The Secret is the System

Part 1 of a 2 Part Series

By Howard Partridge

In last month’s column, I talked about “GPS” – getting you from where you are in your business to where you want to go.  GPS stands for Goals (where you’re going), Plans (how you’ll get there), and Systems (the vehicles that will take you there). 

Your business is a vehicle.  If you have more than one business, you have more than one vehicle.  A vehicle is a system or a set of systems. 

My good friend Michael Gerber, the world’s #1 small business expert according to Inc. Magazine, says “the secret is the system”.  He recognized that all phenomenally successful businesses have effective systems. 

If you have staff, you are probably familiar with the story of “Somebody, Everybody, and Nobody”:

Somebody was asked to do something that was the job of Everybody.  Everybody thought that Somebody was going to do it but Nobody did it.  When Nobody did it, Everybody asked why Somebody didn’t do it.  Somebody said it was the job of Everybody.  Everybody said it was Nobody’s job, therefore, Nobody did it.

Can you relate to this story?  Even if you don’t have staff, systems are critical to your business.  Here’s why -

• • The key to profitable growth

Have you ever seen companies that grow quickly only to discover that more money is going out than is coming in?  The bigger you get without systems, the more money is going out the door in reinventing every day.

• • Employees perform better

When your employees don’t have to depend on you to direct their every move because they have a system to work in, their performance increases.

• • Fewer surprises

Have you noticed that human beings do weird things?  The stuff people come up with sometimes is mind-boggling.  Like the time one of my clients had an employee who wrecked a company truck.  Instead of calling the owner and letting him know, he hid the truck behind his house and didn’t show up for work the next day.  Of course my client didn’t have systems in place then.  Now he does.  Don’t leave it to your employees to try and figure out the best thing to do.  Have a system.

• • Keeps the owner in line

I don’t know about you but I like to change things, update them, and try something new from time to time (okay, okay, maybe a little more often than that!).  As the owner, you may like to tinker with the system or decide which part of the system you feel like using that day.  You must be the example and follow the procedures yourself if you want your staff to follow them.

Many years ago in my service business, I went out to do an on-site presentation for a prospective client.  I assumed that the client wouldn’t buy and did not write up a proposal.  Instead, I just quoted a verbal price and left.  Sometime later, the prospect called to have the work done.  My salesperson looked high and low for the paperwork and finally in frustration asked the prospect if she was absolutely sure that our company was indeed the one that did the presentation. 

“Oh yes,” she said.  “A man drove up in a Lexus, looked around, and told me how much it would be!”  Of course my sales agent knew exactly who she was talking about—me, the owner; the one who decided not to follow the system that day! And of course there’s another lesson there too; don’t judge a prospect; do the proposal!

If you like to change things around and you have a team, they will be confused if you don’t inform them beforehand.  In addition, customers may also become confused.  When you change something, be sure to communicate it and update the system.

• • A consistent service experience

When you have a system, the customer knows exactly what to expect. McDonald’s is the “poster child” for systems because you get the same hamburger in Tokyo as you do in Paducah, Kentucky.  It may not be the best hamburger, but it’s the same hamburger.  It’s consistent because they have a system.

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Howard Partridge, President of Phenomenal Products, Inc., is the author of 7 Secrets of a Phenomenal L.I.F.E. and 5 Secrets of a Phenomenal Business.  You can contact Howard by phone at 281-634-0404 or visit his website at www.HowardPartridge.com.