What if you could increase your response rates and reduce costs without investing a fortune? How would that help your business grow? Would you do it, even if it were unpleasant?
If you are like me, there are some things you just hate doing. The thing I hate most is housekeeping. I’m not talking about making beds, washing dishes, and doing laundry (even though they are on my top ten don’t like doing list.) Organizational housekeeping (and the lack thereof) is the topic of this post.
Housekeeping is required in every area of your organization.
Without it, growth, productivity, profitability, and morale suffer. If you procrastinate too long, everything stops working.
Your business is like a garden. Even if you start out with perfect planting conditions, without maintenance it won’t produce the best vegetables. The weeds start quickly and choke out the plants. You have to remove the weeds and water the plants to keep them growing and producing.
Business housekeeping isn’t fun, but it is necessary. If you haven’t done spring cleaning this year, today is a good day to start. It doesn’t matter where you begin. Here are some areas that need tending:
Customer databases:
- If you have more than one, synchronize them to insure that your customers aren’t receiving duplicate promotions.
- Dedupe all of your customer files. Make sure that there aren’t any duplicated records.
- Update your email information. If you keep email addresses in a separate file, merge them into your primary database.
Computers:
- Delete all unnecessary files. Over time, they consume your hard drive and slow down the system.
- Clean out your old emails. If you need to save them, create a filing system separate from your inbox.
- Perform extensive system maintenance on all of your computers. It will improve performance and the cost is minimal.
Business Offices:
- Sort through your filing system. Eliminate any papers you don’t need.
- Clean out all of the desks. Everyone should clean his or her own space, but some may need encouragement. Motivate them.
- Deep clean your offices. Dust, vacuum, wash windows, and bring in some real plants.
Warehouse:
- Get rid of all obsolete inventory. Donate it to a good cause. It frees up space for exciting new items.
- Clean and reorganize all shelves and work stations.
- Deep clean your warehouse. Dust, sweep, mop, wash windows, and bring in some real plants.
There isn’t much in this post that would rank high on any normal person’s “Gee, I want to do this now” list. But, everything here will make your company a better place to work and shop. And, it’s guaranteed to improve productivity and reduce costs. It’s well worth the pain. Just think of it as sweeping out the old to make room for the new!
How do you keep your company clean and organized?
