Is Outsourcing Right for Your Business???
The media has reported a lot about the outsourcing of jobs to foreign companies. Although the opprobrious reports regard large company manufacture of products in foreign countries for sale in their domestic and foreign markets, Many small businesses have already had experience with outsourcing. Many small business owners and small companies are not specialists in all functions of business, like human resource and other specialized functions of the business. They, therefore may outsource these functions to other companies more capable of doing the tasks.
The outsourcing website,
Firmbuilder.com, is a great resource to look at to determine if outsourcing may be right for your company. The website has
a Small Business Guide to Successful Outsourcing with great tips on determining the benefits of outsourcing for your business. Here is a few do's and some mistakes to avoid for small businesses thinking about outsourcing from the website.
Five Do’s of Successful Small Business Outsourcing: - Outsource the bottlenecks, the things that are really keeping you from growing your business profitably.
- Pick great partners. Check them out. Talk to their current customers.
- Once you outsource, your provider is part of your company, treat them that way.
- Demand excellence – this is what your provider does for a living. The way they do it should constantly amaze you.
- Outsourcing can scare employees – get, and stay, ahead of the rumor mill through straightforward, honest communications.
Source: Michael F. Corbett & Associates, Ltd.
Six Worst Mistakes in Small Business Outsourcing: - Not clearly defining the desired results and how they'll be measured.
- Not talking to a provider's current and former clients.
- Failing to consider the long-term relationship dynamics.
- Signing a standardized, multi-year contract.
- Not planning up front for how the relationship might end.
- Treating the provider as an outsider.
Source: Michael F. Corbett & Associates, Ltd.
Have You Hugged Your Customers Today???
Know everything about your customers...you need toJack Mitchell, HugYourCustomers.com
I recently had a great couple of experiences with customer experience. I felt a great feeling about the exchange. On one part, I was given great customer service, more than I had expected. The other part, I had given cucstomer service to a customer and the customer was greatly satisfied. I had not gone too far out of my way to give special attention, but the cutomer was pleased and was very appreciative. At both of these instances, I had felt that a hug would not be inappropriate and even welcome. This is a big deal knowing that I am not a known hugger. I did refrain, but it was welcome to be appreciated for giving good customer service and doubly so to be appreciated as a customer.
The
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is a small business advocacy group. Part of their website is a business toolbox. A 2003 article in the toolbox,
Hug Your Customers, highlights the need to personalize customer service and keep the customer "number one" in your mindset. The article presents a study guide for the Jack Mitchell's book,
Hug Your Customers : The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results.
Jack Mitchell is the CEO of a couple of high-end clothing retailers in Connecticut. "The only way to stay in business is with customers, and Jack Mitchell knows how to attract them, and how to keep them. He has a deceptively simple but winning approach to customer service that a relationship is at the heart of every transaction. Jack's business philosophy is based on 'hugs.' Personal touches that impress and satisfy the customer. Below is a 'study guide' for this philosophy from his book, Hug Your Customers"
Excerpted from his book:
Huggers sell with passion so they develop long-term personal and loyal relationships with customers. This means seeing, listening, and caring about the customer, and treating the customer as your friend.
You have to develop extremely satisfied customers. In the new business landscape, it's no longer enough to have satisfied customers.
Customer-centric organizations are the best huggers. That's because they're always thinking about hugs; everyone, from top to bottom, focuses first on the customer, the center of the universe. Everyone hugs and everyone sells.
A hug is anything that exceeds a customer's expectations. It's a mindset. There is no one way to hug; it can be a smile, a high five, expedited service, or sending out 3-cent stamps.
Everyone on the floor. This is a Golden Principle, because it puts everyone where they can see, touch, and feel real live customers.
For more information about Jack Mitchell, be sure to visit
hugyourcustomers.com.
Businesses Urged to Adopt "Professional" Email Addresses
The UK small business resource website,
Startups.co.uk, shared results of a
consumer survey of English subjects by the web hosting firm,
Easily.co.uk. The survey asked consumers of their prospects of procuring services from businesses with and without exclusive email addresses. While the survey was done half a world away, the results may still be relevent to US businesses.
"Small firms are being advised to adopt 'professional sounding' e-mail addresses if they want to benefit from hidden profitability, in a new report. The survey, by web hosting firm Easily.co.uk, asked over 1,500 consumers, if they preferred fictional email address sales@londonplumbing.com or londonplumbing@hotmail.com."
"The results show that a massive 88 per cent favoured the first option, as they felt that it suggested a more professional and trustworthy organisation. Younger consumers were more likely to have this attitude, with 95 per cent of 16-24 year olds more likely to trust a domain specific address. Jonathan Robinson, director of business development at Easily, said: 'Email is an extension of a company's online presence, so it is unsurprising to find that consumers expect a professional business website to be complemented by domain name specific email addresses.'"
While the exclusive email addresses do come at a cost, the benefits for your business may prove a profitable investment to get the edge over the competition. It might be best to use your new "gmail" account to impress your friends but not your customers.
Personal and Entrepreneurial Prosperity in 2005It is my sincere wish for you and yours to have personal and entrepreneurial prosperity for the New Year. The New Year is a time to reflect and act upon our postponed intentions for success and to evaluate our own current or future plans for small business success.
The authors of the 30 day business plan,
bp30.com, propose
30 Golden Rules to Achieve Personal and Entrepreneurial Prosperity (.pdf format) for leading a healthier and more successful life. The .pdf library on the website is chock full of very useful information for the entrepreneur.
"Success in business requires training and discipline
and hard work. But if you're not
frightened by these things, the opportunities are
just as great today as they ever were."
David Rockefeller, US banker (1915 - )
Every business decision has a financial impact
Intellexis.com, a provider of financial and business skills learning solutions, posts a
free financial awareness test to assess your business financial awareness.
The understanding of basic business finance concepts is now an essential skill required by all business owners. Every business decision has a financial impact. Are you able to quantify this? Intellexis asks:
- Can you compare the effects of different strategies?
- Can you present a business case that justifies the approach you would like to take?
- Do you understand how your customers and suppliers view your business?
The test was a great resource to identify where your knowledge gaps are. Personally, I did well on the margins and cash flow portions, but I sure will have concentrate on the assets and costs portions of the assessment.
"What went wrong at Schlotzskys?"In a recent AdAge artice,
What Schlotzskys' Bankruptcy Teaches Marketers, Madison Avenue Guru,
Al Reis, expands on his 1982 book,
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind.
Al Reis gives excellent examples of poor brand names. Did Schlotzkys have a badly chosen name??? It has been a couple of months since I have eaten at the deli. I guess I will need to make a visit to Quizno's instead. What's the deal with naming these delis, anyhow??? There is genuine simplicity in a name like Moab's Deli for a deli in Moab. The article made me rethink my own choice for a name, but not really.
NEBS Business Plan Tool
NEBS.com is an online resource for custom branded business forms and stationary. NEBS is a cool resource for any small business. The website contains a lot of information and resources about business branding and business management.
Most recently, I have discovered a nice tool to complete a business plan,
a business plan template. The business plan tool is on one page. This could be problematic if you are not used to backing up the information you enter into the template. This aside, the template is a great place to start and it is totally free. The template is a great place to start on your business plan.
