1. Involve Employees in Your Strategy
Employees are pillar of any organization. From top level to bottom line. Everyone is important. Give importance to each employee according to their level. Involve them in strategy making. Every employee knows somethings at his level. When you involve them in decision making and strategy, they give information and suggestion
Not only they give valuable information and suggestion but also feel that they are important part of organization. They feel they are part of growth.
- Their motivation level and morale boost which helps company to increase productivity.
- Their decision making power increases. Their ability to work in higher rank increases and their day to day decision making power strengthens.
- They feel that organization trust on them which increases their loyalty level.
- By putting employees in strategy making leads them to accept failure rather than blaming higher authority.
- Involving employees in strategy making makes higher authority to get free to take care of other task.
It is difficult to manage this activity, but once you have go through it you will feel lot of difference than previous.
2. Love What You Do
Love what you do or do what you love. Nice saying! Good for business too. You have started business definitely you know about it. You have experience and information. Include love in your business strategy. Make it your hobby and ask employees to do same. Enjoy what you do. This will increase your productivity. If you worked 8 hours per day before, you will start working 10 hours without getting tired. Hire people who love to do work which you assign them. They will work for you for longer time period. Interesting element of loving your work is that you find unique and different way to complete your job. Difficult to love what you do? Let me help out. There are some simple steps to increase your work love.
- Treat goals like recipes and remind them for longer time with clear mind set and clear vision.
- Get information about how others do this job. Read biography of legends of this industry.
- Let’s prepare to be uncomfortable, both physically and mentally. Comfort-ability seeker never love their jobs.
- Surrounds yourself with people who motivates you.
- Be stuck on what you decide. Defend you decision positively with logic.
- Don’t try to do all by yourself. Take help from others.
3. Listen to your Customers
Listening to customer is always important for any business. What customers demand and think of your brand is important for you to sustain in the competitive market. Customers’ satisfaction increases when organization listen to them and respond them quickly. When you listen your customers, it means you are focusing your customers. You are listening their needs, complains and suggestions. Here are the reasons why listening to customers is important:
- Customers know what they want and need?
- Customers has buying power
- Customers’ feedback helps you improve
- Competitive advantage
- Market research is completed through customers’ feedback
- Increase customer focus
It is equally important to know that how to manage customers’ listening. Here are some ways to reach customer feedback:
- Conduct regular surveys
- Create focus group to know best information
- Observe your customers critically
- Make efficient and effective points of sale
- Develop customer service department
- Be present on social networking websites
- Use E-channels to reach your customers feedback
- Train your staff continuously
Employees at points of sale are critical factor in business success. Before experiencing product, customer experience employees. Increase the efficiency of your staff by giving the training regularly. Problems and Issues can occur anytime. Be aware of them before their existence. Train your staff at each issue to serve your customers effectively. Give training to them as per market trends. Tell them what is going in the industry and educate them. Give training of higher management so that they can understand the role of management and also can serve when needed. The right training gives an employee knowledge and skills to carry his job at best level.
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4. Train your Staff Continuously
Employees at points of sale are critical factor in business success. Before experiencing product, customer experience employees. Increase the efficiency of your staff by giving the training regularly. Problems and Issues can occur anytime. Be aware of them before their existence. Train your staff at each issue to serve your customers effectively. Give training to them as per market trends. Tell them what is going in the industry and educate them. Give training of higher management so that they can understand the role of management and also can serve when needed. The right training gives an employee knowledge and skills to carry his job at best level.
5. Tap into Emotions
It’s not about product, it’s about emotions. You are already selling your product. Now its time to create emotional bonding between customers and you. let me share an example with you. In the mid-1989, Coca Cola Company made decision to introduce its new product, New Coke (Hartley 1995, pp. 129-145). Over 200,000 blind tests were conducted and finalized the taste. Everyone liked new taste. Coca Cola Company replaced the old stock with new Coke stock over one night. All stock of old coke was taken back and replaced with new Coke. They believed that their product will get huge success but results was totally opposite. People have totally rejected new Coke because they have affiliations with old taste. One lady said what the shit Coca Cole have made now? One young guy immediately buy old Coke in bulk quantity and stock in his home. It was all due to emotional bonding. When brand has this kind of emotional affiliations, no one can compete with it and ultimately become competitive advantage.
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6. Don’t Make Assumptions
Everyone has tendency to make assumptions about anything. Even if a strange person is walking on the road, we create assumptions about him too. Assumptions can be good or bad. Assumptions is thought about something without knowing real facts. Assumptions have very bad impact on business. Business runs with facts and figures, not assumption. You cannot take single step blindly. Don’t make assumptions about your employees. Know them exactly what they are. Assumptions create misunderstandings between employees and management. Same as do not create assumptions about customers. Target market research is very important. All strategies and decisions depend upon your research results. Without knowing the real facts and figures, taking decisions is putting yourself in high risk. Two immediate benefits can be taken from avoiding assumptions:
1. You can avoid misunderstandings within organization.
2. Take better decisions based on concrete market research.
Train employees how to avoid assumptions. Train them how to act and react on real information. Encourage them to ask questions and express their opinions.
7. Be Present at All Channels
It is not enough to present on some channels, for that business which carries a strategy of growth. Customers are everywhere and you have to capture every customer. Study your competitors’ models and know where they exist. How they reach and respond to customer? Study your customers. Where they want to be responded? Deliver a consistent customer experience. Revise your channel strategy and ensure your presence at every possible channel. For this purpose, you can interact directly with customers. Ask them where they love to be connected? Get feedback from them. Study the whole industry. What are the trends in channel strategies? Which channel is ignored by competitors? Now these days, when internet is everywhere, no one can ignore the online presence. Almost every customer is available on internet. In 2015, USA received 340 billion U.S dollars from eCommerce business. (source: statista.com)
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8. Hire Right People
A great rule of HR is “Right people for the right job”. Apply it. When you allow people having no skills to run your business, how could you expect a boost in your profit? For example, you hired marketing manager, who is actually a finance guy, do you think he can develop great marketing strategies? Of course not! Don’t ruin your business. Do favoritism at all in business. A person having intense knowledge, experience and focus can done job efficiently. When you are going to make hiring, study job requirements carefully. Go deep down in details and evaluate what you actually need. Who can fulfill your requirements? Here are tips to hire right person:
- Know what the details of jobs are.
- Write down ad with all necessary details and technical specifications.
- Be specific and focused.
- Add restrictions on each requirement so that you can avoid mass resumes.
- Shortlist right persons, relevant to your job only (you can short list those, who have little experience or education gap).
- Invite them in fix schedule. Give them enough time to prepare.
- Judge them from their arrivals.
- Rather than just focusing on past experience and qualifications, focus on employees’ potential, confidence and knowledge.
- Go into deep. Check social networking profiles of candidates for better understanding.
- Ask right and relevant question. Don’t argue with candidates. Focus of their answers and attitude. You are not taking exams.
- Analyse candidates’ personality and try to fit with job requirements.
- Give confidence and trust by allowing candidates to ask questions.
- Don’t judge a book by its cover, read till last page.
9. Entertain Your Customers and Employees
Don’t just sell your product but entertain your customers. Create pleasure experience which remind them a happy moment forever. So many products are available in the market, but what is different in your brand? Entertainment can be competitive advantage for brand. You can create entertaining experience through your outlet environment or product packaging. Add some value to make your customers happy. Give them something extra which they didn’t get previously. Surprise them with your efforts.
Treat your employees as a customers too. Employees are your first customers. A motivated employees only can boost business. Deliver your employees more than their expectations. Don’t make them work machine. Increase their efficiency by relaxing them. Develop rest areas, play areas for them. Arrange birthday parties for them. Realize them that work place is part of their life and this place belong to them. Provide them best lunch facilities. Give them a strong reason to stay happy and motivated at work place.
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