Online business is being built based on values. And these values are a positive experience you provide to your customers.
Thus, all business processes can be described as tools and actions via which these values reach your customers – either as products or services. That’s why business process optimization is perhaps the most important and key component of a healthy and growing company.
What is business process optimization?
To optimize the daily performance of your business, you must first launch it, build a management system, and then – based on observations and analysis – review all soft spots.
1. The very first step is to figure out what activities your squad regularly takes to keep the business afloat. It is better to start with those points without which the entire system will be inoperative.
2. A business process is a collection of interrelated activities that transform inputs into outputs.
How to identify processes that should be optimized?
To do this, you will have to decompose the entire system. This is where the principle of decomposition comes in handy – a scientific method that helps solve complex issues, decomposing them into simpler ones.
First, break down the key processes into large blocks (e.g. delivery, returns). Then move on to more specific processes (e.g. e-payments).
Let’s take an ordinary online store process to understand the idea of decomposition. First, you can break down all processes into two large parts – front-end (attracting customers) and back-end (manufacturing orders, delivering goods).
Front-end
The front-end includes everything that makes buyers choose your goods over your competitors. For example, the key element of this step will be the process of “lead generation”, which is also decomposed into smaller blocks – the channels via which you attract the customers (search engines, ads, or social networks).
Front-end includes:
1. Attracting customers: search engine promotion, contextual ads, social networks, marketplaces, and so on.
2. Customer service: inbound and outbound calls, product consultations, order confirmation, delivery of goods, and payment acceptance.
3. Customer retention: work with reviews and complaints, returns and exchanges, e-mail marketing, SMS-marketing, re-marketing, and retargeting.
Back-end
The back-end processes of an e-commerce business are all actions that the buyer cannot see.
They do not directly influence decision-making, but their ineffectiveness will sooner or later affect everything else.
Back-ends may include:
Stock replenishment: analyze the market, forecast demand, buy goods, monitor goods delivery to the warehouse
Processing orders in the contact center: confirm orders, receive payment, contact customers
Processing orders in the fulfillment center: accept orders for processing, pick goods for orders, pack orders
Delivery: Send orders to the courier, track the delivery
Processing returns: handle returns from the courier, post office, and buyers
There are six basic rules to help you better identify and analyze your business processes:
1. Set your goals
Profit is the goal of any company. Therefore, each of the main business processes should be aimed at creating value. As you analyze a specific process, wonder whether it benefits the business or not.
2. Decide on a performer and manager
Some people perform actions and others are responsible for the entire process and the outcome. If there can be as many performers as you like, then there should be one manager.
3. Find inputs and outputs
The input of the process is the moment when the executor receives information to solve the issue. The outputs are the result of the activity for which the process exists in principle.
4. Record actions and their sequence
Define what actions need to be taken to get the desired result. Write down a detailed flowchart for the process, keeping in mind possible exceptions.
5. Define trigger
Find what exactly drives the process. The trigger can be anything – an email or a new month.
6. Assess performance quality
Every process, even the smallest one, has quantitative and qualitative performance indicators. It will be difficult to decide without specific numbers.
How Amaz.Markets can help your business
Our squad can power your process optimization efforts with ease.
Either you are a newcomer to Amazon or not, we will help you with the complex launch of your business. Our squad offers analytics, suppliers, listing, branding, marketing, and data scraping.
We are right next to you during your Amazon journey: we do and consult, you make decisions.
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