No matter which department you work in, there are likely important business processes to master that you may be unaware of to keep your company running smoothly. If you find your sales or marketing efforts falling a bit flat, here are some areas of the business processes you should work to master.
Business Processes to Master
#1 | Marketing
A strong, successful marketing strategy must be well-rounded and consist of both inbound marketing (social media, search engine ads, etc.) and just a little bit of outbound marketing (interruption marketing). Creating content for potential customers to discover and be directed to you is one of the best ways to find leads organically. However, some industries thrive on outbound marketing tactics, such as radio or TV ads. It is important to decide which type of marketing resonates most with your customer base so you can tailor a strategy to them.
#2 | Accounting
Your accounting department does much more than just your bi-weekly payroll. They are also responsible for merchant account processing and tasks such as billing and collecting money from your customers. If you work in the sales department especially, it is crucial that you keep your accounting department updated on any money that is coming in, and more importantly, anything that is past due that they may need to eventually track down.
#3 | Sales
Even the best salespeople in the world need a strong sales process to work from to ensure that they are consistently reaching the correct prospects. First, leads must be qualified so you don’t waste time on someone who is unlikely to become a customer. Once you have found a potential customer, a pitch must be tailored to them so that they can see how your product can make their life — even if it is just one tiny aspect — a little bit easier. Once you have landed the customer and have been paid, your service should not stop. Pass them along to a customer success team or offer to keep conversations open should they have any questions while using your product. Customer happiness is important to retention, and you should not stop trying to satisfy your customers once you have them hooked.
#4 | Customer Onboarding
Customer service should not end the second your lead becomes a paying customer. In fact, in some cases, this is the time to ramp up contact with your customer, particularly if they have purchased something pricey or that may require extensive setup or training in order to use. Create an onboarding process that ensures customers that you are dedicated to their ongoing success. Happy customers are likely to become tenured customers, and are also very easy to market new features or products to since you already have their contact information.
#5 | Customer Support
Another highly important business process to master is simply supporting your customers. No matter what industry you are in, you are likely to come across customers who need support with your product once they have become customers — and if you offer a trial, some may even need support during that phase. Create a support strategy and make it public so that customers can see how their issues will be prioritized and triaged. For example, if you offer free and paid support, ensure that customers are aware that those who pay for advanced support contracts will be placed higher in a support queue than someone with a free, basic plan.
One way to reduce the amount of support your team needs to provide is by automating as much of it as possible. You can do this by implementing a chatbot on your website or using virtual phone services to screen calls for you. This way, customers with simple questions can get the answers they need without tying up your support team, who can focus on more complex issues.
#6 | Employee Onboarding
It may be easiest to simply “set and forget” a new employee and let them fly solo when starting a new job, but this can be detrimental to some who value a true onboarding process. When hiring someone new, ensure that they feel comfortable in the workplace before you throw them to the wolves. This will make them much more likely to want to stay employed with you and will help them feel like they can come to you with questions or concerns. To streamline the process, consider using onboarding software for new hires. A sturdy HR platform can make it easier for employees to get acquainted with your policies.
Business Processes to Master in Conclusion
Business success relies on many important processes. Use this list to ensure that you are focusing on the right things for your company.
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