I have found that when you bundle your products, operations, and customer service together in a consistent and unified way success happens! You must pay attention to all the pieces of the puzzle.
Consistent products require having quality as a goal. In food, the products must never deviate across each batch. They must look the same and taste consistent as well. The consumer has an expectation based on their past experiences in dealing with your products. You must make sure not to disappoint them.
Operations is a critical component of prosperity. The internal staff needs to work together as one. IBM was seen as a paragon of virtue decades ago. Everyone spoke the same language. The team worked seamlessly together. The customer felt the parts were interchangeable which translated into the feeling that you were always getting the support you required.
Customer service is an important piece of external operations. The customer needs to feel that they are always being heard and that their issues are being resolved to the best of the company’s ability. When operations don’t work together, the result is a disjointed effort with the customer not feeling heard and work taking longer than anticipated because everyone is doing their own thing.
The final piece of this puzzle involves marketing. When you tell your story of why you started your business and what you want out of the business it becomes visible to everyone.
This means you will constantly be evaluated on what you do versus what you say you are. Any deviation from your stated goal means you are letting down your customers as well as your staff. Always make sure you are who you say you are. Keeping your word helps attract the right people to work for you as well as ensures their message to the customer is delivered how you desire it to be.
When all the pieces are working together sales and profits grow and everyone wants to be a part of the success.
