Three Essential Business Practices

When you think about what makes a business successful, the first two things that come to mind are often excellent customer service and providing a superior product or service. While correct, these two things by themselves are not a guarantee for success. You can’t forget the importance of developing smart business practices within the organization to support the business in good and challenging times.

A business practice is defined as a method, procedure, or rule followed by a company in pursuit of its objectives. Most organizations, especially as they grow, will develop core business practices to maintain control of their day-to-day activities, as well as procedures and policies that guide the company over the long term.

Here are three smart business practices that are essential to the success of a company:

It’s vital for you and those around you to know what it’s costing YOU to do business. This is one of the most difficult and MOST important tasks for any business to manage and maintain, especially with current market fluctuations. A dollar amount should be applied to every aspect of your business – from a sales call to a phone call. This an area that needs to be revisited as your costs and competitors’ price points change. Knowing and strategically using these numbers is empowering and can be helpful as you monitor performance and motivate team members to work more efficiently to ensure the rewards of a profitable outcome (not only for the company but for themselves).

This is an important practice to put into place for all employees – from a new hire to the most senior employee in the company. There are many ways to equip your employees for success including: training classes, mentoring programs, discussion groups, and college tuition assistance programs–all of which provide incentive for advancement as well as added value to every team member. Set benchmarks for their success and visit the results with each team member on a scheduled basis. Make it easy for your employees to grow in knowledge and confidence as they play a vital role in the success of the company overall.

It doesn’t matter if your organization is big or small, overseeing the success of any business requires constant attention to a lot of moving parts. With this in mind, it’s helpful to regroup with everyone on a regular basis to review where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going. Schedule a meeting with a set time limit, provide an agenda with discussion points, encourage team preparedness and participation, and last but not least, commit to this schedule. At the end of every meeting, make sure the purpose of the gathering was achieved and that everyone leaves knowing what is expected of them. This conversation allows the whole team to grasp “the big picture” beyond simply their role, and helps to motivate everyone to keep moving forward and operating in unison.

An organization built on solid business practices will enjoy success in the marketplace. At R2R Marketing, we are ready to provide the marketing support needed to ensure your business success.