​Anyone can have a great idea. But, great ideas don’t guarantee a great business. Any entrepreneur will tell you that the idea is the easy part. The hard part is determining whether the experience that will make customers fall in love. From social media to customer service, the process is what defines a good product or service.

Here are 4 reasons you need to write policies and procedures for your small business today:

1. Define the customer experience: From response time to work hours, it’s important for customers to understand when and how they can reach you. Set those expectations up front so they aren’t disappointed. Define your availability and turnaround time so when a customer wants you to work outside of your normal time, you understand the cost implications of other projects or customers.
2. Training employees: If your process isn’t defined you can’t train anyone. Having written processes and procedures is one of the most valuable investments of your time you can make. By providing the details necessary to complete daily tasks, you ensure that employees are trained properly. You can’t grow and scale your business without properly trained employees. Besides, if they don’t understand the customer experience you want to provide, they may be missing the true value of your business.
3. Measure Consistency in performance: Procedures help you measure the effectiveness and consistency of your process. Perhaps you deviate from your initial process for 50% of your client base. That means there’s a definitive problem with your current process. When you alter or miss steps in your defined process, that inconsistency can create variations in your product or service quality that causes customers to shy away. You can’t build brand loyalty without consistency in your product or service. And you will never know what works best if you aren’t consistent.
4. Improve the experience: Without defining the process and creating consistency in performance, you can’t determine what is working and what’s not. In order to improve what is done on a daily, you have to understand and know your current process. Not only can this improve your product or service, but also the overall customer experience may need to be revamped.

Policies and procedures can always have room for improvements. But you won’t know how those improvements affect your bottom line if you can’t see the whole process. Writing your business policies and procedures provides a direct guide to meet your goals and set the expectations for customers and employees. Create checklists and find out what works and what doesn’t. It’s the only way to make sure you effectively turn your idea into a successful business that delivers high-quality customer experience.

Remember,

Give your brand The Good Life!