Your employees are probably well aware of common customer complaints and compliments. Make good use of what they know. Here are some tips for managing valuable indirect customer feedback:

•  Make a point to regularly meet with your team members to discuss customer problems and possible solutions.
•  Identify and outline the types of changes your employees can make to immediately satisfy a customer and the types of complaints they should bring to discussion for further examination (i.e. your team member is authorized to replace a broken product, but should there be chronic problems with a certain product or service s/he should bring it to discussion to see if a change in distributor or manufacturer or discontinuation is the right answer-this is a call for management to make)
•  Encourage employees to elicit feedback from customers. For example, you could institute a policy whereby at the end of sale a cashier or team member asks customers How was your shopping experience today or Is there anything we could have done to improve? Similarly, you may want to have a team member periodically solicit feedback from customers on the sales floor.

Believe it or not, small businesses have a strong competitive edge over big businesses. That is if they use it. More and more, people like to support their community and that includes the local businesses…especially those businesses that support the community. A business that shows goodwill in the community receives the goodwill of its community.

Here are some tips for developing strong community ties and visibility:

▪ Consider joining business and community organizations that will bolster your visibility and reinforce your integrity

▪ Sponsor local athletic teams

▪ If there is a community crisis like a natural disaster, a fire or blizzard get involved in supporting the effort to fix the problem

▪ Develop a customer referral program

Building strong community relations is a form of marketing. Often times it is cheaper than advertising and more fun than standard marketing campaigns. But it does take time, commitment and energy. Choose your community relations efforts wisely.

You have a choice  about how you want to position your business. You can position it as a stand-out company or as one more in the pack of businesses after your customers’ money. Given the choices, it’s easy to see which one is more strategic. But knowing your position can be a lot harder than it seems. Here are 4 C’s for strong positioning.

Company definition—-are you specific about what your company does and how it does it? Don’t be one of those companies that try to be too much to too many people. Joe Boxer is an underwear company like the hundreds of other underwear companies. But, it’s clear that it offers underwear that is fun to wear. So you will never see a pair of plain white briefs in Joe Boxer and whenever you see the packaging, the website or visit a store where Joe Boxer products are sold you will see an element of fun, humor and cheekiness. 

Competitors’ identification—-do you know your competitors? In order to differentiate yourself from the pack, you will have to analyze your competition. Why might a consumer pick them over you? What do you already do that is superior to their business offering and how can you constantly and consistently communicate that?

Consumer target definition—-do you know your customers? Do you have demographic, lifestyle and psychographic information on your best customers? Do you know whom you want to target?

Channels (distribution)—-where and how is your product or service delivered? Are there ways in which you can capitalize on that and make positive distinctions between you and your competitors?

Delegation is an important managerial skill. Delegating allows you to focus on where your business is going, while your employees move it toward that direction. Use this checklist to determine if you are taking advantage of opportunities to delegate authority.

▪ Do you have time for the following:

▪ Training and development of subordinates?                          

▪ Planning?                              

▪ Coordinating and controlling work of subordinates?                  

▪ Visiting customers and subordinates regularly?                  

▪ Remaining involved in new product development?                   

▪  Visiting branch locations regularly?                             

▪ Attending business meetings outside your business?   

▪ Participating in civic affairs?       

▪ Is no one on your staff as good as you are?                             

▪ To effectively delegate responsibility and authority in your organization you must:

▪ Accept the power of delegation.

▪ Know your team’s capabilities.

▪ Ensure that specific training is available.

▪ Select specific responsibilities to be delegated.

▪ Clearly define the extent and limits of delegation.

▪ Match each with necessary authority.

▪ Provide periodic monitoring and interest.

▪ Restrain the impulse to insist on how to do something.

▪ Remember there are many ways to accomplish a specific objective.

▪ Assess results and give feedback.

▪ Praise and offer constructive feedback.

Public relations may seem fruitless. But the truth is free publicity can generate more business than expensive marketing campaigns, especially when it comes to discerning customers.

What do you believe more: the glossy, expensive ad that promises to grow your hair back in 30 days or a news report featuring people who have regained their hair because of this new prescription? News coverage lends legitimacy.

That’s why publicity must be strategic. Know what your message is. Don’t leave it to the media to make it up for you. Think about what programs and publications your target customers enjoy. Get to know the journalists and the types of stories they feature. Have a list of available sources willing to talk to the journalist. This is publicity with a strategy, and it’s free.

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Just as an emerging business develops an accounting system, it should also develop a human resource system. For instance the following employee information should be available and checked for accuracy at least once each year.

 - Name, Address, Nationality (immigration status), Dependents, Hire date

 - Company job history: Title and code, Performance, Location, Salary rate and history, Education including degrees,   – Specialty training, Transcripts as appropriate

 - Pre-employment work experience: Key responsibilities and levels, Professional licenses or certificates, Professional publication and speaking engagements, Teaching experience

 - Leadership evidence: Company, Civic, Career goals

 - Emergency contact

Review your personnel files periodically to ensure that the information is correct and current. Implement a system that will make updating personnel files a fairly simple routine.

It’s important to be aware of all the costs associated with inventory, especially the costs of carrying too much inventory.  This includes not only direct costs of storage, insurance and taxes, but also the cost of money tied up in inventory.  Consider these important tips:

• Maintaining a wide assortment of stock–but not spreading the quick-selling products too thin
• Increasing inventory turnover without sacrificing the service level
• Keeping stock low without sacrificing service or performance
• Obtaining lower prices by making volume purchases without ending up with slow-moving inventory
• Having adequate inventory on hand without getting caught with obsolete items

Computing your inventory turnover ratio is a simple way to monitor and measure how well you are doing.  This value gives a rough guideline by which you can set goals and evaluate performance. Remember that the turnover rate varies with the function of inventory, the type of business and how the ratio is calculated (whether on sales or cost of goods sold).  You can obtain industry averages from trade associations.

The following checklist outlines the monthly tasks required to maintain accurate accounting records.

1. Balance checkbook. Reconcile all records with your bank statements so they are in agreement.

2. Total all ledgers. Compute monthly totals for sales, expenses and payroll.

3. Make tax deposits. Report and remit withheld employee taxes. Also file and remit any federal or state income taxes due.

4. Update your unpaid accounts, listing them by length of time on the books, i.e., 30, 60 or 90 days. Use this list to discover which accounts require extra collection attention.

5. Review inventory and see which items are and aren’t moving.

6. Reconcile petty cash. Make sure the actual cash, plus the total of the paid-out receipts for expenses from petty cash, are equal to the starting balance. Replenish if necessary.

If your sales are slow, it may be time to evaluate your sales team and systems.

▪ Is your sales team motivated by the sell itself?

▪ Are team members compensated based on amount of sales and value of sale?

▪ Are salaries low and incentives high?

▪ Are commissions competitive?

▪ Do bonuses and commisions reflect a percentage of the value of the sale?

High salaries that aren’t commission-driven are excellent de-motivators. While the most successful sales people are driven by the sell itself, the challenge and the reward are important to keeping people pumped.

That does not mean that people who are apprehensive about being seen as pushy, annoying or unsolicited will be poor sales people. With the right systems, these people can overcome their apprehension. Use your most successful sales person to create and document the system that works best for your business. Share success stories with your team and offer praise consistently.

If many businesses perform the same tasks, offer the same services at similar prices, how does one become a leader and the other not? They create differences to create the position as the industry leader or the best family-style restaurant in town or the most reliable and convenient dry cleaning business.

Think of Colgate and Crest toothpaste. Essentially they are the same product and they perform the same functions—-preventing cavities and cleaning teeth. Yet Crest is the number one toothpaste. Why? Because it decided to position itself as the choice most dentists recommend.

Have you given thought to what it is your business does? Consider why you started your business. What did you want to do? Were you hoping to create a better product than what was readily available? Were you interested in creating a family business? What is it about your business that current customers keep coming back for?

Answering these questions can help you create the differences that will set your business apart.