Top business tips
Top 10 tips for business success “The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as everyone else and produces the best results.� Edward de Bono
Successful businesses have similar ingredients, regardless of industry, product or customer type.
1. B e different; the world’s top businesses stand out from the crowd. If your competitors are doing it, you should be doing something different. 2. B e responsive; remember your customers’ time is as important as yours; respond to calls and emails quickly and be prepared to adapt to your customers’ needs. 3. S ay thank you; it is a basic principle but one often forgotten.
4. Be optimistic; the difference between many ideas that never happened and great businesses that did, is optimism. Pathological optimism feeds determination, which is a given for business success.
you need it. Likewise, consider entering partnerships with other businesses, it can create something that you might never achieve alone.
enough time in the day. Focus on the big picture. 9. B e open to ideas; don’t get stuck in your comfort zone, always look for opportunities and new ways of doing things.
7. H ave a marketing mindset; marketing is all about meeting 5. Master technology; and master your customers’ needs and wants, 10. Have a cash flow plan; Poor your business. Technology can always think of your customer first cash flow is the number one make running your business easier, when making business decisions. reason businesses fail. Know your faster and more efficient. numbers and what they mean to 8. Delegate; your business cannot your business. 6. Knock on doors; don’t be grow if you are the only one afraid to seek advice when working it, there’s simply not
Top 10 tips for managing staff “ Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it . . . ; Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.� David Ogilvy
1. K eep your staff records up to date, including emergency contact details, medical information, holidays and sicknesses- it’s the law and it’s for your protection. 2. U se appraisal systems for all staff; it allows you to set clear expectations, measure and improve performance and get value for your money. You are, after-all, paying for productivity. 3. D evelop your staff; invest in the right training and resources for
them so that they can do a better job for you and your business. 4. T reat information like money-keep it safe! Confidential information should be locked away and/or password protected. 5. Don’t let pay become an issue, pay staff what they are worth and ensure that pay reviews are open, honest and fair. 6. Don’t ignore the elephant in the room when it comes to
poor performers or misconduct. Implement a documented and recorded formal procedure for addressing issues and take the necessary action. 7. R eward and incentivise good performance; the core motivator for all people is recognition, while the top reason for leaving a job is lack of recognition. 8. I mplement clear role descriptions and job processes; this will ensure there is no confusion for
your staff and that your business performance is standardised and consistent. 9. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson; use your staff records to ensure that you don’t waste time repeatedly solving the same problems. 10. If a member of staff leaves, you should know if you would be prepared to re-hire them.
Top 10 tips for managing finances “There are plenty of ways to get ahead. The first is so basic I’m almost embarrassed to say it: spend less than you earn.” Paul Clitheroe
1. L ike a good friendship, financial issues can damage a strong customer relationship so ensure overdue accounts are settled quickly and fairly. 2. B e fair to your suppliers, if you need to negotiate on payment terms flag it early. 3. C ommunicate regularly with your bank, keep them informed and don’t be afraid to discuss issues, credit needs or expansion plans.
4. Make sure you know what’s happening with every cent in your business and more importantly what that means to your business. A good financial system will pay for itself in no time. 5. Review your costs regularly and trim the fat when needed. Be careful that you don’t make cuts that will impact negatively on productivity or performance. 6. Ensure your technology and machinery are fit for purpose.
While capital expenditure may the financial tools available to seem prohibitive it could have a guarantee price. huge impact on profitability. Where can you systemise your business 9. Ensure you have a good to save time and money? relationship with your credit insurer and shop around for the 7. Scrutinise your VAT payments best terms. closely. You would be surprised how many businesses overpay and 10. Reduce risk in your business fail to claim possible rebates. where possible. This applies across the board. It may be time 8. If you source products or materials to review your credit terms for outside the Eurozone, you can new customers. protect yourself and improve your ability to plan by using
Top 10 tips for marketing “ Business has only two functions; marketing and innovation.� Milan Kundera
1. B uild a strong brand; your brand is the position your business occupies in the hearts and minds of your customers. To build a brand, you must be consistent at all brand touch-points. 2. C ommunicate with your customers and prospects regularly; pick up the phone, send a letter or email, write a newsletter or send a brochure. 3. K now your customer; you have a wealth of information to hand
regarding how your customers behave, use it. Conduct regular market research to stay ahead of the game.
6. H ave a web presence; if you’re in business you need a website, it’s as simple as that. Your website needs to be easy to find, easy to read, easy to understand, easy to navigate and easy on the eye.
4. Create publicity through press releases; every business has good news stories, share your successes 7. Social media is a fantastic with the media. opportunity to have a two-way dialogue with your customers and 5. Advertise; what you offer shouldn’t prospects and it costs nothing but be a secret! Remember to target your time. your advertising, test and measure your approach and be militant in 8. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO); maximising your budget. SEO is the single most effective
means of attracting traffic to your website. 9. R elease articles online; this is an inexpensive means of building your credibility, driving traffic to your website and developing your brand. 10. W rite a blog; people buy from people. By writing a blog you can bring your business to life, which allows customers and prospects to get to know you a bit better, which ultimately builds trust.
Top 10 tips for sales Everyone lives by selling - Robert Louis Stevenson
“ You don’t close a sale, you open a relationship if you want to build a long-term, successful enterprise.” Patricia Fripp
1. P lan your prospecting; Be clever and call at times when you have a good chance of talking to a decision maker, usually outside prime business hours. 2. S ell the benefits; Features are meaningless, the only thing that a prospect cares about is what the product/service will do for them.
will give you detailed information about the prospect’s needs. 4. Give to receive; Give a prospect something for nothing, it shows that you are thinking of them and wish to be a resource.
5. Know your competitive advantage; Start by looking at what your competitors do well, then figure 3. Ask questions; Ask the right out how you can offer more to questions and the prospect will tell your customers. you what they want and how they need to be sold. Open questions
6. B e proactive; Make your own opportunities by networking, advertising, making calls, and visiting prospects. The more you reach out, the more you’ll get in return.
8. Always top-down sell; Start with your top of the range product and work your way down, not the other way around.
9. H andle objections by understanding them; this means 7. Don’t underestimate the value of listening to your prospect’s your existing clients; keep in touch doubts, trying to understand them and you’ll be surprised just how and finding a solution. much business you’ve been leaving on the table by not contacting 10. Be persistent and enjoy it; Sales them sooner (not to mention the by its very nature means learning possibility for referrals). to love the word ‘No’. Make sure to celebrate your wins.
Top 10 tips for innovation “ Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.�- William Pollard
1. B e open and receptive to new ideas; this means that every idea has value and can be discussed, challenged and improved. 2. Always experiment; experiment with new ideas, processes and ways of doing things, continuous improvement can only be achieved through continuous experimentation. 3. F ailure means you’re learning; don’t be afraid to fail, it’s how the best inventors of all time arrived
at their greatest discoveries. 4. Focus on results; innovation is only useful if it gets results, test, measure and learn from mistakes. Build accountability into innovation projects.
people the space and freedom to have fun with their work and you will reap the rewards of creative innovation.
solving and welcome new ideas from unexpected places e.g. customers, suppliers, etc.
9. Speak the same language; this 7. Aim for the stars; if you aim for will ensure clarity and lack of the stars, you may just hit the confusion. moon! Be brave and set ambitious 5. Involve all employees; A great idea goals for your business, while 10. Encourage fast decision-making; doesn’t care who it happens to. maintaining the flexibility to adapt. Test, evaluate and adopt or discard ideas quickly. The pace of 6. Create a fun environment; when 8. Facilitate cross-fertilisation; internal change needs to exceed people are relaxed and enjoying encourage employees from the pace of external changes for a themselves, the potential for different areas to come together business to be innovative. creativity is huge. Allow your on projects, enable joint problem-
Top 10 reasons to choose Passion We are a leading advertising, marketing and design agency based in Waterford. We are a team of senior industry professionals, each with our own distinct areas of expertise. We provide a broad range of business services that essentially help you to get more customers and to get more from the customers you have. Come meet us and see what we can do for you.
Give us a call on 00353 (0)51 853 847 or visit our website www.passionforcreative.com
for business success
1. W e’re in it for the long haul; we build lasting relationships with our clients, it is the best way to help grow your business.
4. W e have vision; our strategic 7. We’re all about you; your business approach means that we can help is our business, we act as your you to see your potential and map marketing department and virtual a route to get there. management team.
2. W e’re wearing Bridget Jones pants 5. We’re gymnasts in the business under our fur coats; we’ve got world; we’re responsive, flexible substance, we have the experience and adaptable to your needs. and expertise to take you where you need to go. 6. We’re professional; we have big agency ability with a small 3. We’re Red Bull for business; we business focus. live to energise your business, we have passion, fun and energy in bucket loads and we will inject it into your business.
8. W e love what we do; and it shows in our work. 9. W e always deliver more; we always give more than you expect, just visit our website to see what our customers have to say www.passionforcreative.com
10. W e understand business; we can put ourselves in your shoes because we’ve been there, we understand what it takes to make a business successful and we want to share it with you.
Dare to be different & do it with