Category: News

Don’t forget the customer in your drive to do business smarter and more efficiently.

Companies struggling to remain profitable in tough times tend to retreat from “the customer is always right” to focus on new business and the 20% of customers who produce 80% of the profit. This is especially notable in large organisations that keep customers on the phone for up to 45 minutes and have their contact details buried three and four pages deep in the most obscure parts of their web-sites.

You can get away with that if your market share is protected (by monopoly, regulation or a unique product) but this arrogance is fatal if your customer can simply go elsewhere.

Yes, it is true that new customers are difficult to acquire and therefor deserve special attention.

Yes, it is also true that a small number of customers produce most of the profit and also deserve special treatment.

But, the other three quarters of your customers are also a major asset.

• They are stake holders in your business.
• They talk and bad news travels faster than good news.
• You should be moving them up the chain by cross selling and up selling to them.
• You should be converting them to ambassadors for your organisation by giving them marketing material they can use to promote your business to their friends.

This little homily customer service was inspired by a stunning example of customer service provided to Westender. I ordered a thousand business cards from our local Kwik Copy in Geet Street West End. Part of the reason I went back there was because of a special deal and good marketing. It was essentially a loss leader to get business in the door.

Because of a technical stuff up at my end, the final artwork had a fault that rendered the phone number and email microscopic. I let the company know that the cards were useless, the fault was mine and that I wanted another set made up. When I went to pick them up, there was no charge.

No fuss, no bother, no whining that I had stuffed up an already unprofitable job and made them lose money by doing it twice, simply a recognition that I needed support and they were providing a service.

Of course, every time anyone has asked me about printing since, I have sent them to Kwik Copy. I have become an advocate for their business, actively promoting them everywhere, including this article. I’ve gone out of my way to remember the owner Daniel’s name and refer people directly to him.

This is not an epiphany. I have always been an advocate of good customer service. As a sales manager I separate the account management from the sales function and give simple instructions to the two teams. If someone contacts us, stay with them until they buy something or their problem is solved. I do all of the pipeline management and work out who the most profitable customers are and set up special deals for them, but the key to turning any business around is landing the largest share of the business possible ad the start to that is to look after the customers who walk in the door.

As a salaried manager I have driven out to Brisbane Airport in the wee hours of the morning to nurse packages through customs and down to the Gold Coast late at night to deliver goods needed for the next morning: If the courier can’t get it there for you, then take it there yourself.

Customers remember when you go the extra mile for them and they talk.

Don’t let slick marketing gurus and ruthless analysts cause you to lose sight of that.

If you ask any long term successful business the secret to their success, the customer is always prominent in the answer.

Two families in the same neighbourhood go off to work each day with similar incomes and similar expenses. They each have two kids in the local primary school and the kids go to school together. They invite each other for barbecues and get to know each other pretty well.

Gradually though, one family begins to accumulate more wealth. They buy a new car, have overseas holidays and eventually an investment property. The two families drift apart.

What happened?

The answer will be different in every case, but in many cases it is as simple as having a financial plan.

We all know that if we make a budget we can save. We all know that our house and then our superannuation are our major assets. But if someone asked you whether or not you should sacrifice some of your salary to build up your superannuation, or what the impact in fifteen years would be if you paid your mortgage fortnightly instead of monthly, what would you say?

Many people avoid thinking about their long term finances, thinking they will do that when they have a family, or pay of the house.

Even people who have a structured approach to saving do not understand the advantages and disadvantages of the various investment and salary packaging options they are presented with.

To really build wealth, you need a solid financial plan and the best time to make a financial plan is before you make a long term commitment such as buying a new car or house, or when you have the opportunity to restructure your finances such as when you get a new job or unexpectedly get some money.

Finding a financial planner who will work with you rather than simply try to sell you a product, is the tricky part of the process.

Here is a quick checklist of things you need in a financial planner:

·         Does not represent a particular lending company, insurance firm or bank

·         Explains to you how they make their money, so that you understand what you are paying them for and what motivations they have for providing you with advice

·         Listens to you and maps out your plan before trying to guide your thinking

·         Gives you the time to think through what you are doing and seek a second opinion

Westender is sponsored by a couple of local financial advisers who offer independent, fearless advice. While we encourage you to do your own research and see who else is in the market, we also encourage you to support the organisations that support the magazine you know and love.

Suzy Butterworth of Yellow Brick Road has been a long time supporter of Westender, advertising in the days when we were a tabloid newspaper and a fortnightly magazine. She has brought her extensive local experience and hard work ethic to Yellow Brick Road because of the range of services it offers.

Founded by Mark Bouris, best known to many people as the Australian host of Celebrity Apprentice, Mark’s mission is to provide ordinary Australians with access to good financial advice. This is the business model that made Merril Lynch one of the world’s leading stock brokers. Take a service that has traditionally been a preserve of the wealthy and provide access to ordinary people.

You can find out more about the company online.

This month, Suzy is offering a free financial advice package to any Westender reader who organises their home loan through Yellow Brick Road. Worth $1,650, the free package is limited to advice on income, super and mortgages, if you own a vineyard, a beef farm and mining shares, you are going to have to pay for your advice like everyone else.

When you call Yellow Brick Road mention the WestEnder and take along a copy of Suzy’s advertisement with you for the initial interview. That’s all there is to it. And Lakshmi’s blessings on building your wealth. You deserve it.

<caption>Lakshmi is the Hindu Goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity – oh and beauty as well.

 

 

In partnership with the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, QUT is presenting a public lecture and panel discussion on sustainable architecture, with keynote speaker, Dr Nirmal Kishnani, assistant dean at the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment and chief editor of FuturArc , a journal of green architecture in Asia.

The discussion brings into focus ideas and themes from Kishnani’s recent book, Greening Asia – Emerging Principles of Sustainable Architecture , a groundbreaking critique of the industry-wide green-washing running rife through the building sector in Asia. Joining Dr Kishnani on the panel are:

• Maria Atkinson, founder of the Green Building Council of Australiaand the first Australian board member of the Holcim Foundation
• Mark Allan, chair of Sustainable Buildings Committee at Property Council of Australia
• Dr Tony Fry, Professor of Sustainable Futures at Griffith University

Download the full details including a link to book your ticket.

UTOPIA is an epic new production by the Emmy and BAFTA winning filmmaker and journalist John Pilger, which opens in Brisbane at the Palace Centro in James St, Fortitude Valley this Thursday 27th February.

“This powerful film by John Pilger looks at the awful truth behind white Australia’s dysfunctional relationship with Indigenous Australians.” – The Guardian

 

As your business grows, you will need to find money to pay for more staff, bigger facilities and increased production costs. If your business grows rapidly and the growth is largely unplanned, you’ll risk overtrading by not having enough working capital (cash for day-to-day expenses) to fulfil your expanding orders.

Not having enough working capital in the critical time between investing in growth and realising the profits is a common problem for businesses experiencing rapid expansion. It can easily ruin a business. However, there are a number of strategies for dealing with short-term cash shortfalls.

Dealing with cash shortages

There are number of immediate ways to fund unexpected cash shortages, including:

• collecting outstanding debts
• increasing prices
• borrowing money – for example, by refinancing or arranging an overdraft
• negotiating better payment terms with suppliers – for example, delaying payment in exchange for regular or bigger orders
• negotiating better payment terms with customers – for example, by offering discounts for prompt payment, encouraging automated payments or insisting on deposits first
• identifying any non-core business assets that can be sold for cash
• using factoring or invoice discounting services – a company lends you money, collects your debts and manages your books for you.

Reducing costs

An equally effective way of increasing your liquidity is to reduce or avoid any unnecessary costs to your business by:

• taking no unnecessary money out of the business while its cash flow is limited
• opting to lease or hire-purchase new premises or machinery rather than buy outright and incur more debt
• delaying any increases in salaries
• reducing overheads – for example, substituting business travel and face-to-face meetings with conference calls.

Monitor and forecast cash flow

To improve your cash flow in the longer term, however, your business will need to better manage its cash flow, particularly if you are planning further expansion.

By monitoring and forecasting your cash inflows and outflows, you can better predict cash flow shortfalls and organise debt finance ahead of time if necessary. With adequate working capital in order, you’ll then have more time to manage other aspects of your rapidly expanding business.

Related links

• Find out more about the Mentoring for Growth (M4G) program, which can help your business deal with rapid growth.

The main challenge of G20 for Micah Projects, a community organisation working with homeless people in the inner city, will be locating temporary accommodation during the G20 period, along with all the other visitors to the city.

“We need to plan ahead”, Karyn Walsh Micah Projects’ Coordinator said.  “Finding temporary accommodation further afield is not about displacing people in crisis during G20, but a response to reduced availability of affordable short-term accommodation in the inner city and nearby locations.”

Ms Walsh said “G20 won’t change how we work with people who are homeless.  For Micah and other non-government organisations we work with, the first response is always to ensure people sleeping rough are safely placed in temporary accommodation.  Short term accommodation is critical to provide safety and a place to start the process of resolving crisis and accessing housing.”

“Like everyone else in the areas affected by G20, people who are living on the streets of Brisbane will be affected by G20” she said, ‘but good communication, working together with police, accommodation providers, mental health services, domestic violence services  and our knowledge of the people we work with, we can mitigate any adverse effects the change inevitably brings. “

Micah Projects funding from government includes funding to broker short-term accommodation, and Micah raises additional funding from the community where exceptional circumstances create additional demand.

Ms Walsh said “Our goal to raise funds to plan for providing people with options is based on experience.  Over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, private donations were received which provided approximately $7,000 in assistance to 5 individuals and 24 families – a total of 38 adults and 56 children – for accommodation, food, housing set up costs and emergency removalist expenses, etc.

Ms Walsh said that Micah’s aspiration for G20 would be that

• individuals and families in crisis are supported to access services
• people living on the streets are supported in understanding the locational changes without fear or harassment
• G20 leaders would spend time addressing homelessness at a global, national and local level in our countries as economies create conditions where so many citizens across the globe are faced with living without a home.