‘Learn To Fish’: Why Management Skills Are More Crucial Than Cash

Posted on Feb 2, 2022

Solid management practices — rather than focusing solely on money-making endeavors — can imprint a huge difference in your company’s performance. Work on managing your practice well and watch how it impacts your opportunities for the long haul. Keep reading, and learn how to place a focus on management practices in your practice.

According to Facebook’s data, nearly one-third of all small businesses permanently shut down during the pandemic. If you asked the owners of those businesses why, I’m willing to bet they would list “money”–or lack thereof–as the reason for their closure.

Every independent business owner thinks money is the number one thing they need to survive. While it is crucial, what they really need is a clear focus on management practices in their business.

In my world, here at American Management Services, those practices are boiled down into something I call The Four Solid Management Practices:

Profit Planning
Know True Costs
Discipline In All Aspects (Manage By The Numbers)
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

I’ve gone into detail on most of these practices in prior articles, but here’s a quick recap:

1. Profit Planning

Most owners, especially ones we meet with, think that whatever money is left over at the end of the year–after all expenses have been paid–is considered their profit; this is residual profit. Residual profit relies on ‘hopium,’ or false hope to turn a profit.

At American Management Services, we believe profit should be the first line item of expense. Named ‘Pre-Determined Profits,’ this means every set number of pennies from every dollar you incur is marked as profit.

How many pennies your business generates from every dollar is determined by your business model and management practices.

2. Know True Costs

Do you know what it truly costs to run your operation: By the hour; employee; or by line of business?

Understanding your actual operating costs will allow you to set realistic pricing in your bids/estimates/quotes. You could be seriously underbidding your products and services without it, leading to disastrous results.

3. Discipline – Manage By The Numbers

Once you understand where you should be, you now need to establish a goal to generate sales at that margin. Eliminate any guesswork around where you think you should be versus where you really are.

Your plan should be aggressive but maintain a degree of realism. And I can’t stress this enough: Make sure this is written down and communicated amongst those directly involved in turning goals into realities.

Break this down further by implementing KPIs and tying key managers to pay-for-performance.

4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, measure goals against quantifiable data over a specific period.

Also known as flash reports, KPIs offer a way to track how you achieve your goals on broad and minute levels.

A KPI measures the goals of the business against the actual, quantifiable data over a specified period. Set goals for each aspect of your business in your pre-determined profit plan, then monitor your performance with KPIs and make the necessary adjustments.

Key indicators can differ for multiple businesses; a distributor’s KPIs will differ from a manufacturer’s, and so on and so forth. Even like-companies can have varied KPIs as not every business shares the same goals and metrics.

A New Approach To Managing Your Business

I mentioned the Four Solid Management Practices because if you implement them-and do so correctly-you will undoubtedly reap benefits.

It’s not a lack of money that kills businesses, it’s how they manage every aspect of their business that does them in.

Remember the old “teach a man to fish” adage? The same philosophy applies here.

While money is crucial for paying your employees and expenses, think of cash as a “fish.” I’ve seen owners borrow against their lines of credit to stay alive. That doesn’t solve a problem, it just adds to it.

Owners need to focus on solid management practices instead of hoping their business makes money. Essentially, for you owners reading this: “Learn to fish.”

Has to make you sick to borrow, run up line-of-credit, get federal handouts, et cetera. Follow the four principles I mentioned above to have the peace of mind most owners wished they had. If you need help, feel free to reach out to me via LinkedIn.

You don’t need to do everything on your own. From billing to marketing, including credentialing and patient eligibility verification, Perform Practice Solutions can help. Give us a call today at (833) 764-0178 and join our Facebook community for more physical therapy billing solutions and ideas.

Reference: [https://www.forbes.com/sites/louismosca/2022/01/04/learn-to-fish-why-management-skills-are-more-crucial-than-cash/?ss=small-business-strategy&sh=208f97b35b7a]

HOW TO PREPARE A BUDGET FOR AN ORGANIZATION: 4 STEPS

Posted on Jan 2, 2022

Creating a business budget is a crucial step toward success. Many people think of budgeting as their least favorite part of running a business — but if you want to be successful, creating and maintaining a proper business budget will be a critical component of that success. Don’t turn away from it! Here’s a step-by-step guide for how to create a business budget. If you want to save money in some places and make more in others — that’s where we come in! A quick consult at no charge to you — and you’ll quickly see where we can help you trim the fat and increase margins and revenue — FAST.

An organization’s budget dictates how it leverages capital to work toward goals. For this reason, the ability to prepare a budget is one of the most crucial skills for any business leader—whether a current or aspiring entrepreneur, executive, functional lead, or manager.

Before preparing your first organizational budget, it’s important to understand what goes into a budget and the key steps involved in creating one.

WHAT IS A BUDGET?

A budget is a document businesses use to track income and expenses in a detailed enough way to make operational decisions.

Budgets are typically forward-looking in nature. Income is based on projections and estimates for the periods they cover, as are expenses. For this reason, organizations often create both short- (monthly or quarterly) and long-term (annual) budgets, where the short-term budget is regularly adjusted to ensure the long-term budget stays on track.

Most organizations also prepare what’s known as an “actual budget” or “actual report” to compare estimates against reality following the period covered by the budget. This allows an organization to understand where it went wrong in the budgeting process and adjust estimates moving forward.

Budget vs. Cash Flow Statement

If the definition above sounds similar to a cash flow statement, you’re right: Your organization’s budget and cash flow statement are similar in that they both monitor the flow of money into and out of your business. Yet, they differ in key ways.

First, a budget typically offers more granular details about how money is spent than a cash flow statement does. This provides greater context for making tactical business decisions, such as considering where to trim business expenses.

Second, a budget is, quite literally, a tool used to direct work done within an organization. The cash flow statement plays a different role by offering a higher-level overview of how money moves into, throughout, and out of an organization.

Instead of thinking of the two documents as competing, view them as complementary, with each playing a role in driving your business’s performance.

STEPS TO PREPARE A BUDGET FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION

The steps below can be followed whether creating a budget for a project, initiative, department, or entire organization.

1. Understand Your Organization’s Goals

Before you compile your budget, it’s important to have a firm understanding of the goals your organization is working toward in the period covered by it. By understanding those goals, you can prepare a budget that aligns with and facilitates them.

For example, consider a business that regularly experiences year-over-year revenue growth that’s offset by rising expenses. That organization might benefit from focusing efforts on better controlling expenses during the budgeting process.

Alternatively, consider a company launching a new product or service. The company may invest more heavily in the fledgling business line to grow it. With this goal, the company may need to trim expenses or growth initiatives elsewhere in its budget.

2. Estimate Your Income for the Period Covered by the Budget

To allocate funds for business expenses, you first need to determine your income and cash flow for the period to the best of your ability.

Depending on the nature of your organization, this can be a simple or complicated process. For example, a business that sells products or services to known clients locked in with contracts will likely have an easier time estimating income than a business that depends on active sales activity. In the second case, it would be important to reference historical sales and marketing data to understand whether the market is changing in a way that might cause you to miss or exceed historical trends.

3. Identify Your Expenses

Once you understand your projected income for the period, you need to estimate your expenses. This process involves three main categories: fixed costs, variable expenses, and one-time expenses.

Fixed costs are any expenses that remain constant over time and don’t dramatically vary from week to week or month to month. In many cases, those expenses are locked in by some form of contract, making it easy to anticipate and account for them. This category usually includes expenses related to overhead, such as rent payments and utilities. Phone, data, and software subscriptions can also fall into this category, along with debt payments. Any expense that’s regular and expected should be included.

Variable expenses are those your business incurs, which vary over time depending on several factors, including sales activities. Your shipping and distribution costs, for example, are likely to be higher during a period when you sell more product than one when you sell less product. Likewise, utilities such as water, gas, and electricity will be higher during periods of increased use. This is especially true for businesses that manufacture their own products. Sales commissions, materials costs, and labor costs are other examples of variable expenses.

Both fixed expenses and variable expenses are recurring in nature, making it easy to account for them (even if variable expenses must be projected). One-time expenses, also called “one-time spends,” don’t recur and happen more rarely. Purchasing equipment or facilities, developing a new product or service, hiring a consultant, and handling a security breach are all examples of one-time expenses. Understanding major initiatives—and what it will take to accomplish them—and what you’ve spent in previous years on similar expenses can help account for them in your budget, even if you’re unsure of their exact values.

4. Determine Your Budget Surplus or Deficit

After you’ve accounted for all your income and expenses, you can apply them to your budget. This is where you determine whether you have enough projected income to cover all your expenses.

If you have more than enough income to cover your expenses, you have a budget surplus. Knowing this, you should determine how to use additional funds best. You may, for example, move the money into a rainy day fund you can access should your actual income fall short of projections. Alternatively, you may deploy the funds to grow your business.

On the other hand, if your expenses exceed your income, you have a budget deficit. At this point, you must identify the best path forward to close the gap. Can you bring in additional funds by selling more aggressively? Can you lower your fixed or variable expenses? Would you consider selling bonds or shares of company stock to infuse the business with additional capital?

AN IMPORTANT FINANCIAL STATEMENT

The person responsible for generating a budget varies depending on an organization’s nature and its budgetary goals. An entrepreneur or small business owner, for example, is likely to prepare an organizational budget on their own. Meanwhile, a larger organization may rely on a member of the accounting department to generate a budget for the entire business. Individual department heads or functional leads might also be called on to submit budget proposals for their teams.

With this in mind, anyone who aspires to start their own business or move into an organizational leadership position can benefit from learning how to prepare a budget.

Perform Practice Solutions can help you optimize your day-to-day operations, from billing to marketing, including credentialing and patient eligibility verification. You don’t need to do everything on your own. Make the commitment to improve your clinic’s performance for real this year — and don’t look back. Visit our Facebook page or give us a call at (833) 764-0178.

Reference: [https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/how-to-prepare-a-budget-for-an-organization]

Prepare Your Small Business for 2022 With This Year-End Checklist

Posted on Dec 2, 2021

2021 is quickly coming to an end, and while most of us are busy scrambling for holiday gifts and preparing for parties, business owners have their schedules jam-packed with mountains of responsibilities. From reviewing accounting to adding-up expenses, this is the time of the year when your small business needs attention. Don’t worry; we bring you some planning tips below for easing the process — and are available for a complimentary consultation to help you with billing, marketing, credentialing, and even your practice sales!

It’s that time of year again! While many people focus on holiday celebrations and new year’s resolutions this time of year, small business owners also need to focus on year-end business planning. This includes both preparing for the new year, AND taking stock of the year past!

But because the end of the year is so hectic, it’s not always easy to keep up with all the end-of-year preparations you should be doing to wind down 2021 and plan for 2022.

These activities — taking stock, preparation, and planning — are key to running a successful business. After all, what is measured is improved. This review helps you realign goals and resources so you can take advantage of new opportunities.

That’s why we’ve prepared this year-end small business checklist. It’s a rundown of every major and minor task you need to take care of before 2022 becomes a reality.

Small Business Checklist: End of 2021

1. Prepare Your Key Financial Documents

Financial documents play a crucial role in your company. Reviewing your financial documents gives you three benefits.

First, it shows you whether you’re running a healthy business or if you need some belt-tightening going forward. Your documents should provide a guide to your company’s financial position and health, and should include details about your assets and liabilities, profit and expenses, and cash flow.

Second, if you do need some adjustment (more sales, say, or fewer expenses), financial documents show you where adjustments are needed and tell you how much you need to adjust. Third, if you’re in the market for funding, expansion, or mentorship, financial documents are often required to let interested parties see the financial records of your business.

The financial documents you need before year-end are:

The balance sheet report, showing all the assets, liabilities, and equity;
The income statement report, showing revenue, expenses, and profit; and
The cash flow statement report, showing opening and closing cash within a specific period, with inflow and outflow itemized.

Let’s get started. Don’t forget to see if your accounting software, accounting team, or CPA can put these together for you!

Prepare Your Year-End Balance Sheet

A balance sheet helps you determine if you’re in the black or the red. It does this by comparing everything the business owns against everything the business owes. The business owns things like physical inventory, property or equipment, trademarks, and invoices the business needs to collect. The business owes things like pension plan obligations or invoices they need to pay. By doing this comparison, you can determine whether you should be cutting back on your spending, or pushing your business to grow. And yes, the balance sheet should ALWAYS balance.

How to Prepare Your Year-End Income Statement

The income statement is important because it clearly shows you if you are earning more than you’re spending, or vice-versa. It compares the amount earned in a period of time versus the amount spent. Because of this, it is also called a profit and loss statement. It’s different from the balance sheet because it looks at business expenses and earnings across a period of time, instead of a single, frozen instance like the balance sheet. It also doesn’t take into account any external equity you, as the business owner, might have, such as stock. While the income statement of a large company might be longer than that of a sole proprietorship, the overall format of an income statement is uniform across business sizes. First, choose a period of time, either 2021 as a whole or just the last three months. Write down all your revenues and gains during that period on the top half of the page. On the bottom half, document all your expenses and losses. Subtract the latter from the former, and you’ll be able to see your net income during that time period.

How to Prepare Your Year-End Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement should show how much cash you have at the beginning and end of a specific period, and where it all went. On a cash statement, you want to document three things:

Cash flow from operations, such as revenue and expenses. In other words, the money you earned or lost from doing business as usual.
Cash flow from investments, such as assets bought and assets sold. This can also include stock.
Cash flow from financial decisions, such as loans and their repayment.

Once you have an itemized list of all of the above, you should be able to clearly see up how much cash you have at end of this period. When compared to what you had at the beginning, you can see if you generated or lost money.

Putting Your Financial Reports Together

From these documents, you should calculate the following numbers:

Current Ratio – the current assets divided by your current liabilities. Ideally, your current ratio should be between 1.5 and 2. A current ratio of 1 means you may not have enough money to last the year, whereas a current ratio of more than 2 could mean you’re not investing enough money into your business or outside investments.
Debt Ratio – your total debt divided by your total assets. A “good” debt ratio depends largely on the industry, but anything below 0.3 is considered fair. Anything above 0.6 tends to make it difficult to bet additional loans.
Gross Profit Margin – First, divide your profit (what you have leftover after paying your costs) by total revenue (the total money you brought in). This shows you what percentage of your income is actually profit!

Small business owners should keep these statements on a monthly or at least a quarterly basis. You want to know the state of your business consistently, so you can plan accordingly. If you want to expand, you need to know you can, for instance. If your business is starting to show red ink, you want to know as soon as possible.

However, especially if your business is a new startup, you may have put off either compiling the information or having it done. There’s no time like the present!

2. Get Your Tax Documents Together

While the end of the year may not be tax season, it’s a good idea to get Get your tax documents together as well. The financial reports you prepared in the previous step should help you fill out your small business return. However, you may need to fill out additional tax forms, which may include:

Form 1099-NEC and Form 1096
W-2 Forms and W-3 Forms
State and federal payroll returns annually (Form 940) or quarterly (Form 941)

You should also compile your income, both business and personal, if relevant. Gather all your deductions.

3. Assess Your 2021 Goals

If you had a specific 2021 goals list, pull it up and go over it. If you didn’t, write down what your unwritten goals were (and consider a written list for 2022). Review your goals systematically and assess them using the following questions:

Were your goals achieved? Why or why not?
If they were exceeded, why? How?
What are the next steps? (Do you want to use higher than anticipated revenue to expand, for example, or make debt payments?)
If they fell short, why? How?
What are the next steps? (Do you need to pull back on your product line, for example? Pare down your forecasts? Lower prices?)

4. Plan Employee Morale Events

Don’t forget your employees in your year-end planning. They’re an important ingredient in your business success. Not only that, but the year-end holiday season provides multiple opportunities to reward them for what they’ve done.

As a stellar business owner, you want to boost morale and company loyalty. Consider what your employees might value: A big holiday party? More time with their family over the holidays? (If so, can you swing extra days off for everybody?) Flexible time to shop? (Could you give flex hours so they avoid the huge crushes in stores?) Company time to conduct a drive for charity? Could that be used for your business’s benefit?

5. Plan Your Own Vacation

All too often, small business owners put off their own vacation until the year is totally over! Everybody needs some time to recharge and relax. Plan a vacation or think through your time off before the year is out.

Perform Practice Solutions can help you to optimize your day-to-day operations, from billing to marketing, including credentialing and patient eligibility verification. You don’t need to do everything on your own. Make the commitment to improve your clinic’s performance for real next year — and don’t look back. Visit our Facebook page or give us a call at (833) 764-0178.

Reference: [https://www.guidantfinancial.com/blog/small-business-year-end-checklist/]

10 Questions to Help Small Businesses Narrow Down Their Target Audiences

Posted on Nov 2, 2021

Understanding your target market is essential if you want your business to be successful. The more specific you can be about who your customers are, the more readily you can create effective marketing strategies and products that will appeal to them and avoid wasting time and money. Here are some questions to help you narrow your target market while owning your own slice of the market. Remember, we have a marketing department that can assist you with determining your perfect prospect – and also work with you on-going to manage all of your content, newsletters, social media maintenance, and website needs.

Pinpointing a target audience is one of the most crucial steps in launching any successful business effort, including creating marketing campaigns and increasing sales. However, determining your audience is often much easier said than done. Before you can narrow down your ideal customer, you need to know how to do it correctly.

To that end, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) members answered the following question:

“What’s one question small businesses should ask themselves when narrowing down their target audience? How does this help them in their business efforts moving forward?”

Here’s what they recommend you consider when thinking about who you’ll be selling to.

1. What Segment Would Be Most Impactful?

“What segment of customers will be most impactful to the business if we can capture them? Focus on the customers who will be most impactful in a specific timeframe. Every company wants to reach every possible customer, but focusing on who will be most impactful in the near future helps you to narrow your focus and deliver to customers who will help you reach your goals faster.” ~ Cody Candee, Bounce

2. Who Are My Current Customers?

“Identify who is currently buying your products or services, as well as any common factors such as demographics or psychographics. Once you do, incentivize them to spread the word with a referral or loyalty program. Thank them, and encourage positive reviews.” ~ Duran Inci, Optimum7

3. Who Is My Business Not a Good Fit For?

“Ask yourself, ‘Who are we not a good fit for?’ I know early in the Influence & Co. days we would think, ‘Any business can be our client!’ and over time we’ve realized that we’re a much better fit for B2B companies, specifically in professional services or technology. But it took us working with a few companies who were really not a good fit for us to realize that.” ~ Kelsey Raymond, Influence & Co.

4. What’s the Data Saying About Customers?

“What’s the data saying? Companies often come into customer acquisition with a target customer in mind. This is a good starting point, but ultimately, you need to listen to the market. You need to see who’s interested, paying and engaging with your product or service. As that base begins to scale, the data becomes meaningful and can significantly improve marketing and business ROI.” ~ Carlo Cisco, SELECT

5. Who Would Buy My Product?

“If I stripped my product to its bare bones, who would buy my product if I dropped it in their hands? Find the people who are asking for your product. That’s your initial target audience and they often know what it needs to succeed. They can give you the most actionable feedback to iterate on it and improve it.” ~ Ryan D Matzner, Fueled

6. What Pain Points Can My Business Solve?

“Ask, ‘What pain points does my target audience experience that my business can solve?’ Consumers are constantly looking for brands to give them answers or solutions, so if you can do this, you’re already on the right track to moving your business forward.” ~ Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

7. How Do Customers Get Their Information?

“We live in an information age, and knowing how people get their information is key to business success. Do they get their information from Google, TikTok or print sources? Are they persuaded by billboards and media advertising? Figuring out where they get their info will help you know how to frame and present your content.” ~ Shu Saito, Fact Retriever

8. What Makes My Business or Products Unique?

“To narrow down your target audience, focus on what makes your business and products unique. Your competitors may offer something similar, but consider any features or benefits that set you apart. This may come down to superior quality, a lower price, faster service or a certain feature the others don’t offer. Then you can target those who will really appreciate this distinction.” ~ Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting

9. How Will I Reach My Audience?

“If you narrow down your audience too far, you may have a tough time actually reaching your audience with an impactful message. Or, you may narrow it down too far so that it’s nearly impossible to reach the numbers you need. Always think about how you are going to reach your audience when planning, and not just be theoretical.” ~ Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design

10. Where Does My Target Audience Spend Time?

“You’re going to want to connect to as many potential customers as possible. If you know that a majority of your audience spends their time on Facebook, you can develop more detailed customer personas by engaging in conversations and getting involved with the community.” ~ John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC

Reference: [https://smallbiztrends.com/2021/10/small-businesses-target-audiences.html]

10 Ways to Take Better Care of Yourself and Your Business

Posted on Oct 2, 2021

Managing your business can be stressful. If you’ve been feeling like having no time to rest or are always anxious, stop for a few minutes and read more about some self-care tips. It will be super beneficial to you AND to your business. When it comes to less anxiety about running your PT or medical practice – that’s where we come in and take the load off regarding operations, billing, marketing, credentialing – and even sales. Meanwhile – take a deep breath and read on.

Entrepreneurs are always taking care of their businesses. But some forget to do the little things to take care of themselves. Sometimes, entrepreneurial self-care can just mean doing things in a simpler or easier way to free up time or limit stress. Here are tips from members of the online small business community for entrepreneurs interested in self-care.

Sleep Better at Night

A good night’s sleep is important for all humans, but especially for entrepreneurs that want to improve energy and brain power. Lisa Sicard offers tips for improving sleep to optimize entrepreneurial output in this Small Biz Tipster post. And BizSugar members shared additional thoughts in the community.

Find the Best Times to Send Emails

No entrepreneur wants to waste time on inefficient communication. If you send a lot of business emails, you want them read and responded to right away. For the best times to accomplish this goal, read this Respona post by Payman Taei.

Consider Integrating AI into Your Company

Technology can free up a lot of time for small biz owners. But you need to use the right tools to reap the benefits without taking on extra risk. AI provides tons of opportunities, which Emily Johnson details in this MyTechMag post.

Support Neurodiversity in the Workplace

Diverse workplaces bring tons of new ideas and can help people from all backgrounds feel comfortable at work. Neurodiversity means welcoming people with neurological differences. Read about this concept and how it benefits businesses in this GoCo post by Nikhil Bendre.

Learn from These Marketing YouTube Channels

Business owners should always keep learning. Marketing concepts constantly evolve. So it’s important to find sources for information that are current and full of new ideas. This 99signals post by Sandeep Mallya includes 15 marketing YouTube channels to check out.

Speak with No Fear

It’s normal to feel a bit nervous when you speak to a crowd. However, you don’t want to feel tons of stress every time you talk about your business. Learning to speak with no fear can make life much simpler. Learn how in this Duct Tape Marketing post by Sara Nay.

Break Through Writer’s Block with These Technologies

Writer’s block can be frustrating for bloggers and entrepreneurs. However, there are tools that can help you break through. Anthony Gaenzle lists some in this Moss Media post. And BizSugar members shared additional thoughts here.

Read These Books to Improve Your Marketing

Reading can be an ideal way to relax, while still learning something that may help your business. If you want to get better at marketing, read this Einstein Marketer post by Josh Barney that includes several books to help.

Improve Your Business with Website Traffic

Growing a business with limited web traffic can be incredibly stressful. Once you get people coming to your site daily, it becomes easier to relax and focus on other things. In this SmallBizTechnology post, Becca Williams explains why web traffic is so important.

Reference: [https://smallbiztrends.com/2021/09/self-care-tips-for-entrepreneurs.html]

Humanizing the Customer Experience with Technology

Posted on Sep 1, 2021

Customer experiences are being radically reshaped continuously by technologies that are cutting edge and ever-evolving. However, human interaction and empathy are still key in creating a positive customer experience. That’s why companies must focus on an effective personalization plan. Check out some ways you can humanize your client’s experience so that your patients can have their unique needs met – and they return for more of your excellent service and care.

Technology enhances business. It allows companies to operate faster, more efficiently, encourages collaboration, and in return creates growth. However, human interaction is still key in creating a positive customer experience. Taking into account of the last year, with companies forced to rapidly digitize, many business leaders have grappled with the challenge of humanizing customer experience with the new technologies that have been implemented.

Yet, in order to create a customer experience that streamlines the buying process while customizing to fit the consumer’s needs, companies must focus on an effective personalization plan that encourages customer loyalty, customer growth, and an increase in revenue. Personalization and customization are key in targeting a customer base and to make sure a business is serving their specific needs.

According to a Gartner survey 88 percent of consumers report not receiving “tailored help”, and to make matters worse brands are at risk of losing 38 percent of customers because of poor marketing personalization efforts.

Businesses often get consumed by return on investment metrics and pressure to show results, but before the focus on this, business leaders must hone in on serving their customers to seamlessly guide them through a personalized journey. Like the saying, “if you build it, they will come”, taking the time to personalize the customer experience will in return create increased customer loyalty, increase in driving sales, and positive customer experience within a business.

How to Humanize Customer Experience

Create a Hyper-personalized Customer Journey Plan

Companies tend to forget the minutiae included in one single customer journey. When generating a plan to enhance personalization and efficiency, business leaders must take into account aspects such as how interactive and easy to use the website is, how products or services are outlined, the sales process, invoicing process, communication and support.

Customers are looking for companies that provide personalized experiences that are relevant to them specifically, rather than repetitive processes that make the journey seem robotic.

A way to make hyper-personalization naturally occur is by using technology tools that remember documentation when needed the most. For example, if a sales person is on a call with a customer and can see in their CRM tool that the customer had a support ticket two weeks ago on the same issue, they’ll have better context and be able to provide a more customized experience.

Another way to hyper-personalize and humanize customer experience is through technology that provides suggestions based on buying patterns. For example, if a business sells clothing and the user has viewed a specific style of clothes on the site, the technology can generate a suggestion such as, “Since you viewed this, we think you may also like this”.

By using tools that are completely customized to the consumer’s preferences, the business achieves a hyper-personalized and streamlined customer experience. While it may seem like a lot of work to take inventory of these individual aspects, having a plan in place with technology to assist will help businesses create customer experiences that impress and keep customers for the long haul.

Use Smart Technology to Enhance Personalization

Using technology that connects with your customers on multiple channels such as telephone, email, live chat, and social media ensures strong communication so that customers are left with all their questions and needs met. Additionally, utilizing workflow automation will help streamline the lead nurturing process, which is important when wanting to make things as easy as possible for the customer.

AI is also a way to increase efficiency and help enhance personalization. AI can be used in the customer journey to generate advanced lead and deal predictions to help businesses identify specific leads and where they are in their customer journey. It can also help with finding important information from the CRM, sending task reminders, alerts, and suggestions for the best times to contact leads based on your past interactions so that you can provide a preferred experience for your customer.

Also, businesses can utilize AI for sentiment analysis to prioritize which emails should be addressed first. For example, if a consumer sends an email about a negative experience with the business, AI will identify the displeased feedback and flag the email so that it’s addressed first. There are so many technology options out there that help with streamlining and automation, by discovering tools that also help with customization will be essential.

Analyze to Nurture New Clients and Current Ones

While metrics and data points are vital in showing ROI, using analytics to detect buying trends and other data trends around the customer will enable your business to gain new clients and current ones. Using analytic tools that track key performance indicators, including current trends and future predictions will be a critical aspect of the data strategy.

Yet, before diving into the technology, business leaders must ask themselves what key information about the customer they’d like to understand and how this data will help to create a more personalized experience for the customer.

For example, analytics can be used to find out what patterns are critical for customer satisfaction. If the analytics tool detects that consumers that purchased a specific service keep submitting support tickets for the same problem, having that data will help the business quickly find a solution to avoid customer churn.

Along with these questions, business leaders must recognize how they are collecting data to uphold ethical data privacy principles and strong security measures. With the surge of customer data being tracked and collected for monetary gain, companies must consider privacy concern and scrupulously examine the technology vendor they decide to use.

Consumers are rightfully concerned about how their data will be used, and it’s important to ensure that customer data stays private. At the same time, customers are more willing to provide personal information if their customer experience is hyper-personalized. With this in mind, businesses must aim at finding a harmonious balance with creating a personalized experience without jeopardizing consumer data.

Saying technology can make business more human sounds like an oxymoron, but when used the right way technology can enrich the customer experience to fit the unique needs of an individual customer. Because most companies have digitized in the last year, competition for enhancing the online customer experience has risen drastically. This means having a streamlined customer journey is not enough to set a business apart.

However, the core lies within personalizing the customer journey so that consumers can have their unique needs met and exceeded. When it comes to humanizing customer experience, people want to feel special and taken care of; creating a personalized experience with technology that streamlines the buying process for your customers can achieve this, and in the end will be the crux of what sets businesses apart.

Perform Practice Solutions helps practice owners nationwide adjust to the industry’s changing and challenging reality. Our team has smart marketing strategies to offer your clinic an alternative way forward. Call us today at (833) 764-0178 – and also join us and be part of our Facebook community!

Reference: [https://smallbiztrends.com/2021/07/humanizing-customer-experience.html]