Small businesses are crucial to the economy and we like to use and
support small local businesses as much as we can.
And for the most part we always get better and more personalized service
when working with a local business.
But sometimes we
are disappointed because the business "forgets" to return our calls or
"forgets" to come out and provide the service we requested on the day
they arranged to come out. Most often the business will apologize and
they will come up with some excuse. The problem is that the excuse shows
how unprofessional they are and how unorganized they are.
Having
run a number of small businesses my first priority was always to create
the feeling of a bigger company. At least in the eyes of the client.
Some clients don't trust that a person that runs a business out of an
office in their home will be "professional" or "experienced" enough for
them. One has nothing to do with the other. Today many businesses are
run out of home offices to save money and for convenience and life style
choices. As a business consultant and professional organizer I work at my clients home or office - so I don't need to rent an office space to look "professional".
One of the first accounting firms that I did
business with had their office in the basement of their home. Once
you got into their basement office you would have thought that you were
in a high class accounting firm. The office had the highest quality
equipment and beautiful furniture. they saved money by not pay
thousands of dollars a month in rent and therefore passed that on to
their clients.
Having professional looking forms and invoices that can capture client information is crucial. Not only does it present
a professional image but it also allows you to capture the needed
information without forgetting anything. Even if you are a roofer or
plumber you need to present a professional image when it comes to
paperwork.
Writing quotes down on a scrap of paper does not present a professional image and chances are that you will lose that scrap of paper. It's happened to me and I knew it the moment he started writing my information down on a ripped piece of scrap paper. I lost all confidence in the vendor at that time.
Which
is what happened to one of the plumbers we tried to do business with.
He lost the order...somewhere..... He couldn't find our contact
information and didn't call us.
Having a filing system
and logging phone messages and client schedules is crucial to a small
business. Being organized in a small business is even more important
than in a larger company because the smaller business depends on client
referrals more than a larger company that has a big advertising budget.
By
having systems in place to capture client information and having a
process in place to follow-up on that information will save you time and
your clients will be happier when they get the service they need on the
day they need it.
Being organized in business is
crucial. Start today. Step back and take a look at your business and see
how you can improve and make your clients happier. You won't be
disappointed in the end result.
Organizational Consulting Services
www.organizationalconsultingservices.com
