Details to Consider in Your Business

How many times has someone told you that the devil's in the details? The truth is that success is a product of the details too. In business as much as anywhere else, it's the little things that can make all the difference in how well a company can adapt to changes and plan for the future. Here are five details you might want to take another look at in your business. 

1. Sales Funnel Models

The sales funnel is like a journey that consumers take from prospect to buyer. At any point along that journey, something they experience could turn them away from that path. Often this takes the form of inconvenience. Branding that fails to be distinctive, sales teams that never follow up after an encounter or pester prospects too much, and a failure to understand keyword searching are all little things that add up to a big loss of potential conversions.

Customer service is another critical issue. The days of sterile call center environments are being phased out in part due to technologies like caller ID and CNAM making them useless for outreach, but there were always better options. Having a live operator either on the phone or behind your social media pages to answer queries without forcing customers to deal with a robot is a simple thing that can make a powerful impression. 

2. Time Spent in Meetings

In 2019, US businesses wasted $399 billion worth of time and productivity in meetings. If you're a manager, it's all too easy to justify that lost time by invoking the need to bring people together on a task, but meetings aren't the only, or even the most effective, way of doing that. It's rare that important things take an hour to say, so shoot a group text if the message is simple. VoIP solutions like Skype are also useful for bringing a decentralized workforce together. In fact, many smartphone-based sales force automation apps include networking and file-sharing tools automatically. If you do choose to have a meeting, make it engaging with audiovisual presentations. Coordination should be a team-building exercise, never a hassle. 

3. Organizational Methods

Another waste of time and energy in business comes from a lack of organization. Going (mostly) paperless is one good idea. With the wide array of inexpensive or free accounting software and virtual assistants available, failure to keep to a schedule is far from inevitable. Another organizational fix is to impress upon staff the importance of interdepartmental communication. Data silos, in which critical information gets trapped in local storage spaces, can slow the reaction time of your whole company. Keep information storage centralized and backup the most vital data securely offline if possible. A streamlined data system is an efficient one. 

4. Endpoint Security

Security Magazine pegged the cost of a data breach at $36,000 to $50,000 for small businesses. With more people working remotely than ever before, the risk of company networks being compromised is especially great. Keep your network safe by working to standardize security protocols (such as antivirus software) among all of these user endpoints. Base the degree of access that users are given on the trust they've earned. Have systems like firewalls in place to prevent email-based malware attacks. Above all other concerns, educate your employees on how to recognize and thwart the latest phishing scams and other cyber threats. Knowledge is power.  

5. Utilities Expenses

The cost of utilities can bleed revenue from a company before anyone knows what's happening. Solutions to this lack of efficiency can be as simple as turning lights off when you leave the room or making sure that your insulation is sound. Solutions can also be as comprehensive as taking your company off the grid entirely by installing a solar power system. Start by having an energy audit performed. Find out exactly where these incremental losses are happening and then tailor the solution to fit your needs. 

Keeping an eye on the future and building a vision can't be done at the expense of the day-to-day details. Taking a fresh look at the small things could be just what your business needs.