Monday 20 February 2012

 

Customer (Dis) Service

Business is never easy.  That's a fact. But there is one thing that every single business must do well or your clients will seek out other sources and that is customer service. Every time you interact with your clients, its customer service. Be that booking an appointment, sending a contract via email or selling a pack of gum.

We interact with a lot of businesses in the region, and amazingly we hear time and time again that customer service standards in the community are slipping. Our clients share with us some of the of the crazy things they encounter, waiting for weeks for a callback or requested quotes never being delivered, worse still - rude or  disinterested staff – that means your clients are buying from you and they DONT EVEN WANT TO (that's a grudge-purchase to the Jargon heads).

In Customer service, its the subtleties that make a difference:

1.       Smile & look at your client during the interaction, especially when they're paying you – don't just hold out your hand and go on to the next client....

2.       Take your time – don't give the client the impression that you're too busy to deal with them.

3.       Remain positive in the interaction. If you say with "thats a big job" with a groan & grumble all it says to the client is 'I'm really trying to justify my price here'. Most of the time the client does not care how big the job is, they want a solution.

4.       Listen. Listen. Listen. Your client is trying to tell you something – if you haven't heard what they're trying to tell you, you can never service their needs.

5.       If you say you're going to do something. Damn well do it. Nothing starts a relationship going south faster than saying one thing and not following through.

Notice how all these tips have nothing to do with technical skill? Business by and large is a function of people interacting. Make sure your team has the skill to interact, communicate & engage with your clients.

Your frontline team are absolutely one of the most important resources you will ever have in terms of keeping clients happy, engaged and coming back for more. Be sure that they have the tools to work with your clients – a lot of the time, that has very little to do with technical skill – they need to be able to communicate and have great people skills.

 

ALLAN BRINDLEY

 

Wednesday 9 January 2012

 

How to Make Your New Years Resolutions Come True

Every year, there’s the usual flurry of New Years Resolutions that are parried about with a fervour and zeal that 'this year is going to be better than last', & that we're 'going to make it happen' the reality is that without some framework around the resolutions, there’s a good chance they’ll fade into the background once things get busy again.

So, here’s a proven framework to help be sure that your goals are articulated in such a way that you’ll cross them off your list in 2012.

S – Specific – No vague statements – ‘this year we want to improve’ is useless as a goal. What areas do you want to improve, HR, Risk, Profitability? Get specific and hone in on what you want to achieve.

M – Measurable – Goals must have metrics – if you can’t measure it, you can’t assess whether you’ve achieved your goal or not. ie ‘We will grow profit by 20% and improve cash at bank by $50K’

A – Attainable – Taking a business from $100k turnover to a $10m per annum turnover, may be achievable for 1 in 100,000 businesses but for most would be so challenging, it just wont happen. Your goals should have an element of challenge to them but not be so much of a stretch its unrealistic for you to get there.

R – Relevant  – Is your goal something that you're really interested in achieving? If it isn't relevant to you or your business will you really allocate resources to achieving it?

T – Time bounded – When is it going to get done? You need to put a date on achieving your goals so you can afford priorities. Importantly, you can also take your big goals and break them into little, bite size pieces (take your yearly goals and break them, to quarterly, monthly, weekly segments) This way you can map out milestones and regularly monitor progress.

There’s opportunity out there in abundance. So, what are you waiting for? Set you goals and get going. 2012 is going to be exactly as you make it.

 

ALLAN BRINDLEY

 

Wednesday 21 December 2011 

 

Now, the End is Nigh - 2012 is coming, and it looks good!

We’ve just released our Inaugural Economic Outlook Survey and the results speak loudly to a positive future to businesses throughout the Midwestern Region, in the short term and through the next 5 years.

 Quick Stats

Measure	1 years time	5 years time
Change in Demand for Products & Services	74.5% (Increasing)	78.4% (Increasing)
Sales Revenue Trend	56.9% (Increasing)	70.8% (Increasing)
Profit Trend	56.9% (Increasing)	66.7% (Increasing)

(Excerpt  from Brindleys Inaugural Economic Outlook Survey 2011 – copies available at www.brindleys.com.au )

An old adage is that perception equals reality – but to make sure that the next 12 months, 2 years, 5years are going to be prosperous, there needs to be a linkage between ‘thinking’ its going to be good, and carrying out actions that will ‘make it good’.

Christmas and New Year give us a great opportunity for reflection. Its’ also a brilliant time to layout your plans, goals and milestones for 2012 and beyond.

Be audacious & bold, write it down and tell your friends & family. You’ll be amazed at just how good your outlook will be.

 

ALLAN BRINDLEY

 

Monday 28 November 2011

 

4 Weeks to Christmas - Only 3 things left to do!!

 

Yes. Thats right, just 4 weeks.

 

To risk sounding crass, for all our retail folks out there, there are just three things you need to focus on.

Sell, Sell, Sell.

Why, because this is your time to shine.

Of any time of the year, this is the best time to ask your clients to willingly hand over their hard earned cash and enjoy the spoils of your products and services. The US’s ‘Black Friday’ sales this year have shown the largest retail spend EVER.  Is it going to be the same here in Australia? Who knows, but you need to be prepared to sell & help your team do the same.

 

Here’s a quick checklist to help you maximise your teams ability to sell:

1.       Staff – do daily startup & shutdown meetings – 5mins only. Talk about the products you want to focus sales on and how you’re going to sell them. At the end of the day, discuss what worked & what didn’t.

2.       Packaging – not the box, but bundles of products that go together. Help send your client out the door with more products. Offer value  (Value isn’t price either. Think convenience & end-user experience,).

3.       Presentation  – make your products look great, on the shelf or in their box, they need to be individually perfect for someone to want to take them home to mum or dad. – offer gift wrap (or send them to our gift wrapping service)

4.       Merchandising – Display your range well & intelligently.  If the display looks interesting, you’re onto first base. Make sure the client can easily see pricing – it helps them assess against their budget. See 2 above!

5.       Be positive when you talk with clients, no one likes to buy from a grump or someone who’s disinterested. Show you care, engage with your clients, and never judge a book by its cover (everyone’s dollar has the same value!!)

6.       Make it fun to be in your shop – share some Christmas Cheer – nibbles, lollies, even late in the day crack out some cold refreshments.  Have a Christmas party sale!

Above all, have some fun over the next 4 weeks, if you get into the spirit, it makes it easier for your clients to connect and be engaged in what you’re selling.

Tis the season to be jolly after all!

 

ALLAN BRINDLEY

 

Monday 14 November 2011

 

6 Weeks to Christmas - Is 2011 'Wrapping Up' the way you expected?

All of a sudden the decorations are in the shops, Santa is appearing all about the place, and its time for us to start ruling a line under 2011 calendar year.

 So, have you done all those things you had in your mind to do this year? If yes – perhaps you might like to be more aggressive in your goal setting next year! But for many of us, there are still things left on the list.

2012 will be upon us in a heartbeat so it’s important to give some thought to what you want to achieve in the coming year. Not once the year is upon you and you’re back to the daily grind – now before Christmas. When formulating your plan – here’s some questions that you need to address in your plan:

1)      What level of profit do I want to make this year?

2)      How will I manage the growth I need to make the profit I want?

3)      How am I going to maximise my cashflow?

4)      Are my assets & income protected should there be a risk event occur - fire , business interruption, personal injury etc

5)      Is my business structured as tax effectively as possible?

6)      Is my retirement prepared for – have I sufficient assets to provide the income to support my lifestyle?

7)      Is my business able to be sold readily?

8)      What legacy do I plan to leave & how will my business contribute to that?

Wrap up the gift of 2012’s plan – it’s one of the best gifts you can give.

 

ALLAN BRINDLEY

 

Monday 31 October 2011

 

Your Clients Taking 90+ Days to Pay? Not for Much Longer

Last week through the twitterverse one of our colleagues had shown they were frustrated with debtors with the following comment:

I wonder if restaurants who delay paying their fabulous suppliers for 90+ days ever consider the flow-on effects on regional economies? Boo.

For many small businesses this is a crippling outcome with substantial underlying costs.  The big guys with economies of scale can cope with longer terms. For most business, without a significant price premium for risk or major ongoing volume commitments, receivables of 90+ days is ultimately an unsustainable business practice.

As a small business, you’ve gone through all the costs of production, packaging, marketing & sales and now 90 days after making the sale you’re hanging about waiting for the cheque to come.

Lets’ think about the costs of dealing smaller clients with long term debtors :

·         Pre -Transaction costs – making the sale for low volume, low $ sales is expensive

·         Debtor Management – every phone call, every statement,  has to be carried out by someone. Your time usually (it does have value right?) IF/WHEN debt goes legal expect $$$$$$;

·         Risk – older debt is bad debt – ie the longer it gets the lower the likelihood of recovery.

·         Relationship tension – ever noticed how your relationship with a client gets stressed when debt gets old – repeat sales unlikely;

·         Opportunity cost – what better sales could you have made with your time;

·         Stress – instead of worrying about low sales, you’re now stuck looking at something even worse – potentially no payment & loss of the stock;

·         Unprofitable sales – you make a loss or a margin so small, it doesn’t materially help your business.

With current conditions, many business owners have developed a mindset along the lines of   ‘Oversupply, we’re in a buyers market so we have to  take EVERY sale we can make – even if it means that we’re accepting terrible terms, make the sale’. 

So why do we make these sales? Because when we sell something – we think we’re doing the right thing for our business. No matter how many unprofitable sales you make – they are still unprofitable.  If it is not profitable – don’t make the sale.

Good news/bad news – The good is that you can stop this practice. Bad news –  it is going to take time, effort & discipline to get past it.  

1)      Pre-qualification – take your time setting up the relationship. Relationship. Yes Relationship – without it you’re 1 in a million other vendors.

2)      Get a commitment from clients early - Tell potential clients that you require & expect payments within 30 days from date of invoice. Explain that you’re not in a position for extended credit & that it jeopardises your business. Explicitly ask ‘will you make payments within 30 days’? Check their reaction.

3)      Develop your process & stick to it (trade application, credit checks, ASIC searches etc )– if the client won’t fill out a trade credit application, it may well be a sign that they don’t have the discipline/ethics/ integrity that will make good on your invoices.  If you don’t have a process  GET ONE! TODAY.

4)      Spend your time with quality clients & then look at the characteristics of a good client & work with others like them.

5)      Talk to your debtors – regularly. Keep talking – honey catches more flies than vinegar but be firm when debtors go beyond payment terms.

6)      When it goes bad – do what you say you would. If you say it will be handed to debt collection, hand it over. The relationship has already soured.

7)      If you need help – get it. Don’t wait.

Most importantly, you need to start with a relationship in mind. If you have no intent on having a relationship – nor will with the buyer. Relationships have value that can outweigh price.

It may be a buyers’ market but YOU make the final decision on who you sell to and how.Today its’ time to make the decision. Do nothing and continue to offer unprofitable sales to clients and continue to run your business into the ground OR start working on relationships that are profitable.

ALLAN BRINDLEY

 

Monday 17 October 2011

 

GREAT NEWS – AFTER REVIEWING YOUR NUMBERS WE’VE FOUND
YOU’LL MAKE A RECORD LOSS THIS COMING YEAR!

 

WHHAAATTT you say? GREAT NEWS?

 

Yes. Fantastic news. Not  because you won’t pay tax, not because you can offset it against other business incomes.  You’re probably thinking ‘oh god that must be terrible’? On the contrary – we’ve identified a major problem and are in a position to be able to do something about it before it’s too late. 

If you’re working with a proactive accountant – you’ve probably been involved in discussions like the above.  If not, you get handed a tax return 3 months after the end of the year and notice your accountant looking sheepishly at the desk in front of you with a dead silence and a ‘oh well, maybe this year will be better’.

 

‘Maybe next year’ doesn’t cut it.

 

We’ve worked with clients  where we’ve found big holes in their budget  - holes so big it turns their black ink red and the bottom line to a big gasp of air. But that is fantastic news – we know about it before it happens and we can help devise a plan to address the issue, not have a post mortem.

We relish tough discussions – because they are precisely the opportunities where we can help clients turn a bad situation around.

If you’d like to make this year better, we’d love to talk – but be prepared. Sugar coating isn’t our forte.

ALLAN BRINDLEY

Tuesday 4 October 2011

 

CASHFLOW – WHERE TO FIND IT

As you may have read in last weeks blog topic – cashflow isn’t just good for business – it’s essential.  But the big question comes in as ‘how do we maximise cashflow’? It comes down to a number of relatively simple actions that you can focus in on:

1.       DEBTORS – people that owe you money for work you’ve done. You need to actively work on reducing debtors or eliminating them completely. If you’ve done the work, get paid for it – FAST.

a.       Get upfront payment – in full or 50% before you start.

b.      Get full payment as soon as the work is completed.

c.       If you are going to have a credit policy – INSIST that your terms are adhered to – there’s no point having 14 or 30 days terms that are let blow out to 45 or 60 days.

d.      Talk to your debtors regularly  - the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

e.      Give someone in your team responsibility for debtor management and establish KPIs to achieve your goals.

2.       WIP - Work in progress - that’s all the work you’ve been carrying out that has not yet been completed & therefore not yet been billed to clients. WIP must be minimised at all times otherwise you have a lot of work carried out that you’re not being paid for (which equates directly to cash tied up in your business that you can’t get access to).

a.       Minimise the number of projects you work on at any point in time

b.      Incentivise your staff (and yourself) to get projects complete in the shortest period of time

c.       Actively review WIP weekly, close off projects and get the invoice sent immediately to the customer.

d.      Give someone in your team responsibility for WIP management and establish KPIs to achieve your goals.

3.       INVENTORY – Keep it lean – you’ll need to find a balance here but less is best.

a.       Keep only enough on hand to ensure you can make sales in a timeframe that works best with your clients

b.      Work with your suppliers and where possible ask if they can keep some of your stock on hand to flatten out supply timelines

c.       Any obsolete or out of date stock – find a way to turn it into cash – auction, sale, scrap but get it out of your premises – every square metre costs you $’s.

d.      Don’t bring in new inventory just because it is cheap – if it ties up your cash – you’re paying the price of not having cash on hand or worse – interest charges on your overdraft.

e.      Find out benchmark inventory ratios for your industry and plan to get ahead of the benchmark.

f.        Give someone in your team responsibility for Inventory management and establish KPIs to achieve your goals.

If you can follow these suggestions  – we guarantee you will see more cash in your business.

 

ALLAN BRINDLEY

Monday 26 September 2011

 
CASHFLOW - WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

When people start out in their own small business, it is a very exciting and sometimes scary world. There is a myriad of items to consider from developing the idea of the small business to actually opening the doors and making that first sale to a customer. This takes all of the time and skill of the small business owner to get to this point. They have secured their finances, start paying off the loan, take some money out for their own wages, pay the overheads and generally keep the business ticking over.

What happens next for a number of small businesses is that they continue to operate in this same fashion, with no clear goals articulated, and they start discovering their bank balance fluctuates dramatically and starts moving in a downward trend. They see their accountant and ask the question – I see that I am making a profit but I have no money in the bank. Why is that? For these people it is clear they do not understand how their business works and their focus has been on right areas of their business.

In order for a business to be successful, it needs to be a positive cashflow generating business. If the business is generating positive cashflow it enables you to make some critical decisions for your business – do I reinvest this back in the business to generate more cashflow, do I pay off some debt, do I allocate cashflow for personal investing or longer term retirement? Without the cashflow being there you will not be able to make these decisions!

I was watching a program on ABC2 last night regarding Enron. Remember Enron? A top Fortune 500 company that appeared to do no wrong and kept reporting increased profits? The key factor that started people questioning what was going on in Enron was – wait for it – cashflow. This was a company that had decreasing cashflow over a number of years but reported increasing profits – it was a house made of cards, that eventually crashed and ruined the lives of many, many people.

Let’s contrast that with a company like BHP Billiton Limited. For the year ended 30 June 2011 they generated US$30 billion in cash from their normal business operations. They invested US$16 billion back into their business, repaid some debt and paid dividends to shareholders and performed a share buyback. They still had US$10 billion in the bank at the end of the financial year.

Which type of business do you wish to aspire to being? One which is full of smoke and mirrors which no one really understands and eventually collapses or one which generates good strong cashflows to enable it to continue to prosper and reward its owners. I know which one I would rather be associated with.

So if your business is not generating positive cashflow or you don’t understand why your business is not generating positive cashflows, you need to ask the questions of why not and fix it – fast!

 

ALLAN BRINDLEY

Monday 19 September 2011

 
CONSISTENCY ISN’T EASY. OTHERWISE EVERYONE WOULD BE DOING IT.

We often get asked about what makes a great business – and often times there are some absolutely unique factors such as timing, particular industry growth area, product or service differentiation, customer service. But more often than not, great businesses are driven by one thing - Consistency. Every day, they do the common things uncommonly well & very importantly they consistently measure how they are going against their goals.

It’s not easy. In fact, being consistent is really very challenging – every day we’re faced with a milieu of distractions that threaten to pull us away from what’s important & ask us to pay attention anywhere other than where we need to be focused on consistently executing.

So how do we make it easier?

1)     Key Metrics – Sales per day, profit margin per sale, client satisfaction, debtor days, inventory etc. If you don’t know what your key metrics are, talk to your accountant or business advisor immediately.

2)     Operations Plan – if you have a list of the key activities you have to carry out each day, it’s much easier to hold yourself accountable and not fall into the trap of ‘I’ll worry about it tomorrow’.

3)     Shared Accountability – tell your team, tell your business partners exactly what you are going to do each day. They’ll help hold you accountable.

4)     Be mentally committed. Every day, do the things you say you’re going to do. Sounds easy right – but only the best businesses do it well.

If you’re more consistent that your competitors on the fundamentals of your business, you’ll be ahead of the game.

 

ALLAN BRINDLEY

Tuesday 13 September 2011

  
SPRING CLEAN YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE

Many of us get to this time each year and do a mini ‘spring clean’ of our lives – we get motivated to get into the gym before we bare ourselves come summer, tidy up our homes and gardens ready to spend time outdoors. But perhaps one of the best spring cleans that we can have is for our financial lives.

To help with your spring clean, here’s our top 5 list:

1.     Review your goals – start with where you want to be when you retire – even if it’s a long way away, start with the end in mind and then bring it back to 5 years and then 1 year to get it to a manageable point.

2.     Review your debt position– review your mortgage, credit cards and any personal finance you have – take a look around the market and check that you’re getting the best deal available – if not talk to your bank or credit provider and ask for a better deal. Look at what debt you may be able to paydown or payoff completely.

3.     Create a cashflow budget for the year ahead  – Reflect on what happened last year – where you as disciplined as you could be? Can you do better this year & if so what will you change for the year ahead.

4.     Review your investments/assets  – are you where you thought you should be? If not why not? Review your superannuation, shares, real estate, cash at bank & any other appreciating assets.

5.     Talk to your accountant – They are trained to know how to get you to where you want to be as efficiently as possible.

Its time to make hay while the sun shines!

ALLAN BRINDLEY

Monday 5 September  2011

TALK IS CHEAP - BUT ALSO THE MOST VALUABLE THING YOU DO

Ever noticed that when business is ticking along nicely how you seem to bring in some ‘mojo’ that just keeps the flywheel going – you’re confident, perhaps a little more outgoing, communicative & positive with basically everyone you’re in touch with? Conversely – when the chips are down, do you tend to become insular, stressed and isolate away from the world while you try to figure out what’s going on? If you isolate the behaviours – is it any wonder things get into a downward spiral when our communication turns inward and reflects the frustrations we experience?
 
So – what to do? keep talking – and keep focusing on the positives. Talk to your staff, talk to your suppliers and absolutely keep talking to your customers. Your team take their lead from you, suppliers want to know that their customers are in good shape and of course your clients & customers want to deal with a business that is headed in the right direction.

Working in a regional area amplifies this facet. You’re faced with a community with a strong informal network – ie the grapevine. You’re positivity or negativity gets fed across the network as quick as blinking so it’s critical you keep your plan & your outcomes in mind to keep your message focused on the outcomes you’re in the process of creating.

Talk it up – you owe it to yourself & your team.

ALLAN BRINDLEY

Tuesday 23 August 2011

IS YOUR BUSINESS MOVING FORWARD – YOU NEED TO MAKE A DECISION

Business of late has been tough for many parts of the economy, compound that with ructions in global stockmarkets & there has been a lot of anxiety about. What adds to the weight of the burden felt by individuals and small business in our region is the often negative media telling us how ‘tough’ things are.

The difference between businesses that are moving forward and those that aren’t is often the result of a decision made in the minds of its proprietors & its staff that they will act to make it better. Every year, we hear of businesses that continue to have tough times & when prompted as to what they have done or plan to do about it the respond with ‘nothing’ or worse – 'haven’t thought about it'.

Henry Ford once said ‘If you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re probably right’. What’s that mean for regional business? Simple – if you go to work each day believing things are going to get worse – chances are you’ll act accordingly. Conversely if you believe that by having a plan, and taking action things will get better – guess what?

It’s easy to do nothing and look around at others who might look like they’re in a golden rainbow – the only person that can change your lot – is you. 

Make a decision and get on with it, you’re the only one who can.

ALLAN BRINDLEY

Tuesday 16 August 2011 - REGISTRATIONS OPEN - FREE SOCIAL MEDIA SEMINAR

SOCIAL MEDIA - no longer an IF, but a HOW & WHEN for Regional Business.

Brindleys Chartered Accountants are holding a free Seminar for Businesses & Community organisations on Social Media. Through the sessions you will learn hands on tips on how to deploy social media in your organisation, practically, effectively with minimal cash investment.

See the attached flyer for further information and to register.
When: 31 August 2011
Time: 5:30pm
Venue: Brindleys Chartered Accountants Seminar Room; 87A Market Street, Mudgee
REGISTRATIONS CLOSE WEDNESDAY 24 AUGUST.

Registrations can be emailed to invest@brindleys.com.au; faxed to (02) 6372 1251 or by calling our office on (02) 6372 1655 & speaking with Deborah Sprigg.

Brindleys - Social Media Seminar Info & Registration.pdf

Monday 15 August 2011

GETTING STOPPED

One of the toughest challenges in business is breaking the inertia of your current activity – the day to day grind of emails, administration & lets call it ‘stuff’ that fills up your day. Then, there are all of those other things in your head that you know to grow your business, or make it more profitable, or pull the ‘band aid’ that’s been a pain for you for so long, that you never get to.

Well, it’s time to get stopped on the ‘stuff’ and getting focused on those things that will improve your business. Yes, you have to STOP IT today. How? Well, that’s the bit that only you can do but the easiest way to do it is to follow our 5 step plan below.

Make a LIST of your TOP 3  priorities – only 3 – don’t get lost in paralysis of analysis.
Make a decision on WHEN they will be implemented – write the date on it.
Make the list VISIBLE every day – in your wallet, top pocket or on your computer screen.
TALK about the changes your making – now others will also hold you accountable.
STOP doing the ‘stuff’ and allocate time to your priorities.

In the end, if nothing changes..... nothing changes.

Get Stopped today. The rest of your week will thank you for it.

ALLAN BRINDLEY