Stirring the Pot to Success

For those who haven't realized it yet, I use real life experiences in my writing, education and consulting business. And today is no different :-) As I was preparing lunch, I chopped up my veggies and began sautéing them with some noodles and spices. As I flipped and stirred, I was getting a bit frustrated at the carrots that seemed to not want to come to the top of the dish. How is it so easy for the chefs in the restaurants to flip the food in their pans and make it look so effortless? And then it hit me.... this must be what our small business owners are thinking. How can these big corporations close these deals, get federal funding and support, have advanced marketing scheme and then call themselves 'a company for the people’? Well, I am part of the people.. why isn't my business angelically flying through the air and landing perfectly where I planned it??

Well, let me let you in on a little secret... all businesses are struggling one way or another. Whether it's not hitting their target or simply not being satisfied with the ratings received from their customer base. We all are in the same boat, but the difference is how we are facing these challenges and executing them. This is where we turn to what many companies are doing (and don't be fooled more are doing it than you think) and that is outsourcing. But more specifically BPO or business process outsourcing. It's not about the typical call center initiative or software development project I am talking about. No, working with BPOs is far more than that. As a passionate traveler, let's take a fun example of mine: travel agents.

As a travel agent, your primary goal is to serve your customers to have an amazing experience on their vacation. From booking airfare to hotel accommodations and excursions, you want their dream vacation to be reality. But what many travel agencies don't realize, especially those self-employed companies are that outsourcing is extremely helpful for your business. Working with the right BPO company, you can have them better identify your ideal customers who are in need of a vacation or just browsing. This research process can be tedious for yourself yet fun, exciting and rewarding for the teammates in the BPO company. Then providing to you the 'ideal list' of customers, they can take it further by utilizing your CRM (customer relationship mgmt.) system to begin engaging with these prospects. From sending them appealing material that they created, to responding to posts and updates on various social media platforms driving business to your site, the opportunities are endless in customer engagement. But what is even better is you as the owner can focus on the partnerships with affiliates who can drive long term business to your company. The epitome of killing two birds with one stone. And when the work seems too overwhelming, walks in your resource who helps manage all reservations and follow up with the customer during and after their vacation. This is how these companies are having the perfect landing.?

This concept can be applied to so many different type of business owners. From recruiters who can with BPOs to research candidates and keep their CRM system up to date to consultants needing to better fine tune their prospecting for niche focused services. Let's take it even further and talk about marketing. I personally know how important marketing is for your brand and image. And you don't want to give that out to just anybody. So, as you hold the reins closely, you can still have a BPO assist with various tasks, one that I like to call listening. Listening is so important to marketing and sales nowadays... and that is listening to what your future and existing customers are saying. With so much noise online, it can be tiresome and quite honestly a disappointment when you are trying to understand your future customers. What is real and what isn't and how do you decipher to make better decisions about your company? Working with the right BPO can help you with this. They can be your eyes and ears online and seamlessly report back to you relevant information that can help you better tailor your services or products.?

These are just a few examples of the advantages of working with a BPO and how our fellow small and medium sized businesses can benefit. As a BPO it would be important that you too are painting a clear picture of what you do and what you don't do. How you intend to execute the tasks and what recommendations you already have before the project begins. This is how long-term efficient partnerships work. In our next article, we will discuss some flaws in BPOs and how to distinguish those who execute from those who exaggerate.?

Until next time, keep stirring the pot and see what's hiding in your business options.?

For more insights, feel free to send me a DM or read more about what I do in CIO Views recent publishing 'Top 10 Most Fearless Women in Business in 2022' that I was featured in today!?