Know Thy Systems

Chaos…Clutter…Mess! Do either one of these describe your business? Maybe all three?

That definitely described my business several years ago.

Sometimes one of the three will creep back into the business. My weakest point of entry seems to be when someone calls in to get an estimate. I’ll jot down their information on any scrap of paper that I can find. And you know what happens next? Yep, I’ll lose that paper…and forget to get the estimate done. Guaranteed lost business!

Rarely the customer will call back and complain that I haven’t done the estimate. I profusely apologize and rush out to get the estimate done. On the way out I’ll say a prayer of thanks to God for shining such good fortune upon me.

The next thing to happen is making corrections to get back on track. I realize that I’ve gotten away from my system of inbound calls. It is simple…I just use a estimate sheet and fill out the information such as name, address, phone number and anything else the customer might talk about.

Systems are processes put in place to produce consistent desired results. A system can be as simple as how you answer the phone…to as detailed as the exact method you use to clean each house. Most of the time these systems are not written down. It’s the way we’ve always done it! (is that the battle cry of most businesses?)

None of my systems were written down. So when I started hiring employees the systems broke down pronto. Nobody knew what was expected of him or her. And things kept getting done wrong. Or at least “Not the way I’ve always done them!” So confusion reigned. And things started to slip through the cracks. None of the employees had any direction.

This started to show up in customer complaints. Pretty quickly I was spending most of my day running around putting out fire, after fire. I was pointing the finger at the employees. When I should have been yelling at the guy in the mirror. Hey I was not leading the company.

Not to hard to guess what happened next. Customers started to get frustrated, and leaving in droves. And finally when the next season started I did not hire back anyone. I just went back out and started cleaning solo. Got back a lot of customers, and remained without employees for several years.

I have since put my systems in a manual. Including a section on proper training of why and how the systems work. Is everything perfect? I wish. Things still creep in, and new things pop up. However at least there is a reference available to help.

The best benefit? Confusion no longer reigns.