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Systemizing Your Business - Don’t Bother, It’s Too Much Work!

February 26th, 2010

In honor of Fabulous February we have a gift for you. If you’ve heard me speak then you know there are 3 core systems I believe are essential to every business.

Since I know how important these are, I’m giving away a copy of these 3 systems to one lucky winner.

Oh and I should mention that you are already in the running because we’ll be choosing a lucky winner from our newsletter list.

Know anyone who loves a good raffle? Please pass this on to them so they can sign up for a chance to win. That’s the rule. You have to be on the list in order to have a chance to win. Just send them to www.processprodigy.com and they’ll get a bunch of cool tools and a chance to win even more. We’re drawing on Feb 28 so hurry and make sure they sign up before then.

Systemizing Your Business - Don’t Bother, It’s Too Much Work!

Thoughts from Sandye Linnetz, Systems Coach and Goddess

You don’t have to systemize your business. I would completely understand if you decide that it is too much work. It does take time - and, let’s face it, you are busy. It does take effort - and you already have so much on your plate. It may be frustrating - and who needs more of that? And it may force you to take a good hard look at what isn’t working in your business right now - and, hey, you already know that, don’t you? Why add more upset to life?You don’t have to address any of the problems you are currently experiencing, plug up any of the “holes” that are allowing customers and revenue to slip through the cracks or find any of the money that is hiding in your business. You don’t have to streamline the way your business works or even ensure that things are done the same way every time, by every one. Look, you don’t even have to clarify job descriptions or procedures. Things do eventually get done, don’t they? And, hey, so what if some things get done more than once - or not at all - that’s kinda like a checks and balances system, isn’t it? Maybe everything will just take care of itself. Yep, and maybe cigarette smoke and fried foods are really healthy for us!

If you take a week off… will your company be okay? Can you walk away for a vacation or an emergency knowing that everything at work will run smoothly and as you have designed it be?
Does Your Follow Up Fall Short? Do you have a standard follow-up system in place to track prospects, clients and vendors?
Is all of the info you need in a place where you can find it? Can you easily access phone numbers, dates, numbers… all pertinent information? Could all with a “need to know” in your company easily access your databases?
Have you ever forgotten to bill a client? Do you even know if you have? Are your billing and accounts receivables accurate, up to date, easily accessible and fool proof?
Do you have a plan? Or is it more fun to “fly by the seat of your pants”?

Plan? What plan? It has been shown that planning pays dividends as high as 10 to 1. Nice odds, huh? It does take time and effort to plan, but those who do, excel far above those who don’t.

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© 2010 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc.
Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following:

Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.

Posted in Delegation, Uncategorized, business, systemizing, teamwork | No Comments »

I’m giving away essential systems

February 18th, 2010

Ah yes, so many projects, so little time. Lots of stuff happening here in Process Prodigy land these days. People ask me all the time how we get so much done. Really it comes down to focus and where to start. Which is why this week’s article is about just that, where to start and what to do first.

Remember it’s “Fabulous February” and for the next few weeks we are running some of our most famous articles that are “pin-up” worthy. We want you to print them and then pin them up on your wall so you can look over them for the whole year to help you keep your business growing and making money.

But we have one more surprise. If you’ve heard me speak then you know there are 3 core systems I believe are essential to every business. Since I know how important these are, I’m giving away a copy of these 3 systems to one lucky winner. Oh and I should mention that you are already in the running because we’ll be choosing a lucky winner from our newsletter list. Know anyone who loves a good raffle? Please pass this on to them so they can sign up for a chance to win. That’s the rule. You have to be on the list in order to have a chance to win. Just send them to www.processprodigy.com and they’ll get a bunch of cool tools and a chance to win even more. We’re drawing on Feb 28 so hurry and make sure they sign up before then.

Enjoy,

Beth

In honor of Fabulous February we have a gift for you. If you’ve heard me speak then you know there are 3 core systems I believe are essential to every business. Since I know how important these are, I’m giving away a copy of these 3 systems to one lucky winner.

Oh and I should mention that you are already in the running because we’ll be choosing a lucky winner from our newsletter list.

Systemizing Your Business - Help, Where Do I Start!

Thoughts from Sandye Linnetz, Systems Coach and Goddess

You have a goal and you had a plan and oops, it’s not working. Just when you thought you were on top of things… you can’t find that number, no one sent that invoice, you keep reinventing the wheel, so and so didn’t finish the whatchamacallit and whosits didn’t show up for the meeting. All those balls you’ve been juggling are falling to the ground and you find yet another “something” that somehow slipped through the cracks in your beloved organization. You know you need some systems, don’t you?

What’s a busy business person to do? That I can answer in one word: Systemize! You knew that, didn’t you? Your systems are at the core of the way things work (or don’t work) in your organization. They are the steps, the order, the routine… the processes you follow (or don’t follow) to get things done. With appropriate and effective systems in place you and your team can be organized; work more efficiently, stay on top of everything that’s going on and hit the ground running without wondering where you are going. Having systems is what keeps your team in agreement about what needs to be done, when, how and by whom. If things are not running as smoothly as you’d like… don’t immediately fire the team, start by examining your systems and processes. Even a great team can’t operate at optimum level without a game plan and plays.

Number one question is: Where do we start?

Answer: Get the team into a huddle - choose a “problem area” and ask and discuss the following questions:

1. What triggers this process to start? (What happens? Is there a phone call, an order, a complaint, a deadline to address?)

2. What is the first thing that happens? Then what?

3. What is our current process? How are we doing this right now? This will allow you to see where you might want to make changes, to identify the “holes in the what is currently being done and to capture the great things you are doing so you can delegate and continue on with them.

4. What is the first thing I do? (What do others do? What else could we do?)

5. What does that first thing we do trigger next?

6. What has to happen in order for me to start doing this? Then what?

7. What if “this” happens - then what? What if “that” happens - then what? (Think in terms of “if-then”; consider all possible alternatives. For example, what if the “answer is yes“, what will you do? no? later? not sure? Be prepared with an appropriate action for every possible situation.

8. What would our “perfect world” scenario look like? This will allow you to see what could be and get you on the path to creating it. Brainstorm with your team to develop new products, services or simply to think things through. No team? You might need a system for hiring… or at least networking.

Create a map to follow (that’s your system) so that you (or you and your team) will have turn by turn directions that anyone can follow. Wait… if anyone can follow the plan and get the job done - your way - YOU CAN TAKE A VACATION! Bon Voyage!

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© 2010 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc.
Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following:

Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

It’s a Keeper

February 11th, 2010

With Valentine’s day just around the corner, love is in the air. Sadly I don’t have a Valentine this year. If you happen to know any nice Jewish men, send them my way. J

Well, I don’t have some hunky guy to cuddle up to, but I do have two brand new babies to cuddle up to. My brother and sister-in-law’s twin girls made their entry into the world last Saturday. My mom says that they are the cutest babies she’s ever seen. She didn’t want to be biased, so she confirmed that with my dad. See, a second opinion is always a good thing. New mom, dad and babies are all doing well – tired, but well.

In celebration of love, we’ve decided that this is now “Fabulous February” and for the next few weeks we are running some of our most famous articles that are “pin-up” worthy. We want you to print them and then pin them up on your wall so you can look over them for the whole year to help you keep your business growing and making money.

Enjoy, Beth

BethandPenny

Here I am in with my niece, baby Penny about an hour after she was born. She and her twin sister Lily arrived last Saturday on their father’s birthday. I’d say that was quite a birthday present!

Thanks to a great team and a set of systems, the business is not dependent on me so I’ll be spending a lot of time with those babies. Do you have time to do everything you want? No, then I want to talk to you. Send an email to Heathyr@processprodigy.com she’ll book you some time to talk to us so we can figure out how to get you working less and making more money.

Are You Hard to Work With?

By Beth Schneider

I was searching through my personal email the other day when up popped an email from a local spa. Thinking it was a good time for a massage (OK, is there ever a bad time for a massage?) I took a look to see what they were offering. They laid out what seemed to be a great membership program. Discounts, special offers, bring your friends. Since my friends and I often do “girls days” at the spa, I was interested and without even seeing a price was seriously considering buying.

Yeah for them, they succeeded in getting my attention. But then the problems began.

The message said, “cli*ck here” for more information and the application, but there was no link.

A little frustrated, but not ready to give up, I looked for an email address - nope, not there.

Well how about a website link? Nope, zilch, nada. Just the web address imbedded in a graphic file that I couldn’t do anything with.

So I let out a big sigh, opened my internet browser and actually hand typed the web address of the spa. Would you ever go this far? Of course you wouldn’t, certainly most people would have given up a loooong time ago. I was just feeling persistent.

Now determined to find out something I started clicking around their site. I checked out their services, well what I could see of them anyway, since the page was supposed to scroll and didn’t so all I could see was about 5% of what they offered. And when I finally found a place called special offers, the music went off in my head as finally my search for the golden membership package would be found, right? Survey says, WRONG. Strike three. I was done.

After closing out their site, I even thought about replying to the email, but noticed it was some weird address that obviously was created by their email blaster and I figured no one would ever see it. So I deleted the email. Game over.

The question then becomes, how do we learn from the mistakes of others? When you send out a mailer, an email, a letter, a proposal, an offer or anything, are you easy to work with?

You work so hard at getting their interest; do you complete the process and make sure there is an actual way to buy from you? To contact you? To find out more?

One of the “Made it to a Million” mentors my Outrageously Effective Systems members learn from talked about the importance of making it easy to do business with you. So consider how you might make it easier for people to work with you.

==>Can you offer a payment plan?

==>Can you offer free shipping?

==>Can you offer an easy way to contact you? Like say always sending your phone number in an email signature, always including a web address in your emails.

==>Can you automate so the client does less work? Like setting up forms or filling out information for them.

Make a quick list of five things you can do to make working with you easier. Then tape that list to your wall so you keep those items in the front of your mind every time you interact with your clients or leads. Keeping those few things in mind will make sure you avoid making the same mistake as that spa. Why spend all that time and energy enticing people in, just to push them away?

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What Michael Bublé Taught Me About Systems

February 4th, 2010

A big thank you to all of you who took advantage of our going away sale last week. It’s sad to say goodbye to my very first program, but it was time. We’ve got some great new programs coming your way this year plus we’re working on a new look and feel for our website. Stay tuned for the big reveal.

Ever have one of those weeks when you can’t remember what day it is. That’s how this last week has been for me. After a few days in Palm Springs, friends coming to town for the Grammys, a seminar and my sister-in-law heading to the hospital (she’s about to deliver twin girls any day now) I’m ready for a nap. Good thing Jami, my senior consultant, is running the calls for our Outrageously Effective Systems program.

Even after all these years of focusing on systems, I can still get a surprise. I learned a systems lesson from music mega star, Michael Bublé. Check out this week’s article to see what that could possibly be.

Enjoy,

Beth

Process Prodigy

Here I am in Palm Springs with several mastermind buddies and clients. I highly recommend joining a group, the ideas and support are worth a million bucks.

What I Learned About Systems from Michael Bublé

By Beth Schneider

I’m a big fan of Michael Bublé, so when a 2-hour drive to Palm Springs popped up on my calendar I was excited to pop in the new album and sing along . . .alone, in the privacy of my sound proof car of course.

Like every good downloadable product, there were a couple of bonuses that came with the album. A video and instrumental version of one of the songs were part of the package.

About 2.5 hours into my 2-hour trip (gotta love L.A. traffic) the instrumental version of the song popped up and I began to sing along. Then I realized something.

I had now listened to that same song at least a dozen times. If you had asked me if I knew all the words I would emphatically said YES. But suddenly there I was in the middle of the second verse - totally stumped.

So what does this tell us about systems? I hear all the time:

==> “It’s mainly just me so I don’t have to write anything done.”

==> “Gee it’s really not time for me to put things on paper, we just all know it all.”==> “We’ll get everything straightened out and then we’ll document our systems.”

==> “We all know what to do, so we’ll worry about the system later.”

Just like I thought I knew all the words, many business owners make the assumption that they and their team members know all the steps. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you know it all, but actually you end up forgetting steps, singing the same verse twice and wondering why things seem to be falling through the cracks.

Take action right now. Take 1 task you do over and over again, like paying bills, talking to new clients, asking for referrals, launching a product, sending a newsletter, etc and write out all the steps you go through. You’ll be surprised at what you accidentally leave off or can’t remember.

And if you decide you are tired of singing the wrong words, we’re happy to help. Just give our office a call 888-584-5452 ex 707.

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Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following:
Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.

Posted in Uncategorized, business, communication, management, planning | No Comments »

Systemizing Your Business and Your Life: Keep the Change

January 29th, 2010

Thoughts from Sandye Linnetz, Systems Coach and Goddess

Of course we need systems and processes. We need them in our personal lives and we need them in business. Without them we operate in a helter-skelter, what do I do now kind of manner. With them in place we know what to do and when to do it. They are what enable us to be efficient and accurate and keep those important details from slipping through the cracks of life. And we all hate it when stuff slips through, don’t we?

We all have systems that we use every day. Our bodies have “natural” systems like digestive, nervous and reproductive; it would be tough to operate without those. Some we copied from someone else… some we made up because we needed them… and some we don’t even realize we follow.

There are life systems that you use because, hey, that’s the way your mother did it. There are systems you created for yourself because you don’t want to make that mistake again. You most likely have a morning system for waking up and getting ready for the day, a get dressed system, a make (or get) the coffee system and probably even a system for reading the paper or finding out what happened overnight across the world. Those are systems that we don’t even realize we have and use.

So, for arguments sake, let’s agree that your life is chock full of systems. Some work really well for you. Some need work… You even know where they’re missing in your life, don’t you? Why is it, then, that we know we need them and we still don’t have them?

Here’s the reason it seems so tough to create systems… ready? Life isn’t a constant step-by-step because it is constantly changing. That’s the nature of the beast. Nothing stays the same. Everything changes –all the time. So, although it may appear that everything is the same, it’s NOT. And when you’ve designed a system that doesn’t make allowances for change, your system doesn’t work. When you create a system based on things always going a “certain way”, you are doomed to failure. A REALLY great system has change built into it. It’s all about the if this happens, then do that and, if that happens then do this.

Of course we need systems and processes. We need them in our personal lives and we need them in business. However, things change and we need systems that prepare us to handle the changes. Change needs to be built into all of our systems.

You are the expert on what’s “missing” in your personal life. Take stock. Hire a Life Coach if you want guidance, just make a list – a mental list if you don’t want to write it out – of all the possible things that could change and alter your system accordingly. Then give yourself options based on what “might” occur. Keep change in mind and put those personal systems into place.

When it comes to your business life, the money and free time are in your systems. Really, they are. When the system works, the business works. When the business works, it grows… and so do your bank accounts and free time. I know how important both of those things are to me, and I assume to you as well, so get to work creating the systems that are missing or needing to be tweaked in your company. Consider the possibilities and your options. And, remember: No matter how you chose to create your systems… you get to “KEEP THE CHANGE”!

Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com , along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.

Posted in Process Design, Profitability, problem solving, systemizing | No Comments »

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