Simplfiy, Simplify, Simplify...

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Evaluating Your Business Processes To Save Time, Money, and Effort

We've all heard it before - the simplest solution is usually the best. But what does simple mean when it comes to business? Different situations call for different solutions and what is simple for some might not be for others.

"Business Owner A" might think outsourcing is simple because it frees up their time to work on projects that can’t be outsourced. "Business Owner B" might think outsourcing is more complicated because they need someone with specific knowledge for their projects. It is very dependant on your situation, your available resources, and what your goals are.

So if simplifying could mean anything, then why am I bothering to talk about it? The answer is… simple. When you simplify anything in your life whether it be business, daily chores, or even your wardrobe you become more efficient and start to feel and function better. (Tell me that doesn’t sound like something every business could use!) The best part is that it’s actually pretty easy.

Take it one process at a time and think about what your simplification goal is. By this I mean are you trying to save money, time, or something else? Then break down each step related to that process. Chart it, graph it, mind map it, or write it out in some other way. Being able to visualize your business processes will exponentially help you see what areas can or need to be simplified. When you can actually see the “flow” you can pinpoint the areas where it is restricted.

This is an especially important step if you’ve been in business for a while. Let me expand on that statement; as you build your business you put certain processes in place or go with certain solutions because they make sense at the time. Sometimes (more often than most business owners would care to admit) these quick / easy solutions stay in place long after they should.

There are a lot of reasons for that. You might forget that what you put in place isn’t the best thing. It might have to do with an area of your business that you don’t like dealing with so you keep putting it off. You may not even realize it’s a poor solution because you haven’t looked at the process in reevaluation mode. It happens, we’re all human no matter how great of a businessperson you are.

Every business has flaws and most of the time we business owners don’t realize we can fix them. We’re so preoccupied with new issues or whatever is “at hand” that we don’t think about the practices that are already in place. All too frequently reevaluating something that is working fine (or we think is working fine) isn’t the priority because, well, it’s working fine!

That’s far too easy an excuse that many of us give to ourselves unwittingly. But the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality does not work in business. It’s the lazy way out, and one that costs you in the end.

Let me give you an example that illustrates how powerful the decision to simplify can be. This is something I personally did for my business.

When I first added toll free numbers to the stores, the phones instantly started ringing off the hook. Seriously. During the lead up to the holidays that year several of my employees didn’t even have time to check their email because the phone would ring as soon as they ended the previous call. One of them was having nightmares about answering never-ending shipping questions.

So I outsourced to a call center. They had a large staff that would answer typical questions from a crib sheet I supplied them with. Any questions they couldn’t answer they would forward to us during working hours or put in an email for us after hours. They were a twenty-four hour service and charged a based on volume. It was expensive but it gave time back to my employees that they needed to do actual work. Win / win, right? At the time, yes. I needed a quick fix because we were right in the heat of the holidays.

The phone operators couldn’t answer specific order questions, track packages, or answer difficult product questions. When those types of questions came in – which was pretty frequently – they would take the customer’s information and email it to us and we would answer them as soon as we could. They were mostly there to take phone orders and placate worried customers.

So what did I do after the holidays? Nothing. I just carried on using the service because it had solved my problem. It was over a year later when it occurred to me to examine my customer follow-up process and on site policies to see why people were calling so much. I discovered I hadn’t laid out the policies in a clear enough manner and my customer follow-up included only a thank you and a tracking number. Obviously that wasn’t enough.

So I revamped the entire process making how we operated very clear and giving my customers everything they needed to answer their own questions easily. There are a lot of things one can do that are even easier than making a phone call - I provided those things.

Calls dropped by more than fifty percent. Astounding huh?

So the call center service was canceled and replaced by a single ten dollar per hour employee who knows the business and I can give limited store access to so very few questions have to be forwarded to anyone else. Simple.

That saved me roughly $2000 per month. That’s after I pay my phone operator. And now my customers get accurate, personal service as soon as they call. Along with that this simplification increased my customer retention, which in turn increased repeat orders. My chargeback rate also dropped.

None of this is to say the call center was bad or not doing its job. It was quite a good, reliable company. It just wasn’t the most efficient way of handling calls for my business. Had I not taken the time to evaluate the process I would still be spending more than is necessary and making my customers jump through hoops to get the simple answers they need.

All this from one simple evaluation. Now ask yourself - what can you simplify in your business?

Business Simplification Checklist:

- Decide what you want to accomplish by simplifying.
- Zero in on a few processes that you think you can simplify to achieve your goal.
- Visually break down those processes so you can see where your “flow” is constricted.
- Fix the weak points / constraints.
- Watch and evaluate your changes.
- Repeat the process for your next simplification goal.