Why I Prioritize SOP’s in my Business
SOP’s or Standard Operating Procedures are vital in my business because while my team is irreplaceable, I want them to be able to take vacation days or sick days without feeling like the business is going to fall apart without them. I know you know the feeling of taking a vacation day in the middle of a project and knowing that you’ll come back to a mess. I don’t want my employees having that feeling, which is why I prioritize having SOP’s for all of our processes in the business.
So, for example, I love my EA Sammi and if she were to have to go out for a month, we should still be able to move like clockwork, nothing should change. But that means we have to document procedures, things can't live in our heads, we have to have SOP’s.
This means two things:
I need to be clear about the processes that she performs and communicate the standard of work I expect.
Sammi needs to create the SOP (written and a recorded Loom video if possible so that all types of learners can understand) and she needs to keep the SOP updated.
So let’s say that we get a client email about our refund policy. By now Sammi knows that we do not give refunds. By now she has a scripted response (that I have approved, setting the standard!) that she can edit to fit the question being asked.
My EA and Coaches have created a response library that I have approved so that they can simply link it in any SOP as an additional resource.
She can respond to the client, and do any follow up that’s necessary. So the SOP would simply read:
Receive Email.
Pull scripted response from Response Library.
Ensure response is sent within 24-48 hours.
The process and SOP is the same for creating an invoice, or if an invoice is late, responding to a PD inquiry, or sending a message to our email list. These processes cannot live in sammi’s head, they have to live on paper and in video so that if Sammi goes on vacation or has a sick day, the business doesn’t grind to a halt. Like I said, I want to ensure that everybody can step in.
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