Small business owners often find themselves mired in administrative tasks the take them away from their true function as CEO of their company. You might be spinning your wheels doing day-to-day tasks that need to be done, but don't generate any revenue for your business. Hiring a good Virtual Administrative Assistant, like Administrative Business Consulting, can help move you from overwhelmed employee to super-productive CEO.
First you will need to determine what your core functions are. What are the activities that
are billable, actually bring in revenue, or set your business up for growth in the future? Those are the things you should be concentrating on, and you should be delegating the rest.
Many productivity management techniques recommend a "brain dump" activity. This is meant to be a time where you simply capture all of the items in your head and on your to-do list, either hand-written or typed. Those items can become task lists, calendar appointments, or project folders. A Virtual Administrative Assistant can help by organizing all of the information you've captured in to their appropriate locations. Simply email your notes to the VAA, and she does the rest.
Blogs and social media are activities necessary to build your business, but the minutia of putting them together may not be a productive use of your time. As the CEO, you should focus on the content of those posts. Your VAA can then be assigned to handle the formatting, editing, tagging, SEO optimization, and final posting. This same idea can be used for presentations and email campaigns.
Other activities that may be eating up your billable time and that are tasks that can be outsourced include:
- Travel and event planning
- Research for articles or marketing
- Setting calendar appointments for meetings and sales calls
- Anything that can be automated
Part of being a productive CEO is to identify your strengths and delegate the rest. Fire yourself from jobs someone else can do and promote yourself to jobs only you can do.
Most small businesses have a website (if you don't, you should!). That platform is an excellent way for potential customers to find you and get your basic information. A good sales kit is an effective tool to help educate prospects about your business and will move them from leads to customers.
The main reason to meet with a client in person is to understand their needs and how your business can fill those needs. The first (and most important) item in your sales kit is your active listening skills. Think of the meeting not as a sales call, but as a fact finding expedition. The client will usually tell you what services will help them the most. Ask questions and keep track of the answers. If you're paying attention and taking notes, you can easily present them with solutions based on what they've told you.
Since this packet will be the face of your business that you leave with the prospect, don't skimp on the materials. Have folders, letterhead, or any other static pieces professionally printed. You can print any pricing sheets (or items that may change frequently) on letterhead using a laser printer. A sales kit is also a good place to put promotional marketing materials such as pads, pens, and calendars with your company's logo and contact information.
The first page a prospect needs to see in the packet should highlight your business's unique story and how you are different than the other companies delivering your service. Use this as an opportunity to set yourself apart from your competition. Make your organization stand out as the obvious and reliable choice.
Other items to have in the kit are:
- Current sales literature (brochures, sale flyers, business cards, etc.)
- List of frequently asked questions
- Diagrams or exercises to demonstrate your services to the prospect
- Testimonials from or list of past satisfied clients
- Press releases
- CD Roms or DVDs highlighted your services
- Proposal
You can put these together yourself, or you can have a Virtual Administrative Assistant service such as Administrative Business Consulting get these items ready for your meetings. A good way to think of your sales kit is as a hard copy of your web site information. It's something you can leave with the prospect so that it can be referred back to at their convenience.
As professionals, we get asked frequently to come to meetings or sit on boards of business and civic groups in our community. We obviously don't have time to be part of all of them, so it's important to sort out what kind of group it is, how it fits in with your business or philosophy, and how it can help you grow your presence in the area. There are generally six different kinds of business organizations that can help you grow your organization through networking.
Casual Contact Networks
These are business groups that usually have large membership bases, with no restrictions on how many people from each profession can join. They often meet monthly at large luncheons where guest speakers discuss things like current business issues, upcoming legislative sessions, community affairs, or other local interest topics. Evening social mixers are usually a part of belonging to a casual contact network. An example of this sort of organization is the Chamber of Commerce.
Belonging to the Chamber of Commerce does give you an opportunity to meet a large number of contacts from your area at one time. You can spread the word fairly quickly by attending their events. However, that means that you may often be face-to-face with your competitors when networking at Chamber events. Also, fees for joining are based on the number of employees in your organization, so make sure you've calculated the costs up front.
Strong Contact Networks
This sort of group generally meets once a week and restricts membership to one person from a given profession. The meetings are very structured for the main purpose of passing referrals between members. A great example of a strong contact network is Business Network International (BNI).
BNI meetings open with a free networking session, then go on to short presentations by all the members. Then the focus turns to referrals that have been given out during the past week. I personally belong to a local BNI chapter, and I cannot say enough good things about my experience there. Joining BNI requires a solid weekly attendance commitment, as well as a requirement to speak at each meeting and share referrals.
Community Service Groups
Community service groups serve the dual purpose of letting you give back to your community while making business connections and getting great PR. The primary purpose of these organizations is to serve the community, but working on service projects exposes you and your business to other professionals interested in the same issues. You get the chance to start building long-term friendships that become the solid backbone of word-of-mouth businesses.
Examples of community service organizations are The Boys & Girls Club, Rotary Club, Habitat for Humanity, and the Lions Club. Think about what personal concerns or causes you're interested in, and find a club that fits that philosophy. Be aware that joining a community service group will often have volunteering requirements, so take that in to consideration.
Professional Growth Groups
Groups of people often gather based on a training or growth need they have. Professional growth and development groups might focus on a specific are or on leadership as a whole. They offer a great forum to show other professionals the skills you have and the skills you are willing to work on.
I belong to Toastmasters, and it has made a huge difference for me professionally. I have learned the speaking and leadership skills needed to step out of my comfort zone and be a business owner. It has also provided me many opportunities to network to members within my club as well as members from all over the state. Toastmasters is a self-paced program, but you are expected to participate in meetings as often as possible.
Professional Associations
Professional organizations, or "knowledge networks", have existed as long as there have been professions. The primary purpose of these organizations is for people in a certain industry to get together and exchange information or ideas from that field. If your goal is to use this type of group for networking, look for ones that contain your potential clients or target markets. Ask your best customers what groups they belong to as a starting point for your research.
Some examples of this type of group are: Certified Life Underwriters, American Bar Association, and National Speakers Association.
Women's Business Organizations
Obviously, these groups are not going to be for all business professionals. Women's business groups can be both casual or strong contact networks, but they are focused on networking first and foremost. They often offer a non-threatening forum for woman who are new to business and networking. Check for organizations based in your local area such as Women Entrepreneurs of Alaska, to get the most from your membership.
In your time-strapped week you may not feel that you have time to participate in any of these associations. But if you're serious about building a word-of-mouth business, there is no quick fix. Consciously consider all of the options and what will be the best fit for your business mission and your personality. Check with your peers and mentors to see what groups they belong to, and visit a meeting. Get out there and join up to grow your business.
