One of the biggest challenges a new business owner faces is finding and keeping good employees. Many small business owners fail to recognize that their sales staff and office managers will be some of the first customers they encounter. Therefore, it is essential to develop a personal rapport with your sales staff. By taking the time to personally know your employees, you’ll develop a trust and loyalty that will benefit the business for many years to come. Here are a few common sizing mistakes that new business owners make that can lead to bad relationships with your sales staff and office management:
Comparing the Costs of New Business Sales Employees vs. Employee Discounts: Unless you are bringing in new business from scratch, you cannot afford to have your employees’ cost-ineffective. If you think that a new employee discount is going to save you money, you’re dead wrong. Most discount packages actually come with an annual cost that exceeds several hundred dollars per year. This high employee compensation expense is why so many new business owners choose to leave their employer to find a job with another company. Although this may seem like a good idea at the time, you’re unlikely to see a significant decrease in your employee’s compensation on a yearly basis.
Comparison Shopping for Business Coupons: One of the biggest mistakes that new business owners make is choosing a low cost coupon that offers no benefits or incentives. You must also expect to pay hefty surcharges if you want to use your business credit card to purchase items or services. Compare the cost of the employee discounts, perks, and incentives offered by all your competitors. Your new business credit card purchase will likely result in higher costs and less flexibility in managing your finances.
Hiring Your New Business Sales Staff Before Their Full Qualifications Have been Applying for Jobs: When you finally get a new employee, you typically expect that they will immediately begin filling out new employee forms and doing customer service duties. Unfortunately, most new employees don’t immediately become productive. You should continue to track their performance at least one month after they’ve started working with your company.
Not Retaining Existent Business Sales Staff: When you hire a new employee, you typically expect that they will immediately start filling out new business forms and taking customer service duties. Unfortunately, most new employees don’t become as productive as you’d like over the first few weeks. It usually takes about six months or so for most people to become accustomed to the business operations and to the different techniques that are required to effectively sell products and services to new customers. If you don’t maintain good employee sales skills, you may be forced to let go of your productive new employee just because he or she didn’t maintain consistent levels of performance.
Avoid Costly Mistakes With Hiring New Employees: One of the most common mistakes that new business owners make when it comes to hiring new business staff members is making hiring decisions without carefully evaluating the skills and experience of the people they’re considering. For example, it’s not uncommon for some business owners to hire someone who has little to no experience in selling, even though that person was interested in working in business sales. Likewise, it’s not uncommon for business owners to hire new employees who are clueless about how to use the company’s computer systems. These mistakes can cost you money and distract you from making important decisions that could lead to huge profits for your business. It’s important to have an honest and detailed evaluation of the skills and experience of your prospective employees before you make any major business decisions.