Are You Stunting YOUR ORGANIZATION Growth First Article Of 2

If an organization is bumping along with the same profits year after year it often lacks a number of of:

strategic growth plan

marketing plan

appropriate sales approach

project scheduling

monitored customer service

Unplanned operational processes

Missing one among these results in wasted effort for the whole company. Sometimes with costs that are hidden by "just conducting business."

For example, think of Mr. Smith ringing to report a problem with the tap on his bathroom suite...

XYZ Customer Service Agent (XYZ CSA): "Hello The Sunny Bathroom Company. How can i help you?"

Mr Smith: "Ah, hello. I bought among your Kon-Tiki bathroom suites and you also installed it for me last week. Unfortunately one of the taps doesn't work and we didn't realise until your plumber left and we couldn't get hold of him to ask him another."

XYZ CSA: "Oh that is clearly a shame. Unfortunately I don't do the scheduling for the plumber so I've no idea when he is able to get back to sort it out for you. I'll ring his department and discover a time and ring you back?"

Mr Smith: "Great thanks"

XYZ CSA then puts the telephone down and starts to notice the request. Another call comes through XYZ takes the call and then forgets to complete the note.

The next morning...

ABC CSA: "Hello The Sunny Bathroom Company. How can i help you?"

Mr Smith: "I rang yesterday about getting a plumber to sort my tap out."

ABC CSA: "Oh. There is nothing here about this. Just give me your details... "

Not to mention this ties up another employee on the same problem. And is really a hidden cost. In addition to the customer is annoyed that he's been forgotten and will probably tell others of his misfortune. They are all hidden effects of poor customer service.

How To Grow YOUR ORGANIZATION

Use a fresh couple of eyes. Get an outside consultant to come in and proceed through it.

Usually the directors and owners are too close to the business and daily work so can't step back as easily as they might like to.

Which means problems get left to 1 side. There they fester and eat away at growth and profits. Without you really realising, because "you're getting round to it soon".

Whenever I get into a business I usually find areas that a business can grow profitably. Equally I can see where in fact the business has unreasonable costs or poorly performing people.

As a consultant you can find a sales approach, operational process, marketing strategy, product, service or customer type that may either be improved or needs removing.

The reason good consultants can get into businesses and identify trouble spots or people that have potential isn't because they're much better than the owners or directors. It is because they include objective judgment and analysis is based on knowledge of others they've been in.

The other thing is a consultant can report hard truths that must definitely be faced without having to dress them up. In the next article I'll look of which fresh couple of eyes you should enter your business and just why.

Jim Symcox coaches business through marketing strategies, implementation and usage of social media to higher and easier profits. Business doesn't need to be tough! He's also a copywriter, blogger and the author of "How exactly to Leap Ahead Of Your Competitors".

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