Get Your Systems In Place Now!

When I first started making the transition from therapist
to speaker, Somers White offered me the opportunity to
visit his office where he was running his successful
speaking and consulting business. I came away from my visit
with one basic rule (and a multitude of tips) firmly in
mind: get your systems in place first.

Somers' advice is as timely today as it was then. Get your
systems in place first, especially if you want to automate
your business.

The myth of automation says computers will solve all our
problems. Not so! If we don't have good systems before we
automate, we'll have terrible ones, unworkable systems,
after we try to put them on a computer.

Good systems keep us on track. They outline all the steps
of a task or project, remind you of the details, build in
back ups and benchmarks.

The most important technology tools for defining a system?
A pencil and a piece of paper. If you can't sketch out the
work flow for a task, project or process on paper, you'll
never be able to do it on a computer.

The most common complaint I hear from One-Person Business
owners is how to take care of all the details of running
the business while they are busy providing products and
services to their clients. Usually this question comes
after missing a deadline, not returning a crucial phone
call, or bringing the wrong materials to a client meeting.
Each of these "mistakes" costs big. We look like we don't
walk our talk, aren't truly professional or aren't worth
the investment our clients make in our services. Good
systems, keep track of details, mean we don't have to
remember to remember. Our systems do it for us.

So, get your systems in place first, before you make one of
these mistakes. Or, if you're in rehab mode, do it now.

Establishing a system is a "sharpening the ax" activity.
Initially, it takes time, but quickly saves much more time
than you invested.

Let's use your new client forms as an example of getting a
system up and running. This will start building your tool
kit of standard forms, letters, responses, and procedures.

Collect the letters, questionnaires, invoices, agreements,
you used for your last three or four new clients.

(Your fees and prices don't matter for this activity. We'll
get to setting costs and pricing later.)

What information did you ask for from the client? What
information did you miss and have to go back for? What
letters did you send? Agreements? What kinds of people did
you need to talk to? How did you arrange for expenses?
Reproduction of materials?

New client packets represent all the details of making sure
both you and the client are on the same page: you both know
who is going to do what, at what cost, when and where; how
you're going to get there and what you're going to leave
behind.

My new client packet includes templates for a proposal,
letter of agreement, and the cover letter that accompanies
it, an inquiry response, check lists, a background
questionnaire, invoices, invoice cover letters, travel
itinerary, and so on and so on. I sometimes don't use each
form for each client, but I hate to start writing letters
from scratch when I've got a lot to do.

Use your pencil and planning paper to sketch out the
formats you prefer for each form you'll use. Highlight the
phrases you've used that you want in your standard forms.

Now, go to your word processor. Open a new file, format it
like you sketched, whether a letter or a form, and "save
as" a file in your New Client Packet folder in the folder
called Speaking Admin.

Use place holders for information that varies with each
letter i.e. name of contact, amount of fee, date of
program. I use CAPITALS or a series of XXXXXX to indicate
data needs to be filled in.

When you're satisfied with a form or form letter file,
"save as" instead of "save." You'll see a scroll window
with format options, usually close to the file name box.
Scroll down to stationery or template, highlight this
option and then click on the save button. (When you save as
stationery or template, the new file will automatically
open with not file name. You are forced to save it as a new
file, leaving your stationery file unchanged and ready for
next time.)

Next time you need to do the paper work for a new client,
just open the New Client Packet folder, chose the letter
you need, fill in the specific information and send it off.

As you come on a repeating process, take a few minutes of
your week to ensure you've documented all the steps. It
makes it much easier than trying to remember to remember.

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Need to get your small business more strategic, organized,
automated? Click here => http://www.1PersonBusiness.com for
Pat Wiklund's complimentary introductory course on How to
Run a One-Person Business Without It Running You.