As a business owner, have you ever just wanted to get the broom and sweep out your entire team because they won’t do what you want them to do? Do you ever wonder why your team won’t perform? Or have you ever worked for a company that couldn’t get their arms around their sales team — maybe even to the point that no one even bothered to get work on time? For companies without a set of standard operating procedures, the result is chaos. There are five areas that can help you improve your profits and raise sales.
For a business to be excel today they need to have the following four Ps in place:
1. People. If you have people working for you who are not committed to your team, then you have team breakers. They are like bad apples; you place them in a bushel of nice apples and all they do is rot the rest. Have management determine who is committed and who isn’t. Then you must tolerate, motivate or eliminate the latter.
2. Policies. Having written policies will help clear up miscommunications and eliminate most of the excuses that are being used by the underperforming. Today’s teams need to have clearly defined performance expectations. The last thing you want is the underachievers teaching your new team members how to break the rules or even make up their own rules.
3. Procedures. Training and expecting your team to execute the procedures is what will set your company apart. This is how you must do business at your company. Can you imagine having more than 100 employees, all of whom have different ways to do business? Without a solid bedrock of clearly defined and communicated procedures, systems break down and eventually fall apart. The results can be fatal when nobody knows what to do or how to do it.
4. Processes. This is more important today than most business owners realize. The process is the “how to do it,” where the rubber hits the road. How can businesses today expect their teams to execute if they don’t have clear expectations or the skills to execute? Training for most companies has dried up or been reduced to a minimum. Companies set themselves up to fail by placing untrained people in profitable positions without the knowledge and skills they need to get the job done.
Ask any firefighter and they’ll tell you all they do is train. They never would show up at a fire and say, “Now what do we do?” Trained professional organizations have the right people, backed with policies and procedures that allow them to follow the process. You can do the same thing if you have standard operating procedures and follow the four Ps outlined earlier. Business isn’t about life and death but it sure can seem like it when you aren’t reaching the profits you need to survive or grow. When they have clearly defined goals backed with definite strategies, your team will be able to focus on the main objective. That’s the key today: focus on the main objective and keep it as the main objective.
The word focus is magical in business today, isn’t it? With people being distracted by so many gadgets, bringing their home problems to the office with them and gossiping about who knows what, it’s no wonder employees aren’t focused. If you had a line on your financial statement that showed what it cost to not have your team execute properly, you would probably be drinking antacid like water to relieve your stress heartburn. Teams need to be focused today to succeed.
If you don’t have the right people, supplied with clearly defined policies and thoroughly trained in the procedures that make up your company’s processes, you will lose your way — along with the fifth P, which is profit.
Proper focus on people, policies, procedures and processes will help you get control of your team and improve your profits. Look at any successful organization and you will find they are consistent; they remain focused. In an inconsistent world we need to be consistent. With a standard operating procedure handbook, you and your company will be standing long after others have fallen victim to their own excuses.
George Dans is a speaker, trainer and founder of The World’s Greatest Closer , a sales training and life changing firm specializing in personal and professional development. His more than 20 years of experience helps him maximize potential for clients ranging from small business owners to Fortune 500 companies.
