Increase Efficiency to Increase Sales and Profits

We’ve all had that call. The one we think is going to lead to a few nice orders. I had one on Friday afternoon. An old client I hadn’t heard from since the pandemic called saying they needed several items for an upcoming event. And they had a tight deadline. I worked on their quotes Sunday afternoon to ensure they had them early Monday morning to place their orders.

They said they would order 4-5 items. They ordered one. And it got me to thinking. What could I have done differently. Did I specifically ask if they were ordering all? She did intimate that they would. So how could I have been more efficient? In this case, maybe there was nothing I could have done, but I see why some of my team gets bogged down.

How Many Steps in Your Order Process?

Any business has its processes but when was the last time you checked yours out? We recently went through our entire process from start to finish for an order. From the time the client inquires until it’s billed. As it turned out we had more than 20 separate steps. Wow. That’s a lot of touching for each and every order.

So, we worked as a team to see how we could alleviate steps without impacting our performance. We were able to consolidate a few and eliminate a few others to bring that down to 12 steps. Good time saving. And we will continue to fine-tune. Because now our CSR's can handle more orders in less time, saving us money and making each order just a little more profitable.

These steps are for individual orders, these are not program orders or online sales. Those orders luckily are less steps and much less time consuming!

Do you Over Recommend Product Suggestions?

Once we got started though, we realized it was a good idea to look at all areas of the business to increase our efficiency. And one area that seemed to always get bogged down was client quotes and recommendations. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t realized that one of my team was providing clients with 6-8 suggestions per category (sometimes more). No wonder she always felt overwhelmed!

Quoting efficiency has come up many times in mastermind group discussions as well as conversations with other owners. The question always seems to be, how do we choose wisely? How do we make sure our clients are happy with our recommendations? I’ve found that many feel because there is so many options available, they feel obligated to show clients everything! Well, for efficiencies sake we need to stop. At worst, I typically give a good, better and best option. Three choices.

Sometimes One will Do!

In my experience, giving too many options confuses the client. They can’t make a decision because they are afraid of making the wrong one. And if the client makes decisions by committee, too many choices can kill a project. However, I actually like providing only one option. Yes, just one. If it’s the best option in my opinion I will say so. And it may surprise you, but most of the time my client will agree and they place the order.

To provide the right choices comes with experience and knowing a client well. If I have a new client I will tell them I may not hit a home run with suggestions the first time out. I need time to understand their likes and dislikes. It takes time to fully grasp a company's culture and recommend appropriately.

Ask Questions, Always

It also helps to ask questions upfront. I made a time costly mistake recently by not asking more questions. To be truthful, I didn’t ask any.

One of my clients hosts a large conference each year. For the past four years we have provided gifts for one event of the conference. This year we were given the opportunity to present for the whole project. They provided written direction and off I went.

After working on it for several days I submitted the proposal. They were underwhelmed. I totally missed the mark. I was devasted when I received their email telling me. Luckily, we’ve worked with them for years so they called and said, “I realize we didn’t give you the full picture of this event”. Turns out that the items I had previously produced were the “low end” budget items. And their budget for the other gifts is substantially higher. He apologized for not making that clear. They were giving us another shot.

Never Assume

While he should have said it from the beginning, I shouldn’t have assumed. I wasted several days of my time. His email seemed so clear, but in hindsight I should have picked up the phone and gone over the details. Big lesson re-learned and one I will not repeat anytime soon.

I am starting from scratch but I do know this time I will hit the mark. 

We have also become more efficient is in our search for resources. We all have our “favorite” vendors. However, there is always those different categories that seem to catch us. Items that we don’t typically recommend or need.

Do you Have a Comprehensive Resource Guide

Several years ago, we started our own resource guide of specialty vendors. It’s on our server so everyone has access to it. If we find something that is unique or a new service provider, we add it to the list. Packaging, fulfillment services, mailing services, custom items, unique items, personalization and more. Since we started the list, it has saved us countless hours by not having to start from scratch. Again, the efficiency saves us time.

If we have more time, we can use that time to expand our business, spend more time with friends and family or just relax.

One thing is for certain. If we are efficient in our efforts, then we and our clients will be more satisfied and we will increase sales.