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Identifying Your Business Issues |
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The list below should provide some answers to questions you may be asking yourself already and starts the ball rolling before you involve a consultant.
| Take a moment to read some of the questions/issues below; do they strike a chord with you and your business? |
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Answers
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I sometimes feel out on a limb, simply because it seems like we're reinventing the wheel all the time.
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If there is going to be a recession or credit crunch, I'm choosing not to join in.
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I want to increase our income consistently; I don’t want to settle with our current situation.
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It’s time I took control and started directing my business to where I want it to go and not to be forced down a route by customers or staff.
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| I want to improve our business process to make my life and the lives of those around me easier. |
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Finding new business is too much like hard work, there's got to be an easier way.
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I want to be able to attract new customers easily and not fight to get them.
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There is too much competition and I can’t seem to make any progress. It’s like one step forward and two steps back.
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We need a new plan and strategy if we are going to succeed in the future.
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Do we need a marketing strategy? I want to get things moving, but I don’t know where to start.
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I’d like to create a plan for the future, but with a difference; I want sustainable business achievement.
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I’m fed up with poor performance and low gross profit. I want to increase sales but my staff don’t seem open to change.
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We’ve got some financial problems but I can’t seem to get the right sort of help.
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I want to get my business moving but can’t find anyone to help me who understands how our different departments work together.
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People Management
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How can we improve complaint handling and change the way our customers are managed?
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How can we improve sales performance and make sure everyone says what they've been trained to say?
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How can I train my staff to say the right thing every time and at the same time be open to improving themselves?
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Could we save money by verifying customers' orders on the telephone?
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Could we significantly reduce or eliminate errors in telephone order processing?
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How can we increase the number of qualified appointments, but not have to increase our staff?
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How do we get staff to work towards a standardised model when they're on the telephone?
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Our staff would benefit from being able to hear themselves on the phone. How can we achieve that?
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How can I hear what my staff are saying on the phone without standing over them?
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How can we be effective managers of staff on the telephone without micro-managing?
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What about your staff?
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I want to be able to train my staff with effective tools to achieve tangible results.
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I want my staff to be empowered and to buy into improving their performance.
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I want a different way of managing my staff that will have a long-lasting effect on them as well as the business.
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I want to monitor and chart their improvement, both individually and as a team.
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I’ve got to show examples of perfect telephone calls if I am to help train others effectively.
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How can I get my sales team to handle objections better and not sound like they're talking from a script?
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How can we differentiate our business from the competition, if we've all got the same tools?
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Managing Activity
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Do we answer every call or do we lose some?
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How many calls do we receive for the sales department?
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How many calls do we receive for customer services?
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How many calls do we receive for accounts?
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How long do customers have to wait before they are answered?
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How many new callers do we receive each week?
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How many repeat calls do we receive from our customers?
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Are those repeat calls for sales, support, accounts or complaints?
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Are we getting value for money from our  Carrier?
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Are our phone bills too high?
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Are we being billed correctly?
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Linking Systems
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Can we link our database to the telephone system to see who is calling?
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I want customers who owe us money to automatically be transferred to accounts rather than the sales department. How can we do this?
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Can we dial our customers from our database?
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I want our internal systems to work together so we can be more efficient.
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I need to manage incoming calls to make sure staff answer them on promptly.
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Phone calls and e-mails are equally important so how do we give them both the same priority?
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I need to even out the staff workload.
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How can we streamline operations and improve our customer services record?
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We need to handle more calls but don’t want to add to the salary bill.
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Our competition is better than us at supporting their customers.
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I want our customers to know where they are in the queue when they call us.
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I want a completely integrated system without having to junk all my existing equipment.
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I want to do e-mail merge so we can boost our marketing efforts.
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I want standardised documents to make sure we present a consistent company image.
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We have got to change otherwise we will have no future.
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I want to analyse our customers.
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I want to prioritise customers so that the sales team have a clear objectives.
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I want to generate new business, but our previous methods are no longer producing the successes they used to.
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I want to increase efficiency because I know it will help us to generate more profits.
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I want to create a system that generates income consistently.
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I want to take on more part-time staff to answer calls from home.
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I wish we could use human resources from outside the UK.
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We want less stress and to reduce our carbon footprint. How can we work from home without it costing the Earth?
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I want telecommunications for everyone on the road and at home.
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Our phone system is full. How can we add more phones without changing our telephone system?
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What’s the best way to route my own calls?
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I want the phone answered by me or someone else even if we're not in the office - and I want the call to ring aound.
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There are only a handful of us so how can we handle more calls without adding people?
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Contactability
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We have different buildings on one site. How can we keep in touch with our staff?
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Everyone moves around and we’re fed up leaving voice messages when we know they’re in the office.
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Why can’t I get hold of my staff when I need them?
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No one is ever at their desk when a customer calls.
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Efficiency
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How can I make my sales team more productive?
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If they made more calls we would make more money.
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Staff are easily distracted and don’t make enough calls.
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Our salespeople waste so much time looking up telephone numbers. There must be an easier way.
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Our staff want to earn more money but they’ve got to do more business.
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How can I incentivise the sales team without it costing me a fortune?
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I want to do more business but don’t want to increase staff expenditure.
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If you have a question we haven't covered here or you would like to discuss anything further please contact us on 0800 970 9751 or email us at
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Planning to Grow Your Profits |
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By applying a process of evaluation to the various activities undertaken, a business is able to keep pushing forward, creating the potential required to grow profits.
For a business to thrive, it must identify and facilitate the implementation of the correct tools. Many business owners can become distracted with other matters and the focus on generating cash can be lost from time to time.The ultimate objective is to implement a structure that can almost manage itself and provide reports for senior management to make adjustments in order to increase profits, year on year. The diagram below provides an illustration of an effective evaluation process.
Therefore, this site is structured around two distinct approaches:
- Consultancy - to help companies identify exactly what processes they must put in place.
- Project Management – to aid the supply, implementation and training of any equipment required.
As you will see later we have devised a structured approach that ensures all information is analysed so that the most logical strategies are implemented. The goal is to provide a complete illustration of how to review your business from the perspective of carrying out the ultimate technology review. Marketing, Sales & AdministrationWe are all aware of the pitfalls and problems that can beset most companies. In order to get a genuine feel for how your business functions, you need to get to know your business first. Therefore the initial analysis process is in-depth to ensure that everyone involved in reviewing your business understands it properly. The typical format would be to begin with a general discussion about your business and your approach to generating profits. Listed below are some typical questions, in no particular order of priority; some you may have heard before and some that may be more relevant to your business than others. The prime objective is to draw out aspects of the sales/business process that you may not have considered before and to give you the opportunity to look at your business afresh.See the next sections for the questions.{/reg} |
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Consultancy 
