Pumpkin scones and lattes are long gone, Christmas lights are starting to twinkle, and as business owners….our accountants are buttoning up the books and our tax professionals are starting to touch base if they have not already. It truly is the best time of the year.
But with all the signs pointing to the end of the year – IT IS NOT OVER. There is still time to squeeze in a few more sales, to “wow” another customer or two, and solidify more of your vendor relationships. Here are some of the things we are currently working on – hopefully a few of these tips will help you!
We have adopted a new platform called CoPilot. It has really stepped up our LinkedIn game as a company. A few months ago, we decided to test it out, and WOW – the amount of conversations and connections we are having is amazing. Honestly, it is overwhelming. We had to slow it down. But, in all honesty, it has been an awesome alternative to in-person networking meetings. The gist of it is to send out connection invitations and messages to specific criteria of people (that you come up with). I have simply been asking, from business owner to business owner, if they can chat for 15 minutes to see what COVID has done to their business landscape and to share tips. I have been amazed by the conversations as well as the new connections I have made. Give it a try!
Here at The It Crowd, we do monthly reports and in these, there is The “Wow” Factor section. This is where we have gone above and beyond our scope of work to help our clients out. While I don’t expect you to all of a sudden start sending out reports to your clients with things you do for them – think about ways that you can surprise and delight your current customers. Do they love cookies or coffee that you can surprise them with? Is there something they have been asking for that you can put a few more hours in and help them out with? If you are in hospitality or retail, is there a small surprise you can leave them with? What is that little “extra” that you can do for customers? This year has been hard for everyone – surprise someone with a little token of appreciation. Need some ideas? Shoot me an email and let’s brainstorm together!
You are only as strong as your relationships; whether this is with your team, your vendors, or your contractors. Over the past few months, we have solidified our outside relationships. We have streamlined our payments by paying on the 15th of each month, sent a templated invoice for our vendors to request payment with, and buttoned up our agreements with these people/companies. The streamlining of our processes with these people and companies has helped them understand our expectations and gives them expectations of ourselves. Wow – so grown up and official 
Attached is our templated invoice to get you started with this step.
Come on guys….YOU CAN DO IT! This year is almost over, but there are still things to do. Take a breath, gulp down some caffeine, and end on a strong note. Email me or give me a call if you need any encouragement! I would love a phone chat if you are up for it!
