How Systems Can Transform the Way You Do Business
It’s often said that McDonald’s isn’t successful because they offer the best hamburger on the market, but rather because they offer a consistent product time after time. Whether you are in Paris France or Paris, Texas, your Big Mac is likely to taste exactly the same. This scenario illustrates just one of the many benefits systems bring to a business.
While consistency, such as at McDonald’s, is a great benefit, there are many others that can truly transform the way business owners view and work in their businesses. Within a company, almost every function that has replicated actions can be improved through systems. Once you start looking at your business with a systems eye, you will never be the same again.
Increased Productivity and Efficiency
A growing real estate company found that its realtors were spending a great deal more time than needed on paperwork. The solution was to develop a paper flow system that enabled realtors to touch the paperwork fewer times and that resulted in more complete files for the support staff. The solution also provided much-needed forms that realtors had been developing on their own and in many different formats. This system increased the time realtors had to be productive and the efficiency of the whole sales process and support staff.
Improved Customer Service and Quality Control
A local carpet retailer wanted to corner the market by offering incredible customer service while keeping costs competitive. The company developed a system that detailed every client interaction from the order to the follow-up survey. Nothing was left to chance. Every department uses a detailed guide that outlines the department’s part of the client service system. The salespeople have a system to follow that allows them to focus on the customer – not on paperwork. The order fulfillment group has a system that enables them to contain defects to less than one percent. Within a very short time, the company earned a strong reputation and a corner on a major metropolitan carpet market. The bonus for the company came when the owners decided to open a new store in another city. The systems transferred easily and aided new staff training. The store opened in a record 30 days, and enjoyed the same success the original store did.
Cost Savings and Self-managed Employees
Systems also offer structure to a business and its employees. Employees require less supervision, and can manage themselves while increasing productivity. Waste from mistakes often decreases, defects from an error in judgment decline and consistent work quality ensures clients receive what they want – the first time. Companies like CIGNA have put systems to work and cut costs by over $100 million dollars in a five-year period.
Improved Business Performance and Experience
Ask any business owner and s(he) will tell you that s(he) spends too much time answering questions and attending to details that do not add to the bottom line. Implementing systems can give a business owner his/her life back. Systems eradicate the need to reinvent the wheel and alleviate repeated questions by staff. Systems allow you to improve a gap in performance quickly and proactively. Most importantly, systems empower an owner to work on the business instead of in it. Owners who spend more time strategically planning and systematizing the key activities around the business will improve their business’s performance. Those that move away from a systemless, reactive environment often cite improved quality of life and increased enjoyment in their business.
There are many other ways systems benefit a business. We’ve highlighted some of the most potent advantages of implementing systematic processes. From a three-person flower shop to a Fortune 50 manufacturer to the local movie theater, all businesses can benefit from designing and implementing systems. If you are a business owner who is too busy to make an appointment to learn how you can improve your business and your life, chances are, systems implementation is for you.
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