Frequently asked questions

Below are a list of commonly asked questions that I have answered for clients and prospects, take a look it might help your business too. If these do not answer your question, then email us with your question.

Contact Us now with your question

"My Debtors are slow in paying, I am making a profit but am always stressed out with cash flow and it costing too much on my overdraft. I have a lady who follows up on debtors but it doesn't seem to help, should I pay an off-site company or look at factoring my debtors, I don't want to upset my clients"

Firstly, you need to change the way you look at your debtors, most if not all your clients most likely signed a terms of trade agreement with you and they too have clients that they don't want to upset, but don't for a minute think you are being unreasonable to ask for your invoices to be paid.

Every business has expenses and it is not your responsibility to fund their cash flow.

Factoring can be useful but this also comes at a cost, what training have you provided your employee in collecting Debtors? This is your first place to start as you already have this expense covered in your business.

There is a process that has worked for many of my clients, firstly you must change your attitude to your debtors (this can be done without being rude or confrontational to your clients) then revisit how you invoice your clients, how these invoices are reconciled and what procedures are in place after your invoices are sent. View our plan on Debtor Management.

"I have owned my business for 6 years and now I want to sell, I've had enough!!

Firstly, question your self carefully as to why you want to sell your business. many business owners that I come into contact with feel this way. Most have found themselves as business owners as a result of opportunity and although it was exciting at first, as time has gone on they realise that they don't have the necessary skills to accomplish the importance balance that a business can have.

Very rarely will achieve what you want or what your business is worth by just deciding to sell, when you own and operate a successful business you need a structured plan, see our business plan help section here

So ask yourself do you want to sell your business because your tired, worn out and frustrated or do you want to sell your business because strategically it is the best time? There is a big difference here, are you going to be able to replace the income you currently receive?

The secret is working on your business, look at some of the articles on this site, there are many that can improve they way your business performs and in turn your attitude to being in business. With proper planning you can be successful in business and when the time is right, have a planned exit from your business - by selling it as an entity that others see the real value in.

"How can I increase my profits?"

The old saying is "if you always do what you always do you will always get what you always get" If you want to increase profits then you have to make changes, look at new ways to increase leads, which ultimately increase sales, look at ways to improve margins and productivity, and look at your overheads, when was the last time you performed an Audit on these three areas?

Does your advertising dollar show a decent return on your investment? Times have changed and you can too, Websites & Internet marketing can produce the results you need, have a  look at our increase your profits 1% at a time section.

"My sales results are always up and down, what can I do to change this?"

Business owners are always frustrated by this, there are many things you can do to change the peaks and troughs cycles. Firstly you need to analyse your sales results and highlight seasonal trends, by understanding where your highs and lows are you can now start looking at how you can promote to existing and new clients in these areas.

Often it is your sales people that need to be managed differently, many salespeople find it difficult to let go and trust others post sale, often a result of this is a low sales period while they are prospecting - qualifying - presenting - and then closing the sales, this is followed by a peak in results as the sales are invoiced and the product or service is delivered, it is during this time that salespeople either get complacent with their sales action, or over mange areas that shouldn't involve them. Planning is needed here so there is a balance between prospecting and sales. View this link for details of changes you can make.

"Why do I always have to baby my staff, their adults, I wish I could clone myself?"

In time I'm sure cloning will be a solution that I can offer, however even that would bring in its own set of challenges. I like your question as I have asked it myself in the past and it was after children that I started understanding the answer. Staff are complex, they all have different personalities and interpret instructions differently.

What I have learned is that there is a combination of processes that need to be followed to develop a great team. This includes identifying individuals strengths and weaknesses and communicating to each member based on these findings. Much of the success in this area will come down to communication and translation of what your expectations are. Our link on Employee Retention could provide many of the answers

"Can a website improve my business?"

Each business is different and each Industry has unique ways of Client - Supplier Interaction. But generally yes. Websites and on-line solutions are improving daily. A website is not just a "hey look at us where on the Web too" portal, its not just a fancy Contact Us page. It is now an extension of your business your on-line, bricks and mortar and you and your business are being judged by its presence right now!! 

You need to understand what you want your business to achieve now and in the future before you start investing in your site. For some businesses it will be an on-line shop and needs to be measured in much the same way that you would measure a highly successful salesperson, for others it will be your on-line information hub, providing instant information to your clients and prospects, so that they can be as productive as possible, hence adding value to why they do business with you. Contact us for a free no obligation website consultation

"Does E-mail marketing work?"

Yes, it does. But like any kind of marketing it must be used correctly and with a plan. If you agreed to receive emails from my company and I started sending them every day, I'm sure very quickly that I am going to upset you. This would also be the case if I used traditional methods such as phoning you or physically calling on you.

So in order for E-Mail marketing to be a success you must have a plan. Your email should be similar to a prospecting phone call, when you call a prospect you should not be trying to sell the product on the phone your goal is to make an appointment, your email is the same it is designed to invite your client/prospect to your Website where the information can be presented professionally. E-mail Marketing is an extremely important tool for modern business view the link to learn more.

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