How to take your company from

WHERE IT IS

…to the BEST IT CAN BE!

Below is an example of some of the questions that are asked in the questionnaire from seven of the twenty areas of business success. The number of questions in each example are limited and do not represent the complete set of questions actually asked in the full version. However, these examples should give you an idea of the types of questions that are asked, and provide you with an insight into depth of the questioning that is involved throughout the program.

In the actual questionnaire, the people who answer the questions are asked to rate their company's performance in each of the 20 areas being questioned. They are asked “if they do 50% of the things asked about, and do they do them at least 50% of the time. If they can answer “yes” to both of these questions, they mark the box listed “yes”, and if they can't, they mark the box listed “no”.

Even when “yes” is their answer; the company usually has a lot of room for improvement. If you feel brave enough, answer the questions listed in this sampling. Get an idea of where your company really is, and then ask yourself about the possibilities you might have for improvement.

It really doesn’t matter how you do, because the purpose of the “Making It Better Newsletters” is to help you fix the shortcomings or problems in your company. Enjoy the process and let it be a learning experience!

1. Create and maintain a buying standard
When someone needs what you sell, does your company’s name come to mind (in a positive way) before any other?  Is your company different (in a good way) from your competitors, and do your prospects and customers know and understand those differences and agree that doing business with you is clearly the best choice?  Do you have a system in place for educating your customers on how to be a walking billboard for your company? Do you have a company message that promotes your business and sets you apart from the rest?
2. Understanding your customers and keeping them happy
Do your employees understand what your customer wants to feel when doing business with you, and do your customers feel that way when they have concluded their business?  Do your customers have better-than-expected buying experiences? Do they feel gratitude after doing business with you?  Do your customers want to tell others about their positive buying experiences? Does doing business with you make your customers feel better than they did before they did business with you?
3. Effective Management
Do your Managers/Supervisors think like owners rather than Managers/Supervisors?  Would your employees say they look up to your Managers/Supervisors and that they are good examples of true leadership?  Would your Managers/Supervisors say they are good mentors and coaches, and that they are actively helping the people they lead to be the best they can be?  Would you say that your Managers/Supervisors have a self-directed staff that is able to make decisions on their own, and that the Managers/Supervisors do not need to be there to see that things go right?  Would your Managers/Supervisors say that they are actively engaged in making the company better, rather than just maintaining it?
4. Reducing Turnover
Do your employees feel that management and the company have their best interest at heart, and that they are personally interested in their happiness and well-being? If your employees were asked by someone if they liked working for the company and their manager, would they say, “I do” and mean it?  Have your employees been empowered with the information and training they need to answer any customer question so they won’t have to be transferred or put on hold, and can they receive an immediate answer to any customer question by using a reference source accessed from their desk, without having to ask another person for help?  Do your employees believe they can reach their goals working in their present position? Are your managers aware of their goals as they pertain to the company or industry?  Are your employees happy with their current working circumstances? If they were presented with an opportunity to work somewhere else for similar pay, would they rather stay at your company?  Are your employees, through their positions, fulfilling their basic needs, desires and wants?  Do they feel secure, needed and a part of something special?  Do they feel that their work is interesting, and does it provide a feeling of accomplishment in their lives?  Do they have the opportunity through their position to help others and contribute to something of worth?
5. Hiring Right
When interviewing someone for a job, do you use auditions rather than interviews?  Do you avoid asking the common interview questions they are prepared to answer?  Do you put them in a position to demonstrate their skills as they pertain to the position they are seeking?  Do you make a list of the possible problems a person may encounter while serving in the position you are trying to fill?  Do you receive suggestions from those who have held that position in the past?  Do you actively use this list to discover how a candidate would react to the problems on the list?  When you need to hire someone, do you search for needed talent rather than just to fill an empty position?  Do you customize the positions you oversee to produce optimal performance and greater success?  When promoting or hiring someone, do you consider how the candidate has increased the value of that with which they have been entrusted?  Do you ask yourself, “what was the worth (or value) of that with which they were entrusted when they first received their stewardship”?  “What is the value now?"  “Why is the value less, the same or more than it was before their leadership?"  “How did their leadership impact the value of what they were entrusted with?"  If you are promoting from within, do you speak with the people they worked with?  Do you discover if the people they worked with are better off because of them being there?  Were they more productive, positive and successful because they worked with the person you are thinking of promoting?
6. Achieving Greater Profits
The three primary ways of generating more income are increasing "the number of new customers, the frequency of which they buy and the amount they spend”.  Do you have active programs in place to do these three things?  Do you have an active program for contacting past customers and making them attractive offers to have them return when they need what you sell?  Do you have a program in place that continually creates more value in the eyes of your prospects? Are you actively making your products and services more attractive and desirable?  Do you have a program in place that continues to sell what is profitable, but looks at other avenues for creating additional sales?  Do you offer a variety of ways for people to do business with you?  Because one size does not fit all, have you created multiple ways of doing business that will attract different types of people?  Do you offer discounts to those who are willing to buy more?  Do you make it worth their while if they are willing to commit to making multiple purchases, or extending the length of their contract?
7. Finding and Eliminating Profit Wasters
Creating a budget is a plan for spending company money.  A profit-producing program is a program that focuses on generating creative suggestions to make and save money and resources.  Do you have a profit-producing program within your company, and is it on the employee level where it belongs?  Are your employees looking for ways to save your company money and increase profits?  Are your employees coming to work prepared to find profits and reduce waste as part of their daily routine?  Do you have a program in place that identifies ways you may be driving away your customers?  When your customers express frustration, are you finding out what is causing the frustration and fixing the problem, so it doesn’t happen to someone else?  Have you taught your people about time management?  Wasting time is probably the greatest waste of company resources.  Do you have a program in place that generates ideas and helps provide training and motivation for effective time management?  Companies tend to have many resources that are used only some of the time.  Do you have a program in place that correlates these resources with other offices, businesses, customers, etc., so these resources can produce profits rather than taking up space?