HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO IMPROVE IN YOUR BUSINESS PROCESSES IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT’S NOT WORKING?
The answer is right in front of you, it’s the people who help your business run every day. Your employees. Your customers. Your suppliers. They hold the answers for the improvements your business may need. Without them, trying to figure out where your problems lie is like stumbling around in the dark.
Before trying to implement change in your business it’s a good idea to capture the types of activities and data that are produced day-to-day. A baseline. From this you can clearly visualise the areas of improvement and kickstart your plans.
EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK
Your employees are your frontline and they undoubtedly see the good and bad of your business. Gaining feedback from your employees is more than likely the most valuable information you can collect. They can tell you which back-end process takes them the most time, which is easiest and works well, where they can cut down on tasks etc. Happy employees work harder because they feel valued and appreciated and something as little as asking for feedback can work wonders.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
Customers are the people you want to keep happy and content. Happy customers become repeat business and that’s where your revenue lies. From a customer you can gain insight on deliveries, are they late or on-time? The quality of your customer facing employees and products. Even how they see your business. Would they use you again? Would they refer you to a friend?
Sales figures can also help you highlight areas of improvement by showing you rises and maybe falls in accordance to seasons or time of day. These could inspire new marketing ideas and how to combat problem areas.
Once you have all of this valuable information what’s the next step?
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH IT?
Easy. You start making changes. Small ones, that you can manage and track their progression before making them big changes. A good way to fix, track and manage your goals and data would be with a management system. Depending on what new information you hold there are a variety of business critical management systems that can take the information and knowledge you have and consolidate it in a user-friendly way.
Concerned about deliveries and productivity? Fleet management and routing may be best to start with. Shortening routes, reducing your carbon footprint and giving you eyes on your roaming employees.
Condensing tasks and processes into easy manageable jobs? Asset management could be ideal, letting you know where items are located, how many there are and the condition they are in.
A broad overview and detailed notes all in one system. They include every member of the business and make staff involvement key in the production of accurate information.
Wanting to improve your business is a natural progression once you get started. Your ultimate goal is wanting to be the best in your sector and provide a top quality service all round.
There’s always room for improvement, all you need to do is ask the right questions.
Creative Software Solutions (Europe) Ltd offer a range of management solutions in a variety of public and private sectors, including healthcare and emergency services. With over 20 years’ of experience and successful business we help businesses to obtain efficiencies and cost savings in many ways.
For more information on our solutions give us a call today on 0844 879 4531 or email enquiries@csseurope.co.uk.