Policy News

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE GROWS AND RESILIENCE STAYS STRONG DURING FIRST HALF OF 2021

Over the past year, many firms have experienced challenges related to Covid-19. With numerous lockdowns and cases of Covid-19, many firms have faced uncertain times during the past year.

However, with the vaccination programme and the government roadmap, firms are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. In the lastest Quarterly Economic Survey, conducted by the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, 30% of businesses advised they were looking to increase their workforce over the next 3 months. With businesses experiencing a drop in sales and trade for the past year, businesses remain optimistic they will be able to remain open and bounce back to pre-pandemic levels within the coming months.

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE RETURNS IN QUARTER 1

The Quarterly Economic Survey for the first 3 months of 2021 reported business confidence in yearly turnover has more than doubled since last quarter (Q4 2020) from 19% to 44%. This increase in confidence is due to a range of factors such as the government roadmap, which has allowed non-essential shops to reopen and, from May 17, the return of indoor hospitality in efforts to boost the local, regional, and national economy. Business confidence will continue to grow as we progress, however according to the monthly Chamber Coronavirus Impact Survey, 16% of businesses are worried about further national lockdowns if Covid-19 cases continue to rise. With this in mind, the government remain optimistic the vaccination programme will be effective in helping to keep Covid-19 cases low and retain business confidence.

BUSINESSES ARE LOOKING FOR POST-PANDEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Throughout the pandemic, many businesses have been keen to identify new ways to expand their products and services. According to the Chamber Coronavirus Impact Survey, 43% of Worcestershire businesses were looking to expand their products into new markets. The pandemic has no doubt changed many firms strategies as they continue to adapt to changing circumstances. However, what does remain clear is that businesses continue to look for growth and expansion opportunities into new sectors. Furthermore, 21% of Worcestershire businesses are looking for access to finance, to help support their growth. Whilst firms are reporting positive growth plans, many firms are seeking private investment from banks and financial institutions to put these plans into place.

BUSINESSES INVESTING IN DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND DIGITAL SKILLS REQUIREMENTS TO IMPROVE RESILIENCE

Working from home has increased significantly since the start of the pandemic, with firms now investing in new technology to help keep up with demand for products and services. In the Chambers Employment Report 2020, it was found that 78% of businesses adopted or increased their use of at least one type of technology due to the pandemic. Many businesses across all sectors and industries continue to plan to work from home after the pandemic in order to reduce costs. Firms throughout the pandemic have analysed their workforce to help identify whether an ageing population exists within their workforce. As described in the Worcestershire LEP Local Skills Report, Worcestershire’s population is older than the national average, and is ageing more rapidly compared to rest of UK population. 1 in 3 of the current workforce is over 50. Firms across Herefordshire and Worcestershire have signed up to the Kickstart Scheme and/or apprenticeship programmes to help combat an ageing workforce by recruiting locally and focusing on employing young people to create a skilled ready workforce. As we continue on the road to a full recovery, firms are beginning to feel confident for the months ahead, with reported increase in trade and sales. The vaccination programme continues to have a positive effect on driving down Covid-19 infections, however with new variants being discovered the government continue to monitor the infection rates. Firms remain quietly optimistic and hope trade will be able to return to pre-pandemic levels as the economy continues to reopen.

STREAMLINE YOUR BUSINESS PROCESSES WITH CRM

When it comes to productivity, it is a well-known fact that the UK’s averages are below other G7 countries and well below where it should be. But there’s no reason your own business can’t buck that trend. Part of it will be about hiring the right people, but that’s not the end of it.

You also have to make sure that they are able to work efficiently and that your business processes are streamlined. Having streamlined business process is all about ensuring that all those tasks your team carry out are assigned to the right person, to complete at the right time, with the right resources, and without any unnecessary steps to slow things down. Talking about streamlining processes is much easier than actually doing it. In reality, it takes close examination of each stage of each process to assess whether it is being done as efficiently as possible. And that’s where your CRM system comes into play. Once you have identified a step in your processes that is causing a slow down or even an entire process that is just generally clunky, it’s time to find a way to streamline it. This could involve automating certain steps using your CRM system or just documenting the completion of them better. It’s probably easier to explain this with an example… team’s desk, let’s assume they are distributed out equally among the team. That sales person sends out an email introducing themselves and plans to call the person within an hour or two to kick off discussions. If you are carrying this whole process out manually, there are lots of places where it could fall down. The distribution could be uneven, leading some people to be overly busy while others are just twiddling their thumbs…neither being good for your business. Then sending out the email brings with it the risk of someone sending out the wrong email or just missing out on sending it at all. And finally, the call…making sure that the call gets made AND notes are recorded? Knowing sales people as I do (hint: I am one), that call will get made 90% of the time. And making sure that call and notes from the call are documented somewhere central? …I wouldn’t hold my breath. With a CRM system, though, you can automate ever single step and go from a messy process to a streamlined and efficient one.

STREAMLINING THIS WITH A CRM

First off, instead of relying on one person to distribute new Leads or relying on the team as a whole to share, you’d be better off using Round Robin functionality. That way, the Leads are distributed equally, respecting people’s holidays. Now everyone has an equal chance of meeting their target and no one is bored or overly busy. At the same time, you can automatically send out that initial introduction email without your team having to do anything at all. It’ll will send the right email every time and even send so that it looks as though it comes from whoever the assigned sales person is. And finally, getting that call scheduled and documented? Again, use your CRM system to automatically schedule the call and set up your mandatory fields to ensure your sales people can’t save it without adding their notes. You could even add a series of custom fields (maybe tickboxes?) to outline your prospect’s requirements. That way you don’t have to rely on your sales team to write up detailed notes. They can just tick the things that apply.

BENEFITS OF STREAMLINED BUSINESS PROCESSES

This is just one example of how you can take a fairly nebulous way of doing things and turn it into a simple, three step process that achieves a set business goal. By taking the time to examine every part of your business processes and working to streamline them, with a CRM system or something else, you can improve the general efficiency of your business as a whole. That means your team have more time for the important bits of their job. And that in turn can only improve your profitability. To talk to a member of the OpenCRM team about your CRM software can benefit your business, call 01748 473000 or visit us at

www.opencrm.co.uk.

Graham Anderson, is the CEO and founder of OpenCRM, one of the UK’s leading customer relationship management systems.

GETTING REALLY CLEAR!

The most frequent word I have used during my coaching and leadership development experiences in 2021 is the word clarity.

Whilst most people know that “the state of being clear and coherent “is a beneficial state for all human beings to experience, creating clarity as a leader and thus a core element of their leadership is such a valuable and powerful ability to possess and then to grow. Clarity alone has the ability to create and then articulate vision, create solutions to complex problems or work out why we are feeling limiting negative emotion or mindset. Blending clarity with action furthers this leadership potency with clear advantages appearing for leaders and their business including enhanced performance and productivity, reduced anxiety and worry, enhanced communication and employee engagement and optimal products, services and delivery for customers. My name is Alan Clark and I am an executive and business coach with 25 years of senior corporate leadership, coaching experience and the founder of Exponential Coaching Ltd. I am passionate about helping leaders and businesses to navigate their uncertainty and complexity, creating optimal change, value, productivity and outcomes for themselves and their customers. My clients tell me that one of the most valuable aspects about working with me is the space that I create for them. A space to be, a space to think, a space to talk and a space to create from. I create genuinely bespoke 121 and team executive coaching, business coaching and leadership development experiences for executives and senior leaders and business owners, experiences designed to create clearings, clarity and optimal change. I am particularly passionate about helping leaders to create optimal outcomes in any situation and I have developed my leadership development and coaching philosophy and frameworks to support this aspiration. Leadership really is the creator of company culture, operational delivery, financial performance, colleague engagement and customer astonishment and this is why leadership is such a huge passion for me. And the really great news is that leadership can absolutely be learned, developed and grown! I would love to have more conversations about the power and possibility of leadership. If you wowww.exponentialcoaching.co.uk) the development experiences that I provide then please reach out to myself, Alan Clark by email (alan@exponentialcoaching.co.uk) or mobile on 07824837636, or go to my website (www.exponentialcoaching.co.uk)

MOTOR VEHICLE DEPARTMENT ISSUES CALL FOR UNWANTED VEHICLES

WCG is encouraging individuals and businesses across the region to donate old cars to help train the next generation of mechanics.

WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group) appeals annually to people in Herefordshire and Worcestershire to donate unwanted cars to help students at Evesham College, on their motor vehicle course, gain vital experience. The pandemic has seen a reduction in the number of vehicles donated but the college still requires a regular supply of vehicles to train the automotive technicians of tomorrow. Small hatchbacks are particularly in demand to allow students to regularly practice maintenance skills and boost knowledge of mechanics. But a range of vehicle types are also necessary to ensure students are up-to-speed with the varied challenges different vehicle types will bring when out in the workplace. Lee Kirk, Head of the Motor Vehicle Department at WCG said: “It has been more difficult for us to access a regular stream of vehicle donations over the past year due to the pandemic. “We are now back in face-to-face learning across our college sites and it’s essential we have the vehicles available to support the development of students. “With regular access to different types of vehicles we can build students’ knowledge base, repair skills and better prepare them for the world of work. “Students at our Evesham site would be extremely grateful for any donations from people living in Herefordshire or Worcestershire. “We hope people will think twice about scrapping a vehicle and instead contact one of our colleges to see if that vehicle could be of use. “By donating to our college courses, people will be supporting the growth of more skilled individuals to work in garages and businesses across Herefordshire & Worcestershire.” To arrange the collection of an unwanted vehicle, contact Joshua Saul from the Motor Vehicle Department: E: jsaul@warwickshire.ac.uk T: 0330 135 6711