For Day 3, I want to share with you how creating workflows helps your business. But let’s review the previous two posts.
Day 1: FINANCIAL ORGANIZATION & BOOKKEEPING – Organizing and streamlining the financial record keeping can help you analyze, strategize, scale, and grow your business.
Day 2: AUTOMATE WITH SYSTEMS – Automating with systems streamlines the daily functions of your business and allows it to scale & grow. Automation just allows you to reallocate your time and focus on what you feel matters more.
Let’s continue!
Running a business by yourself can be tough. You can find yourself exhausted, depressed, and maybe even losing passion. Understanding that these feelings are normal, yet avoidable is the key to your success. Working with different companies has allowed me to understand the importance of workflows and systems. I’ve noticed that the most successful entrepreneurs prioritize running their business efficiently each month as well as focusing on the core activities. I’ve seen these individuals quickly outsource non-revenue generating tasks to focus on those that will make them money. Choosing the proper workflow and systems for your business can allow you to have the time to focus on your craft, while generating revenue for your business. With that being said, I think it would appropriate for us to examine the best workflow and systems I’ve seen work for other companies to help you better understand the importance of these systems inside your business.
SALES
One of the main issues of working as a solopreneur or small business is that you get swamped with so many tasks, you forget to sell your product or service. I’ve seen it time and time again. However, it’s imperative for you to continue to find a way to focus on selling your services.. If you do not make more sales, you limit the amount of revenue you can make. Thus, your business growth halts. One way to beat that scenario is by making sure your workflow focuses on selling your product or service every day, regardless of the amount of work you must complete. Try blocking time on your scheduler, where you will focus on sales and business development. If you are more tech savvy, you can consider using different apps/websites to assist you with sales funnels. Ideally, you can always hire or outsource to a salesperson. The idea is to create a process or workflow to keep your sales process rolling which impacts revenue.
INITIAL INQUIRIES
What good is having a Sales workflow if inquiries are responded to? If there isn’t a business process set up to respond to new inquiries, it can have a detrimental effect to the success of your business. To prevent this, automated responses can be set up to respond to inquiries. It’s like putting your business on autopilot. There are several ways you can do this.
1. Set up a business email which is dedicated to inquiries. An example is inquires@yourbusiness.com. Then you can set up the emails from this mailbox to have priority in your main inbox. This will cause all the inquiries to show as a priority and at the top of your emails so that they cannot be overlooked.
2. A very affordable but simple alternative is to use a CRM like Dubsado or Honeybook which can be set to automatically send a reply.
3. Hire a freelancer or contractor to respond to inquiries.
FEEDBACK
Have you ever worked on a project that involved constant feedback from a client? Having a workflow for this important step can be very helpful to ensure that every client sends their feedback. I’ve witnessed a lot of projects get pushed back by waiting on this important piece. In turn, your revenue takes a dive because the payment for the project is also pushed back. If you need clients to send feedback or files, again I recommend a CRM like Honeybook or Dubsado which would automate this process and make it easier and less time consuming. For more tech friendly freelancers, it’s easy to integrate these software to trigger workflow responses by the number of days before a project starts, number of days before a payment, and the number of days before the project is completed. There are other helpful tools and resources that can help your business workflow in an automated way.
REFERRALS & TESTIMONIALS
Without a doubt, word of mouth is still the number 1 way to get clients. So, you want to create a workflow which will elevate your business AND bring in new clients; essentially, create a way for potential clients to get started with your company. Upon completion of work, always send an email asking your client for a testimonial or review. Another powerful way to make an impact is by asking your client if they know anyone who can benefit from services and skills. You can automate these responses in a workflow in CRM such as Dubsado or Honeybook. Or personalize them by making the phone calls yourself.
The key to a successful workflow is to identify where time is being wasted. Create workflows which will resolve these issues each time they arise. Once the kinks are all out of the workflow, you will see your business become more streamlined, automated, and produce more revenue with less time or stress.
As always, I’m here to help you take the next step in your business journey and it all starts with strategy. Because it’s a new year, mention code PCM to receive 22% off when you schedule a Strategic Planning session with me. Click HERE to book your session today. In the meantime, for Strategic Success: Plan, Consult, & Manage!
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