POVLITZ Inc | Business and Entrepreneur

Service businesses must provide their service, whatever it is, efficiently, quickly, affordably, and affably. It’s a tall order. If you are opening a veterinary clinic, for example, your office has to set appointments that you will be able to keep on time, provide a bright and cheery atmosphere, offer valuable and affordable services, and have a staff that is friendly and knowledgeable.

If you think about it, that’s essentially the same prescription for success for any service business. A carpet cleaning business, a law office, an auto repair shop, or a health club all must provide affordable and efficient services. How do you do that? The first step is systemization. You need to set up procedures and processes that will be followed every time for every customer or client.

Begin with your computer system. There is a lot of specialty software out there aimed at different sorts of businesses. You can bet that someone, somewhere, has created a program for a veterinary office that allows them to take appointments, track animals, and create bills. The vet needs to find that program just as you need to find the program for your service business. These programs are the first, critical step toward professionally producing your service.

Beyond computers, training is essential to producing a winning service business. All employees have to be on the same page, with a common understanding of what is expected of them and where the business is headed. Most employees today want to do more than just put in their time and take home a paycheck. They want to feel they are part of something important; that their work makes a difference. Your job is to help them feel that way. Let them know your vision for the business and for them.

You might consider coming up with a mission statement for your business that you all agree on. Many small businesses have a mission statement prominently displayed in the office to which the employees often pay lip service. But great service businesses get their employees to actually buy into that mission and believe in it. When employees don’t understand what the business is about, or if they are forced to heed some maxim on a plaque that they neither buy into nor believe is true, morale suffers.

Beyond having a shared mission, the smart entrepreneur will also be, like Ronald Reagan, a great communicator. Good communication could entail a quarterly “state of the company” report to employees, encouraging them to give suggestions or ask questions, or one-on-one meetings with employees devoted to career goals. This fosters a sense of teamwork, a major factor in developing a superior service business, according to a Department of Labor survey.

Take Starbucks, for example. Howard Schultz of Starbucks believes that teamwork is so critical to the company’s success that employees (called “partners” in Starbucks-speak) spend several days after being hired learning how to be part of the Starbucks team and how to provide superior service. Schultz tells all new employees (about 500 a month), via video, how happy he is to have them on board. Even part-time workers repeatedly hear how much they are valued during the 24 hours of training they get in their first 80 hours of employment. Training is essential if you want your service to stand out.

The final thing you can do to create a great service business is properly reward your employees for providing superior service. Rewards can take many forms, but the most obvious are compensation, profit sharing, and benefits. Less evident rewards can also make a difference. A gift certificate, a luncheon to honor employees who have made outstanding contributions, or free T-shirts all help boost morale.

Creating a great place to work, one where people feel motivated, engaged, and part of a team with a purpose, can do a lot toward making your service business shine.