Successful businesses are built on the value they bring to the marketplace. While value can mean many things, the underlying components of value are quality and dependability. Being dependable and meeting client deadlines consistently will make your business one that others can rely on.
The secret to keeping your clients happy is to honor your promises. For example, when you agree to a deadline, you need to meet it. Doing so will not only increase your bottom line – it will keep your clients happy!
5 Tips for Meeting Deadlines
There are five things you can do to make sure you meet deadlines for every one of your tasks and projects:
1. Set Smarter Goals
You’ve probably heard of the SMART acronym for setting goals. It’s one of the most widely used frameworks in business today. The process highlights the importance of setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.
2. Under Promise
You may think we’re crazy for saying this, but under promising can have great potential. Why? Because setting tight deadlines that are unrealistic and not attainable only works against your team. Work with your clients to get ahead of the deadlines. You will find under promising and over delivering is much better and less stressful for you and your clients.
3. Use Project Management Software
Disorganization becomes a problem when you have a number of moving parts operating independently. This is common in today’s remote environment where people and files are fragmented across dozens of devices and networks. The right project management software can make this more effective and efficient for everyone.
4. Create Checkpoints
Checkpoints are a great way to pause, analyze, and tweak if needed. You need checkpoints to keep everything on schedule, but you also need to make sure you are on the right track. If you have a long-term goal that’s 90 days out, you should have weekly and monthly goals (at a minimum).
Another helpful step is setting up deadlines for every Wednesday and Friday. Team members come to expect these checkpoints and will understand the need for the timing and will work to meet these goals.
5. Cultivate Accountability
It’s easy for one person to lose motivation and mess up an entire project. When people feel like their actions don’t impact anybody but themselves, they’re less likely to take initiative and remain disciplined. If they feel like their performance directly impacts a coworker, it can and should light a fire beneath them.
One suggestion is to create accountability measures within each project team. When you start making people reliant on the performance of their team members, it creates a new mindset. Accountability becomes less about checking in and more about challenging each other to give everything the best they’ve got.
Follow Through… Every Time
You’re only as good as your word. In a world where most businesses are focused on profits, doing what you promise, and exceeding expectations will help you stand out from and above your competition.
AnswerNet provides a number of solutions to help you and your business meet deadlines and keep your clients happy.
We provide answering services that free up your time to meet project deadlines. This includes telephone answering services, cell phone answering services, after hours answering services, text answering services, virtual receptionist, and more!
