Get Every
Department On Board for
Increasing Profit | Does
the supervisor of your mail room understand how the department
makes money for the company? Does your administrative staff
know how to increase the company’s bottom line? It's
easy for employees to begin to view their jobs narrowly, and
forget that they may be able to contribute to the
economic health of the business.
Ask your staff, including managers and supervisors, to
compile a checklist of ways that each department can meet —
and exceed — the company’s profit projections. If they
know to look for, your employees will come up with
dozens of suggestions.
Here are just a
few:
< Devise a way
to estimate the turnaround time for each project or
assignment — for example, collecting receivables — and set
reasonable deadlines.
< Don’t base
your credit terms solely on your customers’ payment
histories. Consider adopting a broader policy that enables
you to tighten, or relax, your credit terms according to the
company’s cash flow needs.
< Generate and
send invoices while orders are being prepared for
shipment, not afterward. Faster invoicing usually means
faster payment.
< Make sure
invoices are accurate and easy to read. Mistakes will not
only delay payment but may send customers to your
competitors.
< Develop tools
to measure, analyze and project the productivity of both
labor and equipment.
< Don’t assign
projects to employees who are overqualified for the tasks.
Get the job done for the lowest possible payroll cost.
< Make sure
every customer is aware of all the products and services
your company provides. Is it possible that customers are
shopping elsewhere because they aren’t aware that you carry
what they need?
Once your employees understand how they can contribute to
the bottom line, higher profits will be close behind.
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