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Bringing Collaboration Into Business Strategy

Companies that encourage collaboration of data from all departmental functions see improved forecasting and internal/external client data that can be used to achieve strategic goals. Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Production, and Procurement departments should be encourage to share data through cloud productivity solutions like Google Docs/Sheets.

However, this plethora of information can cause delays in decision making according to a Harvard Business Review article. Data that is analyzed in small batches and matched to critical strategy variables can be a best course of action to reducing the strategy process cycle time.

In other words, matching insights from small data batch analysis with strategic objectives and then proceeding with a strategy implementation framework. For example, say a business wants to increase revenue from 10 million to 20 million this year. When they analyze their data and use the voice of the customer, they realize that the customers that hate them want the software to load faster and integrate a picture feature for all their menu items so that their customers can see how their meal looks like before they order. The company then translates this customer requirement into product specification and increases their client base by 25%, in turn, reaching their goal and making their competitors run for their money.

The production team would also have to manage this new feature to client requirements and ensure load times stay at acceptable levels. A financial impact/financial modeling analysis is also required to provide top management a sense of what would drive the most revenue for the company.

Simple Procurement Hacks to realize Savings

To elaborate further on previous article, “Price focused Sourcing is bad for Business”, I have created a list of procurement hacks for realizing savings. saving-clipart-yTkeraBAc

1) Audit invoices and purchase orders to identify unapproved vendor charges, price discrepancies, and unapproved purchases.

2) Audit vendor database to ensure accurate data, remove duplicate information and ensure vendor has proper approval.

3) Share sales demand and budget data with procurement team.

4) Share inventory data with suppliers and have them do the same.

5) Develop a quality plan.

6) Focus on total cost instead of price.

7) Build strong supplier relationships by working with vendors to improve quality, delivery and logistics; and encourage the use on long-term contracts with quality stipulations and year by year locked in prices.

Are your procurement expenses deteriorating your bottom line? Could your sourcing process use a re-design? Contact me now http://bit.ly/2prHowW

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Price focused Sourcing is bad for business

We live in a capitalist society. It’s understandable that companies want the best prices on supplies and materials to make their products or provide a service.

When your procurement team is only motivated by price instead of the total cost, quality, delivery and logistics is lost. agreement-clip-art-478088

For example, your Procurement Manager may think, “Hey, we just saved 12% by switching to a new handbag manufacturer but then it comes to your attention that their workers are not as skilled as your former provider and the bags are in poor quality. Now you have to pay workers overtime to fix the issue and deliver to customers on time. Since they were focused on category savings they spent more money on zippers for the bags, in turn, going over budget for materials. That 12% did not save you much at all.

It is also important that accounting, sales, marketing, and procurement teams actively share data so that smart decisions and better forecasting can be made. For example, if the accounting team had made budget data available to the procurement team they would not have ordered more zippers.

Therefore, instead of focusing on price encourage your procurement team to engage suppliers in a several years contract with quality stipulations and locked in year by year price. Savings can also be realized by auditing invoices/Purchase orders to identify unapproved vendor charges, purchases and price increases.

In short, don’t look at price but the total cost.

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Top 7 Tips for a Sustainable Supply Chain

sustainability — Sustainable Supply Chain

1) Encourage suppliers and clients to re-use containers/boxes

2) Decrease lot sizes

3) Actively share demand forecast and inventory data with suppliers to ensure efficient purchasing and timely inventory replenishment

4) Develop a quality plan and actively (Quarterly checks) ensure supplier is meeting quality requirements by conducting an on-site visit

5) Use total cost method and mutually beneficial long term contracts to build strong partnerships with vendors

6) Integrate a customer service chat feature on your website

7)Utilize electronic billing

Talent Management: The Evergreen Learning Culture

Great employees want to be challenged and learn new things. To increase employee retention and overall workplace satisfaction rates Human Resources must stay abreast of individual skills, learning capabilities, and industry skill trends. training

They should also encourage Managers/Supervisors to offer opportunities that allow employees to further enhance their skills, learn valuable new skills, or pursue interests. In house educational programs and ability to attend related conferences and workshops are a great way to build employee confidence and skills. Human Resources should also check in quarterly with employees to see how they are doing and gain insights into their goals, concerns, workplace bottlenecks, et cetera. This information can be used to match critical variables with other employee data for the purpose of optimizing your Talent Management processes.

By utilizing the Voice of the Employee, Human Resources and Managers should collaborate in surveying and sharing employee information for the purpose of creating in-house educational programs that will enhance employee skills.

Employers that encourage an evergreen learning culture reap the following benefits:

Increased overall employee satisfaction
See improved productivity
Reduced process cycle times
Improved client satisfaction
Greater profits

By actively integrating learning opportunities at the workplace employers will not only enhance employee productivity but also yield greater profits. It pays to invest in your employees!

Client Retention as part of the Collections Process

Departmental collaboration is greatly important in the Collections/Billing department. Customer_Loyalty This team must have access to project /product status, project/product delivery and results; this will allow the Lead person handling the over-due account to develop an understanding of the situation, survey the client to ensure requirements were met and if they were not met deliver this information to the production team. In other words, the Collections Team can be an extension to the sales, marketing, production teams by acquiring additional Voice of the Customer data.

For example, it may be that the Project Manager is not effectively translation the client’s requirements into product/service specifications. This will prompt the need to test and implement process controls that ensure product/service specifications meet client requirements.

By utilizing payment plans, longer payment terms (Net 30-90), broader payment options (checks, credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, et cetera), engaging in daily communication and understanding of the client’s needs and situation can ensure an enduring relationship and stronger cash flow.

M&A: The Process, Software and Tool Abyss

Big-fish-eating-fish1 Here comes a merge! Essentially with a merge comes the dilemma of choosing the most effective process, software and tools used for daily business departmental functions. For example, it may be that the two companies use different accounting software, in turn, an assessment now has to be made whether to use one or the other or acquire another software that can handle the current business requirements. To streamline this process a team has to be assembled consisting of atleast 4 per department from each company (that is well versed in the processes and controls of the department). They can then create process maps (visual representations of a process that help identify non-value added activities) and share them with the merging team. With a merge follows new operational and strategic goals, therefore, by collaborating and sharing departmental process information decisions about which process, software or tool becomes much easier.

How to Create a Benefits Strategy to optimize talent management

3D Successful business group

Employees don’t want to be handed books of paper about the benefits available to them through your company. They need guidance on which medical, dental, and retirement plan to choose. Therefore, to increase overall employee satisfaction and improve your benefits administration process I suggest the following:

1. Utilize the Voice of Your Employee by conducting surveys, such as, how often they want benefits related information to be provided to them, what communication channels do they prefer to receive the information (videos, PPT, mobile, intranet, email, et cetera).

2. Create personalized material to fit critical variables based on survey data and employee goals.

3. When you identify how often employees are willing to see benefits information make sure to create a calendar of when this information will be distributed and actively survey employees on what topics they want to learn more about (make sure the content is not too long, gets to the point, and is easy to understand but also fun too)

4. Utilize or create a single platform that offers all benefits information because this reduces the need for multiple passwords/websites.

5. Set time every quarter to discuss benefits and explain to employees why premiums increase every year. Also have your broker be part of the meeting so they can offer advice to employees on which plan is best for them or answer any questions they may have.

6. Comparison shop every year to see if you are able to find a more cost-effective plan by using the total-cost method (e.g taking into consideration the overall cost of the plan includes broker fees/commission, admin fees, et cetera) See this entrepreneur article for more information.

7. Continue to survey employees every Quarter because many things can change in their lives in just 3 months. You have to stay abreast to those changes so that relative guidance, content and information can be readily available to them so they can make smart decisions.

Small Business saves big with Accounting Automation

Automation of general accounting functions is not only for large corporations, small businesses can reap in the benefits as well. One of the most important costs you should be aware of is the cost of an invoice. Are you or your accounting personnel spending too much time creating and inputting bills and/or invoices into your accounting software? There are many tools that can assist in helping you reduce these general accounting costs but today I will be discussing a feature in Quickbooks Online that aids in the automation of Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable activities.

automate1 — Small Business Accounting Automation

Let’s take a look at Quickbooks Online. How much time are you allotting for entering and processing bills and invoices when that time can be used to better serve your customers and increase sales? Did you know that Quickbooks Online has a feature named, “Recurring transactions”, that allows you to automate your fixed bills and invoices. The time saved by using this feature will allow small business owners to optimize their customer satisfaction ratings.

The “Recurring Transactions” feature, allows you to schedule bills and invoices. You can set when you want the invoice to be created and how often it should be distributed (e.g., weekly, monthly, yearly, et cetera ). Great care should be taken of course when creating the template. It is highly advised to only use this feature for fixed bills and invoices.

The benefit for small business owners who use this feature is tremendous. It means less manual entries, which in turn, allows for more time to do more of what they love.

Next time we will discuss the importance of continually assessing your insurance policies to ensure your are properly covered for current and potential business risks.