new and existing clients spending more with you. Guessing and hoping is NOT a plan! Okay maybe it is a plan, a plan to fail. I don’t want that to happen, and I’m certain you feel the same.

Your business system for attracting clients must include several marketing funnels (Website, newspaper, email, social media, direct mail, affiliates, word of mouth, articles, etc.)

You need to use several different marketing funnels simultaneously in order to attract enough clients consistently and cost effectively so that you’re never in dire straights when it comes to revenue.

3.          What’s your business system for following up with your current clients?

The best clients are the ones you already have. These clients are 63% more likely to spend with you again. So why do so many of us forget to follow up with other promotions when in today’s world it simple and cost effective. If you don’t have an email auto-responder I use and suggest http://www.aweber.com

Aweber allows you to set up a business system that keeps in constant contact with your current clients 24/7. Once you have a follow up system in place you can then move on to other business systems.

These are just 3 critical business systems that will help any small business grow.

Setting up business systems is critical to building and growing your business. However, it’s more important that you set up these systems so that you have the ability to control your business instead of it controlling you.

Don’t be another parent who gets lost in their business because they think that they have to do it all themselves. Take the time NOW to set up your business systems, so that your business provides the lifestyle YOU want, and your family deserves.

(I speak to business owners every day who thought their business was the key to their freedom, only to realize that it’s become their captor.)

Let me know what you think of this article. Good, bad, or ugly your feed back is encouraged and welcome.

To your marketing success,