Customers hold the key to long-term profitable growth. The customer should therefore be accorded the same respect as a manager: your business must ensure regular contact, provide innovative ideas, timely delivery of factual data, and keep appointments. Consider a single point of contact for your customers by appointing a customer liaison representative.
Consider growth risks
Before setting out on an ambitious growth programme, be critical of your organisation's ability to deal with this additional influx of business. The need to recruit additional staff will be a key issue – and the way in which they perform is fundamental to success.
Assess management
The performance of management should be impartially assessed at regular intervals: consider psychometric testing. This could be particularly useful with the onset of new procurement strategies that rely on relationship building through the supply chain.
Set your procedures
Whatever the management style, there must be set procedures and processes that are complied with throughout the company. Procedures that could threaten the company's performance should be prioritised.
Motivate your workforce
Management has its part to play in motivation, focusing on morale, training needs and team-building. This should be coupled with financial incentives such as targeting, bonus payments, profit-sharing or employee share ownership.
Postscript
Peter J Sheppard is a self-employed business consultant and chartered surveyor. He can be contacted on 01425-480392.
