Time Management for Small Business Owners

Stuart HartleySenior Consultant

Time Management

Time flies like an arrow

Fruit flies like a banana

Source

Groucho Marx

Marketing

Sales

Administration

Finance

Production

Delivery

Planning

IT

Managing

Emails

Meetings

Travelling

ReportsPhone Calls

Messages

Social media

Time Management is the ability to management yourself in any given block of time and to do this consistently over many blocks of time. This includes expecting to do more

than you really can in these blocks of time.

You cannot manage time only yourself

Benefits of time management

•Reduce stress and frustrations

Improves performance and job satisfaction

More time to enjoy life

Have control over your life through planning

Get a sense of achievement

Time Management

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What do you do at the moment to manage your time?

Time management strategies

Quad 1

Crises

Pressing problems

Deadline Drive

Quad 2

Prevention

Assessing / reporting

Relationships

Quad 3

Interruptions

Some email / reports

Meetings

Quad 4

Trivia

Time wasters

Procrastinators

Urgent Not Urgent

Important

Not Important

Covey’s Matrix

Important activities have an outcome that leads to the achievement of your goals

Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are usually associated with the achievement of someone

else’s goals, or with an uncomfortable problem or situation that needs to be resolved

•Quad 1 – Urgent and important

−Anything deadline driven

−Pressing issues and crises

−Genuinely important issues that could have a significant effect on the business now or in the immediate future

•Quad 2 – Important but not urgent

−Preparation

−Prevention

−Planning

−Relationship building

−Any task that is genuinely important to the business without a deadline

•Quad 3 – Urgent but not important

−Interruptions

−Phone calls, emails, unplanned meetings

−Many things that you choose to do first!

•Quad 4 - Not important and not urgent

−Trivia

−Some phone calls / emails

−Escape activities

•Optimal balance

Quad 1

25 – 30%

Quad 2

15%

Quad 3

50 – 60%

Quad 4

2 – 3%

Can you prioritise your tasks?

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Quad 1

Crises

Pressing problems

Deadline Drive

Quad 2

Prevention

Assessing / reporting

Relationships

Quad 3

Interruptions

Some email / reports

Meetings

Quad 4

Trivia

Time wasters

Procrastinators

•Failing to plan is planning to fail

− Plan each day, each week, each quarter

− You can change your plan….only after you have one.

•Planning exercises

−Time flies

−Estimate before you start how long a task will take and when finished compare with the actual

−Where does you time go?

−Track your time for 2 weeks by grouping tasks into 5 – 10 key categories

•Prioritised to do list

−Write down all the tasks you need to complete

−Break large tasks into their component elements

−Allocate priorities from A (very important, or very urgent) to E (unimportant, or not at all urgent)

−You need to differentiate between urgent and important

−Rewrite the list in priority order

−Take action immediately and finish them one by one

−This helps you to focus on the important jobs first

•The Top 4

−Identify your top 4 tasks for the week and for each day

−Physically write them out, to give them a tangible form

−Put your top four tasks in priority order

−Complete the first one on the list before starting anything else

−You need clear goals in your life to decide the top 4, and motivation to complete the task

•Utilise time gaps

−Time gaps are intervals of time free of activities

−E.g. gaps between meetings, in a queue, waiting in your car

−Discover where you are likely to experience small, wasted gaps of time

−Utilize them to finish tasks that can fit in

−Examples of utilizing them effectively:

−Make calls while waiting

−Read up something

−Prepare for the upcoming activities

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Which strategies could you try?

•Learn to say NO

−Do not say yes when you don't have the time, motivation, interest or skills to do the task

−Say “no” to tasks that have little impact on your targets

−Prevent stress

−Avoid overworking

Summary

•You cannot manage time only yourself and how you spend your time

•A small business owner has to do many tasks and wear many hats, find the right balance between all of the key categories (sales, marketing, finance etc) without neglecting the one you don’t enjoy

•There are many different time management activities, find one that works for you and try to stick with it. Not every activity will work for you.

•Whichever time management activity you decide to use prioritise time for planning activity – FAILING TO PLAN IS PLANNING TO FAIL

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CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS

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Research

90 % of machine manufacturers said in order to defend against low cost competitors a greater percentage of their revenues must come from services; therefore, the way they service their clients is critical to their long-term success

- Industry Week

If you can prevent 5% of your customers from leaving you can increase your bottom line profit by 25 – 95%

- Harvard Business Review

Research

• The average business loses 15% of its customer base each year.

• 68% of customers who stop buying from one business and go to another will do so due to poor or indifferent service.

• 82 % go somewhere else because of a specific customer service issue

−US News and World Report

Your strategy

•How will you engage with your customers?

•How will you deal with enquiries and prospects?

•How will you deal with complaints or difficult customers?

•How will you deal with lost or lapsed customers?

•How will you monitor your customer service levels?

•The number of complaints

•The numbers of repeat orders

•The number of unsolicited testaments

Five Elements of Customer Service

Reliability Tangible Assurance

Empathy Responsiveness

•Reliability

−The ability to provide what was promised, dependably and accurately

−Action Strategy

−Make sure that you correctly identify customer needs

−Promise only what you can deliver

−Follow through to ensure that the product or service was received as promised

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•Assurance

−The knowledge and courtesy of employees, and their ability to convey trust and confidence

−Action strategy

−Take the time to serve customers one at a time

−Provide service assertively by using positive communication techniques and describing products and services accurately

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•Tangible

−The physical facilities and appearance of staff

−Action strategy

−Maintain workspaces in a neat, orderly manner

−Dress professionally

−Maintain excellent grooming and hygiene standards

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•Empathy

−The degree of caring and individual attention provided to customers

−Action strategy:

−Listen for emotions in your customers messages

−Put yourself in their place and respond compassionately by offering service to address their needs and concerns

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•Responsiveness

−The willingness to help customers and provide a prompt response

−Action Strategy

−Project a positive, can do attitude

−Take immediate steps to help customers and satisfy their needs

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What service levels do you currently have?If none, what could you measure?

Service culture components

•Service Mission

The direction or vision of an organisation that supports day-to-day interaction with a customer

•Products and Services

The material, products, and services that are state of the art, competitively priced, and meets the needs of customers

Service culture components

•Delivery system

The way an organisation delivers its products and services

•Training

Instruction or information provided through a variety of techniques that teach knowledge or skills, or attempt to influence employee attitude toward excellent customer service

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•Motivators and Rewards

Monetary rewards, material items, of feedback that prompts employees to continue to deliver service and perform at a high level of effectiveness and efficiency

•Employee roles and expectations

The specific measures that indicates what is expected of employees in customer interactions and that define how employee service will be evaluated

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•Policies and Procedures

The guidelines that establish how various situations of transactions are handled

•Management support

The availability of management to answer questions and assist frontline employees in customer interaction when necessary

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Key customer service skills

• Know your organisation

− Mission and vision

− Culture

− Customer interaction policy and procedures

− Company support for product / service

• Know your product / service

− Product / service development and quality improvement processes

− Product / service configuration

− Performance data and specification

− Maintenance and care

− Price and delivery

• Know your customers

− Customer needs

− Customer concerns

− Customer personality

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Developing excellent communication with customers

Excellent listening skills

Excellent non

verbal skills

Excellent verbal skills

•Communicating positively

−Plan your messages

−Great your customers warmly and sincerely

−Be specific

−Use small talk

−Use simple language

−Paraphrase

−Ask positively phrased questions

−Solicit feedback

•Avoid

−You don’t understand

−You don’t see my point

−Hold on a second

−Why don’t you

−The problem is

−The word “but”

−The word “no”

Six C’s of good communication

Clear

Concise

Correct

Complete

Courteous

Concrete

Non verbal behaviour

Body Language

• Eye contact

• Posture

• Facial expression

• Gestures

Volume Cues

• Pitch

• Volume

• Rate of speech

• Voice quality

• Articulation

• Pauses

• Silence

Appearance

• Hygiene

• Clothing and accessories

Miscellaneous

• Personal habits

• Proper etiquette and manners

Good listening

Empathy

Understanding

PatienceAttentiveness

Objectivity

Customer focused behaviour

• Act promptly

• Guide rather than direct

• Don’t rush the customer

• Offer assistance

• Don’t keep the customer waiting

• Avoid unprofessional actions

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Addressing customer needs

To feel welcome

To be understood

To feel comfortable

To feel appreciated

To feel important

To be respected