My husband and I were enjoying our dinner one night while discussing various plans and ideas. I was sharing that I wanted to submit articles and announcements to a large number of ezines to market my eProgram in a big way, and I wanted your help to make this happen. His answer stopped me in my tracks, “Can your systems handle the increased demand?”
I know that my online systems and processes are capable of handling significant transaction volumes on a daily basis, but there are still a couple of manual processes that are not as smooth as they could be and may not produce the best experience at times. With current demand, I can tolerate these manual processes and get by easily, but the additional demand I expect from my marketing efforts will make these tolerances intolerable very quickly. If I had moved on without changing and extending my systems first, I would have risked some very important things: my new customer loyalty and my sanity!
I seem to find myself frequently in this tug of war situation. The need to set the correct system configuration conflicts with the search for opportunities. With my strategic sense, I can see several steps ahead. I often get very excited about those steps and am eager to get ahead of myself before the time is right.
I see this as a challenge for both large and small businesses. I think the successful ones plan their operations and put the right systems in place to properly manage the increased demand. The key is to take firm, strategic steps forward – you need to learn to walk before running. Every business needs a strong foundation or business operations platform to easily handle increasing business needs and growth while serving customers well. This is essential. Otherwise, the business owner can easily become overwhelmed.
Top ten qualities that allow business operations to grow easily:
1. Scalable – Operations are scalable and easily handle sudden and exponential demand.
2. Designed to create great customer experiences (while meeting business needs) – Operations provide a consistent, repeatable level of service that serves the customer at all times.
3. Continuous flow – Efficient operations allow all transactions to flow through the business effortlessly, with minimal manual effort or intervention where manual effort only occurs when you have good strategic sense.
4. Professional Appearance – Operations help you present a professional face to the customer at all times.
5. Simple: the processes are simple and straightforward for both you and your customers. They are simple to use, simple to maintain, and simple to run. Everything is done quickly and efficiently.
6. Proven – Operational processes are tested and produce repeated successful results.
7. Backup – Operating systems are always backed up and the backup is also backed up.
8. Documented – All processes are documented, including customer experiences, as well as the roles and goals of team members.
9. Understood: the entire team knows and understands the operating procedures and suggests continuous improvement.
10. Enhanced – Improvements are discovered proactively through careful observation of customer experiences as well as direct customer feedback. Tweaks to improve the customer experience are incorporated quickly and easily.
I believe that these ten qualities can be applied to any operation, at work or at home. Examples at home include, but are not limited to, preparing meals, maintaining the house, and paying bills.
Copyright 2004 Donna P. Lendzyk
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