She’s Got Systems

Find the systems you need to grow your business

Archives for November 2011

Why Systems Matter – Outsourcing

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Why do some businesses seem to grow and expand every time you blink and others wither and stagnate over time? Have you watched other entrepreneurs with amazing messages and programs suddenly hit a ceiling and burn out or shrink to playing small?

Building a healthy six or seven figure business takes a lot of work but even more importantly, it will take more than one person.

Last month I issued a challenge to start documenting the tasks that you’re doing every day in your business. Today, we’ll start looking at how systems can enable you to outsource the right way, and I’ll give you the next tactic in the journey to building a team that will enable you to have the successful, thriving business you want.

One thing I’m always asking myself is “why?” Why should you care (at all) when it comes to this information? Try finishing this statement:

“No one has ever said on his deathbed I wish…”

You know it, don’t you? “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.” If you’re spending all of your time in your business, running things, you’re never going to have the reach you could with a team, you’ll probably burn out very soon and your legacy ends when you stop working.

Outsourcing isn’t about working four hours a week so you can sip mojitos in the Virgin Islands. Outsourcing enables you to build a company that serves more people thus making more money and without your constant supervision. So you *can* have that mojito on the beach without shutting down your business or feeling guilty.

If you have that list of tasks you’re currently responsible for in your business I want you to highlight all of the tasks which generate revenue. So highlight time spent serving clients, marketing, networking, speaking, developing content.

Those are the tasks you need to do more – market more, produce more, serve more clients. You’ll be able to make time for more when you outsource all those things which are not highlighted on the list. Like bookkeeping, website updates, scheduling appointments, updating your blog, formatting your newsletter, sending invoices, booking flights for a trip.

Non-revenue generating activities are not unimportant – they provide the foundation for many of the revenue generating tasks that you do every week. Which is why I’m not suggesting you stop doing those things, but find someone else who can manage them for you.

Recently I met with a potential client in a Get Acquainted Session and was surprised to learn that over a year ago this person walked away from the business he’d built. Web domains expired, the list was stale and nothing was produced, developed or delivered in over a year. What was this entrepreneur’s goal? To turn a comatose business into $100,000 in revenue in mere months, a goal which was not realistic for the level of business building that needed to take place to regain lost momentum.

It was heartbreaking to see such a successful, thriving business which had suddenly stopped producing, killing the momentum in a way that would take years to recover. How I wished I could go back in time and suggest, kindly, that the overwhelmed owner bring in a support team, outsource many of the tasks and refocus his time on getting out some content until the time he was ready to give it more attention and energy.

You may not foresee a time when you’ll want to take a break from your business but it’s still important to have the systems in place to make it an available option. Start by identifying the tasks you’re performing and then note the ones that you can give up.

Next time I’ll share why the typical VA is underutilized, confused, and doesn’t provide you the leverage you need (to take on more clients or a well deserved break).

Systems for Recording Interviews with Mixergy

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During my recent interview for Mixergy, I referenced a system that I put together for Andrew Warner and his team regarding video interviews. Below I’ll share the flowchart I prepared for their team for setting up the interview and then posting the interview on the site.

When I share this with my private coaching clients I walk them through:

emails that need to be set up
filters to put in place
emails to be drafted
documents to create

 

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Through our work together my clients are able to create complete systems like this for every thing in their business. Some are creating teleseminars, programs, events or developing a product. Others are marketing, promoting, teaching, speaking and coaching and all of these tasks require systems to operate the business with maximum efficiency.

I don’t know about you but when I need to do something for the first time (such as write a difficult email or reach out to a colleague) it can take me hours to create from scratch. With systems I can recreate and improve on the work I’ve already done, saving me time and money.

It’s not enough to create one system for part of the process, with my clients we go from A to Z and document the way they work. Here’s the process once the Mixergy interview has been recorded:

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Can you tell which steps Andrew Warner can outsource? Also take into consideration the elements of each post you see on Mixergy. There’s typically a picture, some copy, links within the article, sponsorship intros, the audio file, a transcript, a headline and the video itself. How would each of those elements show up on the page for each and every post? Either Andrew would manage it himself or create a system like this one and teach a team member.

This isn’t a complete, teachable system but an overview. To be complete you’ll want instructions for sending and editing a 40-60 minute video file, copies of all those draft emails mentioned above as well as a link to the publishing calendar, the scheduling calendar and possibly even the log in details for Mixergy’s twitter account and website.

I hope these flow charts help you open up the possibility of what systems you can create in your business today. Remember to take just 3-5 minutes every day and work on one. And if you haven’t watched my Mixergy interview yet you can do so here: http://mixergy.com/azevedo-azevedo-interview/

Why Systems Matter – Customer Service

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Last week I traveled all the way from warm and laid back California to the cold, cold Northeast to spend a day with my mentor and coach Fabienne Fredrickson and visit some friends. In the course of the week I was blown away by the customer service at one business in particular.

But first, who cares? It’s not like this company is paying me to promote them and I certainly don’t have an affiliate relationship with the company. I’ve shared here before about why great customer service matters and even gave you my model for customer service that can be implemented in a mature business.

It doesn’t matter if you have a business and are the only employee, if you’re a million dollar company or even a multi-national corporation with locations in every major city. Customer Service is a critical system that every business needs to be successful.

And great customer service doesn’t happen by accident. It’s measured and researched and designed with you, the customer, in mind.

Last week I decided that I’d be flying in and out of Boston’s Logan airport and driving down to the coaching day with Fabienne via rental car.

The experience I had with Enterprise Rent a Car was phenomenal.

I’m not going to bother trying to deny that I often think four steps ahead in any given situation. It’s what I do.

When I landed in Boston I made my way to the luggage carousel, picked up my bag, and went out to the curb to catch the bus from the terminal to the rental car lot.

As the bus filled up with Enterprise customers my first thought was “be first off this bus so I’m not waiting in line for ten minutes for my car.”

I should not have worried!

When the bus pulled up I grabbed my things and was out the door before most people stood up. At the door there was an employee to help me with my bag, another who handed me a water bottle and a full counter of five agents ready to serve.

Even though I’d thought ahead to make sure I could get in and out of the office quickly, no one else had to wait as each customer was greeted and handled quickly.

(Trust me, if I’d had to wait behind the woman who didn’t own a car and couldn’t remember if she knew how to drive a stick and needed to be shown how to fuel up the car this would be an entirely different article!)

The agent who helped me, Andrew Piantidosi, was friendly and engaging. He shook my hand, asked how my flight was, offered me a map, and reminded me of all the options and offers that did not come standard. He was polite and accepted my “no thank you” without pushing me to upgrade. When we were done with the transaction he walked me out to the lot, carried my bag, and let me choose my car.

Did you catch that? I got to choose (a cute little death trap Fiat)! It was much better than the neon green Honda Fit… and adorable. Yes, it felt like a death trap because it was so tiny but the extra step of walking me out to the lot, showing me the options, and allowing me to make a decision felt luxurious.

And the reason I remember Andrew’s name was that he handed me his card and let me know that if I needed anything, anytime to give him a call. It was sincere and a great touch.

Ironically, the first commercial that came on TV when I settled into my hotel room that night was for Enterprise Rent a Car and I actually paid attention, noting that their customer service promise had been fulfilled in my visit.

The point here is not to rent from Enterprise, although I will again. Nothing that I experienced was an accident, it was researched, designed, measured and executed with precision. I witnessed the other agents shake the customer’s hand, take their bags and yes, explain how to fuel up a motor vehicle.

Knowing that this high level of customer service was standard gave me expectations that at any Enterprise office, with any agent other than Andrew Piantidosi, I would receive the same great experience. And I’ll be a repeat customer.

Don’t you want your clients and customers to say the same thing after they encounter your business? If you want to make an impression that lingers for weeks and months after the interaction then you need solid customer service systems to guarantee that your business is meeting and exceeding expectations.

If you need help discovering what that looks like in your business and how to implement it I’d love to chat in a simple get to know each other call. When you’re ready click here to register for a get acquainted call.

What Does a Systems Expert Do?

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Recently I visited a dear friend who asked, although we’d discussed our work many times, asked “but what do you do?”

As Albert Einstein famously said “if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

With that in mind, let me tell you the type of person and business I most often work with and the work I do for them.

I work with busy entrepreneurs who own at least one business and don’t have time to do everything they need or want to do themselves. Since cloning seems to be several decades away from feasibility these owners need to teach and train someone else to help them complete tasks in their business and do so competently.

Experts at the pinnacle of every field have learned the value of leveraging time and expertise to be more efficient.

Your doctor probably does not check you in for your appointment, take your co-pay, record your weight and take your blood pressure. A nurse performs these tasks so the doctor can see more patients in a given day (because medical school is expensive and great doctors are not a commodity).

My local, small town accountant who does my personal and business taxes does not prepare the packets, copy forms, or request documents. He has a team that compiles all of the required data from me before he will sit down and calculate my forms. He doesn’t even call to schedule the appointments and handle the billing – the front desk staff will make those arrangements.

The truck driver does not stack the food on the pallets or wrap each pallet and load them in before hooking up and taking the long haul. He simply shows up with the cab and hooks up the flat bed. Which enables the trained driver to cover more miles than if he was responsible for each step of the process.

In your start up business you’re often responsible for everything on your own, but the hard part is learning when to teach your system to someone else on the team.

What if I don’t have systems in my business?

You may not have a documented system but in most cases, entrepreneurs have preferences for everything that they do. The timing of a blog post or the font you use are both parts of a system. You may not be able to articulate what you want but that’s where I come in to ascertain how you work, what you like and then to create your comprehensive system.

Some call this an Operations Manual, some a Standard Operating Procedure; I call it a Playbook. I describe in my free book download how I came to use this term and why I think it perfectly describes the inner workings of a business.

After you create my Playbook, what then?

Your Playbook looks unlike any resource any other company has at their disposal. It’s customized instructions reflect the way YOU do business, the quirks and preferences you have honed over the months and years. Understanding that there are a multitude of learning styles, I create all the tools for your team including using screenshots, detailed written instructions and short videos. Obviously, this takes some time because it’s custom made to support your business and needs. Knowing what you want is the first step to asking for it.

How do you do that?

It’s hard to describe how I do this work because in some ways I’ve always been organized and analytical. I was the six year old who would organize the shopping basket so everything fit without smooshing the bread.

But when I’m supporting a business to create the systems they need to grow I work in their business, I experience the team, the technology and what you have in place so I can take it to the next level and provide you the leverage you truly desire. By experiencing how you work now, I can easily see the gaps and discuss solutions that will deliver more time, clients, and support in your business.

I find that all of my clients have a big vision for their business – they know why they’re working so hard to make it successful but get stuck figuring out how to make it reality. My unique gift and the crux of what I “do” is to show you the how.

To my friend I was able to say, “I help successful but stuck entrepreneurs discover how to grow their business by developing systems they can delegate in order to free up more time to build the business and enjoy their success. I love what I do.”

What Are Systems?

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In talking with some friends and colleagues I’ve decided to back up and get into the basics of explaining the work I do and why I pour my life and energy into this business. Let’s start with the very first question – what is a “system?” and then I’ll segue into “why does it matter?”

You unconsciously use systems every day in all areas of your life.

When you wake up, brush your teeth, comb your hair and get dressed – that’s a system. It’s one your parents probably instilled in you from a very early age. Weekdays when you pick up a briefcase or purse, get in your car, drive to an office, unlock the door and put your lunch in the fridge – that’s another system. No one had to teach you with a manual how to get to the office in the morning but you developed those habits over time.

After a networking event when you make notes on the business cards you’ve received, reach out with emails and file those cards away for reference – it’s a system. Such emails and notes are usually personalized, created over  time and refined but it’s a system you use.

Even at the end of the day when you put spaghetti noodles on the stove, heat up the tomato sauce, add spices and broil the garlic bread for dinner: you’re performing a system. Systems are the way you perform tasks that have individual components forming a whole and when practiced provide consistency and stability.

The amazing thing about systems is that even if it seems natural, each step has actually been taught and refined over the years. If your water boils over you learn to turn the heat down. If you get hungry mid-morning at the office you practice carrying a snack as well as lunch. And if there’s a particular street or intersection with construction you quickly find an alternative route to get to work.

One of the reasons I’m so drawn to this work is because I have always been a very naturally organized person but it does not bother me if you do not have routines, structures and systems in your personal life. If you can never find your keys in the morning or routinely forget to return a library book, then so be it. What compels me to step out every day and reach entrepreneurs with my message is that if you do not have systems in your business then you will fail to reach your highest earning potential, impact in your field, or enjoy the fruits of your labor.

In short, systems enable freedom for both your business and personal time and that is something I’m committed to helping thousands of entrepreneurs achieve.

Preparing for Success

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Recently my fabulous mentor, Fabienne Fredrickson, made her Quick Start Guide on Attracting 3 New Clients available FREE and in re-reading it I was encouraged to write this post. While the free deal may have expired it is a great resource for getting yourself ready for success and attracting more clients to your business.

In the guide, Fabienne discusses how the universe hates a vacuum and will act to fill a void. So when she’s ready for new clients she’ll grab some blank client folders and label them:

New Client #1
New Client #2
New Client #3

Recently, I shared with a colleague how to use the same principle to attract other outcomes in your business and I want to show you how to create a simple system so you can say yes to the right opportunities!

In Gmail there’s a great lab feature called “Canned Responses” that enables you to respond with a prepared response to emails but, unlike auto responders, you can edit and personalize the email before it is sent.

First I created a generic “YES!” email in response to the request to present basic systems for online businesses to a teleseminar audience.

By saving this as a canned response I am aligning my intent to speak with more audiences about integrating systems and preparing for success.

And, as Fabienne teaches, there is now a void to be filled, an email ready to be sent. Instead of getting good news and thinking “great, what next?” I have prepared myself to hear the invitation and accept it.

In order to get in the right mindset ask yourself these questions:

Which opportunities would I love to say YES to?
If my calendar filled with these clients I would be so grateful and happy
This type of query will be such a pleasure to accept

Of course you’ll need to be specific and selective in order to avoid filling your days with any opportunity that comes along, whether or not it serves your goals. Which begs the question: what are your goals? And what opportunities will help you reach those goals?

If your goal is to grow your list and play a bigger game then the opportunities you select should reflect accordingly. Maybe you determine what the size of the audience should be and identify some key components to include in your presentation. Great! Write these into your Canned Response (get specific) and remember that these are qualifiers for the opportunities that will come your way.

From the earlier example, I expand the YES email as follows:

I would love to be a featured guest in your upcoming telesummit!  Teaching and sharing how support systems enable online businesses to grow and owners to reach a bigger audience is one of my passions and your audience seems to be a great fit. Knowing that over 5,000 entrepreneurs who are excited and motivated to grow their business in the next 12 months will be on this call fills me with joy!

Do you have a particular topic focus in mind? If not, may I suggest one of my two most popular talks that we can cater to your audience:

1. How to create simple systems for your company to make money in less time
or
2. Successful outsourcing – How to ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck

Here’s a link to the descriptions of each talk and the target audience [link].

I would love to hear your thoughts and discuss what high value, free resource I can offer to the telesummit attendees next month. Let’s schedule some time on the phone together to create the interview questions so we can optimize our time on the phone together!

There are lots of resources for saying no, arguing that we should say no more often and to some extent that’s good advice. But first, focus on what you would love to say yes to and then we’ll consider how to systematize your no.

What are you ready to say YES to?