Articles

Get Your Priorities Straight

Categories: Business Management, Cleaning Best Practices

As business owners and entrepreneurs, it’s easy to become distracted. Balancing all aspects of a growing business while trying to achieve financial goals, delight customers, obtain referrals, and engage employees can leave us feeling completely overwhelmed.

As leaders we can manage our time and run a better business by controlling what gets our attention. Before the inevitable stress and frustration often associated with running or managing any business takes over, begin to focus your valuable energy and attention on priorities you can control. Focusing on hiring and training quality talent, implementing the right systems, and executing effective and appropriate strategies, will grow your business.

Pay Attention to People

The people you hire are an extension of your company’s brand. Business leaders must develop practices to recruit the best, most qualified, and trustworthy talent. By providing thorough and ongoing training, leaders and managers can ensure their talent delivers high-quality service while constantly upholding excellent standards of customer service.

The customers, homeowners, and business owners we serve trust us to take care of their homes or businesses. By allowing us onto their property, we have an intimate understanding of their businesses, their lifestyles, and what they value most.

When you commit to ongoing employee training, you are making a commitment to your customers to always maintain a trustworthy, respectful, and dependable relationship. Only through protecting and nurturing this relationship will your clients feel valued and important.

Pay Attention to Systems

Systems create freedom, productivity, and streamline the execution of goals for everyone within a business. Systems decrease the risk of errors and provide consistent insight into how your business operates.

Successful business owners know that stronger systems increase compliance with standards, increase homeowner or customer satisfaction, and assist the team in routinely delivering great service.

It’s not enough to just implement strong systems. It’s critical that once they are in place, you commit to training your team to use them adequately and consistently.

“A lack of systems is what keeps most companies from achieving the million-dollar mark,” says President and CEO of Busy Bee Cleaning Co. Alonzo Adams.

One of the most important systems to focus on for any business is recruiting and training talent. We are in the people business—quality talent needs to be recruited and integrated in a way that makes them want to stay. Organizations that invest in a strong candidate experience improve their quality of hires by 70 percent, according to Glassdoor’s 50 HR and Recruiting Statistics for 2017 report. Developing this system ensures that money invested in finding and hiring strong employees is spent wisely.

Pay Attention to Execution

Ideas without execution won’t help grow your business. If you want to create a profitable business, execution is key. “For businesses to execute their strategies, there must be a plan, process, and metric in place to have any chance at success,” added Adams. “Important strategic and operational decisions need to be quickly and smoothly translated into action.”

You will learn many valuable new strategies at this year’s ISSA Show that can help your business grow. When we interviewed President of Harmony Clean, Inc. Vicki Brown, she said; “to gain the most from your experience at the ISSA Show, it’s imperative to save time in your schedule for implementing the things you learn at the convention into your business.” So before your trip to Dallas for ISSA Show North America 2018, schedule time to review what you learn upon your return to the office. Prioritize this task to ensure you execute the ideas immediately without getting distracted by the day-to-day aspects of business.

By prioritizing people, systems, and execution, leaders can ensure their energy, time, and attention are focused on the right aspects of their business. Prioritizing these three components will keep you above the day-to-day distractions, allowing you perspective to grow a successful and reputable business.

About the Author.

Neen James has vast experience in retail, banking, telecommunications, and the oil industries. She is speaking at the ISSA Show North America 2018.