By Ed Sweeney, Information Technology Manager
In the technology world, we are always looking to improve the way we do things, make things more efficient, you know the saying, “bigger, better, faster”. Analyzing processes, tasks, whatever it might be, and refining them to improve efficiency is a great way to increase profit margins and improve turn time. This is something that the IT department at FCi takes very seriously. Anything that can increase turn time and reduce touches is going to benefit the bottom line, but is refining processes the right solution?
During the analysis phase, when you are looking for ways to refine and improve a task or process, you must take a step back and ask yourself if every step in the process is necessary. Improving a process or making a task or set of tasks more efficient adds zero value if the task is unnecessary to begin with. It is not difficult to fall into the rut of “this is how it has always been done”, so it is likely that there are actions being performed that are not needed; making an unnecessary action more efficient offers little to no value to your business. So when working to improve and streamline, take the extra time to analyze each step in the process to make sure that it is required to realize the same outcome. Strive to eliminate, as well as improve, that is what will make a different to your bottom line.
Showing posts with label Client Relations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Client Relations. Show all posts
Monday, January 10, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
5 Tips to Market to Current Clients: On a Budget
By Rachel Kuhn, Sales and Marketing Assistant
In a smaller business, it’s easy to put off marketing because you will “get to it later.” Marketing is a must; even if it’s in a money-saving point of the year, you can concentrate on marketing to your current clients on a budget. There are many ways to market to current or potential clients where the sky is the limit when it comes to the investment of the campaign or project. What most don’t realize is that marketing to your current clients can be very inexpensive and extremely effective.
There are a number of ways to effectively receive feedback and provide solutions to the clients in which you already do business, and I will touch on what I believe are the 5 most important ways of doing so.
1. Talk to them. Communication with your customers is essential. Whether it’s picking up the phone for a short conversation to see how things are going or sending a newsletter each quarter and following up for feedback, it is the fact that you communicate that is important, not how. Keeping the line of communication open is going to do nothing but help your relationship with that client.
2. Get personal. It is important to build personal relationships with your clients if you want that loyalty factor to remain. Once that relationship is built, they will feel they can come to you in any situation and resolve it if there is an issue instead of just finding another company as a solution. Not to mention, “getting personal” with your current clients costs you nothing but your time and I think it’s fair to say it would be time well spent.
3. Manage your reputation. Just as quickly as an unhappy customer can bring down the reputation of a company, good customer service can boost the reputation. Keep your customers coming back by always putting them first and provide excellent customer service, always.
4. Show your appreciation. Letting your clients know how much you appreciate their business is an extremely effective way of keeping them loyal to your company/brand. If you show genuine appreciation, they will always remember the thoughtfulness. You can do this a number of ways; you can send your current clients a “thank you” card or e-mail (which you may think to be a no-brainer, but you would be shocked at how many businesses do not take the time to write them). You could also meet up with them for coffee or lunch to tell them how grateful you are for their business or even send them a small gift card for somewhere they enjoy. It can be as simple as a $5 gift card for coffee at their favorite coffeehouse. It’s the little, thoughtful gestures that are going to make them remember you.
5. Get involved. It is important to demonstrate your dedication to your community. If one of your clients is involved with a particular charity or event, consider donating your time, money or goods to the cause! A little effort here could go a long way.
In a smaller business, it’s easy to put off marketing because you will “get to it later.” Marketing is a must; even if it’s in a money-saving point of the year, you can concentrate on marketing to your current clients on a budget. There are many ways to market to current or potential clients where the sky is the limit when it comes to the investment of the campaign or project. What most don’t realize is that marketing to your current clients can be very inexpensive and extremely effective.
There are a number of ways to effectively receive feedback and provide solutions to the clients in which you already do business, and I will touch on what I believe are the 5 most important ways of doing so.
1. Talk to them. Communication with your customers is essential. Whether it’s picking up the phone for a short conversation to see how things are going or sending a newsletter each quarter and following up for feedback, it is the fact that you communicate that is important, not how. Keeping the line of communication open is going to do nothing but help your relationship with that client.
2. Get personal. It is important to build personal relationships with your clients if you want that loyalty factor to remain. Once that relationship is built, they will feel they can come to you in any situation and resolve it if there is an issue instead of just finding another company as a solution. Not to mention, “getting personal” with your current clients costs you nothing but your time and I think it’s fair to say it would be time well spent.
3. Manage your reputation. Just as quickly as an unhappy customer can bring down the reputation of a company, good customer service can boost the reputation. Keep your customers coming back by always putting them first and provide excellent customer service, always.
4. Show your appreciation. Letting your clients know how much you appreciate their business is an extremely effective way of keeping them loyal to your company/brand. If you show genuine appreciation, they will always remember the thoughtfulness. You can do this a number of ways; you can send your current clients a “thank you” card or e-mail (which you may think to be a no-brainer, but you would be shocked at how many businesses do not take the time to write them). You could also meet up with them for coffee or lunch to tell them how grateful you are for their business or even send them a small gift card for somewhere they enjoy. It can be as simple as a $5 gift card for coffee at their favorite coffeehouse. It’s the little, thoughtful gestures that are going to make them remember you.
5. Get involved. It is important to demonstrate your dedication to your community. If one of your clients is involved with a particular charity or event, consider donating your time, money or goods to the cause! A little effort here could go a long way.
Monday, November 29, 2010
The Deciding Factor
By Don Eger, Sales Representative
Everyone is looking for the “silver bullet” these days; the one factor that separates a “win” from a “loss”. Management in every business segment is asking themselves, “What can we possibly do to close the sale faster? We have the best technology, resource integration, great people and a proven track record.”
Like it or not, there is no single factor that makes any company really stand out in the crowd these days. Technology has become the great equalizer… and without it you’re doomed. While having it, there is the constant struggle of staying in the forefront every single day. Rating the competition on the proverbial 1-10 scale only reinforces the harsh reality that there is a great deal of parity in these challenging economic times.
So what is the key differentiating factor? What causes a company to choose one prospect over another? Quality? Price? Performance? Sure, they all impact the final decision, but ultimately, the real deciding factor is CHEMISTRY. That’s right; the reality of it all is that people like to do business with people they like, people they can identify with. You certainly wouldn’t want to do business with someone you didn’t think you could get along with, regardless of the strengths of their respective organization.
It’s not always easy to quantify, but chemistry is a key determining factor in who gets the business. And it is an even more important factor in retaining the business once it is landed. The customer/client must be able to identify with the team that has been assembled to service the account. Trust, proactive behavior, problem-solving abilities, dependability and a sense of urgency are the attributes that are so difficult to identify in the courting phase, but are key components in developing and maintaining the best of relationships.
So, when your next prospect is in the decision-making process, never discount the impact of good chemistry. More often than not, it IS the deciding factor.
Everyone is looking for the “silver bullet” these days; the one factor that separates a “win” from a “loss”. Management in every business segment is asking themselves, “What can we possibly do to close the sale faster? We have the best technology, resource integration, great people and a proven track record.”
Like it or not, there is no single factor that makes any company really stand out in the crowd these days. Technology has become the great equalizer… and without it you’re doomed. While having it, there is the constant struggle of staying in the forefront every single day. Rating the competition on the proverbial 1-10 scale only reinforces the harsh reality that there is a great deal of parity in these challenging economic times.
So what is the key differentiating factor? What causes a company to choose one prospect over another? Quality? Price? Performance? Sure, they all impact the final decision, but ultimately, the real deciding factor is CHEMISTRY. That’s right; the reality of it all is that people like to do business with people they like, people they can identify with. You certainly wouldn’t want to do business with someone you didn’t think you could get along with, regardless of the strengths of their respective organization.
It’s not always easy to quantify, but chemistry is a key determining factor in who gets the business. And it is an even more important factor in retaining the business once it is landed. The customer/client must be able to identify with the team that has been assembled to service the account. Trust, proactive behavior, problem-solving abilities, dependability and a sense of urgency are the attributes that are so difficult to identify in the courting phase, but are key components in developing and maintaining the best of relationships.
So, when your next prospect is in the decision-making process, never discount the impact of good chemistry. More often than not, it IS the deciding factor.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Speed and Accountability, can they co-exist?
By Ed Sweeney, Information Technology Manager
In the fulfillment industry, if you’re not fast and accurate, you’ll struggle to compete. We live in a “now” world and when a consumer places an order for something, they want it now, and expect no less. To be competitive in your order turnaround time, you’ve got to speed up the process, reduce touches, and eliminate manual processes, all without losing precision. With precision comes accountability, and with accountability comes a more efficient workforce. If team members know they are accountable for their actions and that their name is attached to their part of the process, they are more likely to buy into the overall process. This is where you must be careful eliminating manual processes and reducing touches, because you can easily remove accountability at the same time. Technology can help create an efficient process without threatening accountability, all the while increasing order turnaround speed. One specific way that Fulfillment Concepts, Inc. has increased speed and accountability is by incorporating barcodes on employee badges that identify each employee. With this in place, an order can be tracked from the time it arrives into our system until the time it leaves the building. Each step an order takes is tied to a timestamp and a person, leaving little question about an order status and who is responsible for its care. This is just one of many ways that you can increase speed without accountability and accuracy suffering. We’d like to hear from you in the field as to what you’ve done similar to increase turnaround speed, accuracy, and accountability. Use the comments below to respond. We’d love for you to share some experience.
In the fulfillment industry, if you’re not fast and accurate, you’ll struggle to compete. We live in a “now” world and when a consumer places an order for something, they want it now, and expect no less. To be competitive in your order turnaround time, you’ve got to speed up the process, reduce touches, and eliminate manual processes, all without losing precision. With precision comes accountability, and with accountability comes a more efficient workforce. If team members know they are accountable for their actions and that their name is attached to their part of the process, they are more likely to buy into the overall process. This is where you must be careful eliminating manual processes and reducing touches, because you can easily remove accountability at the same time. Technology can help create an efficient process without threatening accountability, all the while increasing order turnaround speed. One specific way that Fulfillment Concepts, Inc. has increased speed and accountability is by incorporating barcodes on employee badges that identify each employee. With this in place, an order can be tracked from the time it arrives into our system until the time it leaves the building. Each step an order takes is tied to a timestamp and a person, leaving little question about an order status and who is responsible for its care. This is just one of many ways that you can increase speed without accountability and accuracy suffering. We’d like to hear from you in the field as to what you’ve done similar to increase turnaround speed, accuracy, and accountability. Use the comments below to respond. We’d love for you to share some experience.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Are you a vendor or a partner?
By Amy Schwoeppe, Client Relations Manger
At FCi, we are very relationship-oriented. Being in the fulfillment industry, we believe it is extremely important to be partners with our clients, not just vendors.
In a partnership, there is open communication. We understand our clients’ needs by taking time to learn their business as well as their individual needs. We ask questions and provide feedback. We work together to find the best fit for each need. We help them build processes that deliver the best service for the most cost effective ways to achieve their goals. If something isn’t right, we work together to find a solution; we don’t just want to provide the service. Partnerships build trust and loyalty, which leads to healthy, productive relationships. A vendor is selling something, and we aren’t here to simply sell. We are here to help boost our clients’ business and provide exceptional service along the way.
If we were simply a vendor, why would our clients want to stay? The comfort of having someone looking out for your best interest, improving your processes, saving money and bringing innovation to the table – that’s why they stay; that’s why a partnership is successful. As a vendor, it’s a service or product for sale: no relationship… no insight… no feedback.
Our approach is why we have exceptional retention with our clients. We learn each piece of our client’s business and dedicate teams to be specialists for each client. We train and cross train for extensive coverage. We strive to understand the intimate details of each account, which gives us the advantage to identify issues and resolve them quickly. If you are in an industry in which your clients may benefit from the same approach, perhaps you should take this into consideration and not just be a vendor for your clients, but transition that relationship into a partnership.
At FCi, we are very relationship-oriented. Being in the fulfillment industry, we believe it is extremely important to be partners with our clients, not just vendors.
In a partnership, there is open communication. We understand our clients’ needs by taking time to learn their business as well as their individual needs. We ask questions and provide feedback. We work together to find the best fit for each need. We help them build processes that deliver the best service for the most cost effective ways to achieve their goals. If something isn’t right, we work together to find a solution; we don’t just want to provide the service. Partnerships build trust and loyalty, which leads to healthy, productive relationships. A vendor is selling something, and we aren’t here to simply sell. We are here to help boost our clients’ business and provide exceptional service along the way.
If we were simply a vendor, why would our clients want to stay? The comfort of having someone looking out for your best interest, improving your processes, saving money and bringing innovation to the table – that’s why they stay; that’s why a partnership is successful. As a vendor, it’s a service or product for sale: no relationship… no insight… no feedback.
Our approach is why we have exceptional retention with our clients. We learn each piece of our client’s business and dedicate teams to be specialists for each client. We train and cross train for extensive coverage. We strive to understand the intimate details of each account, which gives us the advantage to identify issues and resolve them quickly. If you are in an industry in which your clients may benefit from the same approach, perhaps you should take this into consideration and not just be a vendor for your clients, but transition that relationship into a partnership.
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Lowest Hanging Fruit May Already Be On The Ground!
By Don Eger, Sales Representative
Business development efforts more often than not focus on “low hanging fruit”. Time and time again savvy marketers identify key business segments that are ideally aligned with the goods and services that a respective company has to offer. While it is strategically sound to pursue new business in this manner, all too often companies tend to lose focus on what helped make them successful in the first place…their current customer.
One of the most commonly overlooked sources of increased revenue has already “fallen from the tree”. Just look at your own current client base. Sure, you’re knocking yourself out on a daily basis jumping through hoops and making sure that everything you do contributes to a high customer satisfaction rating. But, when was the last time you sat back, took a deep breath, and asked yourself…”What more can I being doing for my client? How can they additionally benefit from the services in which my company has demonstrated expertise? Have I looked at every possible perceived client need and properly aligned it with each and every capability my company has to offer?”
Here are a three simple ways to grab “ripe fruit” that is just within reach…
1. Proactively strategize about programs that are consistent with ones you are already implementing in your client’s behalf. This doesn’t need to be anything formal. Brainstorm with your current account group, it may be as simple as saying to your contact at the next meeting, ”have you ever considered…?”
2. Meet with primary contacts and ask how you can reach deeper within their organization. In most cases, and particularly if they are a well-satisfied client, they’ll be more than happy to put you in touch with influential decision-makers in other departments.
3. Schedule semi-annual reviews. This can be an effective new business tool for sales personnel, regardless of the industry you represent. Discussion can lead from “how are we doing” to “what else can we be doing”.
Sure, it’s all a common sense approach to building business relationships, but client satisfaction and increased revenues go hand-in-hand. Remember, the first day you acquire an account, you are one day closer to losing it, so make every day count!
Business development efforts more often than not focus on “low hanging fruit”. Time and time again savvy marketers identify key business segments that are ideally aligned with the goods and services that a respective company has to offer. While it is strategically sound to pursue new business in this manner, all too often companies tend to lose focus on what helped make them successful in the first place…their current customer.
One of the most commonly overlooked sources of increased revenue has already “fallen from the tree”. Just look at your own current client base. Sure, you’re knocking yourself out on a daily basis jumping through hoops and making sure that everything you do contributes to a high customer satisfaction rating. But, when was the last time you sat back, took a deep breath, and asked yourself…”What more can I being doing for my client? How can they additionally benefit from the services in which my company has demonstrated expertise? Have I looked at every possible perceived client need and properly aligned it with each and every capability my company has to offer?”
Here are a three simple ways to grab “ripe fruit” that is just within reach…
1. Proactively strategize about programs that are consistent with ones you are already implementing in your client’s behalf. This doesn’t need to be anything formal. Brainstorm with your current account group, it may be as simple as saying to your contact at the next meeting, ”have you ever considered…?”
2. Meet with primary contacts and ask how you can reach deeper within their organization. In most cases, and particularly if they are a well-satisfied client, they’ll be more than happy to put you in touch with influential decision-makers in other departments.
3. Schedule semi-annual reviews. This can be an effective new business tool for sales personnel, regardless of the industry you represent. Discussion can lead from “how are we doing” to “what else can we be doing”.
Sure, it’s all a common sense approach to building business relationships, but client satisfaction and increased revenues go hand-in-hand. Remember, the first day you acquire an account, you are one day closer to losing it, so make every day count!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Teamwork and Client Focus
By Jack Mullins, President
This is my first shot at writing a blog about one of my favorite subjects, my company FCi. I don’t mean that to sound arrogant by using the term, “my company”, as I’m a BIG believer in teamwork. One person doesn’t make a company and that’s especially true here at FCi. We have proven time and again that collaborating in sales presentations, project management or just having fun, working as a team always results in success.
Since we opened our doors in 1988, we’ve found that our clients appreciate the fact that they have a lead account manager to contact for their day-to-day needs. Also, they always know that there is a whole team of folks behind the scenes that make things happen. Our clients have said that we have one of the best-trained teams in the industry. It’s comforting for them to know that when their account manager is out, for whatever reason, there is backup that can take over without missing a beat.
I think client support is an essential key to the success of any company, but particularly to a service provider like FCi. Keeping our clients informed on all aspects of their business is what our clients have come to depend on and expect.
I think that one of the most comforting feelings for a company owner is to know that the team of people he/she works with cares as much about their company and clients as he/she does!!
Fulfillment Concepts, Inc. is a full service fulfillment, digital print, & web development company that specializes in pick/pack/ship, high quality color digital printing, and one-to-one marketing services. FCi stays ahead of the competition by using the latest technology and internal teams to make every process as efficient as possible, providing nothing but the best service for our clients.
This is my first shot at writing a blog about one of my favorite subjects, my company FCi. I don’t mean that to sound arrogant by using the term, “my company”, as I’m a BIG believer in teamwork. One person doesn’t make a company and that’s especially true here at FCi. We have proven time and again that collaborating in sales presentations, project management or just having fun, working as a team always results in success.
Since we opened our doors in 1988, we’ve found that our clients appreciate the fact that they have a lead account manager to contact for their day-to-day needs. Also, they always know that there is a whole team of folks behind the scenes that make things happen. Our clients have said that we have one of the best-trained teams in the industry. It’s comforting for them to know that when their account manager is out, for whatever reason, there is backup that can take over without missing a beat.
I think client support is an essential key to the success of any company, but particularly to a service provider like FCi. Keeping our clients informed on all aspects of their business is what our clients have come to depend on and expect.
I think that one of the most comforting feelings for a company owner is to know that the team of people he/she works with cares as much about their company and clients as he/she does!!
Fulfillment Concepts, Inc. is a full service fulfillment, digital print, & web development company that specializes in pick/pack/ship, high quality color digital printing, and one-to-one marketing services. FCi stays ahead of the competition by using the latest technology and internal teams to make every process as efficient as possible, providing nothing but the best service for our clients.
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