Efficiency should be a watchword in any business. It doesn’t matter if you’re the smallest 1-man business or running along with payroll. It’s critical that everything runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Outsourcing strategies play a huge part in this streamlining process. As one of the U.K’s leading sources for outsourced digital dictation, here are Property typing’s top tips for running a slick, efficient business with a tight bottom line through the power of outsourcing.
Outsourcing strategies: understanding the idea of processes
For outsourcing strategies to mesh seamlessly with the day-to-day flow of your business, it’s important to understand what a business process is.
Think about the steps- doubtless the very same steps every time- you go through for every basic business transaction. There are lots of ‘formal’ business processes, each of which (technically at least) has a set series of steps to get you there. Generating reports. Contacting clients. Sending invoices. You probably also use ‘informal’ business processes- which are the little things you created yourself, that have no formal series of standards to meet. Think of things like the order you phone your clients, or how you organise your route every morning.
We all know what happens when these go wrong- unhappy customers, delayed billing, missed deadlines, and tangibly increased costs. Especially when we’re talking formal business processes!
What we seldom think about, however, is what happens when they don’t go horribly wrong, but don’t go well either. The billing runs a day late because you’re too busy to get to it, and clients pay late too. This then has knock-on effects on paying your bills. Or you do the ground assessment for a RICS report seamlessly, but the next client’s site is a disaster. You get back to work late, and the first client’s report doesn’t get done. Now there are 2 unhappy clients to deal with.
Efficient business processes matter. That’s why outsourcing strategies tend to target these ‘mildly inefficient’ processes, taking the weight off your back. Before we even talk about outsourcing strategies, however, let’s take a closer look at why efficient business processes matter. If the work gets done, the clients get their reports, and the bills get paid, is it really worth the hassle of ‘becoming more efficient’?
Why do efficiencies matter?
The short answer is Yes. While the absolute failure of any process may have very tangible effects (bills don’t get paid, clients leave in a huff), the result of inefficient business processes is far more subtle. However, consider the following:
- Bottom line: Each inefficiency costs you. That extra salary you have to pay to get through your month-end admin (but the person has given make-work the rest of the month because you don’t truly need a full-time staff member)? That software licensing fee to do work in-house (that cost more than a year of outsourced digital dictation would)? They all cost in ways you may not immediately realise until the numbers are put in black and white.
- Job satisfaction: Whether you do it all yourself or have staff members, do you often feel like you spend more time doing admin then your actual job? Does it take away from income-generating activities?
- Wasted effort: Has a colleague sat around waiting on a report for a few days (costing money as they do so)? Did 2 people do the same report, and another got forgotten because you’re all too busy doing your core work? It all costs in time, energy and money.
- Bottlenecks: Do you have 5 surveys completed, but only 1 report written? You did the work on time but missed the deadline anyway.
- Increased costs: Aside from a possible full extra salary to carry the burden, how many other wasted resources go into juggling your workload? Don’t forget all the times it’s eaten into your work-life balance, the overtime paid for panic rushes before deadlines, and so much more.
- Client retention: Client’s are your bread and butter. While running inefficiently may not lead to a big blow-up, it can certainly cause client attrition as they look elsewhere for what they need.
The outsourcing strategies your building surveyor business needs
While there certainly can be other areas where inefficient business processes are hampering you, let’s be honest- 90% of these inefficiencies occur in the admin process. It’s not the core of your business. It’s not income-generating. Yet without it completed timeously, efficiently and accurately, you can’t function day-to-day or move on to the next job.
Enter outsourced digital dictation. No need for you to employ admin staff again. Nor to wrestle with reports yourself. Worried about deadlines? Gone. There’s no reason to reskill and retrain individuals to learn admin or reporting complexities, nor to add to someone’s already packed schedule. In short, no hassle and no fuss- yet a considerably tightened bottom line. You hand over your audio notes to trusted, reliable professionals. They already have the skills, expertise, training and infrastructure needed- often far better quality then you would invest in, too, as it’s not your primary focus. They have the luxury of focusing purely on delivering accurate work with fast turn-around that conforms exactly to your needs. And all for a low, flat and predictable cost every month.
Flexible, outsourced digital dictation: the answer to inefficient business processes
No doubt that already sounds pretty enticing. There’s something even more exciting to consider, too. With outsourced digital dictation, you pay for what you use. If you happen to have a rush period, it’s simple to expand your outsourced needs. A slow month? You’ll see a lowered cost to match. As your practice grows, too, it’s a simple matter to adjust your outsourced digital dictation needs without new staff and further training.
Concerned about the efficiency of your surveying business? Smart use of outsourcing strategies, like outsourced digital dictation, simply makes sense. You’ll see a cleaner, tighter budget, faster turn-around, and less inefficiency hampering your business.
Property Typing has the skills, experience and knowledge to help you streamline your outsourced digital dictation- why not have a chat with our friendly team today?
