Do you know your TRUE hourly rates?
Are you relying on rates that were worked out by somebody else 5 years ago?... how were they arrived at? - charging too much is as bad as charging too little. If your rates are too high you may be uncompetitive and customers may go elsewhere. Charge too little, and they're not going to tell you!... you'll have loads of work but you'll make no money. Relying purely on market-forces in these times is a sure route to disaster.
How much will you be invoicing this month?
Would you be able to find out right now how much work you'll be invoicing this month?... how much profit will that make you? Would you like to know at the touch of a button?... what about improving your cash flow by invoicing the moment jobs are delivered because ALL the information is already in the system?
What is your most profitable work?
Sometimes your busiest customer, is not your best customer. You need to understand your business, what your strengths and weaknesses are. What type of work is your equipment best suited to?... how much do you send outside to subcontractors (that could be brought in-house). You want to attract the most profitable work, but how do you find out what that is?
What is your average quote-to-order conversion rate?
How many orders are you getting for a given number of quotes, what is the percentage ratio?... which clients, job-types or sales-reps offer you the best return? Who is just 'bouncing prices' off of you, then going elsewhere every time?
How many jobs have you lost by not responding quick enough?
Perhaps you have one estimator, perhaps it's you!... you go sick, you go on holiday (heaven forbid). Who takes over, who can price a job accurately in your absence? Can they respond quickly enough for your customer's needs?... people don't wait around. Does your quote look professional against your competitors? - did you send it via email?... all of this portrays an image about your business - is it the RIGHT image?
How much revenue is lost due to un-invoiced extras?
This is potentially a big hidden problem. You take an order, the artwork disk is not formatted correctly, or the customer wants to change something. Who logs the time taken to correct it?... how is this passed on to ensure it is invoiced? Add that up over a month and it could be a considerable amount.
|