Week 52 - Say + Look + Do = Reputation, Farewell

This is the 52nd and final installment of a program of change for your small business. Throughout the year I have shown how an organized approach to assessing “where am I” through to figuring out what you want and finally how to get it is the key to your freedom; freedom to choose, be that to sell your business for a great price, franchise, or simply not have to turn up seven days per week.

Along the way there are soft things (how do you treat your employees) through to hard programs (number of leads x your conversion rate x average sale for example) that need to be worked into your on-going review process to ensure you are constantly improving.

If there is one secret to improving your lot in this small business life it’s this commitment to constant improvement. As I have said the Japanese call this Kaizen and it has helped propel many of their firms into market leading positions worldwide. Let’s face it, you don’t have to be the smartest, or the fastest, or the cheapest. You simply have to thrill your customers and this thrill is relative to their expectations. How do you know what they expect if you are not looking outside your business?

In this world where many businesses are commoditized by a Google search we can’t forget the basics – they are probably more important than ever. THRILL YOUR CUSTOMERS, have your friendly, engaged staff selling as many prospects as much as they need helping them to achieve their own goals. Work with experts on your Google ranking and your PR efforts but never assume these in isolation will fix anything. Sure you could get a spike in orders from a great Internet campaign but if you don’t thrill the shoppers, you have wasted your money. The same goes for a newspaper article on your company. What have you really achieved unless you attract more qualified prospects and convert them into lifetime customers?

It would be right if I didn’t end with my favorite business mantra from OOCL Chairman C.C. Tung.

SAY + LOOK + DO = REPUTATION.

Say = how you and your employees project your policies and procedures
Look = how your business appears or is perceived by the public
Do = how you and your employees carry out your policies and procedures, thrilling the customer in a profitable manner.

As I’ve just said above, it all adds up to Reputation which is more important than ever. Whether being reflected on-line via customer reviews or spread around the local pub, it’s your lifeblood, pay attention.

I wish you the very best and hope I have helped to Change your Business, Change Your Life. I’ll be posting almost every week from here on but the posts will be focused on marketing things great (and not so great). You can always find the weekly small business program stuff in the archive, it’s up here forever.

Week 51 - Choices - What a Feeling!

Above all, one time actions equal one time results. You MUST keep repeating the actions that we have highlighted over the past 12 months. Keep reading, keep networking, and keep learning about new industries and where yours is going. Stay positive and choose your friends on that basis. If necessary, make the decision to change businesses.

If you can stick to the plan, you will be faced with the most liberating of all words…. CHOICE. In this case, the choice to sell your business, to franchise your system or to simply work in your business less while it provides you with the income you need. There is no way we can put a timeline against this. Every business is different and whilst many are facing the same challenges, most are doing so from a different starting point. So don’t get discouraged if things don’t happen as quickly as you would like.

Try to enjoy the process - you will know you are on your way when your weekly sales start to increase, your bills get paid more quickly and you start to generate more and more referrals. Along the way you will have the choice between watching TV and reading a business magazine, or the choice between a game of golf or attending a tradeshow. Just remember the longer term effects these choices can have and the question “do you want to continue to exist, or do you want to do something really special with your business?”

As I have said repeatedly, we are all different and are running different types of businesses so no two situations are the same. Having said that, how you view your business, how you market your business and create new income streams and how you tie it all together with systems are factors that can lead to success in any business. Further you need to use all of the tools. Use some of the tools and you will only get mixed results. This is because all the systems tie together so tightly. You cannot do any consistent marketing without knowing exactly who you are and what you stand for. You can’t be consistent without knowing what systems deliver you the best results. You cannot ask people to make referrals unless your systems are delivering an awesome experience for your customers. The list goes on obviously. Use all of the tools in a systematic way and the world will open up for you

Occasionally some of the people you work and share life with hope to forestall change and hang on to the old system - even though it may be broken. Why do people behave this way? It could be because they fear they will not be able to “grow” into a new thing, create new skills that will be valued. Change makes people worry about being left behind. If you have not already read it, get a copy of Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. This will help you to understand feelings that surround change. You may also be able to recommend to those who just cannot let go of the past.

Week 50 - Make Changes Stick

Any change you make needs to be supported by a system to ensure actions continued to be carried out in the new way. By now you should be comfortable with systems, policies and procedures so this is the point where you must systematize the revisiting of the policy and procedure making process. That’s right, before you laugh, we do really need a system for updating your system!

Set aside one day each month to review your policies and procedures. During this day you should spend one hour on each different area of your business. Do this every month with unwavering commitment and your business will improve as never before. Can you honestly remember when you last took the time out in this way to make positive improvements?

Some things you can look at each month are:

1. What problems arose for us during the month and how can we modify our policies and procedures to avoid a repeat of these?
   
2. Did any of our policies and procedures cause trouble during the past month – how can we adjust them to avoid a repeat?
   
3. How do the employees feel about the policies and procedures? Which would they like to see modified and why?
   
4. Responsibilities – are all bases covered? Do we need to assign new responsibilities to employees to cover new areas of business?
   
5. Does anyone think we could make more money or make our jobs easier by changing the way we run things?

It is essential that you involve your key employees (perhaps all of them) in this workshop discussion. Through a combination of effective systems and development of new income streams, your business will be far less vulnerable to the ebb and flow that is business today. So what about you personally - can you handle the ebb and flow? You see the same principles apply to you as an individual. You need to prepare your mind, constantly feeding it with rich information and positive re-enforcement.

Week 49 – Learn to Accept Change, Even Enjoy It

The most intriguing thing to me about a business owner who fails to gain control and grow is that often they have the tools and information available to them, they just do not put them to use! I think one of the main reasons people fail to act is the fear of change, or the fear of things just becoming different to what they are now. So things really suck right now, but if I try all of these crazy things life MIGHT get even worse. If you are to make progress, create new income streams, grow your business; some things just have to change. There is no way around this.

Everyday the world around us changes, life changes, and business changes. Change is caused by many things, sometimes it’s because people invent better ways to handle everyday problems. Other times it is inspired by a business that is striving to be more efficient. Your competitors may have found a way to remove some steps from a generations old process and if you supply product or services that those steps rely on, you may find your business disappears.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." -- Charles Darwin

As new competitors enter your market they can set new standards of service or cleanliness or value. You have to pay attention to what the public start to demand. This can be so gradual that you don’t even notice especially if you are tied up with trivial problems and employee issues. If you accept that things WILL change, no MIGHT change then you can schedule time each month to evaluate what the new standards in your line of business might be. It should be clear to you that there is nowhere to hide. Nothing is more certain than the world continuing to change. You need to adapt to this change, keep fresh and constantly review the results of your business and process innovations. Change with the times but more importantly, put in place systems to make the changes stick.

Let’s have one last look at how you are going to increase your business by 15% in multiple key areas:

1. Number of Leads – The number of phone calls or visits generated each year by your marketing. For a specific review, read Week 7.
   
2. Conversion Rate, Average Value of Sale and your Margins – the rate at which you convert prospects into actual customers as well as the average amount those customers spend with you each year. Margins are the gross profit you make on each sale. Once you have the leads, people who walk into or call your business are silently begging to be led. You need to take control and lead them to the best solution to their problem. Take risk out of these transactions and you will close far more sales. Finally, existing customers are your best source of business. You need to remain in contact and have them coming back to buy more often. For a specific review, read Week 23 and Week 25.
   
3. Number of Visits per Customer – the average number of times per year your customer purchases your product or service. You need to create new income streams to reduce the risk to your business. You need to set-up referral programs and ensure they are a lasting success. Finally you need to give your customers the tools to easily send you new business and never, ever give up when people say no! For a specific review, start reading at Week 27.

Week 48 - Revisiting Systems, Freeing Up Your Future

Week 48 serves as a reminder that “systems” implemented in your business have internal and external functions. I want you to look back over the previous ten weeks and really try to embrace systems. Systems are the key to success in any business so this is not just an area to tighten up, it is an area to evaluate and re-invent, on an on-going basis. Here are the key coaching tips to assist with your review:

INTERNAL

• Start building your operations manual today. The quickest way to get going is to develop a checklist for each and every function in your business.
• Through a friend see if you can make contact with someone who owns a franchise. Call them, explain that you are trying to improve your business by putting systems in place and could you come in and look over their Operations Manual.
• Blame a system, not a person.
• Buy and read Building the Happiness Centered Business by Dr Paddy Lund. Set about implementing The Courtesy System in your business.

EXTERNAL

• Listen and then ACT. Listen to your customers; resolve to make contact with at least 10 per month. Ask probing questions about your service or product quality. Take action using the information you gather.
• Following your customer audit, consider how the customer’s perception affects your ability to price at a premium.
• Conduct “presearch” within your industry. You are searching for what your customers want or expect from a business such as yours in the future.
• Employ a “secret shopper” if applicable. Otherwise work out another way to test your systems and employees on a regular basis. This could include friends calling in (phone, email or fax) or one of your colleagues actually ordering services from your business and giving you a report.

Perform a service audit of your business:

• How do we treat our customers? Try to identify 10 areas which you can improve on and look out for “Not My Job” syndrome.
• Do your employees have all the tools they need to do their work efficiently?
• Read the books Fish and The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.

Week 47 - Systematizing the Marketing Function to Keep You Running at Peak Performance

You know you need a system for greeting your clients and you also need one for capturing their details, but don’t forget that the most important systems of all are the ones related to your marketing. Why so? Because marketing activity is the primary source of new business leads. If you approach it haphazardly you will jeopardize all of your other efforts.

Imagine for a minute that you walk into a new job as a marketing manager and the boss hands you a folder titled “Our Marketing System”. Inside the folder you find an in-depth description of all the campaigns that have been run in the past and everything that is planned for the next six months. In addition to this, you find a summary of success and failures to date as well as a list of “ideas and marketing methods” still to be tested.

As a new employee you would feel empowered and very glad that you are not starting from the beginning. The owner of the business is even happier because there is a good chance you can simply pick up where the previous employee left off. Think of your marketing manual as an “operations manual” all of its own. You should be setting aside 1 hour per week to review the results of your test campaigns and feeding that data into decisions regarding your next move. You must commit this time to this exercise. Book 1 hour in your diary each week, for the next three months. You should get into the habit by then. If you don’t do this, your marketing will get stale, your testing and measurement will become non-existent. Basically you will be back to square one!

Frequently review the key marketing concepts:

Testing – what else can you test? Look for new ways to present your offer, new formats or new mediums. For example, try a print ad, then try it in color, then try it in a different magazine or web site. You are looking for the best return for your hard earned dollars.

Measurement – make sure you are measuring the right aspects of your campaigns and spending time thinking about what the data actually means. Feed the findings back into your next campaign and aim to increase your results.

USP – is this still appropriate for your business or have other ME TOO companies diluted the value of your proposition? Keep it fresh and relevant, it may never have to change, but be aware of what is going on around you.

Advertising – are you following the rules when it comes to writing your ads? Use the advertising checklist (Week 20) against EVERY advertisement that you run. Ignore the rules and you can expect your results to drop.

Innovation – it is hard to keep your marketing fresh if you do not have any new products or services to tell the world about. Use your time wisely and commit to a certain number of new products or services per quarter. This will feed straight into your marketing machine and create a snowball effect of new business.

Referrals and repeat purchase programs – never forget that if you rely on one or two income streams, your business is ALWAYS at serious risk. By being on the lookout for new distribution opportunities, you will create a valuable stream of pre-sold prospects that do not cost your business anywhere near as much as cold prospects in time or money.

Week 46 - Provide a Thrill Factor in a Welcoming Environment

Whatever you deliver, it has to be consistent. Once your systems are in place you will realize that it is not difficult to deliver a consistent service or product as these systems will support you every step of the way. Another way to climb out of the pile of competitors is to actually exceed their expectations. You see, most people expect decent service - that is, they expect you to go through the motions, supplying them, giving them their change and moving on. Not bad, not great, just good decent service.

Most customers will be shocked if you go out of your way to make the transaction a truly memorable event. This “thrill” factor is lacking in 99% of businesses today, which is great for you because it gives you the opportunity to differentiate yourself. Nearly every business success throughout the world counts “creating outstanding experiences” as the one of the keys to their success.

The flip side of this is bad experiences – have you ever called a business at 5:31pm and received a recorded message stating they are only available between 8:30 and 5:30pm? How does that make you feel? Even worse, what if you call back again in the morning at 9 a.m., and the message is still playing? Make sure you DON’T do this in your business. It shows that you don’t have a system and secondly that you don’t really respect the time of those that are trying to call. One thing I have not said until now is that EVERYTHING you do is marketing in some way so you must review your performance in these areas.

Sabotage doesn’t end with your phone system… The final touch to any systems based business is of course the impression you create when someone calls into your premises. Whether you are working from home, an office or even out of the back of a truck, you need to be projecting an image that is consistent with your traditional marketing and the reputation you seek.

What sort of coffee do you serve? Are your waiting room magazines 3 years old? Is your van filthy and disorganised? How does your business look? How does it smell, what is the decoration like – is it visually interesting – is it an inviting space?

There is a newsagent in Sydney who simply uses his business as a distribution point for papers and magazines – absolutely no effort has been made to make the shop inviting. There is mess everywhere, old posters – it always makes me think how little pride these people must have in their business. What about the hair salons that have the 10 year old, yellowing photos in the window? Not only do they look dated and worn – the hair styles have even gone out of fashion!

The usual excuse for this is that the owner simply does not have the money to update their premises. That may be the case, but this lack of funds is ultimately linked to all of the other issues we have discussed week to week. Once some progress has been made toward implementing systems, creating new income streams and running effective marketing campaigns, this situation will turn around and it is then that the premises must be dealt with. Nobody wants to eat in a dirty little diner anymore. Have you recently walked by a fast food shop which has not updated its interior in 10 years? These businesses have no real hope of survival unless they commit the dollars to renovation.

Just like meeting someone face to face, you only get one chance at that first impression. So a dirty restroom or broken piece of furniture may not seem like a priority to you today but think of the long term damage it can do, especially when you recall that each customer is worth a lot more than they actually spend on that day!

Week 45 - What Sort of Boss Are You? Unlock the Secret to Buy-In!

Getting employees to “buy-in” to your vision can be much harder than it seems. What motivates you each and every day may mean nothing to your employees. Each employee must understand what you are trying to achieve and then encouraged to behave in a manner which helps you on your journey. To put it another way, they either work for you to earn money and couldn’t care less what happens to the business long term, or, they treat the business as if it were their own and constantly look at ways of improving the way things are done. The second version is obviously preferable!

Thriving on Chaos author Tom Peters is very blunt: “Every employee must buy in or else you are wasting your time.”

I recall owning a fast food restaurant and early one morning I discovered that the freezer motor had broken down. Pulling out the Yellow Pages I found a fridge mechanic and rushed to call them. After briefly describing the problem, the mechanic’s rough response was “…you know it is double time on Sunday don’t you?” There I was with at least $5000 worth of rapidly spoiling stock on hand and all this guy’s attitude said to me was basically “do you really need me to come out today?” When he did finally turn up, his demeanor was that of an angry bear. I wonder how his apprentice or other employees view his attitude and whether they even care about his business. He did not seem to. If he does not care about his business, how do you think he treats his employees? The guy just didn’t want to be there and of course was never heard from again, despite the fact that fridges broke down at least 3 more times in the months following. This could have been easy money for a friendly business owner with a few simple systems.

Virgin, a role model

One of the more striking international examples of “buy in” is the Virgin Group of companies. Sir Richard Branson has a presence and energy almost unique in the world and he manages to convey this through all of his companies. It doesn’t matter if you are talking about the airline or some project he has simply lent the Virgin name to, nearly all of the employees involved become starry eyed, in many cases accepting below market wages for the opportunity to serve him.

You should be able to come up with a combination of measures to kick start the buy in process in your business. Borrow the energy and fun created in the Virgin culture and mix it with Jack Stack’s methods of including employees at every level. Open up your business, spread the word regarding the figures, including profitability and marketing goals and above all, bear in mind that your attitude is contagious and is reflected in your employee’s behavior. Want others to be excited? You must BE and act excited yourself.

John McGrath is considered the most influential figure in the Australian property industry. He tells us “…a business will NEVER outpace its leader”.

Week 44 - How Kaizen Can Help Your Business Today

It is very interesting how often business owners exclude their employees from critical conversations regarding the future of the company, or indeed the day to day operations. After all, it is the employees who do most of the work, who have most contact with customers and who have to work to the policies and procedures you have put into place. It makes sense therefore to involve employees in all of these discussions.

Morris Lasky, a US based 40 year veteran of the hospitality industry, has turned around more than a hundred organizations (hotels, stores, factories) in the last 20 years. He was quoted as saying "I'd say that 95 percent of a good bailout campaign comes from the comments of the people who are already there ... [who] know what the problems are, but have never been asked ...”

Japanese companies big and small already know this and it is part of the reason that they have been so successful over the past 30 years. The Japanese call it Kaizen, which is the word for improvement. This is not some hollow word on a mission statement hanging in the lobby of their buildings; this is a deeply ingrained culture of involving the entire group in innovation and striving for constant improvement. Granted to Japanese economy continues to see some very tough times but the quality of the products they produce certainly continue to change the world. What they do is “raise the bar” which thankfully for consumers means companies all around the world are forced to reconsider their quality standards as well as what could be considered as standard features.

The key aspect of Kaizen is that it is an on-going, never ending improvement process. The search for new methods and means of achieving a given result never ends and the focus is on small improvements, day after day, month after month.

The most interesting aspect of Kaizen is that it involves everyone in an organization. Employees at every level are actively encouraged to participate through continuous suggestion. These suggestions are reviewed by management and acted upon rapidly if it makes good business sense. For many Japanese companies, the search never ends. There is always something that could be made stronger, faster or more cheaply. There is an old saying: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” You can consider Kaizen to be the exact opposite of that statement.

You can borrow these techniques for use in your own business:

• Involve all employees in process improvement discussions
• Value each contribution
• Never accept that some new improvement cannot be found

Week 43 - Eliminating "Not My Job" Syndrome

Most business owners want to get the best from their employees. Often they struggle in vain to influence the employee’s attitudes hoping that suddenly they will feel a new sense of responsibility. Bluntly, the first place to look for a solution is in the mirror. You have to be the embodiment of what you expect from your employees. Here again perceptions play a key role – how do your employees perceive your commitment to the business? Do they believe you want the best for the business and them, or do they think you only care about yourself?

Enough about you - what about the type of people you have hired? I once heard someone say “I always try to pick happy and bright people with common sense”. “The cash register”, the person stated, “is easy to teach. It is much harder to teach an unhappy person how to be happy!” I couldn’t agree more and obviously this will differ from industry to industry, but you should seriously consider adding it to your list of hiring criteria next time you have a vacancy. A major side benefit should again be increased sales. People buy from people they like! Sounds simple because it is, we buy from people we can relate to and feel comfortable with. If your employees are not happy and capable of building these relationships your sales are almost certainly suffering as a result.

When employees are made to feel valued through regular training and inclusion, and further, they are empowered so they can be made accountable, you should be 90% of the way to creating a environment for positive attitudes to flourish. The word individual means “having no like or equal” and this gives you a further hint about how you can get want you want from your employees. Yes every business has a purpose, but the employees are individuals, all are working there for different reasons. Try to tap into exactly what each individual is looking for. If you can help them to achieve their goals whilst getting what you want, it makes for an extremely positive environment.

In their book Fish, authors Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen point out that it does not matter what type of business you are in, enjoyment is a choice you and your employees have. Fish uses the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle USA as a metaphor. How can you get more uninviting than a cold, wet smelly fish market? The authors present the keys to the employees enjoying the environment and turning up to work each day:

1. Choose Your Attitude – Who do we want to be while we work? The choice of being unhappy or otherwise is yours to make each time you walk through the door.


2. Play – Have fun at work, fun creates energy.


3. Make Their Day – Involve your customers in your fun, go the extra mile, create an experience.


4. Be Present – For the benefit of both customers and co-workers.

Take time out and ask “how could this work for my business?”

Week 42 - Don't Fall at the Last Hurdle

Incorrect perceptions are one thing to deal with but it is far more difficult to recover when your staff have mistreated a customer or offered less than perfect service. Many large and successful companies today openly state that their employees are the number one priority, ahead of customers. This makes sense when you think about it. How can you treat your employees as a second or third priority and then expect them to offer the best possible service to your customers?

The old chestnut that the customer is always right is wrong. As a business owner, you can kick and scream and abuse your customers and put up offensive signs like “no refunds” or you can attack the problem another way. As I have already explained, consistency is a key element in your customer service plan so whether you are good or bad, at least be consistent. Consistent, systematic and friendly customer service can turn almost any business owner into a success yet so often we see business owners making an effort in only one or two of these areas. The real key (just like your approach to marketing) is to get four key areas right, no exceptions:

1. The outward facing policies in your business
2. The attitudes of your employees
3. The business systems that support your employees work
4. Gaining respect and understanding (your attitude as the owner)

Let’s look at the first area, your outward facing policies (our rules for engaging the customer) – the other three areas will be covered over the following weeks.

The customer service experience obviously begins when somebody walks into or calls your business. At this point there are already certain rules and regulations you have in place for dealing with the customers and these can be presented in a number of different ways. What you should be striving for in this area is making doing business with you easy, appealing and even fun! Doing the bare minimum is unlikely to thrill your customers. For example, when you go to the supermarket and the cashier asks “how are you?” Do you feel good about that? Not really, because you expect them to ask that, just as you expect them to be courteous and offer an efficient service.

Providing unexpected services is awesome customer service. Doing what every one else does is simply expected and therefore does not have any real impact on your customers.

Before you shoot down this suggestion by saying that extra services cost your business money – consider this; providing awesome customer service and maintaining the profitability of your business is a balancing act. However, when performed in conjunction with the other techniques I have described, you should be able to charge more for your product or service. Some department stores are famous for going the extra mile; often they are not obligated to refund your money, but many do. They realize that the time spent arguing damages the relationship with the customer so they simply move on!

Don’t put up offensive signs, don’t argue with customers about your obligations and make it easy for them to spend money – “No Credit Cards” is not what I would call an inviting sign for potential customers.

Remember, your outward facing policies will create perceptions about your business, sometimes without you even knowing. Make sure your policies are not turning off potential customers.

Week 41 - What Does the Marketplace Think of Your Business?

What is perception and why is it important? Perception is defined in the Macquarie Dictionary as “…to gain knowledge through one of the senses…” In other words, perhaps our experience versus the facts. The famous marketing authors Al Ries and Jack Trout tell us in their book “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing”:

“…the three largest selling Japanese imported cars in America are Honda, Toyota and Nissan. Most marketing people think the battle between the three brands is based on quality, styling, horsepower and price. Not true. It’s what people think about a Honda, a Toyota or a Nissan that determines which brand will win.”

Can you relate to those statements? Do you just “know” that your coffee is the best in the district or that your photography is better than anyone else’s, or that your hotel is always cleaner and more comfortable? If you are not seeing the results you would like, you could be right about your product or service, but the community may believe otherwise. Ries and Trout continue:

“What makes the battle even more difficult is that customers frequently make buying decisions based on second-hand perceptions. Instead of using their own perceptions, they base their buying decisions on someone else’s perception of reality. This is the “everybody knows” principle.”

This introduces a dangerous concept; bad word of mouth advertising. As you all know, this can literally ruin a business. “Everybody knows” can spread through a community or entire town very quickly. Think about it. When you are talking about products and services amongst friends, perceptions often rear their heads. “…they are expensive…”, “…it’s too cold on their balcony…”, “…they always turn up late…”, “…we waited an hour for a table and the staff were rude…”

On and on it goes, and you make decisions based on these second hand perceptions. The only way to proactively ensure that your business does not suffer is to keep on soliciting feedback from your customers. As I have said, just ask, and keep on asking. You will pick up perceptions good and bad every day. You are then in a position to change these perceptions by making good an error or calling the affected customer to explain exactly what happened and why it won’t happen again.

STOP PRESS: There is far more to perception than just making sure there is not negativity surrounding your product or service. Do you pay more for dinner at an exclusive restaurant? Do you pay more for Nike shoes than for a store brand? Would you pay more for a Mercedes Benz over a Lexus? The questions are of course rhetorical as people do this all the time. What this means for your business is simple: if the market doesn’t believe it, you cannot price at a premium! Put another way, perceptions will always be directly linked to your ability to charge more for your product.

Week 40 - What is the Market Perception of Your Business?

External performance is critical as ultimately it dictates how you are perceived by your customers and the general public. Get it wrong and the best internal systems and marketing won’t help you! Working out what people in your community think of your business is quite easy - ask. You need to find out how they rate your product, your service, your opening hours, your range, your employees, your location and anything other factor of your business that you believe is important.

There are two great questions you can ask your customers:

1. What was pleasing or distinctive about the service you received?
2. What, if anything do you believe we should change to improve our service?
   

There is no point asking a watered down version of these questions such as “…everything alright?” These days everyone is busy so they respond “yes fine” and walk out regardless of how they actually felt. Dig deeper, it will be worth it in the long run.

You will know from your own experiences that when a business annoys you, or lets you down, you certainly tell your family and friends but rarely do you give that feedback to the business owner. Some people will be like that no matter what you ask them - you will never get their feedback. But if you begin asking the questions, you will get a whole lot more feedback than you ever thought possible.

Good or bad this information is priceless but it must be collected systematically. Many business owners go on a feedback “binge” for 1 or 2 weeks, resolve to fix everything and then never mention it again. As with everything in life things change, so you need to have a system in place which reminds you to gather this information as often as appropriate.

One further point: if you are going to make promises to your clients, do what you say you will do! If the feedback card says it goes straight to the Managing Director’s desk for action and a response, then make sure the Managing Director responds! Failing to do so will leave your business with very little credibility.

Week 39 - Can Behavior Be Systematized

Previously I have mentioned systems and employees but really only focused on the policies and procedures that employees are expected to adhere to. What about how employees treat each other or how they interact with the owner of the business - is it possible to systematize that type of behavior so that there are fewer disagreements within your business? The process begins long before these people are your employees.

It is not easy to change the personality of an unfriendly and unmotivated person. Seek out those people who are outgoing and seem willing to learn and ask for examples of how they have used common sense to achieve goals in previous workplaces. The technical aspect of your work may be quite easy to teach so you should focus on hiring people you believe will bring passion to your business.

To some it might sound far fetched, but one such business that has achieved “happiness” is Paddy Lund Dentistry, owned by Brisbane, Australia based dentist Paddy Lund. You see Paddy Lund’s dentistry practice operates under the “The Courtesy System”. Implementing The Courtesy System in your business could mean an end to disagreements and eventually to a much stronger feeling of collective worth.

Paddy Lund’s firm belief is that you spend so much of your time at work you should make an effort to enjoy that time. The time you spend at work is simply living your life. Paddy gave up trying to buy happiness through acquiring cars and property outside of work hours and rather realized that if he was ever to truly be happy, he had to make changes in his workplace.

Paddy begun this transformation by insisting that all staff use “please” and “thank you” every time they interacted. On top of that he demanded an end to office gossip. Initially as you might expect, the employees and Paddy himself felt that the words sounded “put on”. Interestingly the clients did not, they were often commenting how refreshing it was that employees were treating each other with such respect.

On top of employees being courteous to each other Paddy put in place daily meetings to tackle sources of unhappiness. By getting employees to speak candidly if things had upset them, Paddy could identify causes and put in place new rules to ensure the offending behavior was not repeated. What Paddy has learned is that he is able to work up to 50% less, his staff are happy all of the time and the people attracted to the practice (by referral only!) also possess positive attitudes. In addition, Paddy’s employees are with him for the long haul and on top of all of this, he makes more money than he ever did when he was unhappy! The reduced workload and extra money can be attributed to the implementation of systems (for both the business and how staff interact) which has lead to more profitable and happy customers. One example is that appointment cancellations plummeted leading to less scheduling problems (revenue) and a more organized environment (calm, happy employees).

Think about your workplace for a moment. Perhaps there tensions in the air between staff that can affect the way your customers perceive your business. Would you like to serve only your ideal customers and look forward to going to work each and every day?

What can your business learn from Paddy Lund Dentistry?

1. Embark on a fact finding mission to establish the “happiness issues” in your business – start with an employee survey or group discussion
2. Put systems in place initially to force greater co-operation and sensitivity
3. Identify roadblocks to your continued success by involving all employees in open discussion
4. Adjust the systems as required to maintain your positive momentum
5. Never stop looking for improvements all the while ensuring you are treating your fellow employees with dignity and respect. Again this might sound like hard work and yes it will take time, but the effort required will taper off.

The rest you can learn from Paddy himself; buy his book here.

Week 38 - Never Stop Looking for Improvements

Someone once said that a journey of a thousand miles beings with one small step. So it is with your policies and procedures that make up your business system. Start today, constantly refine the system when a problem occurs. You just need to ask yourself what other steps could be implemented to avoid the error in the future. These small incremental improvements will add up and one day you will realize that your business now runs without any yelling and screaming and that you do not actually have to be there! You simply must be committed to improving your processes incrementally, all of the time.

The word “system” might sound a little “constraining” to some of the more creative businesses out there. “Our people are individuals, we want their spirit and personality to shine through and thrill the customer with outstanding service”. No problem. Systems are not about leveling out each employee’s personality or creating an army of programmed robots. They are simply about producing a consistent result time after time. Your employee’s personalities can sit on top of the policies and procedures as a “presentation” layer. You can see this in action in well run businesses - some employees are friendlier than others, some might get into a conversation with you regarding the weather or the house you are painting BUT they all follow the same procedure of greeting you with certain words and up selling you.

In fact, effective systems backed up by the tools to get the job done actually free up your employees to spend time on the solution for the customer. In other words, get the hurdles out of the way, streamline your system and make it easier every day to process a customer transaction. That way you will find not only is your business running smoothly but your employees are happier and the customers are being treated consistently and with enthusiasm and genuine interest. Mike Basch, a founder of the global delivery and logistics company FedEx once said:

“Systematize the routine, humanize the exception."

Next week, can behavior be systematized? Paddy Lund Dentistry holds the answer!

Week 37 – Want to Take Your Hands Off the Steering Wheel?

Walk into any franchised business and take a look around, I guarantee you will see the one thing that makes that business run like clockwork, the Operations Manual. The Operations Manual is the bible of running a tax planning or cheesecake making or hamburger grilling or any other type of franchised business. In contrast, how many non-franchised businesses have an Operations Manual on hand to solve the day to day challenges that every business faces?

Franchisors give their franchisees this manual so they can follow the processes and systems that led to the original success of the business. They often describe every function of the business, in absolute detail, right down to the procedure for cleaning a sink or answering a telephone. Franchisors do this because they know if left to their own devices, the business owner (or their staff) will perform inconsistently and deliver the products or services as they see fit.

Much research has been conducted on the success of the franchise system and the most important element attributed to those that are successful is the method of doing business. In most cases, the usual business rules still apply. You might need a great location, a unique product with mass appeal but ultimately it is the profitable delivery of the products or services that is the key to long term success.

Building policies and procedures for every aspect of your business is initially going to be time consuming. But look at it this way, until and unless you commit to putting what you expect in writing, you will never be able to leave your business. Leaving would be like taking your hands off the steering wheel when driving your car. So put in the work, commit to documenting one aspect of your business per week over the next three months. Eventually you will find yourself with a healthy sized overview of how to run your business the way that you want it run.

The bottom line: we are building an expert system rather than a business that needs EXPERTS to run it!

Perhaps one of the world’s best known pizza franchises is Dominos. Dominos is famous in business circles for the strict system that just about guarantees they can get that pizza to you in 30 minutes (this guarantee has recently been replaced by “Made Fresh, Arrives Fresh”). More importantly it will still be hot! How do they do this? You can’t rely on a fast delivery driver, or your best ever hire that is currently making the pizzas; you have to give all of the employees a tight system they can follow, no matter what their skill level.

Dominos do this by showing employees exactly how much time they have to complete each step of the pizza production and delivery process. They call this “Heightened Time Awareness”:

• 2 minutes “into the oven”
• 10 minutes “out of the oven”
• 12 minutes “out of the store”
• 22 minutes “to the door”

You can see how this framework allows a manager to pinpoint problem areas and make adjustments to create a consistent result. Pizza didn’t get to the door in less than half an hour? What happened? What point in the process took longer than it should have and what actual event caused this?

Within your business you may have made excuses in the past when the going got tough. In an independent pizza business the comments like “we are just busy tonight” or “we ran out of tomato sauce” might fly around when the going got tough. Well I will say it again. If systems have taken care of these trivial problems the pizza delivery system has every chance of getting the product out on time.

IKEA has similar systems for dealing with your order. Yes they are huge but remember they started as one small furniture store. Even the tickets on the counter at your local delicatessen are a system. How many shops have you been into which are equally as busy but have no system for dealing with the crowd? How annoying is that? Can you imagine if there were no guide ropes in an airline check-in area? Why then do so many businesses operate in this manner?

Week 36 - Getting Coffee The Way You Like It

There is no big secret to fixing a consistency problem in your business - you need a system. A business without a documented system is like an airline pilot trying to get from Los Angeles to London without a flight plan or instruments. It’s that simple, the pilot might make it based on skill alone (after all, the pilot is good at flying a plane), but the odds are against long term success. Everyday we see examples of this in the business world. People sell products or services but they do it reactively, never bothering to stop and document the steps required to achieve a consistent result time after time. How does this show up in the community around you?

• Have you ever been served a coffee that was perfect, only to return again and have your mouth scolded by milk about 30 degrees hotter than it should be?
• Have you ever experienced outstanding customer service at a restaurant and then on another visit, had the opposite experience?
• Has a friend ever received a discount or offer at a store and when you tried to take advantage of the same, the staff were confused or would not acknowledge the offer?
• Have you ever been asked “...whose next?” or “...you right?” rather then “Welcome, how may I help you?”
• Have you ever visited a hotel or resort and been totally satisfied only to find that on a return trip the hotel was dirty and not as you had remembered?

You probably get the point. How does it make you feel when you are treated in this inconsistent manner? How does your brain react next time you want to buy a coffee or take a holiday? Nothing is more certain than your brain telling you:

“DANGER : not sure what experience I will receive this time, try somewhere new!”

Systems serve two main functions:

1. INTERNAL PERFORMANCE - To ensure that internally, all critical functions of delivering your product or service are carried out in the same manner and consistently revised to improve their performance.
2. EXTERNAL PERFORMANCE - To ensure that all of your customers are treated properly, but more importantly, are always treated consistently.

Over the coming weeks we will look at these two areas in depth and create an operations manual that will let you set your business on “cruise control”.

Week 35 - How To Get Your Business Running Without You

Over the next twelve weeks we will look at perhaps the single most important area for all small business owners – the systems that support what they provide each day. Here is what I will cover:

1. Why implementing systems will improve your business dramatically.


2. How to develop your Operations Manual and why it is critical to your success.


3. The difference between internal and external performance.


4. How to ensure your product or service is consistent and tap into what the marketplace thinks of your business.


5. Some simple techniques to get employees to really understand your business and act accordingly.


6. Why training is critical to your short and longer term success.


7. How to improve your marketing and advertising, week in, week out.


8. How to ensure that your referral programs are an on-going success.


9. How to create an experience for your customers that will keep them coming back time after time.

Systems are absolutely critical to your business success. Without them you can almost certainly not franchise your business and will find it much more difficult to sell, or indeed put in fewer hours. Systems are developed by paying attention to what goes on in your business at the lowest level. Systems are about treating the root cause of the things that happen day to day. We are all familiar with putting out fires but how many of us make an effort to ensure that a specific problem does not reoccur? The business owners who do this spend far less time answering the same questions or dealing with the same problems; they have freed themselves.

If you ever said “…I cannot take a holiday, this place would collapse if I didn’t show up every day…?” you will get a lot of value from the next 12 weeks. Many business owners feel exactly the same way; that is, “…none of my employees can do things the way I would do them so how can I leave them to run the business?”

If this sounds familiar I don’t need to know anything about your business to guess that you do not have policies and procedures for each aspect of it. The reason is that when left to their own devices, even the most dedicated and intelligent staff will fail to be consistent. What choice do they have? They do each job as they see fit and according to their mood in that moment. Let's get to work on fixing this.

Week 34 - No Sale Yet? Never Give Up!

Over the last few weeks I have focused mainly on actively working with your existing customers to create more sales. Question: what if the prospect never becomes your customer? What if you were to travel to their house, provide a quote and then miss out on the work? Well, if most businesses dump paying customers after the first transaction, what do you think they do with prospects who don’t even buy? Yep, they don’t get a second thought. Perhaps they even receive a special outburst about the “big mistake” they have made!

Dormant and cold prospects can still be of value to your business so first and foremost, you should stay in contact. There are a hundred reasons why people don’t move forward with quotes – they might have found a cheaper price or a better referral but they also may have deferred their decision due to lack of money or an overseas trip. The point is it could be any reason, so stay in touch and re-read “Week 25” which talks about “follow-up”.

As with everything I write about, for follow-up to be effective, you have to do it systematically. An easy way to do this is simply call all of your non-buyers once every couple of months. Ask how things are going, “…is there any other information I can provide to help you make a decision?” Email is also an easy way to drop these prospects a standard note asking for an update on their situation. It has probably cost you money to attract these potential buyers in the first place, so don’t discard them. Try to extract some value over the following weeks or months.

To round out, here is a powerful question when faced with a “…no thanks…” from a prospect:

“Thank you for your time, do you know anyone who you believe WOULD benefit from our product or service?”

If it is appropriate, start asking that in your business today. Recruitment agencies do it all the time and over time build huge contact lists. Remember that word leverage. You have the customer on the telephone, on email (or on their porch) and you can decide to walk away, or ask the simple question and generate more income and profit for your business.

I will now move on to building your business systems. Once your business is operating like a well oiled machine (with or without you) you will finally get the time to start making choices for your business rather than them being made for you by the marketplace.

Week 33 – Licensing; Getting All You Can

I like to think of licensing as squeezing every last bit of juice from an orange. Earlier we learnt that getting the most leverage from your advertising can give you much greater results for the same cost. Licensing your method of doing business is the same thing. You will get maximum leverage of your efforts, meaning minimal effort to multiply your income.

Licensing is a key method for geographically constrained businesses to increase their turnover and spread their tentacles. For example, if you are a supplier of steel products, it is unlikely you can be competitive with another steel supplier 1500 miles away. The freight costs would eat any margin and ensure that the local supplier was always able to beat you on price. But what if you could license your method of doing business or method of steel production to all the competitors outside your competitive area?

For a real world example, look at world famous Rockpool Restaurant. The team runs two restaurants, a cooking consultancy business for the airline Qantas, two television programmes which the company co-produces, as well as a product line for the supermarket chain Woolworths. Now that is a great example of leverage through licensing. It all started with the restaurant. Running a top class restaurant is obviously tough but the recipes and concepts and flair can be leveraged through the other initiatives and product lines, without the founders having to work 2 or 3 or 4 times harder.

You have to think outside of your industry. At first glance a restaurant and TV show might not seem like a logical mix, but think how amazing it is that they now get paid to be filmed doing what they would have been doing anyway. You can see the leverage concept in action all around you, Starbucks leverage their core coffee product, super models leverage their beauty and professional sporting teams leverage their players.

Justin Herald, founder of the clothing brand Attitude® operates in this way but he warns that it was not as easy as it sounds. “People come up with concepts all the time, but you can’t just expect someone to offer you money for your unproven concept. You have to get out there, build your brand and sales before you can expect any level of interest in this sort of arrangement.”

How do you get started?

1. Perform an intellectual property audit on your business. Write down all that is unique about your business. This could be your production methods or customer service technique or the selling system that works better than any competitors.
   
2. How could you offer others training on your method of achieving a result? The point is that if your business is successful, it is because you have devised a system which is working, week in, week out. Parts of, or the entire system can be licensed, after all who wouldn’t want your success? You have to have your methods documented. Follow the guidelines we will discuss over the coming weeks.
   
3. What other products or services can you offer? Could you add other company’s products and services to your offering but under your own name? Spend an entire day with your team brainstorming new product or service ideas that could grow out of your core offering. Put everything on the board - what looks silly now might seem like a good idea 5 hours later.