top of page

5 Priority SOP's Every Business Should Have

Writer's picture: Rebecca DehlRebecca Dehl

At Silverside Consulting + Creative, the founder, Rebecca Dehl has spent over a decade developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for small and growing businesses. SOPs are essential for ensuring consistency, efficiency, and high standards across all areas of a business. Having the right SOPs in place is key to scaling your business beyond 1 employee. Here are the top five SOPs we recommend for any business:


Picture of an SOP
An SOP
 

1. Client Onboarding/Customer Intake/ Customer Service Expectations

A well-defined client onboarding process, intake, or customer engagement procedure ensures that new customers feel welcomed, informed, and confident in their decision to choose your services.


Ask yourself: What would my employees say if someone asked them what our Customer Intake or Customer Service Procedures are?


2. Employee Onboarding

 Employee onboarding process is key to integrating new hires into your company culture and ensuring they have the tools and knowledge they need to succeed.


THIS is one if not the biggest misses we see from small business owners. The fallout of this is constant turnover, poor customer experience, and toxic company culture. This is particularly deadly for finding the best talent, because once word gets out that you have employees coming and going, applicants will dry up.


Set your new hires up for success, and give them the tools they need to service your customers to your brand standards.


3. Incident Reporting/Emergency Procedures

Emergencies and incidents can happen at any time, and how you respond can significantly impact your business. A clear incident reporting and emergency procedure SOP helps your team act quickly and efficiently.


Each industry's potential incidents or emergencies will vary but being prepared for worst-case scenarios will empower your team and provide them a roadmap to handle the incident in a way that will reduce liability on the business.


As a business owner thinking through and planning for emergencies will provide you a clear decision-making path when the potential for emotional decisions can be high.


4. Handling Customer Complaints, Returns, and Callbacks

Customer complaints, returns, and callbacks are inevitable in any business. How you handle them can make or break your reputation.


What happens when a complaint comes through? Who is responsible for making it right for the customer? When is the customer complaint elevated to ownership?


Addressing customer concerns professionally and efficiently helps build trust and loyalty, turning negative experiences into positive ones.


5. Lead Management

By adhering to a Lead Management SOP, your team can maximize the potential of every lead, ensuring no opportunities are missed and maintaining a streamlined sales process.


Documenting lead sources, ensuring all lead information is captured (phone, email, relevant details to make sale), lead re-engagement strategy, and reporting on conversion will need a process and a role(s) responsible.


Don't let leads fall through gaps in your processes and procedures.



 

Use Chat GPT or another AI app to create your SOP's simple prompts like:

"write a safety SOP for a kitchen staff"

"write an SOP with detailed steps using (fill in CRM) to manage customer intake"


Work smarter not harder, use the technology at your finger tips and remember that your standard operating procedures do not have to be perfect, in fact, they probably will never be perfect, but they should be living documents that should be updated as needs in the business or technologies change.



1 view0 comments

Comments


Logo for Consulting Company
Join Our  Newsletter

Thanks for submitting!

© 2022  Proudly created with Wix.com.

bottom of page