With businesses becoming increasingly more diverse and complex, business owners will find it extremely difficult to be an expert in every discipline that an SME needs. Despite the necessity for business owners to manage cash flow, they also have to generate new business and bring customers in the door. It is also critically important for them to cultivate and nurture relationships with a reliable support group.

This group should include customers, employees, business bank account manager, accountants and debt recovery. As it is unlikely that your average SME will have direct access to all these people in-house it is crucial for owners to develop and maintain close working relationships with many of these outside agencies and to rely on should any emergency arises.

Employees

Although we are speaking about a “relationship” with employees, and this may seem little odd for a business owner. However this relationship could be the most important of all the relationships for the business owner to cultivate. The time spend on nurturing a relationship is time well spent, they are the lifeblood of the business and good relationships will have a huge return on investment. Therefore, man management and team management qualities are key for any business owner.

Business bank account manager

Having a good relationship with your business manager is paramount if you wish to grow your business. They can offer valuable help or advice on how to raise capital or get access to further credit facilities. Having a good relationship will help you when you require the banks help, also good account managers will be proactive and advise you of the best products and services to suit your business.

Accountants

In an ever-changing economic landscape then a good accountant is necessary to have included in your inventory. Having a good accountant to help you navigate through the various tax pitfalls to help make your business as tax efficient as possible and help your business finances. They should be offer pro-active advice on how to be as tax efficient as possible. With changes on tax policies being implemented all the time, they should be up to date with current legislation and rules and help navigate your business finances.

Debt Recovery

Having a professional and trustworthy debt recovery company is a necessary resource to help your cashflow and your credit control team. A good debt recovery company should enhance your collection process and have no impact on your customer retention. Their job is to ensure your customers outstanding payments are collected successfully and to ensure they get back into a good payment rhythm. They can also proceed various ledger services to help if you are struggling with resource and this is usually at a lower cost than traditional late payment recovery of moneys.

Customers

Having a good relationship with your customers is one of the most important aspects of your business. However, this relationship is being fragmented by technology and with so many digital solutions being implemented. Companies are far less customer facing and communicate more indirectly rather than through telephone and face to face. Business sales are becoming less personal as we find more and more people migrate everything online. However, whether it is human contact or delivering a service online, you need to have a customer centric approach to your business in order to sustain growth. Your communication must be clear and concise, and offer the highest levels of customer service. You must continually build upon customer relationships to ensure repeat business.

Although these are by no means an exhaustive list, they are some of the fundamental parts of an SME’s business required to be successful. It may appear to be a large number of relationships to sustain, however some of relationships aren’t necessarily time-consuming but they are essential to long-term business success. These come into their own when the business needs experts to help solve problems or to take full advantage of a business window of opportunity.

If your business is experiencing some difficult times why not review your relationships and ask for help. We at Darcey Quigley can help your cashflow and your credit management process. If you would like to speak to a customer centric commercial debt recovery company then please get in touch 01698 821468 or [email protected]