Why do some companies make more money than others?
In many fields of activity, in BtoB or BtoC, some companies perform better than their neighbours, and it is not just a question of size! It is a question of many things that may seem obvious or insignificant, but which together can have a strong impact on the productivity of a company.
We have listed for you 5 of these essential points to optimise your company's turnover...
1. Know your market
Knowing your market is an obvious point, perhaps, but one that is not necessarily applied in practice.
There are two main reasons for this:
It is easy to lose sight of the basics when you are immersed in your daily business.
Your market evolves! Knowing your market well is not a one-off practice but an element to be worked on continuously.
It is, however, an essential aspect: knowing your market will enable you to define the customers to target, the way in which you will position yourself in relation to your competitors, and to adapt to changes in your sector of activity.
2. Offer products or services that meet the needs of customers
Research and statistics are important in defining an offer, but the reality of the market sometimes brings its own laws.
You may think that a certain product or service will be your flagship offer... and end up discovering that the public is generally oriented towards a second product or service that you didn't necessarily think of putting forward. This is more common than you might think and you need to be aware of it so that you can adapt when the time comes.
Keep the reality of the market in mind to ensure that you provide an offer that is in line with demand. To do this, you can observe, analyse and even interview your current and prospective customers, to better understand their needs and issues.
3. Responding to a request at the right time
Adapting to demand is important. But, as we have seen, demand is changing and today's demand will not necessarily be tomorrow's. So it is essential to arrive and be ready at the right time. It is therefore essential to arrive and be ready at the right time.
How can you be sure you are targeting the right demand at the right time? On the one hand, by identifying your maximum added value, the central point where you defy all competition, which sets you apart. On the other hand, by analysing the target audience that would most need this added value.
A classic example of this: in the 1990s, Apple, faced with strong competition from Microsoft in the computer sector, decided to move towards more design-oriented devices and other markets such as music (with the iPod and iTunes). The brand was able to identify the needs of the public and to focus on areas where it could offer real added value compared to its competitors (more technical computers for a niche audience, and the music market, which was undergoing a major transformation with the arrival of the Internet in homes).
4. Having the right people in the right places
Hiring a new employee costs 1 to 3 times more than keeping a person in his or her job. And a person who is not suited to a job will not do an adequate job. As a result, either the employee will stay in his or her position, without any satisfaction and gradually losing interest, or he or she will be dismissed sooner or later. And this applies as much to a bad employee in the right place as to a good employee in the wrong place.
Hence the importance of aiming for the right things and appointing the right people to the right places. This will make the work more efficient and the performance more effective.
5. Reduce the effort required for maximum gain
The success of a business can be determined by details. Any saving of time or effort, however small, contributes to the overall improvement of a company, and therefore to optimising its performance.
Establishing clear and rapid means of communication, defining a hierarchy of priorities for everyone, setting up processes to transmit information and know-how efficiently, are all tools for improving the functioning of your company, and therefore its turnover.
Be careful not to go overboard. For example, it may seem like a good idea to multiply the number of communication tools (email, SMS, dedicated tool for assigning tasks, etc.). But it can also lose your employees. Which tool should they use to report this or that information? The choice causes hesitation, and hesitation wastes time.
Also, in the other direction, all these means of communication can scatter your employees. They must always be on the lookout for their email, their phone, their tools, to check that they haven't missed an important message.
The idea is to find the right balance to minimise the daily effort and achieve the best possible gain.
We hope that these 5 key points will help you to optimise your business and increase your turnover. Of course, these points must be part of an overall optimisation strategy and cannot transform your company in isolation. They are all details, often neglected, that can effectively initiate improvement work.
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