Have you ever been in the process of working on a document only to have your computer suddenly crash before you’ve had a chance to save it? Before the auto-recovery feature was added to products, you probably would have lost all of your hard work, causing you to have to start from scratch a second time. Auto-recovery does not exist for everything in life, particularly your experiences with clients, so it is vital that you maintain centralized records regarding your kitchen and bath business. Keeping records will offer you a number of advantages, particularly allowing others contractors or remodelers to pick up from where you left off.
Picking Up From Where?
When was the last time you planned to be absent from a day at work? Besides the occasional vacation planned well in advance, it’s rare to miss days from work knowing that your clients, contractors, and unfinished business will be taken care of. When you take a sudden leave of absence due to illness, family business, etc.- work in progress sits there untouched, appointments with contractors come and go, and your clients start to slip away. If you were to ask a colleague to pick up from where you left off, they would likely draw a blank. Pick up from where?
Keeping records of your business will put an end to these problems. Keep an accurate list (including contact information) of your clients and contractors, as well as a copy of your scheduled meetings in a centralized location so that a colleague can take over your work should the need arise.
You Did What?
Being in this industry involves a constant trial-and-error process and in the beginning you probably made mistakes that made your colleagues exclaim: “You did what?” Even when narrowing down an ideal strategy to attract and maintain clients, you will never have a 100% success rate. Each client is different, and adopting a one-size-fits-all approach will limit your sales and business. Learning from your colleagues’ successes and mistakes, however, helps you develop. One way to do this is by keeping recorded information in a centralized location that all other people involved in the project can access. These records should include information such as whether the sales were won or lost, and what you believe were the contributing reasons. Not only can this help you on individual projects, but it can also help the entire busines as your team learns and grows with each other.
If you haven’t already explored industry specific software then now is the time. Using a SaaS product specific to the kitchen and bath industry will not only help you or a colleague pick up where you left off. The right software product will help keep the sales process transparent throughout your business, which will help you grow into the profitable business you’ve always envisioned.
