Effective Time and Records Management Means Maximized Profitability Written by Harry Selent
Of all concerns in today's fast-paced business world, time- management has to be among most crucial. The smallest error in our records can throw off timing of your entire day, or worse yet, lose us an important possible sale. As entrepreneurs, we strive to stay on top of things, running our businesses with maximum efficiency. Old fashioned schedule management can be time consuming and frustrating, and can actually cost us profits. There are several ways to streamline your scheduling and records management system to make your business more efficient. Here are just a few suggestions to help you get started. The first and most crucial element of schedule management is ensuring that you have quick access to your records at all times. In a busy work environment you need to know exactly who you're seeing, when you're seeing them, and why you're seeing them. This enable you to always be ready for your clients. An effective system keeps you well informed, eliminating time wasted in asking repeat questions to establish client needs. Maximizing your efficiency while with a client is crucial for enhanced profibility. Another effective schedule management technique to ensure greater customer efficiency is to always book your client's next appointment while they are still with you for their current one. It is far easier to reschedule someone for a haircut or doctor's visit while they are present, than to try to track them down after they've left. Be proactive about your booking, and then use a reminder system, either through email, phone, or post, to remind your clients that they've made appointment. Also important in scheduling and record-keeping is maintaining past service records. If you have quick access to a client's past record, you'll know what services they've used in past and what they may be due for. With this information you can turn appointment to your advantage by re-selling client a service they may have used in past, or even cross-selling any services that they might not have taken advantage of. In addition to maximizing your efficiency while you are with your client, there are several ways to increase your productivity while client is away. By effectively managing your client records you can maximize your time efficiency and increase profits as well. Schedule a regular time for reviewing your client records. Scrutinize your books to see which clients have not been in for a visit who perhaps should have been. In an industry that offers regular service, (say a lube shop or a dentist's office) this is a great way to keep up on who needs an oil change or a teeth- cleaning. Once you see who is due for service, a simple call to customer can make an easy sale. Also, review your records so you can keep track of clients who frequently miss or cancel appointments. If there are too many of these, consider introducing a fee for cancellation or no- show, or simply drop customer from your clientel. This is an excellent way to make sure that you're being compensated for your valuable time. Staying on top of your record and scheduling needs is crucial to success. By applying these simple techniques to your systems you will find your time being used more and more efficiently, and . with heightened efficiency comes greater customer satisfaction and greater profits. Harry Selent is founder and president of Selent and Associates in Punta Gorda, Florida. His corporation has just released a top of line scheduling/record-keeping software called ScheduleVIEW. For more information visit http://www.scheduleview.com, or contact Harry directly. Phone 1-941-255-3126, Fax: 1-941-743-5868, mailto:harry@scheduleview.com
| | Entrepreneurship - Fact or FictionWritten by Graham Farley
One of most often asked questions by people new to business is *exactly, how do you become an Entrepreneur ?* To be honest, it's one of first questions I asked when I started in business, more than 10 years ago. The problem is, more people you ask, more confusing it becomes. Everyone has a different view. Are you born an Entrepreneur?The answer to that is definately not. It's a skill that can be learned, just like riding a bike, but if you don't learn it correctly, true wealth will be outside your grasp, forever! To fully understand concept of entrepreneurship, you first need to know it's place on ladder of success. There are basically 5 levels of Entrepreneurs and you need to know where you're at right now before you can start jumping to next level. Level 0 is an *employee.* It's not really a level at all - hence Level 0 - but if this is where you are, at moment, you need to use this time to build knowledge and build capital. Try not to become a specialist. Remember, specialists become obsolete! Rather, try to become a *Generalist.* Look at it this way. If you are in Army, who makes ultimate decisions? The General ! Not infantryman, not tankie, not Medic, but General. Generalists employ specialists! Level 1 is self-employed person. This is really where most people start to climb ladder. It's also where many people stay, mistakenly thinking they are now an Entrepreneur! The fact is, it's easy for self-employed people to become bigger and bigger specialists. You need to use this level as a starting point only and rapidly move on to next level. Level 2 is a *Manager.* You need to start developing a commercial business that works when *you* are not there. You need to start building passive income because a paycheck existance will never lead to true wealth. In other words, start to work *on* your business and not *in* your business. There's a very distinctive and subtle difference! In above 3 levels, you either earn or make money. At level 3, you become an Owner/Leader. You're now starting to ask - *What's my Profit?* There are basically 2 rules to being an owner/leader. Rule 1 - employ people that are better than you. This may sound silly, but you need to build a team of specialists around you. Remember, you have to be General. Rule 2 - Build *systems* into your business. Without systems, you'll be tied to your business 24 hours a day - you will be only one who can operate it. If I asked you *does McDonalds make best hamburgers in world?* what would you say? Most of you would answer no, but if I asked you *who sells most hamburgers in world?* The answer is systems - systems! You must have systems in place that anyone can operate.
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