The 2013 catalyst to growing your bottom line

Transcription

1 Whitepaper The 2013 catalyst to growing your bottom line The 7 part guide to success About the guide Achieving 20% growth year on year is the hallmark of a high growth business ( This level of growth would satisfy most ambitious organisations but achieving and sustaining growth of this nature is challenging, not least in today s changeable climate. Despite the turbulent economic climate of recent years, positively, 33% of firms are more confident about their economic prospects for 2013, compared with the previous year (ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor Q3 2012). In addition, confidence among SMEs has held up better than among large firms. Implementing measures so your organisation works smarter, does not necessarily mean that your business will have to work harder to grow its bottom line. The insight to make sound business decisions could be the catalyst to make 2013 the year of record growth for your organisation. This guide looks to provide 7 steps to growing your bottom line.

2 1. Work smarter not harder 53% of organisations are looking to achieve greater insight in to how their teams are spending their time (IRIS Accounting & Business Solutions survey, 2011). When was the last time your organisation thoroughly investigated and evaluated its business processes? Could you accurately state where time is being spent or which areas yield the greatest return? Could you honestly claim that all of your teams are working to optimum efficiency? The adoption of a secure and reliable software solution could enable your organisation to improve its productivity by up to 47% through streamlining processes and cutting costs. Many organisations simply spend too much time number crunching and dedicate little time for basic analysis, performance reviews or business planning. As a result, many organisations fail to capitalise on business opportunities, simply through a lack of time and resource. Adopting a software solution that automates everyday business processes will transform the productivity of your team. The eradication of unnecessary manual processes from multiple entries of the same information to repeated consolidations, spreadsheet collation and report running will provide your staff with the opportunity to be redeployed to other valuable tasks and enable your organisation to work smarter, not harder in the New Year ahead.

3 2. Accelerate your access to key data through business intelligence Business Intelligence (BI) is at the forefront of any forward-thinking organisation and the power it instils clearly distinguishes those who thrive in the business arena. If employed effectively, BI provides organisations with the tools to seek new business opportunities and recognise emerging trends that may be hidden away in data sources. BI tools empower users by collating, maintaining and distributing knowledge that enables new opportunities to be sought, effective strategies to be implemented and assists in aiding long-term stability. Rapidly changing market conditions, cut-throat competition, escalating costs and rising customer expectations all contribute to a harder playing field. The toughest players have the ability to make swift decisions based on live information to react agilely to changing business conditions. By equipping decision-makers with a live stream of relevant facts and figures, trends will easily be identified, you will be able to take action against any threats and opportunities can be maximised.

4 3. The power to view, interpret and manage your data Advances in technologies are taking the power of business intelligence one step further. Interactive, intelligent browser based tools are fuelling organisations to work more efficiently by transforming the way KPIs are presented and delivered. Providing a new level of management analysis, BI browser based tools enable users to analyse at a detailed or top-level business view on core financials, stock, customers or suppliers by drilling-down to the core data. As data volumes accelerate, more intelligent means of collating, managing and interpreting data are vital to rapidly respond to changing conditions and access to this information through familiar tools is critical to business success. Key decision makers need access to easily digestible, live information, at all times and today s climate has demanded that BI tools need to advance further to deliver this information.

5 4. Automation It is a given that as time is a precious commodity, it should not be wasted searching for information. A good software solution will deliver the information required, in your preferred format, to the application of your choice. In recent years, software automation has replaced the hand crafted reports and spreadsheets leading to the automated creation of month end management reports. In addition, automated alerts have been used to leverage online business transactions, further driving down costs and eliminating manual intervention. Technological advancements have seen the power of automation reach a whole new level. The use of applications or apps as they are more commonly known are taking productivity and efficiency one step further by securely delivering key information to all your connected devices. Apps are enabling users to view key information with the added ability to drill-down to the original source document. They can also distribute and deliver key management information by enabling users to see their own personal list of live reports or access tailored management reports. The automated access of key business information has never been so accessible and this functionality gives organisations even greater power to rapidly react to changing circumstances.

6 5. Agile planning and forecasting Streamlined and automated processes enable managers to undertake more detailed analysis of performance trends, invest more insight into adhering to budget criteria and improve forecasting. The automation and supply of KPIs provides the catalyst for decision makers to constantly monitor performance and refine strategy where appropriate to make sure objectives in the business plan are met. To remain agile, regular monitoring of the budget is critical to track progress and ensure no inaccuracies occur. If your organisation handles stock, you will be aware of the dangers of stock piling, especially for perishable or items with a shelf life. Having cash tied up in stock is a dangerous tactic when cash flow is so important. Rather than relying on a crystal ball, organisations should automate the stock forecasting process with a software solution that can predict sales and usage of stock so that they do not hold more stock than required. By analysing the stock history, an intuitive software solution can recognise trends and fluctuations to ensure that stock levels fall within the desired optimum range and anticipate demand at peak times. This will reduce the amount of cash held in unnecessary high levels of stock, increase sales by ensuring the right and correct amount of products are in stock at the right times, reduce overheads in accordance with stock management and ensure staff achieve maximum productivity by having the right stock at the right time. An intelligent solution will highlight any products that are selling slowly so discounts can be applied to ensure stock levels are reduced quickly.

7 6. Happy customers Every customer likes to feel special and, whether you have thousands or just a handful, it is important to treat everyone individually. The delivery of personalised customer service can make all the difference and encourage customer loyalty and retention especially when this extends to offering favoured customers special discounts. An intelligent solution can help by automating the application of discounts and apply the discount to special customers. Flexible systems will provide the option to add more incentives such as BOGOF or buy three or more and receive a 10% discount. A good solution should also be able to offer complementary products to further drive sales. Customers like to feel special and it is the depth of information that will provide that all important competitive advantage. Every member of staff, whether in the office or on the move, should have access to a unified view that incorporates every aspect of a customer s dealings with the organisation ensuring that the business is 100% focused on the preferences and needs of customers. A fully integrated CRM system will empower your sales pipeline by mapping the whole sales process, run marketing campaigns and telesales activities, produce quotes and sales orders, improving every point of contact you have with a customer by keeping your staff in the know. Regular communication is also key to keeping customers happy. Engaging in social networking activities can help minimise spend but maximise exposure to your customers. Social networking provides the parameters to build better relationships with your customers and is a great way of sharing information. 57% of consumers whom have a problem with a product will search online for a solution as a first port of call (2012 Sitel study). Therefore engaging in social media can increase customer satisfaction. Twitter for example, enables you to share real-time information with a specific audience before it is broadcast to the world making you more dynamic and reactive to change. Increasingly organisations are equipping their support teams with a Twitter account so that they can inform customers if a technical issue arises, giving them the opportunity to send positive messages to inform customers that the problem is being fixed and when it is resolved, avoiding customer frustration. As social media can spread bad news quickly, having the platform to address any negative comments promptly and in a constructive way can gain your organisation respect and demonstrate that you take customer feedback seriously. Social media also gives you the platform to inform customers when a new product or service is available. It is worth noting that any kind of social media activity does need to be carefully managed and therefore requires a significant investment in time to handle appropriately.

8 7. Happy Employees In Q3 2012, just over one in ten businesses reported the availability of management skills to be a greater challenge than 12 months ago this is up from just 5% in Q (ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor Q3 2012). This implies that sourcing candidates with the right skills is ever more challenging, and this does not even take into account the financial implications of recruiting and hiring employees. Therefore it makes sense to build a happy and rewarding work environment where employees can flourish. Employees tend to be more productive and creative when they are content and there are many best practice techniques that organisations can employ to ensure staff retention is kept to a maximum. Evidence shows that employees are more likely to stay with an organisation if they can see that there is room for growth and advancement. A clear and defined development strategy and regular career mentoring is likely to make employees more inclined to stay at a company. In addition, training development programmes and regular communication also influence an employee s happiness. However it is worth noting that a recent study found that workers estimate that they spend 100 hours a year dealing with pointless s (Business News Daily, Sep 2012) and would rather they spend their time concentrating on their jobs. Therefore although regular communication is important, it should be kept concise and relevant. Other factors that were deemed important to employees were the opportunities of flexible and remote working which a good software solution will be able to facilitate through a secure and reliable hosted environment.

9 In summary By employing a combination of mobile technology with the automation of management and regulatory reporting and taking advantage of the delivery of proactive alerts to everyday applications, organisations can reduce overheads and attain the levels of productivity and economies of scale required to meet customer demand and fight off competition. Accurate real-time information is the bedrock of a successful business. The exploitation of new available technologies enables organisations to be more proactive, reduce costs and embrace new business opportunities, whilst minimising the impact of potential threats and risks. Let 2013 be the year you grow your bottom line.

10 About IRIS Accounting & Business Solutions With over 30 years experience, more than 50,000 users and revenues over 22million, IRIS Accounting & Business Solutions is a leading provider of market-leading finance and business management software solutions. Our comprehensive portfolio of multi award-winning products, for small businesses right through to corporate organisations, includes: IRIS Exchequer accounting and financial management software IRIS Chorus ERP software IRIS Siclops and IRIS Service Director field service management software IRIS ProjectMinder project, resource, timesheet and expense management software IRIS SharpOwl professional services automation software IRIS Hiremate hire management software IRIS Accounting & Business Solutions flagship products are also underpinned by our range of managed, hosted and web-based solutions, giving customers even greater flexibility to choose the solution that best suits their individual requirements. Customer focus is our key priority. Our class leading products, support and service quality is demonstrated in our customer retention rate of 96%, year on year amongst the highest in the industry. IRIS Accounting & Business Solutions is a division of CSH, one of the UK s largest private software houses providing award-winning solutions to growing UK businesses. For further information, please contact IRIS Accounting & Business Solutions info@irisenterprise.co.uk IRIS Exchequer is a trading name of IRIS Enterprise Software Ltd which is part of the CSH Group of companies. IRIS is a trademark of IRIS Software Group Limited and CSH is a trading name of Computer Software Holdings Limited. IRIS Enterprise Software Ltd All rights reserved.