In such chaotic times it’s quite easy to get caught up in the grind of things and forget to acknowledge the people around you that help structure your company. Taking a brief moment to recognize their accomplishments will help to raise the morale of your staff and allow them to see that they are truly appreciated. Your staff needs to have reinforcement so that they continue to put in hard work and keep striving on the company’s behalf. One of the best ways to ensure that the company moves forward together is by writing a motivational letter that addresses everyone as a whole. Writing is an effective way to lower the stress in the workplace and increasing the morale within the company. By taking a few hours out of your schedule you can greatly benefit your company in a both time and cost effective manner. Two important ideas that should be included in your letter is the documentation of company progress and the highlighting of the goals you intend to reach in the future. Your letter can better balance out the company by offering each individual worker a better outlook on the company for which they work. By using writing as a means to connect to your workforce you can build better relationships within the company and improve communication. Everyone will appreciate the effort put forth and the collective praise of their accomplishments.
Employee Recognition
January 26th, 2012Client Abuse
January 24th, 2012If you are in the professional services industry you usually don’t have the luxury of selecting your clients. There will always be a few bad clients within your client base that will be more difficult than the rest. At times your client may become frustrated and demanding and their stress will most likely be taken out on you. As a professional services company it’s your responsibility to always be courteous and professional towards the client no matter the situation. However there is a line of how far a client should be allowed to push you in any manner. If you feel that your client is beginning to abuse or take advantage of you, it’s important that you stand up to it, so the issues can be communicated. It isn’t good business for you, if you are constantly harassed or have to put up with inappropriate actions every time you deal with a client. By standing up to your client you can try to work through the issues and convey your feelings across to them so that they understand your perspective. As a vendor you’re only providing your client with services because they require them but at some points you may ask yourself if it is truly worth it. If talking about the issues does not remedy the situation then your last line of defense is sending a termination letter. Sometimes losing a client can be healthy for your business and your own mental state.
Maximizing Your Resources
January 20th, 2012The saying that it always pays to be prepared has been around for quite some time and still holds truth. Although most businesses have plans or thoughts on what they can do in certain situations they fail to invest within their workforce. Your staff is the life blood of your company so it’s important that they are able to work together and in certain situations manage portions of the company individually. As a business owner you should consider cross training your employees to ensure that in the case of an emergency they can cover each other’s slack. The ability for one of your workers to manage the position of another will be an essential and beneficial skill that may pay off in the long run. This strategy will allow you to strategically place employees in different roles in the event that one is unable to perform their specified duty. Each worker should have a certain capacity of knowledge that can be spread about your company in case anything should occur and you find yourself shorthanded. It certainly won’t hurt your company to spend the extra time to train individuals in other areas of your company. By investing a small amount of time within each worker you will find that the returns will be much greater in the event you find yourself scrambling to regain control of a situation.
Bartering System
January 5th, 2012It’s a good possibility that one day you might require the services of one of your clients. This situation has many positive and negative aspects that could come into play. Most vendors don’t realize that it can greatly increase the strength of the relationship and also make it deteriorate at the same time. A client will obviously appreciate your business and have a higher sense of faith towards your company for putting trust in their own services. It’s also possible that your client may provide you with the services you require at a much lower cost because of the already established relationship and trust. Overall exchanging services with your client will serve to increase the bond between both companies and form a stronger union. The negative of being in a situation such as this is that it can be much more difficult for you or your client to dispute things. Normal potential issues such as discrepancies in work can be blown into much grander proportions because of the factors involved with this type of client relationship. In many occurrences things can become awkward for both parties regarding the services being provided to one another. In the end it’s always best for you to look over the outcomes of your actions and determine what actions are best for your company.
Rewarding your Employees
December 29th, 2011One of the most important factors of a company is keeping your staff motivated and ensuring that they have high morale. A service company inventory is based solely on service. The more margins a company is making off their workers, the more profit the company is accumulating. Just like a widget company wants to sell a good project, a company that provides service wants happy workers providing their clients with services. Long term growth is an important commodity that requires your workers to feel that they are being rewarded for their efforts. Always keep your employees compensation in mind for the following year. The more they participate in getting new clients and maintaining clients, the more they should be rewarded. Workers who are consistently bringing in fresh clients and projects should be rewarded over someone who is just billing hours and not strengthening client relationships. The productivity of your workers will correlate with the rewards and incentives that you provide for them. Some of your workers will enable your company to grow and expand in the grand scheme of things. It’s best to view your workers as an investment which will give you a much larger return than the investment you’re putting forth.
New Life with Old Clients
December 27th, 2011Being a vendor it is important to understand that the client base you have already established will potentially bring in project work. The misdirection that most vendors take though is that they approach these opportunities differently than they would a new project. Although you have already established credibility and trust with your client it’s important that you always sell yourself to prove why your company is best suited for their needs. Vendors will often feel that they have already sold the client and that they don’t need to go the extra mile to prove to the client that they are making the right decision by going to your company. Clients will appreciate the level of professionalism and notice that you are truly extending an effort to prove to them that your company will be the best to carry out their needs. Potential project work should always be treated crucially even if you find that most of your project work evolves from your current clients. You should also assume that a client may not move forward at all when discussing project work. You should get a feel of how much or little you should sell a project to a client. Your approach should always vary based upon the client and project but remain consistent with being as professional as possible.
The Unbillable Hour
December 6th, 2011One aspect that is overlooked when owning your own business is the maintenance and growth of your company. Often a majority of your divided focus will be on the ongoing transactions before you. Companies end up suffering due to the lack of resources towards their own expansion and the deprivation of their daily upkeep. The most common aspect that falls between the cracks is their website which becomes outdated and infrequently updated. Keep in mind that you must find slots for your company amongst your priorities so that you can stay up to date in all respects. It’s important to set aside time, money and resources in order to give your company the attention it deserves in order to develop properly. Often a company is held back because of its inability to be streamlined and competitive amongst an ever changing market. Time to thoroughly evaluate your company and the niches which need to be improved upon will only help to establish a stronger presence within your respective area of expertise. Keeping your company fresh and constantly striving for improvement will ensure that you have a steady stream of clients constantly flowing through. Your company image needs to be maintained more often than you can imagine, the time and effort put forth into your company will benefit in the end from all your investments.
Working with other Vendors
November 21st, 2011There’s a possibility that at some point in time your client may bring in another vendor to provide them with services. It’s your responsibility to be cooperative, professional and unbiased when dealing with the client. If the other vendor is stepping into your territory it’s best to keep your client’s best interest as your highest priority. Depending on the situation you’ll want to voice your personal opinions and shed some light on potential issues or thoughts. It’s important that you let the client know if you feel that the other vendor is suited for the task and if you have any concerns that may experience. Keep in mind that the last impression you want to project to the client and the other vendor is that your territorial. Being passive and allowing the client to come to their own conclusions will be beneficial in the long run. At times you may feel that another vendor is better suited for a specific project it’s your obligation to allow the other vendor to take the project. Always stay focused upon the client’s interest and ensure that they are communicating with the other client so that they are certain upon the other vendor’s knowledge and capabilities. Communication between the client and vendors are essential if a new vendor is going to pick up a project from the original vendor.
Enticing Projects
November 18th, 2011Often times a client will keep project work low on their list of priorities within their company due to the other projects and activities they have going on. In certain situations you must vocalize the importance and benefits that your project work can bring to their company. The client needs to have their beliefs into the project and realize the returns they’ll receive on their investment. Looking at the end results is essential when discussing project work with a client, often the first point of focus is the thought of how arduous the process will be. Most often the client feels intimidated by the process and doesn’t comprehend the advancements that would be made within their company. The client may also be concerned with the window of time it would take to complete the project. In certain situations it will be beneficial for both you and the client to pace yourselves. Completing the process in stages will help to keep both parties on track and on a pace that is mutually beneficial. Talking over the vision you have for their company and the process of getting there will only help to make the possibility more realistic to the client. At times project work may seem daunting but the client must comprehend that if the initiative is taken that their company may become more efficient and convenient to manage.
Defining the Project Upfront
October 31st, 2011In all venues of business it’s important to plan accordingly and be as detailed as possible. Most often when a project is handed off to a vendor they don’t spend the necessary time defining the project before they commence work on it. Vendor’s need to plan and collaborate with the client separately from the project so that they can fully comprehend what the client is expecting in return. It’s detrimental that all confusions and questions are put to the side ahead of time so that the common goal of both parties can be reached. Spending money on analysis and evaluation will only help to further clarify things and give an in depth feel of what the project truly entails. Most often vendors underbid a project because they don’t understand the amount of effort or resources the client’s project may require. The last thing you want is to keep changing the cost and deadline of your client’s project. The analysis will also help to ensure that the pricing and time requirements are as accurate as possible. Making the investment before commencing project work will ensure a smoother process and greater understanding of the entire scope of work.