Service Please

So here we go again! Another year and another dollar to be earned. Same old same old! Well not really. This time around folks there is a new paradigm it is called service. Maybe it’s an old paradigm revisited.

If you want to remain in business or more importantly generate a profit to stay in business and contribute to your community then you had better catch the Service Bug together with the package it is hidden in.

The delivery of traditional services is changing as more and more people take to the internet. People tell me they don’t like it. ‘It is so impersonal and you don’t get to meet the person you are dealing with. Brother how wrong can you be. Great service is great service regardless of how it is delivered.

I am a great one for over servicing my customers, in fact anyone associated to my customers and me. It is all I have going for me. Okay so may be that’s a bit crook. But really can you ever do enough for your customer?

Here’s a testimonial I was privileged enough to be shown very recently that proves my point. I have changed names to protect the various people involved however if you would like to deal with the service provider (Travel Agent in the story contact me and I will put you in touch). I have not otherwise meddled with the testimonial as it was written. You just can’t make up this stuff, it is great!
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From: Rod and Lyn [mailto: @internode.on.net]
Sent: Wednesday, 18 January 2012 1:50 PM
To: travel.com.au
Cc: ‘Agent’
Subject: GREAT SERVICE FROM Louise Kerr

Hi Mark. I want to let you know about a great level of service I received from Louise over the last few days. After a poor level of service from my normal TA (retail shop-front in Brisbane), I did a web search and contacted a couple of on-line agents.

My request was for two RTW business class flights on the Lufthansa mixed alliance ticket which I have used previously in conjunction with European cruises. It turned out to be quite difficult to find seats on all the various legs particularly as I was quite specific which airlines I wanted to use within the available groupings. (need to maximise my points and status credits for One World and Star Alliance).

The other agents were good with service/response, but could not get me on my preferred Singapore – Munich leg. Louise not only was able to achieve this, but also provided me with options to hub through Frankfurt, or Munich direct at higher price.

She worked closely with me to achieve exactly what I needed, albeit at a higher price than the base Lufty RTW fare. Those were my decisions, and it was great to have the various pricing options explained. Nothing seemed like too much trouble to Louise, despite my many questions/suggestions/change of mind etc. She is now helping me with all my accommodation needs on this trip.

This is exactly what I desire in a TA, and you have a gem in Louise.

Due to her great service, your firm has gained a $20,000+ booking, and as we travel a couple of times overseas each year, a good future client. I also intend to recommend her to my similar age (retired baby boomers) friends, who all travel overseas regularly. We all seem to struggle to find consistent great service in a TA.

I worked in a service industry all my life, and know how critical good staff are to the success of the business.

Just wanted to let you know.

Kind Regards.
Name Withheld
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The aspects that are an inspiration for us all are that Louise focused on:

Developing a close working relationship with the customer – she understood not only what he needed but importantly what he wanted;

Providing options even though they were at a higher price (up sold);

Nothing was too much trouble – over serviced to the customers delight!

Not bad when you think this was all achieved without the customer or TA ever meeting face to face. Technology delivered the channel but in the end it was great service that delivered the result and then some.

My next trip will be booked through this TA and Louise in particular. While she is working for a TA she is building her own ‘Brand’. Wonder if her boss has worked that one out yet?

Your, ever pleased to be of service, business coach

Neville Calvert
neville@thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com

A New World Order

I have just returned for my ninth visit to China. What I have learned over the time is that China is a rich, vibrant and colourful tapestry. It is like one of those paintings that every time you go back to visit you find something you hadn’t seen or realised was there before. I would encourage anyone genuinely interested in finding a new market to visit. However, this note is not about doing business in China. That is for a completely separate series that I will post over time. For now, I wanted to discuss what for the foreseeable future is the new world order.

For all of us involved in small to medium business, international trading and foreign affairs might not matter or at least it didn’t. Now with the economic upheaval in our traditional markets created by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) many SME’s are finding their home markets contracting and traditional export markets are in disarray. Customers are now looking for longer term credit and finding their Banks are not keen to advance funding even against documentary letters of credit (LC’s). So what to do about it? For some it is too late but for those still hanging in there it is time to determine if you have what it takes to venture outside you traditional markets and marketing methods.

Brazil (read South America), China, India and SE Asia are growing. It is their domestic middle-class, which is expanding and starting to consume more foreign goods than ever before. Traditionally Western companies have moved into these markets to set up manufacturing and tap cheap labour for re-export of their products to the West. Now these countries are importing to satisfy their own domestic demand. For those of us who have been watching this is no great surprise. In 2008 I was recommending that companies focus on selling into China rather than trying to find cheap manufacturing sources in China or Malaysia. So now, there is a new world order. Manufacturers need to find their niche in these new markets. Country of origin does matter to this new breed of consumers. They will pay for quality and reliability. Is it or will it be an easy path? The simple answer is no. However, with focus, patience and determination, opportunities abound. I will be penning my thoughts on approaches to these markets in the near future, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, keep on keeping on!

Your ever alert to new business opportunities coach

Neville Calvert

neville@thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com

The Capital Connection

I have been a member of LinkedIn the global professional networking hub that is accessed by millions of professionals. There are various interest groups on the site and members are able to ‘Follow’ people whom they believe have some value to add through their various missives. I don’t make a habit of ‘Following” anyone, or at least I haven’t until recently when I came across a guy named Hal Spice. Hal is a renowned investment adviser, Private Equity Investment Manager and founder of a company Aquao3 focused on providing mobile ‘clean drinking water’ for impoverished nations.

Now you might be asking what any of this has to do with my current topic. Well one of the main issues that is vexing my clients today is that of access to capital for business growth. Traditional banks on the one hand are making much of their eagerness to lend yet on the other making it very difficult and in some case nearly impossible for customers to meet the banks lending criteria under the ‘new world order’. So what does a small business owner do when they need more capital for growth?

The need for more investment should not come as a surprise to you the business owner or and probably especially your Bank. Not probably but most surely, because Bankers are by nature fragile given some the customers they have to deal with and ‘shell shock’ is not well managed if you lob in a surprise financial grenade! In previous letters, I mentioned the need to keep your Banker informed on an ongoing basis, however in the current environment and I that think for some time to come, you will need to consider other avenues to finance you business. These options include, Invoice discounting or Factoring, micro-financiers, Fund Managers specializing in Small Business opportunities (very challenging) and High Net-Worth individuals know as Angel Investors. In order to make this Capital Connection you need to prepare and this is where we at Thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com and Hal Spice come together. In addition to our programmes and templates for strategy, marketing, sales and finance plans and Hal is kindly providing readers with access to great templates to Create Killer Presentations, What Investors Want to See in a Business Plan, 21 Golden Rules to Secure Funding and more. If you would like to access Hal’s templates and lessons they are available FREE via his blog www.halspice.com or if you registered on linkedin visit Hal at www.linkedin.com/in/halspice . The importance of being ‘investor ready’ is vital take it not just from me but Hal.

For now you every ready capital coach,

Neville@thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com

Cashflow still key to small business survival

Managing cash flow is one of the greatest challenges faced by rapidly growing businesses and without proper management, poor cash flow can stunt, or even end a business’s growth before it’s reached its potential.

 

When a small business is growing rapidly there is often a need to pay out money constantly, to buy more stock, hire new staff, open new premises or buy new equipment. Even with profitable sales, investments can take time to pay off, resulting in a cash flow crisis. The trick is to feed a business the money it needs to grow, without starving it of working capital. And a great way of doing this is through a debtor finance loan.

 

Cashflow is still the key to small business survival.  You may be trading profitably in the sense that you are “making a profit”, but unless your cashflow is under control, you are operating at risk.

 

The fundamental gap between when you invoice and when you get paid is the make or break of many businesses.  Cashflow and working capital levels are driven by transactions, so the devil is in understanding the detail.

 

Tips to improving cash flow

• Issue invoices in a timely manner. The average invoice payment period has nearly doubled from 30 days up to 53 days in 2010, therefore it is important that invoices are issued punctually so that they can be paid on time. This ensures that debtors have sufficient time to pay the outstanding invoice and assures businesses will maintain positive cash flow.
• Improve your payment terms with invoices.  Remind customers of your payment terms.  Send out reminder notices, email & call customers when a payment is overdue.  Don’t’ let payment terms deteriorate. Push for the most optimal payment terms.
• Offer payment plans – customers whose businesses are struggling may not be able to pay all of their outstanding invoices when they come due. Offering payment plans not only increases the likelihood of collecting the total amount due, but also can generate goodwill with the customer.  Some key ways to improve cash inflows is to have clear agreements with clients and make sure invoicing is completed on time and any disputes are resolved quickly. Move to more proactive management of customer debt.
• Have an organised system for archiving and paperwork.  Create a system for outgoing invoices, purchase invoices and a cashbook to ensure all information is documented correctly. Growing a business is reliant on being organised.
• Perform all the necessary checks to ensure the business is limiting its exposure to bad debts. Develop a credit policy. Take the time to write out a clear and concise credit policy that applies to all customers and clients.
• Watch your stock – clearly identifying which stock lines are selling and when they’re selling. Ensure that the right quantities of the correct stock lines are purchased – this could not only prove very profitable but also considerably improve cash flow. Challenge inventory parameters e.g. safety stock levels, minimum order quantities & re-order points

 

It’s not as simple as just finding any business loan for a certain dollar amount; it’s about finding the best working capital facility to match the businesses need.

There are many working capital solutions out there.  Perhaps Debtor Finance may help. A debtor finance provider pays up to 80% of outstanding invoices usually within 24 hours and one of the advantages of a debtor finance facility is that no property security is required.

 

However, the message is clear. A focus on the fundamentals of cash flow is critical regardless of the stage of the economic cycle.

 

Greg Hardiman

State Manager

Bibby Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd

gregh@bibby.com.au

 

Bibby Financial Services is one of the world’s largest independent providers of debtor finance spanning Australia, Asia, Europe and North America.

 

 

 

Plan the Action! Action the Plan!

I do get frustrated at things not happening quickly enough for my liking.  My frustrations tend to build up while I am waiting for things to happen.  You know what it is like, you finish a specific activity, and then you have to wait around for someone to either do the next bit or come back to you with an answer.  You can sit there waiting for a long time or at least that is how it feels to me.  Well, I simply don’t do it.  So what do we do about this never-ending cycle of hurry up and wait?  The truth is that there is not a lot you can do about the need to wait for others to complete their side of the job, so don’t make it an excuse.  If business is not going that well or at the pace you would like take ACTION NOW!

If I had a dollar for every time a client told me, “So and so has not responded yet so we can’t move on and we are just waiting for a few more responses before we make the next move”, I would be a millionaire.  Sitting around waiting for things to happen is so debilitating.  You certainly need to keep the pressure on people to ensure you can close the deal.  On the other hand, if you sit around waiting for their response you will begin to doubt their commitment or your product or ability.  Have someone in your office be responsible for making those “How are you going?” calls.  You don’t need to do it yourself.  You need to get back to your action list and keep on actioning! In fact, if you don’t have a good periodic action list i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly etc you will find that waiting for people to come back to you becomes a convenient excuse for doing nothing.

It is not difficult to set up a simple 90 day action plan using a excel spreadsheet.  Set out your weekly monthly and quarterly goals.  There are 13 weeks and don forget there are 7 days (not five) in week.  I find it best to reverse the order, so I set my goal or goals for the quarter and then work back to my weekly goals and then to the daily actions I am going to need to take to reach my goals.  Commit to this action list and do not deviate.  Distractions will arise each week so you will need to be completely disciplined. Stick to your guns here.  Give a copy of your action to someone who know cares about your success and will make you accountable each week for meeting you objectives.  Set up a convenient time to discuss each weeks achievements and the week ahead.  Discuss both your success and importantly your failures.  Why have you not undertaken certain activities or followed another course other than the one you committed?  Be rational and listen to yourself as you respond, you will sometimes hear the guy with the excuse trying to get out.  Don’t let him.  As much as we hate to admit to it without an organized actionable list few of us would achieve very much at all.  “Better offers” are presented every day you just have to learn to say NO. Do this religiously for 30 to 60 days and you will astonish yourself at what you can achieve in a day, a week and a month.

Until next time

Your, back to the list and into action, business coach

Neville@thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com