Implement the following 9 ideas to improve the cashflow within your business;

1. Use cashflow sales checklists. For sales people, get them to ask every single customer to make another add-on purchase with the one they've already made. A great way to do this is to have a shopping checklist of what the customer could buy.

2. Use cashflow payment checklists. For your administration team. Have a checklist of your customers and when their payments are due. Set up reminder e-mails/SMSs/and faxes for each customer to ensure their payment is received on time.

3. Increase your prices. Most business people are so scared of increasing their prices. Yet when you do, you'll notice a couple of things happen. Firstly, nothing may happen! Thats the ideal. Secondly you may lose a couple of customers, but they'll typically be the hard ones to deal with. If you increase your prices by 5 or even 10% across the board, you've got heaps more profitability, and more room to move in giving great service.

4. Invite your past Customers to buy from you again. Collect your customers details and invite them to come back to your business. Make them an offer, have a VIP sale night, give them a gift cheque to pay for the first part of their purchase, send them a monthly newsletter, telemarket them or let them know you've got a gift waiting for them when they call back.

5. Change your trading terms. Good cashflow is all about getting your money in as quick as you can, and paying it out as slow as you can. So change your trading terms to get your sales income in as quick as possible. If you're at 30 days, change it to 14, 7 or even COD. The quicker your terms, the better your cashflow.

6. Pay out slowly. The other part of having good cashflow is paying out your suppliers slowly. Do it slowly, but keep a good relationship with your suppliers. So find out when is acceptable for them. Currently, you may be paying on 30 days. Yet they may accept 45 or 60. If that's the case you'll have another 15 to 30 days to use the money. Also consider paying on your credit cards. That way youll get an extra 30 to 55 days interest free. Ideally try and follow the 7/60 rule. Have your money come in within 7 days, and pay your bills around 60 days.

7. Accept only good customers. In light of the previous two points, only deal with customers that will gladly follow your trading terms. You may not like turning your back on some slow customers, but its worth it when you get all fast paying customers.

8. Use only profitable marketing. Try, test and measure all of your marketing. Financially analyse each marketing campaign so that you know its making a profit or a loss. Then use only the profitable ones. You'll probably find that you're wasting money on some marketing that isn't bringing you in any money. If you are not marketing, start testing some small ads/flyers/e-mails and keep going until you find something that works, with an offer that works in an ad that works. If you're already advertising, test your headline, test other offers, test other mediums.

9. Get someone else to endorse you. Find someone with a database that's full of people who suit your target market, work out a relationship whereby you both end up winning and have them endorse you to their database.

By applying one of these ideas, you'll see a positive cashflow impact. Apply all nine and your business growth will be exponential.

Posted by Tony Lockwood - 11th July 2008

9 ways to improve cashflow in your business

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