As a business coach for over 25 years, I’ve helped thousands of business owners grow and scale their businesses faster than they ever thought possible. And one of the secrets to success is using systems and controls. The more things you can put on autopilot in your business, the better, allowing you to focus on the things that contribute most to the growth and success of your business. But when it comes to growing your business, there are thousands of moving parts, and it can be difficult to know what to systemize and when. So today I’d like to share with you the five elements of sales and marketing that you should have a system in place for.
1. Email Best Practices
When it comes to email, there are so many ways to do things, and as you grow and onboard more team members, it can easily get messy and cluttered. So putting down some best practices for email open hours, forwarding preferences, carbon copy preferences, follow-up expectations, and more. .
2. Social Media Posting Best Practices
When it comes to social media, there are certain guidelines you want your team to follow. This would not only include your marketing department staff, but your entire team as well, as there may be times when they pass on promotions or other postings on your behalf. Having a team aligned with best practices across all your social media channels will set you up for success now and in the future.
3. Lead Generation/Lead Management
A good lead generation/management strategy does not develop overnight. It takes months, if not years, of careful planning, A/B testing, tweaking, and updating until you find the formula is critical to your success. So when you find a method that works, document the process and make sure everyone on your team understands the process.
4. Complaints and compliments
Whatever your industry, customer complaints and compliments are crucial for development, sales and marketing. By creating a system of how to collect, when to request, and where to store this feedback from your customers, you can make it easier for everyone on your team to access this information and use it to grow your business.
5. Monthly/bi-weekly KPI reports
Systemized reports are always a good idea, but it’s important to create reports that are readable and create actionable next steps for those involved. Watch out for information overload and focus on KPIs your team can act on immediately.
These five marketing and sales systems are a great place to start when you’re ready to grow your business and start seeing results. Once these are in place, you can start working on other areas of your business that might use similar systems and controls. Good luck!