With the current economic conditions, everyone seems concerned with finding ways to increase business. Although most of the people I talk to feel that things are slowly getting better, no one is satisfied with the way things are now.
We've recently made some observations here at Logical Expressions that gave me a few ideas on how you can improve your relationship with your business contacts. These tips apply to any business, large or small, Internet-based or traditional. You've probably heard most of them before, but I'm going to try to bring them home with a personal slant on how they've affected us lately.
* Get agreements in writing. I'm not really talking about hiring a lawyer to write up a long contract here, although that is certainly appropriate when big money is involved. No, I'm just talking about writing down the scope of work and the cost of that work so you and your opposite both have something to refer to later. People forget. Sometimes, people try to get sneaky. In either case, you don't want the "but I thought you said" conversation that inevitably results. Getting payment in arrears under these circumstances becomes virtually impossible. Trust me, I know.
* Pay your bills on time. If you are unable to make payment in full, contact the vendor and ask for terms. If you don't pay and say nothing about it, the vendor thinks you are blowing them off and that you never intend to pay. My feelings are, If you can't pay for it, don't ask for it in the first place. Our business is increasingly moving to a pay-in-advance scheme to avoid collection hassles. I'm astounded at how many businesses are willing to destroy their relationship with us by failing to pay for the work we've already completed for them. And I'm not talking about unsatisfied customers here either.
* Reward your best customers. If you have customers who regularly pay on time and are easy to work with, reward them with special discounts and be sure to thank them for their diligence. These customers are the few gold nuggets in a sea of coal. On the other hand, you can make doing business with dud customers worthwhile by increasing the rate you charge them. We call this the "aggravation surcharge." Don't be mistaken: managing difficult customers costs you extra time and money. Make them pay for it. Don't worry too much about losing these customers. You want to cultivate your best customers and let the competition struggle with the duds.
* Plan ahead to avoid fire-fighting mode. American businesses seem to have lost their will to live. The workers don't want to work and the managers don't want to manage. Planning ahead has pretty much gone out the window. The result is a struggling economy weighed down with political intrigue. We need to stop crying about today and start dreaming of what we want for tomorrow. Set some goals and work toward them. Sitting around and waiting for the next crisis is demoralizing and counter-productive.
* Respond to communications. This is a pet peeve around here, as you may have noticed from other comments made over time in the other columns. I'm frequently frustrated by the lack of response to the voice mail messages I leave and the e-mail messages I send. I understand that people are busy fighting fires (a symptom of the times, it seems) and that they may just be out of the office. But letting a message go for days or weeks with absolutely no response is insulting. You can go a long way toward establishing good will with your customers and business partners by simply being courteous enough to respond (however briefly) to their communications.
Okay, I guess this column was half advice and half soapbox. I hope that putting a personal viewpoint on the issues helps to demonstrate their importance.
In the words of Bill and Ted, "Be excellent to each other." Extending uncommon courtesy and thinking ahead can really improve the way others see your business.
So, what are YOUR pet peeves? Let us know by sending an e-mail to opinion@logicalexpressions.com. |
