THEECONOMICSOFALIST CORNELIUSBUTLER YOURCOMPANY'S MOSTVALUABLEASSETS
TableOfContents 01 INTRODUCTION 02 PEOPLEASYOUREMPLOYEE 03 04 PEOPLEASYOURCUSTOMERS DEFININGSUCCESSASABUSINESSOWNER
PEOPLEASYOUREMPLOYEE
As a business owner, getting the business running means sourcing for all the factors of production;land,labor,capitalandentrepreneur.Thecommonerrorformostbusinessownersis theleveloftheintrinsicvaluetheygivetothingslikelandandcapital,whicharebasicallyassets andliabilities.Anordinarybusinessownerworriesaboutmakingmoney,forgettingthatmoneyis aresultofaprocessandnottheprocessitselfAgoodbusinesssolvesaproblemandbydoingso, makesmoneyfortheowner.
YOURCOMPANY’SMOSTVALUABLEASSETS
Inpreviouschapters,wehavediscussedthevariousprocesses,methodsandguidelinestofollow towardscreatingasuccessfulbusiness.Butthequestionthatremainedlargelyunansweredis whoorwhatisyourmostvaluableassetasabusinessowner?Theanswerissimple people!
INTRODUCTION
Inthedynamicandtheeverchangingbusiness environmenttheworldhasbecome,itisno longerthesize,extent,aesthetic,orvalueofa businesses’tangibleassetsthatdifferentiate them from othersandcompetitors.Itisthe humanassetsthatdo.Whenemployeesmove from one workplace to another, they leave behind impacts, either negative or positive, that either adds to or removes from the cultureoftheorganizationstheyareleaving behind, especially if they functioned in a managerialrole.
There have been diverse arguments over who is more valuable to you as a business; your employeeoryourstaff?Well,I’dsaypeople;eitherasyouremployeeoryourcustomer,people haveasimilareffectonthesuccessofyourbusiness.Assuch,Ishalldiscussthemostvaluable assettoyourbusinessintwocategories;peopleasyouremployeeandpeopleasyourcustomer
The employees are essential for the coordination of land, labor and capital to answer the questionssurroundingagoodbusiness;suchashowtoproduce,whattoproduce,forwhomto produceandwhattoproduce Whenthepeoplebrainstormandanswerthesequestionsto
Employeesareyourfirst customers:
YOURCOMPANY’SMOSTVALUABLEASSETS
The employees that leave an organization can be replacedbymerelyemployinganequallycompetent person to ll their roles. This is merely a physical replacementastheknowledgeandskillsetsofthese peoplecannotbereplacedexactlybythenewperson. Thereisadifferenceinorientation;adifferencein how the new person adapts to the processes and cultureoftheorganization,whichifslightlynegative, canspelldoomforyourbusiness Assuch,itbecomes pertinent that before you can even impress your customerswhoyouthinkaretheonlymostvaluable asset,youmustbuildateamofemployeethatwould guarantee the customer satisfaction goods and servicesthatyouneed.So,howdotheemployees affectyourbusiness? producea nishedgoodordesignasustainable service, their day to day hard work would be needed to monitor, direct and coordinate the deliveryofthesegoodsandservices.Iftheydon’t getthisright,youwillendupwithpoorproducts orservicesthatcannotsatisfytheutilityofthe consumersandtherewouldbenoplatformfor youretainsuchcustomersanymore
You hear that right! Customers are kings; employees are as such kings because they are yourfirstcustomersBeforeanemployeecan
Provisionofqualitygoodsandservices:
This is not a battle you want to lose; that the employees are dissatis ed enough to spread negativewordsaboutyourbusiness.Notonlywouldyoueventuallylosesuchanemployeebut attractingcompetentworkerswouldbecomeachallengeforthebusiness.Howoftendoyou hear people willing to work for an organization who perceivably maltreat their employees, irrespectiveofwhethertherumorsaretrueornot?Anunhappyemployeespreadingnegative newsaboutyourcompany,eitheractiveorhasleftyourbusiness,isasabotagethatyoumust a ord.Inadditiontothisisthefactthatanunhappyemployeewouldbedemoralizedandwould lackmotivation.Intheend,theperformancebecomesunsatisfactoryandyourbusinessstarts pushing out poor product or services, which would eventually chase customers to your competitors.
Customersarenotloyal;youmustconsistentlyputineffortstoretaintheirloyalty.Ahappy employeewouldalwaysbeloyaltoyourbusinessandassuch,youcanguaranteetheplatform uponwhichyoucanbuildacustomersatisfactionprocessorprocedure.Howdoyoumake employeeshappyasoneofyourmostvaluableassets?The rstthingtodoistotrainthem.As muchastheemployeeswouldliketokeepgivingyourbusinessthebestofthemselves,youmust alsoreciprocatethisvaluebygivingthemsomethingofvalue;somethingthathelpsthemtogrow intheircareerstoo.Andthisistraining.Itisnotsomethingthatoccursallthetime,butyour
workdiligentlyfortheprogressofyourbusiness,theymusthavesuccessfullyboughtyourideathatyou offeragreatproductthattheycanbeassociatedwith;boughtyourpromisethattheirwelfareswouldbe cateredfor.Ifyourcustomersaredissatis edandunhappy,theirperformanceswilldropanditwould re ectinthepro tabilityofyourbusiness.Whowouldpitchyoursalestothecustomer?Employees,but theyhavetobuyyourideasandpoliciesfirst.
Employeesareyourbusinessambassadors:
YOURCOMPANY’SMOSTVALUABLEASSETS
YOURCOMPANY’SMOSTVALUABLEASSETS
employeewouldfeelmorevaluedwhenyouaddvaluetothem.Thesecondisremunerationsthat arenotmoney,chiefofwhichisshowingconcernabouttheirhealth. Youcouldgiveanemployeeahundreddollarsasabonus,andhewouldnotvalueitasmuchasif youusethehundreddollarstobuyhimskincare,haircareorgeneralhealthcareproducts,or evenjustagift. Thereareotherwaysofmakinganemployeehappy;increasedpays,teambonding,healthcare andpromotionaswhendue.Youcanimplementasmanyoftheseaspossiblewithinthescaleof your business to keep the employees happy. Only then can you be sure of retaining your customers Despitethevolumeofdiscussionsgeneratedbybusinessesindiscussingtheimportanceof customerservicetobusinesses,therestillexistsahighdegreeofconfusionaboutthereal importanceofcustomerservices
Thisisevidentbythefactthattherearecompanies,whoare notoriouslyknownforpoorcustomerservices,thatarestillprosperingintheirindustry.Thefact, however,remainsthatcustomersareimportanttothesuccessofmostbusinesses. The fact put simply, is that a good and reliable customer service would boost any company’s reputation and pro tability tremendously.As such, we can agree that a positive relationship exists between business success and customer services, irrespective of what success means to different companies However,itisimportantforanybusinesstonotput too many resources into or spend too much on improvingcustomerservicesonlytoendupworse thanwheretheystarted.Thisiswhyitisessentialto strategize and plan rather than spend too much. Whatismostimportantisbuildingcustomerservice operationsonamoderatebudgetandstillachieving substantial success So, what is the importance of customerstoyourbusiness?
PEOPLEASYOURCUSTOMERS
BudgetedCustomerService:
GoodService,MoreCustomer:itisnowcommonknowledgethatthesalesandrevenue, andhencepro t,ofanybusiness,wouldincreasewithstrongcustomerservice.Recallthat wehavediscussedextensivelyinpreviouschaptersthatcustomerstendtobuyfromand buildtrustwithbusinessesthatshowthemempathy,understandtheirneedsandimprove their utility. According to a research by American Express (https://about.americanexpress.com/pressrelease/wellactuallyamericanssay customer-service-better-ever),theresultconcludedthatsevenofeverytenUnitedStates’ consumers agree that they have done more business with companies that have great customerservices.Whatismoreinterestingthanthisisthat,accordingtothesamesurvey, consumerssaidthattheyarewillingtospendaboutseventeenpercentmoremoneyon businesseswithgoodcustomerservices
Thismeansaseventeenpercentboostinrevenue forsuchbusinesses.
YOURCOMPANY’SMOSTVALUABLEASSETS
theeffectthatagoodcustomerservicethatretainscustomerscanhave onyourbusinessisquiteextensive.Likeearlierhinted,asatis edcustomerwouldwillingly referyourbusinesstootherswithoutyouspendingadimeonsuchfreeadvertisement.A satis edcustomerwouldreturntobuymoreoncetheyhaveexhaustedtheunitthey purchased However,businessesmaynotfeeltheseeffectsiftheydonotmeasurethe outcomesoftheefforttheyputintoreliablecustomerservice.Comparingthedegreeof increaseinrevenuewiththedegreeofincreaseinthecostofimprovingcustomerservices isagoodwaytoknowifitisactuallythecustomerserviceoperationandnototherfactors thatcanincreaserevenuethatbroughtabouttheincreaseinrevenue.
Nowtosomegoodnews greatcustomersservicesdoesnot necessarilymeanthatabusinesshastospendagreatdealofmoney.Businessesmustonly learntotakefreestepstoimprovetheircustomerserviceoperation.Amongsuchfreeisto ensurethepresenceofapersonaltouchindealingwithcustomers.Inessence,showthat youcareaboutthemandtheirneed.Agoodexampleisrememberingthedetailsofa customerwhentheydealwiththebusiness.Itisannoyingtohavetoprovideyourdetail anytimeyouhavetodealwithabusinessthatyouconsideryourselfaloyalcustomerto. Havingacustomerdatabasewouldgoalongwaytohelpbusinessesinachievingthis Another step would be to maintain positive tones when dealing with customers. The customer looks at your business as a problem solver. When they come with their complaints,feedback,orrequests,don’tactalooforkeepsayingthingsthatyoucannotdo Focusonthingsthatyoucandoasanalternativetogettingthemawayfromthingsthatyou cannot.Don’tlietocustomersorpromisethingsthatyouwon’tdoanddon’tgivetheair thatyoudon’thaveasolutiontowhattheywant.
UnlimitedEffect:
YOURCOMPANY’SMOSTVALUABLEASSETS
Frankly,everybusinessshoulddo this.Itisdi cultforabusinesswithgreatsocialimpacttonotbeacceptedbyavastmajorityof the customer community, and such acceptance would only transcend to increased sales and eventualpro tability.Thisiswhymostbusinessesarenowusingcustomersatisfactiontogauge thedegreeofsuccessoftheirbusinesses.Itisessentialtonotethatthemorepositivepraisea businessreceivesfromthegeneralpublic,thehigheritstendenciestoexperienceincreasedsales thatwouldboostitsrevenueandprofits. Customersareeverythingtoabusiness,soaretheemployees.Inamoregeneralsense,people areeverythingtoabusinessandareassuchthemostvaluableassetabusinesscanown.The earlierabusinessownerknowsthis,thebetterthesustainabilityofhis/herbusiness.
Another of such step is to reply to customer requests or queries promptly and ensure that concerns are promptly resolved When you do this,customersseeyouassomeonewhocares about their concerns and are even willing to forgive small mistakes that may occur in your subsequentdealingswiththem.Havinganeasyto navigate,simpleandattractiveonlineselfservice option is another great way of saving the customer’stimeandresourcesWhatthisdoesis
toremovesomeoftheburdensofdealingwithcustomersfromyoursta ,givingthemenough themtoprocesscustomers’feedbackstowardsimprovingonyourcustomerserviceoperationsat noextracost.Relatedcloselytothisisthedevelopmentofanonlinecommunityforconsumersof yourproducttoposttheirquestionsandgetansweredbyotherconsumerswhohaveusedthe product.Itisasortofexperienceforthecustomersinvolved,butitwouldbewisetomoderate thiscommunitytoensurethatpeoplearenotsupplyingerroneousanswers.
DEFININGSUCCESSASABUSINESSOWNER
Beforewecansayaprocessoreventissuccessful,itmustbethatwehaveasetofgoalsand objectivesthatmustbeachievedtotermsuchaneventorprocessasasuccess.Inthesamevein, therelationshipthatexistsbetweenprovidinggreatcustomerservicesandachievingbusiness successisonlyassuccessfulashowyourbusinessde nessuccess.Inthemoderneconomy,most businessesarebasingtheirbusinesssuccessonsocialimpacts
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