New Year’s Business Resolutions for 2017
Have you made a New Year’s business resolution yet? If so, what’s yours going to be for 2017?
We’re sure that many people will set a personal goal that they want to reach by the end of the year while others will focus on giving something up like chocolates or crisps. But what about setting yourself a business resolution for your office supplies company?
There are many ways you can make your business stronger this year, but if you don’t set out the goals and the steps you need to take to achieve them, they’re unlikely to happen. We’re sharing our suggestions for some business resolutions you could set for yourself and your team for the rest of 2017.
1. Save money by managing your overheads:
This is a classic resolution for many people, especially business owners. Perhaps it’s time to take a look at your overheads, for example, you could look at office rental costs, vehicle hire, employee costs and the software you use to run your business. These all add up and if you can find ways to remove or at least reduce some of these costs, your business will be financial stronger for it. Mark and Andy of Just Office did exactly that. They were paying for various technology that only served to make their jobs harder. It was a financial burden and drain on their time to continue the way they were. They resolved to change this and when they partnered with us in 2015, they found that they saved money and time by using our single integrated technology.
2. Get closer to your customers:
Do you think you saw enough of your customers in 2016 or would you say struggled to find the time to connect with them? If your business New Year’s resolution for 2017 is to reach out to your customers more than you did last year, you need to think about how you’re going to do it. Will you join a new social network to connect with your customers more online? Do you want to set up marketing campaigns to target your customers with the right message, at the right time? Or perhaps you want to make more sales calls and meet face to face with your most valuable accounts and prospects? Choose the most important one for your business and focus on that. Be realistic in what you can achieve. If that means only having one social media platform for the time being, then that’s fine. The important thing when connecting with your customers is consistency.
3. Uncover new opportunities from your data:
Using data to conduct gap analysis will allow you to deliver a much more targeted sales strategy and a better experience for your customers. Gap analysis based on the sales and customer data you have can highlight purchasing patterns, category mixes, order frequency, GM, revenue and customer segments. The results of this analysis will allow you to strategise the sales and marketing plan you have and help you deliver personalised messages and offers to your customers.
4. Don’t put up with it:
If you have something that’s interfering with day-to-day business or simply slowing you or your team down, then don’t put up this, change it. Using outdated technology could cause you to waste 21 days per year. Whether it’s a printer that’s too slow or an old piece of software that hasn’t been upgraded and holds your team back from getting sales, you need to change it.
5. Work smarter, not harder:
There are several good books that share advice on working smarter not harder to increase your efficiency. For example, if emails have overruled your team and you spend your day behind your inbox, it’s time to turn it off. Internal emails can drain a lot of time for you and your team and often act as a blocker to more open communications in the office.Why not put in place a weekly team meeting or perhaps a daily stand up in which your team can ask you questions that they might normally put in an email. You can even use this time to conduct coaching sessions and see if anyone else in the office has the knowledge so the team can lean on each other.
