Customer considerations must always come first. The absolute best way to address customer priorities and considerations – while maintaining efficient and effective processes and optimum profitability – is with cross-functional teams.

So just how is your company organized – still as a functional-silo-dinosaur? Or have you stepped into the 21st century and (at least) started to form cross-functional teams based either on value steams or customer based?

At a very basic level the types of organizations can be summed up in the following five types (from worst to best):
Exploitive
Bureaucratic
Consultative
Participative
Highly Participative

The Exploitive type is those organizations that feel the employees are merely cogs in a machine – they are all Bobbys and Bettys. The thinking is If one goes down for any reason, we can just stick another bum off the street into that position. No training, no communication, no career path, no caring – just a job. And you better be darn thankful I gave you one.

While a Bureaucratic type is better than an exploitive type – they care more, they probably train more and there may be a career path for selected positions. But they are so hide-bound in rules and regulations with ultra-strict chains of command that nothing can get done or be done unless it by the book. No creativity is allowed, no room for new ideas – unless they come from the top. This is a very stifling organization type.

In my next post I will review the Consultative, Participative and Highly Participative organization types.
 

What is an organization? An organization is living, breathing organism. It is not some static inanimate object, it is not a machine. It is filled with people and therefore reacts to stimulus in a manner very similar to how a person would react. Therefore as leaders we need to recognize this and react accordingly.

How do you describe an organization, typically we start with what they do (what’s their purpose), as in – they manufacture widgets. Then we will describe the physical characteristics – size, location, etc.

But what makes the organization the organization it is? It is the organizational knowledge base that has been retained from the inception and through its various changes and forms. This is what allows the organization to fulfill it original purpose and function.

As with any organism an organization needs a path to follow or more appropriately a lesson plan for it to live, learn and grow by. This would include such things as:
It’s Vision
It’s Purpose
It’s Mission
It’s Values
It’s Goals and Objectives
It’s Policies
It’s Procedures
It’s Systems

The lesson plan needs to be communicated, published and displayed prominently for all to see and know, so that the appropriate decision making can be pushed down as far as possible through out the organization. It needs to be taught to all new employees so that they know the boundaries of their conduct and in a general basis, what the organizations expectations of them are.

When the organizational lesson plan is truly known and learned by the entire organization’s employees (as well as vendors and customers) then the organization will enjoy the benefits of increased efficiency, effectiveness, morale, satisfaction and profitability.

In the post we will discuss how your business is organized.
 

When a business is reviewing the delivery process here are some areas to look at and questions that should be asked:
     Is the shipping area clean and well organized?
     Is the shipping process standardized?
          Is the process followed?
     Is the shipping schedule known in advance?
     Are packaging materials purchased on competitive bids?
     Are the packaging materials adequate in protecting items?
     Are adequate lead times for shipping in place?
     What percentage of shipments are shipped on time?
     What percentage of shipments are delivered on time?
     Are deliveries analyzed for on time delivery?
          Are issues resolved promptly?
     Are delivery problems promptly addressed?
          To the client’s satisfaction?
     Are your freight rates competitive?

If you allow your delivery to go out of control, you will run the risks of one or more of the following:
     Losing clients
     High return rates
     Excessive return expenses
     High shipping expenses
     Excessive complaints from clients

Don’t let your delivery process(es) run your business, you must run your delivery process(es), keep them under control and economical.

If a business does not pay attention to the fulfillment process the business can fail very quickly. Fulfillment is the life-blood of your business and should have the appropriate time, money and effort put into it.

When a business is reviewing the fulfillment process here are some areas to look at and questions that should be asked:

Is there a process – not something in your mind, but a process that is formalized?
Is the process followed?
Is the process efficient?
Is the process effective?
Is the process continually improved?

Are standards set for the process? For such things as…
Cycle Time of the process
Items per hour/shift/day

Are the actual Expenses inline with the expectations?
Is staffing appropriate?
Are the Packaging items purchased in an economic manner?

Is the process tracked and monitored for compliance?
Are Expenses tracked and monitored?

If the fulfillment process is executed in a proper manner, not only will you have happier clients, but your expenses will be in line with the shipments. Fulfillment is an easy process to lose sight of and can get out of control very quickly. Don’t let the process run itself, keep control.
 

First of all in the online world, most buyers know specifically what their looking for (they are not window shopping) and your site has 20 seconds to grab and keep their attention.

In addition if the buying experience is quick, clean and near-effortless your visitors will leave, even if they have started the purchase process. They will pay a bit more for an item in return for an easy and convenient purchasing process.

Some things to consider when both setting up your site and designing your purchase process are:
     Is your website’s design clean and uncluttered?
     Is your website’s navigation clear and straightforward?
     Is there some kind of Buy Now or Store button prominently displayed on every page of your website?
     Are items easy to find?
     Is it easy to order items from your site?
     Are items clearly marked with the correct price?
     Is a purchase confirmation email sent?
     Are Metrics being gathered, tracked and monitored?
     When visitors leave your site without purchasing do you have a popup survey to find out why?
     When visitors leave your site after purchasing do you have a popup survey to find out how they rate their purchasing experience?

The online world can be brutal. You must design both your website in general and your purchase process specifically to be clean, informative, quick and convenient to use. If you don’t you will find out quickly how brutal it can be – that is, no one will purchase from your site.
 

Now in the typical brick-and-mortar business, in my opinion, order intake is really from the time the client walks in the door until the client walks back out the door and the most important issue is the personal contact your staff has with them.

In a general sense when looking at your clients shopping / buying experience, here are some things to consider:
     Overall just what is your Level of Client Commitment?
          In other words, how far will you go to ensure client satisfaction?
     Is your staff cheerful and pleasant?
     Does the staff greet familiar clients by their name?
     Are items easy to find?
     Are items clearly marked with the correct price?
     Does the staff problem solve before the client walks out the door?
     By any chance to they gather new customer information – without being intrusive?
     Does the staff thank the client for their patronage?
     Are aisles clear?
     Is the establishment clean?

At the point of purchase itself; some things to consider for both your staff and yourself (since your staff will take their lead from you):
     Is your staff helpful?
     Is it easy to purchase?
     Is check out quick and efficient without being impersonal?
     Are the return of purchase and guarantee policies clearly stated at the point of purchase (as well as being  posted throughout the establishment)?

If any of these areas are not topnotch then you are giving your patrons a reason NOT to come back to your establishment. For instance, if the client leaves without a problem or issue being resolved they will surely not be back, but more importantly they will tell others of their unsatisfactory experience. In one study it was found that for every problem that you know exists there are 24 others that you don’t know about.

In my next post I will review online businesses and their order intake process and procedure.
 

Your follow plan is now in place, so what is next? What are you going to do wait until it is 100% perfect? Why? Because this is the excuse you will use so you don’t have to take action, so you don’t have to do something that is outside of your comfort zone.

Why can’t you take a 60% or 80% solution and implement it and then over time, consistently improve the solution? If you take the 60% solution and make very small improvements every month, say just 2% or 3%, at then end of 12 months you would be at a 90% solution.

The first step to implementation is (obviously) making a plan – you’ve done that. The next step is the WHEN part of your plan – your schedule. When are you going to do the individual steps of your plan? By setting up your schedule you are accomplishing many different and important tasks.

First, you are making a Public Commitment – if only to yourself or your company. When you make your commitments public, studies have found that you are much more likely to keep your commitments. Some research has found that you are more than 300% more likely to keep your commitments when they are made public.

Second, you are setting concrete goals and objectives for your company. Everyone within your company will have clarity of purpose and as such will be able to perform up to your expectations.

Third, with this clarity your company will become aligned with your vision for this important task.

So set out your plan in a step by step schedule. The schedule must be detailed enough that it shows the individual and discrete tasks to be accomplished and by when. It does not have to so detailed that it leaves no flexibility or room for creativity on the part of your company. The two most important parts are that it has dates on it and the dates are achievable.

The last part of your follow up process is to continually track and monitor the results so you can cement in permanent change with your business. If you don’t track and monitor process, how will you and your company know when the plan is working? How will you know when things aren’t working? How will you know which elements are working and which ones aren’t? How will you know what to replicate and leverage because it is working?

Your tracking mechanisms don’t have to be complicated or oppressive. Take the salient points of your process, determine the appropriate measures that show success or failure and then track them consistently. On a regular basis let your entire company see the results – post them prominently. Hold regular workshops with your staff to improve the process and therefore the measures.

And that is all there is to an effective follow up process. It may seem overwhelming, but just take it one step at a time and move forward constantly and you will be happily surprised at the results.
 

In your plan, how often are you going follow up with each segment, you may contact inactive clients quarterly, active clients monthly and critical partners weekly. Each segment should be different depending on the criteria you have decided on and the objective of the campaign. Give this the thought it deserves – not all segments are created equal so don’t treat them equally.

Next figure out how you are going say or write your messages. Will it be in a consultative manner, will it be informative or educational, will it be assertive or aggressive or will it be more subtle? Again the way you say it will depend on your goals and objectives by each segment and what you want to accomplish.

Your messages in each campaign should be scripted out in advance. It doesn’t matter if it is a written message (copy) or spoken (scripts), you should know what you’re going to impart in advance. Now this can be in an outline form or a complete message or script done in advance.

No matter which method (outline or full script) you use, based on your objectives and frequency of contact you should have what you’re going to say or write in advance. You want the recipients to have the same experience every time. If you messages are highly variable in nature how can you know when a message is working or not (more on this later)?

Now that you figured out how you’re going to say it and what you want to say, what channels are you going to use to communicate? Some of potential channels are:
     Letters
     Hand written notes
     eMails
     Postcards
     Outbound Calls
     Newsletters
     Face-to-face meetings
     Faxes

You may choose to use one and only channel for each segment, but I would not recommend this. A variety of channels shows some thought and give the perception this is not automatic, pre-programmed campaign. You don’t have to use all channels with all segments, but variety is the spice of life, so take advantage of this. Each channel has its own advantages and disadvantages and no one of the channels is better than the rest in all circumstances. Experiment and find out what’s working for your segments.

In my next post I will finish up on follow up and cover your Schedule and your Tracking and Monitoring of the campaigns.

First of all as discussed in my last post, segmentation of your contacts is the starting point for your follow up system. Most business owners, if they do any follow up at all; will either follow with the same message to all contacts or pick one specific segment and follow up with only this one segment, ignoring all the rest. Don’t do this! You need to follow up with as many segments as you can.

The second issue you must address is your plan for each of the segments. Since each campaign should be different for each segment, you need a plan for each segment. Each segment will have a different objective, for instance are you going to have the same plan for someone you’ve just met and a long standing Strategic Partner? I would hope not!

Side note – a plan is not, I REPEAT NOT, in your mind. A thought is just that a thought, a concept, not a plan! A plan is something on paper; it is your public commitment (even if it is only to yourself). A plan does NOT have to be complicated or complex – just make it appropriate for you and your business. But have a plan on paper.

What is the point of each campaign? What is your objective? What do you want to accomplish. What is your goal? By what date? Is it to keep Top of Mind Awareness, is it to give them information or some educational material, is it to gently prod them to purchase again, is it to sell a complimentary good or service, is it to offer some incentive to refer some on to you, is it increase your sales conversion rate, is it to point them to your website, is it to establish you and your company as the experts in your marketplace? You need to have firmly in you mind (and of course on paper).

In my next post I will discuss the Follow Up Plan and the Channels your use to communicate your messages.

Some of the follow up opportunities are:
     The initial contact with someone
     Prospects that are still in the sales process
     Prospects who didn’t buy
     Inactive or old clients
     Active or current clients
     Strategic Partners and Alliances
     Referral Partners

Every person in developed countries is bombarded with an overwhelming number of marketing messages every day, from the time they get up all the way through the time the go to sleep. The last figure I’ve is that we receive 30,000 messages per day and if you are the buyer in a business or the owner of a business this number goes up dramatically. While our brain unconsciously filters out 99% of these messages, this is still an astonishing number.

So how do we keep Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) with all of our critical contacts? By following up with them on a regular and consistent basis. As the business builder of your company you should have a strategic plan for every type of contact. Not all contacts are created equal and therefore different types of contacts should have a different frequency and type of follow up messages.

In my next post I will cover the critical aspects of an effective follow up system.