Contributed by Tyler Garns, Director of Marketing, Infusion Software
The other day, while at the mall with my family, we stopped a the food court for lunch. Of course, all three kids wanted food from different resturants, I felt like some chow mein, and my wife goes for the plain turkey sandwich.
So we ended up dividing and conquering the ENTIRE food court.
While waiting in an extremely long line for my cheap chow mein, I began to notice that this little chinese joint was CRANKING customer through the line. The lady taking the orders was sending silently encrypted messages to those cooking and serving the food. As she took orders, she poked colored toothpicks in the edges of paper plates and passed them down the counter. Then she collected payment. By the time the customer was done paying, a cook had glanced at the paper plate and started preparing the ordered food. Shortly after, someone else glanced at the plate, scooped up the requested order and delivered the plate to the waiting customer. DONE!
This little restaurant had created a very low tech, but extremely sophisticated system for quickly communicating orders to everyone involved. The color and orientation of the toothpicks stabbed in each plate communicated the order that should be served on that plate.
This experience reminded me of the importance of systems in EVERY business, no matter what the business is, online or offline, low-tech or high-tech. Whatever your business is, take a moment to step back and systemetize and automate everything you possibly can from lead generation, to lead conversion, to fulfilling the order and collecting the cash. Your business will be more efficient, your customers will be more statisfied, and you’ll enjoy your business much more.
Posted In: Small Business
