|
Home / Business / Management
Why Your Business Has To Grow All The Time
By:David Bain
Your business has to grow all the time. I’m not talking size. I’m talking capability. Unless your business continually improves its service offering and quality of service all the time, you’re going backwards.
Don’t count on your customers to stay loyal
The only reason that your customers stay with you is that they perceive that your business offers them the best product or service for what they’re looking for. Sure, they might stay with you if you develop a close bond with them – but the chances are that you’ll lose them forever if you continually offer second best in your marketplace.
Keep an eye on the competition
If you don’t know what your competition are doing then you’re running the risk of losing customers, and not even knowing why you’re losing them. It’s a good idea to ‘benchmark’ three key local and three key national competitors. Benchmarking simply means measuring yourself against someone else. By benchmarking your business against another business you put into place a formal process that ensures the continual comparison over time.
A benefit of benchmarking includes improving your existing internal processes. By analysing your competition over time you can begin to piece together how they operate their total product or service fulfilment from order to contract completion. This information gathered is invaluable when it comes to improving your own existing processes.
An additional benefit of the benchmarking process includes the direct comparison between your products or services and the products and services of your customers. When you conduct a thorough overview of you competitor’s offering, only then can you confidently explain to your own sales prospects why you are better.
Continually seek CANI ideas from your customers
By continually seeking Constant And Never-ending Improvement ideas from your customers, you are again putting into place a process that will radically reduce the amount of customers leaving you without a known or given reason. Once you start communicating effectively with your customers about what you could do better, and then recording the data in a systemised manner, you are putting CANI into action.
Effective CANI for your customers can be as simple as asking them for their feedback on the sales process after they choose to purchase your product or service. Then conducting analysis on whether or not it would be worthwhile implementing those suggestions into your current procedures.
Focus on these three different areas to continually grow your business
By focusing on improving internal processes, improving your product or service offering and improving your customer service operations, you radically grow and improve the quality of your business without investing more money or increasing your costs. You can then ensure that your business will keep growing all the time. By focusing on growing internally rather than explicitly externally, this ensures that growth is carried out for sound business reasons rather than vanity.
Digg
del.icio.us
Blink
Stumble
Spurl
Reddit
Netscape
Furl
Article keywords: grow business, business growth, business benchmarking, benchmarking success
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com
David Bain is founder of the business articles resource www.BuildYourOwnBusiness.biz. Build Your Own Business features hundreds of different business articles on 28 different subjects including Strategy, eBusiness and Change Management. Latest additions to the website include a Top 5 Business Articles Podcast.
|
|
| Top Management Articles |
- 1). Nine Reasons Why Mentoring Matters to You By : Kevin
There are many roles we play or hats we wear in our lives. We are professionals, family members, brothers, sisters, co-workers, leaders, coaches, friends, parents, and neighbors to name just a few. While you may not wear all of the hats I listed, you can likely add several more that I left out! Many of these roles are a given – we don’t have much choice of having the role – they come with being a responsible adult.
|
- 2). Project Management - Design and Development Projects By : Michael Russell
There’s no getting away from it, design and development projects are a nightmare to manage successfully, particularly the development of software. Nonetheless, in these days of customers requiring ever increasing functionality and ever more sophisticated technology, they are sometimes necessary.
Your company almost certainly has procedures in place such as Make or Buy (do you design/build the item yourselves or do you sub-contract) and Design to Cost (you’ve estimated how much it will cost, now make sure that it doesn’t run over budget.
|
- 3). Defining Supply Chain Management By : James Hunt
Companies that deal with inventory will have to have some sort of system in place to effectively manage the supply chain that exists for any type of sales. A system of inventory needs to be as smooth running as possible so that a company is able to fulfill all its orders in a timely manner...
|
- 4). Customer Advisory Boards By : Paul Lemberg
Customer Advisory Boards are a great source of information about your market and your business. Their advice is more valuable than any management consultant's. They provide real world counsel on what you are doing right, what you are doing wrong, and most important -how to stay competitive. After all, they're the customer. They're the one's who buy your stuff.
|
- 5). 6 Ways to Maximize Learning By : Steve Kaye
Here's how to gain the most from training events.
1) Know what you want
Before the workshop, set learning goals for yourself. What do you want to learn? How can this program help you? What would make you feel that your time was well spent?
2) Ask for what you want
As the program unfolds, ask questions that guide the presentation toward the information that you need.
|
- 6). Save Face, Time, and Money on Your Next IT Project By : Leslie Whinery
How many times have you been involved in a project where a newly-released piece of software required an immediate enhancement because the right people were not “in the loop”? This is an example of how poor communication costs money and damages the reputation of an Information Technology (IT) Team.
Well-managed communication can increase the rates of success on your IT projects by improving relations between you and your customers and decreasing the odds of hasty last-minute enhancements, thus saving face, saving time, and saving money.
|
- 7). Decision Making "Pub" By : Claude Jollet
This article will help transform your decision making process into “PUB” - Pure Unadulterated Bliss!
Think I'm exaggerating? Well ... maybe just a little!:-) But, see for yourself anyway! You might be in for a pleasant surprise. The way I make decisions in complex situations has – at least – the merit of turning decision making into an effective, satisfying, even reassuring experience.
|
- 8). The CEO is 10,000 feet above the fire By : Larry Galler
How many times have you heard a business owner or manager say that they spend their workday “always sweating at putting out fires?” I hear it all the time.
Think of a raging forest fire. There are sweaty fire fighters working hard, just yards in front of the flames. There is one person in a helicopter 10,000 feet above the flames. Those on the ground and the one in the helicopter are all looking at the same fire but they have totally different views.
|
- 9). CPAs vs. Non-Certified Accountants - Clearing Up The Confusion By : John Day
I wish I had a nickel for every time someone asked me what the difference is between CPAs and non-certified accountants. Essentially, non-certified accountants can simply hang up their shingle and open their doors for business. There are no educational requirements. If they want to prepare taxes, most states require a certain number of qualified hours of study plus continuing education hours each year.
|
- 10). Many Kinds Of Banks - Many Kinds Of Accounts By : Sintilia Miecevole
Sometimes looking into opening an account or accounts in banks can be confusing. There are so many types of banks and bank accounts! Which banks are right for you to open anaccount in? Which types of accounts do you need to open? Below are some simple explanations of several types of banks and the accounts you can open. One will surely be right for you!
There are many kinds of banks:
1.
|
| New Management Articles |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 7). Double Your Profits with Business Coaching By : Kris Koonar
Business as we all know, involves risk. Since starting up your own business means starting a new chapter of your life, you may fail to recognize a few shortcomings in your business plans, as you are too engrossed and feel that things are going great.
|
- 8). Modern Business Strategies and Tactics By : Kris Koonar
Modern business strategies and tactics often concentrate on developing international brands and products, but before developing any product it is important to assess the potential worldwide demand.
|
- 9). Avoiding Poor Time Management By : ian Williamson
Around midnight students across the country become record setting authors by finishing essays, and study groups for tests in unheard of time. This unnerving process often leads to below average results. Many people wonder why this is happening, the answer is poor time management.
|
|
|
|
|
