When you run a business, you may have reached a certain level of comfort and feel that you don’t have anything to worry about. However, as the “Great Recession,” Dot-com bubble bursting, and other upheavals in the business world have proven, business owners shouldn’t get too complacent.
3C Contact Services, the leading provider of outsourced call center solutions, tells their partners that they should never get too complacent when it comes to running their business because if they do, they run the risk of making common and costly mistakes. But luckily, these mistakes are easy to avoid.
- Making assumptions: The dictionary gives the definition of an assumption as “taking something for granted.” This is a common mistake that many business owners make, and if there’s one thing the last five years have proven, it’s that those in the business world shouldn’t take anything for granted. The stock market may go through fluctuations; customers may go through lean times and not buy as much or jump ship to your competition. Whatever you do, don’t take anything about your business for granted. Also, don’t just assume that a customer will automatically sign up.
- Don’t procrastinate: It might be tempting to put a major protect off; after all, you have weeks to prepare for it. This can end up being costly, since you may just end up neglecting other tasks when you have to prepare for the presentation or project at the last minute. What’s worse, it may end up costing you a client when they see that the job you did was rushed. Even if you have time, start on a project as soon as it comes up and take the time to prepare properly.
- Avoid underestimating: They say that things have a way of creeping up on you, and this is especially true in the world of business. Underestimating the size of a project or the amount of time it will take, as well as the size of an order, can leave you scrambling, and what’s worse, make your organization look unprofessional. Always thoroughly look at every project and, if anything, overestimate; you can always go back and change your estimate to something more reasonable later on.
There’s a crude saying that fits making assumptions perfectly: “if you assume, you make an ass of u and me.” Not only do you run the risk of embarrassing your organization, making the three mistakes listed can also end up costing your organization money thanks to man hours spent fixing them, and worst of all, thanks to clients taking their business elsewhere.
However, if you avoid these mistakes, 3C Contact Services advises that your business will prosper.
