I recently wrote a LinkedIn post about my title or role as a Systems Strategist, but what does that mean? What I do is a lot more than just building systems. My role revolves around client management and offering supportive services to help service-based businesses provide their clients with the best experience and build valuable relationships.
I always say clients can recognise a business that lacks organisation and professionalism; it shows in how they show up.
So, if you want to give your clients a good experience, you need to get on top of your backend; in other words, your admin.
I know admin is the last thing you want to do unless you love it, but that's why we have tools and systems to help you get organised. You see, here I go with the 'systems' again, but it's part of what will make your business flow and be successful.
What you need to do first?
Before implementing any systems into your business, here are some things I suggest you do first.
1. Declutter
It's time to go through your emails, files, notebook and whatever else you use to manage your business. This is not the time to be sentimental about newsletters you signed up for but never open just in case you might need them. Unsubscribe!! Get rid of untitled documents in your drive, they obviously have no value in your business. If they did they would have been titled.
2. Analyse your business
What do I mean by this? Look at what you do in your business and make sure your documents and tools reflect that. You want to make sure you don't have any un-necessary docs and tools. Make a list of your business activities and services this way you'll be able to identify what is relevant and what's not.
You'll be able to understand your processes, what you need and don't need. Get rid of old sheets and templates that you don't use or archive them. When you analyse your business, you're looking at what's working and what's not working in your business.
3. Create templates and Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) documents
Now, this might take a while, so you may want to delegate this to someone on your team. This will help your business processes. Anyone who comes into your business will understand your business process and have a guide. Creating SOPs will allow you to implement or develop assets required for your business to run. Plus it gives you more understanding.
Okay, those are my basic tips for what you need to do first. Now you want to get into the nitty-gritty of organising your business.
Get your business in order
You need to integrate business tools to help you run your business. Here's what I suggest you start with:
Project management tool
Whether it's Trello, Asana or Clickup, you want to use whatever is best for you. Test them out and see which ones you like. Most project management tools have a free trial, so there should be no excuse. This will help you organise yourself and your team, especially when it comes to delegating tasks.
Client Management Tool
If you know me, you know that this will be mentioned in every blog or content I write. Client management is also known as a Client Relationship Manager (CRM), which will help you to organise and keep client information. If you want to know more about CRM, check out my other blogs on CRM.
Business Hub
In other words, your business storage space or office. Most businesses will use something like Microsoft 365 or Google drive, which I think is one of the best workspaces or drives. Why? Because it's easy to access and integrates with everything. You can organise your whole business in folders, subfolders, use colour codes and more. You can also use it in conjunction with your project management tool.
Once you have all these things in place, you'll be able to get your business up to scratch. Don't be the business that your potential clients frown upon! If you know you can't manage your business backend or keep it up to date, then find someone who can help!
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