Getting your ducks in a row

Business mentor Philip Elder looks at how systems and processes can streamline your operations

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Systems and processes exist all around us and we use them daily, often without giving them a second thought.

Have you ever booked an appointment online? Or paid your bills online? What about booking a holiday? Congratulations, you have successfully used a system or process to make your life easier.

However, many business owners simply do not take the time to set up a system or process to make it easier for clients to do business with them. Leveraging you systems and processes will create optimal time for treatment and revenue growth.

Sometimes, business owners have not spent time setting up a ‘background’ system or process to automate the mundane, time-consuming tasks that eat up all their time. While it takes time to strategise these and set them up, they can save you your most valuable asset (time) down the road.

A system is just a set of basic instructions or tools, along with software to put the process together. For example, you can use an online booking system to let clients automatically book with you, as well as show when you are free or available, which is a huge time saver.

What other examples of systems or processes can you create?

"SOMETIMES, business owners have NOT SPENT TIME SETTING up a ‘BACKGROUND’ SYSTEM or process to AUTOMATE THE MUNDANE, time-consuming tasks that eat up ALL THEIR TIME."

CRM

A very powerful system you can set up is Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, which sends personalised yet automated marketing messages to your clients and potential clients. Instead of contacting people one by one, which takes up too much time, you can reach out to your entire database with the same effort.

This is also very cost-effective even when sending out thousands of emails, and, unless you have a database with tens of thousands of people, your monthly maintenance costs are minimal, compared to radio advertising or other traditional marketing methods.

CRM systems are not designed to replace the human touch completely, especially as CRMs can store details such as a person’s name to personalise messages. What it does do is automate the follow-up with your clients, if you get too busy or forget to reach out.

The best part about CRMs is that they work 24/7, 365 days a year – they never take a day off. They also take a lot of the workload away from follow-up tasks, such as postappointment touchpoints or asking for client feedback after appointments.

Now that you understand the type of automation, systems and processes that your business needs, you should be thinking about the different ways you can get your time back.

Source: https://aestheticmed.co.uk

Philip Elder is a business mentor and trainer specialising in the medical sector and investment strategy. He is the founder of Exceptional Aesthetics.