How important is process to a business? From the smallest business to the most established brands in the world, having a well-defined business process means the difference between success and failure. Without it, things get lost, things don’t get done, things are forgotten.
Result? Unhappy, dissatisfied customers.
Business leaders of every company, large or small, should look closely at how they organise their important daily business tasks. If you’re not doing so already, think of anything significant you or your staff do day-to-day and consider how it can be done better.
Think about why you are doing the task, when and how often you’re doing it and decide strategically if it even needs to be done at all. What benefit are you getting from it? Is it worth it? And if so, can it be done better? Then shine a light on all the infrequent, but equally important, jobs that can easily catch you out unless you have already established a process.
Once you’ve considered each task, document them clearly in a simple step-by-step format so that anyone who carries out those tasks in future can quickly get to grips with them and follow the same best practice. And don’t forget to create a daily or weekly checklist and timeline that ensures nothing is missed!
These documented processes – or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) – should describe how to carry out virtually any important task that needs to be done within your business. A good system of SOPs will make the business run efficiently, effectively and smoothly. Result? Happy, satisfied customers.
How do they work?
Every SOP is a living document, so as your experience grows and you find new or different ways to do things you should adapt and amend them. Keep doing this and you will have the confidence that every time a task is carried out in future it will be done with the same consistency, best practice and attention to detail. Any member of your team should be able to pick up an SOP and carry out the task without the risk of doing it wrong or missing something important.
Make your SOPs accessible and easy to find, so that if an employee who carries out a regular task goes off sick, any one of your staff can carry it out without fuss or disruption to the business.
A well-designed system of SOPs covering all your important repeat processes will ultimately lead to big efficiency savings and enhance your customer service reputation. They’ll save you time and money and allow you to focus your resources effectively on the things that matter more than any other – the ones that help you grow your business.
Here at Yomdel, we operate in a fast-paced 24/7 environment, handling thousands of live chats and hundreds of high quality leads every day. We organise an army of mystery shoppers to produce hundreds of customer insight projects for clients and on top of that, the team takes care of customer enquiries and on-boards new chat clients every day while engaging in a continual cycle of quality assurance, feedback, training and performance management.
This level of efficiency and attention to detail cannot be achieved without being extraordinarily well organised. We can only do that through good process.
If you’d like to chat more about our processes or how live chat or our customer insight services can help your business thrive, please feel free to contact me, Simon Townsend, Operations Director at Yomdel.
t: 01403 616000