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Are Avoidable Mistakes Hurting Your Business?

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Every business owner that makes a costly error has an almost universal and immediate reaction once it's discovered: could they have avoided this outcome? It's an unfortunate fact that the answer to that perennial question is often a resounding yes. In a way, it's a good thing that so many of the modern business world's common mistakes are avoidable. That means you don't need to fall into the same traps as others, provided you take the time to review the most frequent pitfalls facing modern owners, founders, and entrepreneurs.

In the transportation industry, wasted resources are among the most pernicious problems, often in the form of idle engines that burn fuel when they could be shut down. In dozens of different fields, the lack of follow-up on successful sales is one of the surest ways to lose customers that could otherwise become loyal, long-term buyers. Review the following details about how to catch these kinds of mistakes before they get the chance to deal a blow to company profits.

Lack of Customer Service Follow-Up

Across multiple industries, a common error is ignoring customers after they make purchases. Many owners assume that once the sale is made and payment submitted, that's the end of the deal. Unfortunately, consumers have dozens of choices these days, so just because you sold them once does not mean they're necessarily coming back. That's where follow-up or CRM (customer relationship management) comes into the picture. One part of CRM is maintaining a connection to every client after sales are completed. Follow-up is the single most effective way of turning one-time buyers into long-term loyal customers.

Excessive Downtime for Transport Fleets

Fleet managers know the value of minimizing engine idling and making sure that drivers understand the importance of doing the same. Of course, the practice of fleet management encompasses dozens of sub-categories and related tasks, but idling engines are a prime example of an avoidable expense. The common definition of idling is when the engine is running, but the vehicle is not moving.

A small amount of idling is necessary and unavoidable, but for the most part, it's a costly activity that takes place far too often. Not only does it burn expensive fuel, but idling also creates air pollution and leads to an increased need for maintenance. Anyone involved in fleet management should consult an online guide to learn more about the many laws that pertain to idling, a new technology that helps minimize the practice, and why idling can run up a company's expenses rather quickly.

Office Space and Outsourcing

In the post-COVID era, large numbers of owners and managers become aware that they could get by on less square footage of office space. Where are previously people considered getting a fast loan to increase their physical office space, now some opted to convert to 100% home-based work teams, while others greatly reduced their office sizes. Using more space than you need is one of the priciest mistakes of all. A related challenge is knowing when to outsource functions that you can't do in-house. Do an internal mini-audit to see if there are tasks, like payroll preparation or IT security, that you could hand over to a third party and save money in the long run

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