5 Systems That Every Business Owner Needs
When it comes to running an online business, there are a lot of things that have to be taken into consideration before you can even start going out and getting clients and making money, and although these are some of the main foundations of your business, one thing that you should always do even before starting a business is to make sure that you have all of the foundations properly set up in your business, and these foundations are the systems which you will use to run your business.
Whilst the idea of setting up systems in a business is often quite daunting and overwhelming for people since they think that this has to be an overly complicated process, however, a system is nothing more than a process that you use on repeat and turning it into an automated task that you do or that is able to be done by itself, so in this post we’re going to share with you some of the main systems that every business owner needs in order to stay organized and focused in their business.
#1 Marketing system
Marketing is one of the most important aspects of your business since without marketing you’re not going to be able to attract clients, let people know what you do, and make money in your business.
It doesn’t matter how good you are at what you do, if you’re not able to effectively market your business to people and let them know about you then the chances of them just coming out to find you and wanting to work with you are very slim, and even if this does happen, it’s likely to be a fluke and a one-off that’s not going to happen on repeat, so the best way to generate a steady flow of clients and customers and income to your business is by having solid marketing systems in place.
This can include things like setting up a blog and automating the content that you have for that, scheduling time to write the content and making sure that it gets posted across multiple channels such as social media, your blog, and even email.
You can then also repurpose this content and turn it into things like videos, podcasts, or even ebooks and digital products that your clients can download so that you can market to them further.
Simply having a marketing system is going to be life-changing for your business and you will see that your conversions and your confidence will go up the more that you’re able to see results from your marketing efforts.
#2 CRM system
A CRM system, or a customer relationship management system is simply a way of keeping track of all of the people who you contact in your business on a daily basis, such as your customers and people who you would like to become your customers.
CRM is very effective in making sure that all of your customers and leads are kept in one place and so that you are able to view the conversation that you’ve had with them and view this at every stage of the process before they work with you, and this allows you to build an effective relationship.
There are many CRM systems available online such as https://www.teamgate.com or https://www.copper.com/ but ultimately you have to choose one that you feel has the features and benefits that you need in your business.
#3 Sales system
Seals are obviously a crucial part of your business, since without sales your business is not going to grow at all, and if you’re not making sales in your business, then you really don’t even have a business, but you have an expensive hobby, and this is not something that you want to be dealing with, so setting up a solid system in order to convert those people who come as a result of your marketing is a crucial thing to have in place.
This can be something like blocking out time in your calendar and inviting people who join your email list to have a chat with you about any products or services that you offer that may be of benefit to them, then you could send an email to follow up with them at a later date if they haven’t taken action on the initial email you sent them.
The great thing about having these systems in place is that they can all be automated, so although you send an email each time someone takes the action that you asked them to take, the email that you send them the next time will be automated and scheduled to go out in accordance with the actions that they do or do not take, and you don’t have to do this individually every time, which is going to save you a whole lot of time and allow you to run your business without doing every single task.
#4 Onboarding system
Once you’ve made the sale, the relationship between you and your customer has now changed, but it’s also just beginning although in a different way.
You may have had a relationship with this person before through your marketing, and depending on how far through your sales funnel they have come, then the relationship might be longer or shorter, but the difference is that now they’re a customer they expect a great deal more from you, so the process that you should have for them should make them feel that they are valued as a customer and that you now take the relationship seriously.
This involves creating an onboarding system for your clients, and for example if you’re a coach, then you could create things like sending them out an overview of what they can expect through the months of working with you, it can include a welcome pack and even a gift if those are the things that you give to your clients.
However, you’re going to work with people then you can create your own onboarding process around this by giving them the information that they’re going to need and so that you can get the relationship off on the best footing.
#5 Content creation system
Creating content, whether it’s free content or paid content is going to be a big part of your business if your business is going to be running online. This can include things that like creating blog posts, social media content, and even email newsletters.
The best thing that you can do here is to create a system for this so that you’re not having to create new content every single day and having to come up with ideas on the spot – though it’s not going to be the case that if you are a creative person you’re not allowed to come up with ideas on the spot, but it’s always a good idea to have a backup so that if you’re having a day where you’re not able to come up with an idea on your own then you have a pool of content to choose from.
The best way to do this is to create something called a marketing and content calendar and then what you can do is look at the things that you’re going to be offering throughout the year such as what products and services you are going to be offering, and then creating small chunks of this product to deliver free content that offers a part solution and then leads into the next logical step which is buying your product or service.
A content creation system is then built through automating this content, such as scheduling out social media posts for the week or even the month and using a similar process for your blog and then scheduling it out to your email newsletter.
Which of these business systems does your business use?