It’s not really that hard. I’ve been working with some contractors in my business (I outsource web, PR, database, graphic design, marketing, and various other activities) and Ms. Businomics has been trying to get some contractors to do some projects around the house. Here’s what we’ve learned.
The key to business success is the return phone calls and show up when you promise to show up.
I hope that isn’t too big a concept for a single sentence. Time and time again I’ve seen people not respond to messages left for them–messages that sometimes say, "We want to do business with you." More than once, many more times than once, people simply don’t show up, don’t provide the promised goods or services, and never call to report that they’ll be delayed. That leads us to a subsidiary point:
If you will not be able to meet a promised deadline, contact your client as soon as possible before the deadline.
Most of us are pretty reasonable about schedules. We’ll give contractors and business vendors a lot of slack, if they’ll just call ahead of time and ask. What we hate the most is hearing nothing. No call, no email, nothing.
The other keys to business success? Well you need a decent product or service, you need to market it, but really, your competitors will drop the ball so often that if you are totally consistent in following these rules, you’ll succeed.