New year, new business goals! As a business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day of running a business and forget to put time and effort into long-term strategies for improving your business. As we start off the new year, we wanted to share some of the ways we have improved our brands over the past year to help us increase profitability and success.

1. Find ways to increase your gross profit margin.

We went through each brand with a fine-tooth comb to find small areas of improvement that when combined made a large impact on our profitability. For example, looking at service routes to see how we could improve logistically and increase the number of customers serviced in a single day. With our home cleaning brand, we also adjusted how we provided estimates to customers to make sure that we provided the most realistic cost from the beginning with an in-home estimate, avoiding confusion and extra work down the road.

2. Make sure you’re answering the phone.

When a potential customer calls to find out more about your service, it’s in your hands to convert them to use your company. If you take a day, or even hours, to respond, they have most likely found another company that was able to answer immediately upon calling. Ideally there should be a designated office manager to answer all incoming phone calls, but we know that sometimes in the early stages of owning a business that’s not always possible. However, it’s extremely important to make sure that phone calls are being answered, since these inbound calls are much more likely to lead to a sale.

3. Make sure you have the right person answering the phone.

Even if you’re answering calls, you must have the right person doing it. Just because someone is organized or is knowledgeable in the service, doesn’t mean that they’re good at converting potential customers. We created specific training for office managers across our different brands to ensure that they are ready to handle different situations and difficult questions that may arise when they’re on the phone. But ultimately, it’s a matter of having the correct conversational sales skills that will improve your company’s sales and bring in more revenue.

4. Employee satisfaction.

Happy customers start with happy employees. One way that some of our franchisees keep employees engaged and excited is by celebrating milestones or special occasions. For example, bringing in a cake for the one-year business anniversary, or for a birthday. Simple acts of kindness on a normal work day also go a long way, such as bringing in coffee or bagels for your employees during a weekly team meeting or providing your technicians with an ice-cold popsicle after a long, hot work day. Letting employees know they’re appreciated and valued is a huge part of keeping company morale up and keeping them passionate about the work they’re doing. When customers have positive experiences with the employees they interact with, they will appreciate a company much more.

5. Have data to back up your decisions.

Many people make decisions based upon a feeling that they know it’s right. We have always been analytically inclined and make decisions based on what the data shows. Data doesn’t lie and will help you when struggling with what’s the best move to make. It has proven to be the best strategy for us, and we will continue to rely heavily on data. Measure anything and everything you can within your business. Research the different data tools available to you and spend the extra money to invest in something that works for your model.

These are just a few of the ways we’ve been able to grow and improve as a company, and we hope that you can use some of these to further develop your own business!