The Most Important Department in a Small Business
Here at Capture Technologies, we have broken the company into three (3) different departments: we have sales, service and administration. What would you say is the most important?
So, let’s break this down. The sales team makes customer contact and they work with the customer to sell them a solution that would fit their needs. It might be a simple sale of a printer, or it could be very complex. The important thing is that they sell the solution that fits the customer’s needs.
Now that the sale is complete, the service department takes over the customer. The project manager works closely with the customer to ensure they know what they need to do to prepare for the install, then he/she will ensure all equipment are ordered correctly (in conjunction with administration) and ensure to get a service engineer to prep the equipment. He/she will then work with the service coordinator to arrange the installation. A service engineer will be assigned by the service coordinator to complete the install. Once the customer is satisfied, the service department keeps in contact with that customer to make sure they are taken care of if there are any issues with the equipment and to maintain the service agreement.
Now that the install is done, administration has to bill the customer, ensure the dollars are collected, and ensure all payables are paid. They are responsible for the last steps in the process.
Don’t get me wrong; this is a broad brush-stroke of what happens. There are many employee owners involved in this process, to ensure an outstanding customer experience. So back to my original question, which department is the most important?
They are all equally important. It is big cog, and if one part breaks (does not do their job), then the system fails and the organization fails the customer. Sales have to sell, service needs to ensure the customer is taken care of after the sale and during the life of the equipment, and administration has to do all the billing, collections and payables along with other functions.
Running a small business takes every employee-owner to do their part to ensure the highest quality customer experience can be provided. All the departments thrive on customer service.
Kevin Grant
ESOP Committee Chairman