Latest Articles
- How to Get the Most Out of a Business Health Review with Your Accountant
While working with my clients and as Program Manager of the Entrepreneurial Assistance Program I have a common theme presents itself. How do I figure out how my business is doing? As a business owner I need to know the answer to this myself. So when I meet with my accountant, I want to give him the most up to date and accurate information. Thus providing the data he needs to help me make sound financial decisions. Your accountant can do this for you but they will need “information”.
- Planning For Success
So why is planning important? Without it you will waist a considerable amount of money, time, and resources. You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know where you want to end up. Working with clients I usually find businesses that have grown ad hoc and call me when their inefficient back office operations are hampering growth. By developing a business plan you can prepare for growth and potential risk or problems. Therefore you are responding to your environment not reacting. Also, having a solid plan gives you a tool for making decisions.
- 10 Key Factors in Choosing Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)
One of my favorite topics we teach in class is how to compile information that can be used to make smart business decisions. What usually comes up during class is many start-ups and existing companies know they need a tool to help them with collecting and using information but do not know where to start. This article’s focus is the ten key factors to help you choose the right Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for your company.
- 10 Tips for Creating a Data Goldmine
I have been working with many clients who have their information in a database but are unable to get the information they want or know where to find it. Usually the culprit is a series of issues that come together to create the perfect storm of inefficiency. The tips below will help you to prevent this storm and maximize the information in your database to increase productivity and profits.
- How to Make More Money in 2012 with Data Driven Decisions
I have mentioned in many of my articles about metrics. Things we use to measure success and how far you are from reaching your goals. Data is much more than that – it is a valuable tool to make solid business decisions. It also helps you to save as well as make money. Below are some of the metrics you can use to help grow your bottom line in 2012.
Lean Office Services
In the most basic terms Lean Office is a combination of practical and proven systems that streamline office procedures so your staff can spend more time producing and less time on “baloney”. Implementing Lean Office will have a positive impact on every system, process, employee and customer.
We help our clients become lean enterprises. How do we do this? We work with our clients to eliminate waste and mistakes in their administrative processes. By creating an environment of analysis and discovery we can discern where there are bottlenecks and stalled cash flow in an administrative area or process. This is significant because 60 to 80 percent of costs with bringing a product to market are administrative costs. Just be streamlining and improving the flow of information and paperwork you can dramatically reduce these costs and better utilize your staff.
Another significant factor is a competitive edge. If you are able to process orders quicker with less mistakes, you are able to service your customers faster and cheaper than the competition. This can make the difference between business sustainability and growth or closing your doors. With the new world economy this is more imperative than ever.
The best way to demonstrate what we do for our clients is through a quick story.
Before Croll Productive Synergy
John was working for Omegacorp in sales and received a faxed order from a customer. He entered it into the quoting system while making 3 calls to verify details he could not read. John gave it to his supervisor for approval and did not receive the ok until 4:50 PM. Meanwhile the customer who had not heard from John all afternoon, decided to go with another vendor. John missed his quota.
After Croll Productive Synergy
After Lean Office, John now makes and exceeds his quota easily. His customers use a web form that collects information and provides John immediate live quotes without waiting. Since John spends less time doing paperwork, he can spend more time in the field providing better service and talking to potential customers.
Utilizing Your Staff for Maximum Productivity
Lean for Service Organizations per Wikipedia:
Lean service is the application of the lean manufacturing concept to service operations. It is distinct in that Lean Services are not concerned with the making of ‘hard’ products.
To date, Lean principles of Continuous Improvement and Respect for People have been successfully applied to call center services, health care, higher education, software development, and public and professional services. Conceptually, these implementations follow very similar routes to those in manufacturing settings, and very often make use of the same tools and techniques. There are, however, many significant distinctions... Click here to see the complete Wikipedia description.