Introduction to Business Process Optimization

Welcome to our "Chaos to Control" podcast. Today, we're discussing business process optimization (BPO). We'll cover its importance for smoother operations and increased productivity.

BPO is about streamlining your business for better performance. It involves identifying each step in your processes, determining who's responsible, the desired results, and where improvements are needed. This could mean hiring a copywriter to become more adept at writing sales pages or finding tools that fit your team's capabilities.

The next step is analyzing what isn't working well in your current processes—anything causing unnecessary headaches or wasting time needs attention. Then, whenever changes are required, these processes can be redesigned with possibly new technology that everyone can use efficiently without expert help.

We also look at monitoring and continual improvement—keeping an eye on updates from tools like ClickUp and adjusting accordingly ensures everything works as intended, even as things evolve.

Finally, remember that BPO doesn't happen overnight; it's a journey starting with a mindset change. The payoff includes more agility, better resource utilization, and happier customers due to quicker service delivery of top-quality products or services.

Suppose this sounds daunting, and you need help starting with BPO. In that case, PowerPro Assistants offers personalized assessments to understand your unique needs before developing tailored strategies for workflow enhancement through technology implementation or refining existing methods—with ongoing support throughout the transition.

We partner with you beyond project implementation, constantly fine-tuning your processes to match your business goals. As we wrap up today's talk on optimizing business processes, remember it's a continuous journey toward efficiency.

By actively refining your processes, you pave the way for growth and success. In future episodes, we'll explore identifying inefficiencies, automating tasks, improving customer experience, and streamlining operations for expansion. Stay tuned for these topics and keep advancing towards a more efficient business. Thanks for tuning in—keep optimizing until our next session!

Episode Transcript

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PowerPro Assistants. A virtual assistant agency joining me are my chaos coordinator, Casey and Cora. I am thrilled to dive into another episode with you, especially as we tackle a crucial theme for this quarter.

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Business process optimization. In our last episode, navigating business solo, we explored the critical journey, towards delegation success. Today, our focus shifts to lay the groundwork for efficiencies and growth with an introduction to business process optimization. So join us as we unravel the significance of optimizing your business processes, addressing pain points head on and paving the way for smoother operations, and enhance productivity. So let's unlock the potential within your business together, So we wanna go into what is business process optimization.
So we... The the acronym is... Okay. We're gonna go into... We're gonna go...
Sell. We're gonna go into the Bp, that acronym spells out business process optimization. And it's all about making things smoother and better in your business. Say I, if you wanna get things rolling and smooth your business to operations, So we're taking... We're...
So we're talking about slashing course, boost efficiency and making your service or product. Top notch. The big goal to make sure that your business is hitting those targets and maybe even suppressing them. So we're gonna dive into process identification. So cora, our process master.
Let a broad overview of what process identification is and just give some examples of that. So first thing first, we must figure out what's happening in your business. Pretty much what that means is mapping out every step, who's responsible for weight and what results you want. Once you got that down, Dan, we need to see where we need to tighten it up. And it could be looking as simple as I wanna do a launch.
I need to know who my key players are. I need to know what we need to deliver and how are we gonna deliver them? And do we have all of the resources that we need available? I know. It does sound like it's a lot, but it really is the key of when you do it right the first time, it's easy to duplicate.
However, if you don't know that I don't know how to write good a copy. Maybe I should get a copywriter and you do this amazing to you self page, but no one's buying. It's not necessarily like you didn't do it right. You just need somebody who could... You know, come and, take your idea and now make it better.
And so it's knowing wins that... Oh, I just need to tighten up here, and I didn't really need to do that. And so now you're... Making this process so that when you do it the second time, it's like, oh, I don't need 6 months. I can do this in 3.
So that's where process identification is going to be very key. Then we moved to analyze, and we dig deep into the process to find out what's not working so well, and we let... And, you know, we're gonna have to look out for anything that's slowing is down, causing headaches, which were business owners. There are some headaches, but we're talking about the headaches that is unnecessary or just the waste of time. Like, I did this.
And I didn't have to. And they were gonna talk to our team, crunch the numbers because we all know. You're either gonna pay for it in time. Our money, and it's still a cost. And maybe then break it down and break it out until, you know, cute little process maps if your team is visual like me, or it could even be audio because, you know, you may have people who can hear and visualize it better than they can see it.
And so that's gonna be the big point because if you're doing a landing page, and you realize you have as expensive software. That no 1 can use, what's the point? It's great. It's it's wonderful I say, yeah. I have this tool but it sucks that no 1 knows how to use it.
So you're gonna end up having to pay an expert to come in every time to change something, or you can get something that your team can use may not be like all the top notch, but it's... Perfect for your clients because it's easy for them to understand it. It's easy for your team to go to make edits. Now you're not paying an expert every time you have to change something, and it's saving you money in a headache because if it breaks, you can fix it. So those are the big 2 starting points.
So I know... So give some examples. So you have analyzed. Quite a few things in PowerPro Assistants. So I know that there was some things and we all know that we use build oil.
We we can see that that doesn't work right now, because it it... It's too much work into it. Right? But we also have to also think about the expenses So what are some of the solutions that you put in when you was analyzing some of the processes and the things that we were using to help make the process better. I think my biggest key was how much it was going cost this financially.
And how much he was gonna cost us in time mentally. And so while Bill is great. If you don't understand, like, the essence of cold and you don't wanna spend all your timing there. It was costing us more in time, which and sadly, we had to always get an expert to come in and fix you know, the mistakes we thought we knew we was doing in week. I know we didn't know we was doing the make the worse versus, using a simpler tools for maybe certain parts and having Ability to all do the parts that we could do.
Like, it's amazing for the calendar, like, for it to be able to pull all our calendars, have people be able to schedule seamlessly. Great. However, anybody who is not web technology Knows that when you're trying to create a landing page, and you have a offer. Nobody wants to take 5 months to do an a landing page for an offer. We have an offer.
We wanna die in, like, at least within a month to builder all wasn't always that user friendly for us to be able to execute on our dreams and our vision. And so that would be always the bottleneck We would have all the back in step ready to go. You get to the landing page, and it's like, something's not working. Or we're like, who would be call reach out to to fix this? And it was, like, in case you'd be looking at me, like, I don't I don't know how to do that part, but I could...
I could find you an article, like, let me lick. So versus where down, you can maybe use a... At this point, Cam can make you a quick landing page with the few little links, and you could post it, and then least will get the job started until you can then move it to whatever your big expensive, wonderful, friendly think is, but for us, you wanted something... It was my thing is we are... Human focused team first.
And if you're going to exert the time in energy, can it be on something that at least it's gonna move us forward and not gonna stuck at the same point every time. So that was very important to me because 1 who wants to pay for something they can't use into who they want to pay a team member who's gonna spend all your hours trying to fix something when they could be doing something in their grades. Yes. Thank you. And that's how we identify what those process was and then also analyze it in and we know that core is pretty good with that and finding us tool.
So, like, for example, when we was using Do auto, and we all not x sports at. We we know how to put the process together, but then figuring it out when we don't have the time to figure it out or you know, and we have ladies here that can figure out things when we have the time. But when you have, clients and team and all that stuff, that takes up a lot of time and just spending that time trying to figure it out. Cor did analyze that, and then she found another solution. So now we're using client joy.
And, Casey build that out, and it was so easy. Quickly, she build it up, and that was a solution to some of the things that Cor did analyze in the business. So now Casey, now we come to you. Now we know that you a Google rule of systems. And just kinda, like, given a high overview of when it comes to, like, redesign and implementation of it all.

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And I know that this is your your zone, your zone of genius because you have put a lot of things in place just just by... You and incorporate coming together about the process and then analyzing and then coming up with some solutions. So can you talk a little bit about that? Yeah. I actually have a point to what Cor was saying is, you know, it based on that analysis, it decides is the tool right for you because they're built for the purpose, but they're also built for an ideal customer as well.
And so where, you know, you guys were talking about D auto, It's a great tool, but it is built for creative entrepreneurs. The 1 that we have switched to and started utilizing that we did implement based off of course suggestion on an analysis is the client joy, which is built for agencies. So it works and is easier to build out for our processes because for an agency, you have highly customized like, customizable needs or based on all your different clients and all the different accounts and all the different scenarios. And so that analysis really helps point you towards what is the right tool for what you're trying to do with it for your industry, for your business, which takes you into the redesigning and the implementation of the new tools, which I think is the fun part. And so I like going in and making the changes, And based on what you find based on the analysis that you do, the research that you do, the suggestions that are provided to you.
What you wanna do is then overhaul all of the processes to make them more efficient, and that might mean bringing in new tech, like we were talking about. Shaking things up how they're done or shifting resources around. So we make sure everyone's on board and ready to roll, because you wanna make sure, like core was saying, it's time versus money. So either way, it's a cost is everyone going to be able to use it? Is it something that you want to get your team member's opinion on?
Or is it something that you want to invest the time in training? In order to make sure that everyone is on board and able to use it by the time that you implement it. You made a good point about the agency because a lot of us, when we first when I first thought Wasn't even thinking about... Even though it was... It's an agency.
Wasn't thinking about finding the 2 specifically for. Agencies. So when we really started digging into finding those tools, then light bulb window office like, okay. We need something that it's going to work for an agency, not for a solo or different type of business, whereas Do auto and Honey may work for solo virtual assistant, but for virtual Assistants that does business support operations, where we are working with team and also clients, we needed a tool that works as an agency for an agency. Yes.
And that takes us into technology integration. So speaking of Newt tech, Bp often means bringing in some shiny new toys help things run smoother, and we love talking about automation. The tools, the Ai, the fancy software, anything that is going to help make something automated. Anything repetitive can most likely be automated, and it also takes the load off of the team to keep things running smoothly. And it helps us focus on bigger projects that need attention that can move the business forward where we can get creative things and go in different directions and focus on scaling versus maybe just spending so much time in those repetitive tasks So just like how we help our clients get back to focusing on their z genius, we try to implement that internally.
Well, and we do that a lot by integrating different pieces of technology, and just 1.4 as the main reason for switching over to Client Joy. I would say personally for me is I've spent probably 9 months at 1 point doing everything with all of these different tools, and they were all great. We had everything that we wanted, except a client portal, And no matter what I tried to do, I could not get a client portal that integrated all of the things that I needed our clients to see. There was always 1 piece. That wasn't, and then it would need to be an external link.
And now using client joy, we can have a client portal to where our clients only need 1 place for all of their information in 1 place for direct communication. So they only need access to 2 apps. Yeah. And that was something when you think about analyzing and also getting feedback from your clients or just by us working in these tools every single day. Nobody wants a hundred tools.
Right? And as business owners or business and for our clients and also for our team, we needed to find something that was 1 place, a 1 stop shop. And as Casey was talking about, you know, the client joy, that... When she build out that, that that whole client portal. And I saw it.
I was like, oh, wow. Which you been know. Yeah. Something that you've been trying to do for a very long time, and it was, like, it works seamless. So when we first used it for 1 of our clients, client was able to go in there and she was using it faithfully.
She was in that client photo because everything is falling 1 spot. Right? Not to say that there's no other tools. If you do to research, there are other tools that probably can do it, but when Cora research and did whatever she needed to do, that that fit our needs, it was, like, easy peasy for for Casey. So, yeah.
That was awesome excited. Because, you know, we also have to keep in mind. And if, you know, anybody is serving a lot of clients in different industries and you're working with your... Clients technology and tools as well, something to keep in mind that we needed to keep in mind as well is we're working out of all of their systems, in their busy business owners, and we're trying to take stuff off their plate and give them back their time. So if we are giving them all of these links and all of these tools to assist themselves, then we're just adding to their workload, and then we noticed all these resources that we were providing were going completely overlooked because it was to they didn't have 1 single place to access it.
So also, like, People was saying really pay attention to what your clients or customers are needing even if they aren't voicing that themselves doing the analysis like Cora talks about of where can you continually improve? Which then leads me to you... Oh, what I probably shouldn't remember. In all of that we're discussing, the key part is we are trying to eliminate their headaches, not just for them, but for us as well. So So it always, it gives them the the help of, hey, If you...
If you're looking for this, you can go back to your portal. Instead of them being, like, I know you put this somewhere. I don't know where it's at. Mh. It leads the now, even with us, does our client have access to more than just their client portal.
Yes, for all the information that we serve Yes. However, they know that the home for them is always gonna be their portal, which is their safe having or headache. So if they ever get lost, they're gonna go back to their home spot. So that leads me into monitoring, monitoring and continual improvement. This is something that I feel, like, a lot of times gets overlooked because we are busy.
We're busy things happening, we have other stuff that is a focus, but this is this is this is the key because Once things are in place, you need to keep an eye on them because, like, in anything else, things change. So you want to... You wanna check Right to make sure everything is working that it would... For us, we let click. But we all know click loves the update.
And if you're not keeping track of the update, you're gonna go into click up. And what it looked like 1 month? I went into next month, and it was totally different. And I like, I missed the update. Oh, man.
I had to go back eat the update and be like, okay. Cool. Was all our stuff there? Yes, but there were some tweaks. And so you wanna make sure that you're just not just making the tweaks that you need for your business, but you're understanding the tweaks that with your tools, they are making so that you can still use those tools efficiently.
After all, it is your business, and it is not stagnant, and it's gonna always involve And so as well as your process. And so at quarterly, we go back through and be like, okay. So we're utilizing... This this and this, do we still mean it? Is it working for where we're are at now?
Is it still serving us in the function that we thought it was kind of service. Is there something out there better and a little bit easier for us to use. And sometimes it's a yes sometime it to... Let's... Let's put this on the list, but we're not quite for sure and sometimes it's, like, let's try it out.
Let's go ahead and do that free trial. They see how we like this product before we commit, and I don't care if it's cheap or expensive. I'm always gonna take that trial because they give you all the good premiums. In that trial, so you get to use all the good stuff for free. So I'll don't use it.

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I... It's 2 weeks every day. I'm playing it because I wanna know some of the defaults before I make this big purchase. And I'll come back and be like, okay. Yeah.
I know... It said it was cute... You said it was a diamond, but this is this is cold. And then sometimes, I was like, oh, no. It's really great.
We could utilize it for a bit. So that is gonna be your bread and butter because just because you bought it once. Don't mean you still don't... Have to tweak it. Yeah.
Click up was a good explanation for that of monitoring continuous improvement because That is my absolute favorite tool. I cannot say that's the same for everyone else on the team. That is 1 of those things that you listen for feedback, but you also... Like, if there's a tool that you know is the best tool to use for your business. But you still have people that may be struggling with the tool or may need more clarification or more training on it, still listen to that, but also listen to why they're needing that.
So Mean Cora did... That 1 actually addresses all of our points. So process identification. Was, okay. We want to use Click up for our project management tool.
And we can set recurring task we can set our reminders. We can use our task management, our project management, our communication. It offered everything that we needed. So we knew that that, was a tool that we needed for our processes that we had in place. But based on feedback Cor and I went in and did an analysis based on, you know, I listened to the feedback that she provided, how can it be improved?
And then we went in... Because that was us monitoring it in improving it, and then we redesigned the whole thing. We redesigned it based on a whole new direction that we were gonna take with our processes, and we went in and implement into that. We also integrated the technology with it because it does have automations with external tools. And so, you know, if the lead comes in in client joy, it now automatically will be sent over to click up, and it'll let us know our whole checklist of things that we need to do with that.
And then we are still even though we went in, we improved that whole process and we integrated it, and we're using it, we will continually be monitoring it because there's always changes, so you always have to be ready to pivot. Yes. I... Definitely know that click is our number 1 2 because again, going back to what 2 is best for your business. Whereas click can benefit anyone.
However, we had to also take a look at what's gonna benefit the agency as we are growing because we want to make sure that we're looking ahead for the future as we are growing our business. And when Casey was going through her, her changes and sure trying to make improvements and then the frustration of a of it all trying to figure those things out. She finally figure out that dashboard. Whereas we know that some of our clients don't wanna work and click up. Right?
We go back to the feedback if, like, Do they really need to have access to all these things in and click up when they probably have their own productivity tool in all these other lengths. So how can we make it to fit where we're not adding on more to our clients? That comes with the plain joy with with the the dashboard. So now the dashboard is in that client portal. So in real time, they can see their updates.
How many hours that they're, they have left or they can even go into the task and see what tasks. And then in Casey also created if form where they don't have to go into click up, they can just now submit it as a ticket, and it goes into their dashboard as for their for the client manager to see what is to do, what was assigned to them. So it all works seamlessly for us as an agency, But just when you think about these things and you may not be a tech person. Right? And it's all sound like, oh my god, this sounds like want want want want Want to me.
The easiest thing for you to do when it comes to business, process optimization is take whatever... Your business that you're do in your head and write it on a piece of paper. And then give it to someone who is a expert at it to see to kinda, like, do research on the tools that will best fit your business model. That's the best way I can tell you if you're not a techie person and don't know these terms that we're talking about, someone can reach those way reach research those things like we have our researcher, Cora, who researches everything. And when she listens to what we what we need is, like, I need something that.
She's, Alright. Hold on. Just give me a minute, and she's start the research, and she'll come back with a list of things that kind of fits what we... Discuss or the description that we keep given her, and then we just take a look at some of those tools and say, okay, Well, I think that this probably it's match more closely. You may not get the exact, but again, where Casey comes in and does those integration.
Well, maybe we need a Zapier to... To zap to this or to do a task or whatever. But that all comes into everything that we plays a part and everything that we talked about, earlier today. So is there any last minute things later said y'all wanted to throw in before we, go into anything else. No.
Just that is a game changer. All of it. All of the process optimizations that we've done over the last year has been a huge game changer, and it all is based off of following these steps in order. Awesome. Awesome sam.
So remember to take a deep breath. No 1 saying you have to do this all in 1 day. It is a process. Remember. She just said it took as a few months.
It's a process, But the first step is mindset. You can't change what you're not willing to address but you gotta start somewhere. And so I don't want you to feel, like, oh my goodness. Like, this is a lot. It's not a lot, if you have a road map, and that's the reason why we're here.
But remember, just take a deep breath, ask questions, but at least start. Mh. Mh. And what's the payoff for all this hard work? Well, let's just say it's pretty sweet.
You're looking at more agility, better use of your resources as we all talked about some of those resources that we use in our agency and a happier customer thanks to a quicker turnaround in top notch services. So does that sound pretty good? I think so. So how can we help you? You heard all about the process optimization, and it's...
Potential to transform your business. But where do you start, like case... Like Cora said? You have to start somewhere. Right?
That's where we come in. At PowerPro Assistants, we specialize in streamlining operations and enhance efficiency. For businesses just like yours. So here's how we can lend a hand. We start off with personalized assessment, we conduct a thorough assessment of your current process and your team if you have 1, and of you if you is just by yourself in your business, and we work close closely with you to understand your unique business needs as well as your objectives.

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Then we tailor the solution to fit e. So based off your assessment will develop a customized strategy to streamline your workflows and maximize your productivity. Whether it's implementing the technology or refining your existing process because sometimes the technology is not bad, Just need to figure out how to make it work for you. We'll find the perfect fit for your business. And then you implement it.
So what we do is we support with the implementation where we we'll guide you through the implementation phase providing hands on support every step of the way from employee training, like Cora mentioned to change management, will ensure a smooth transition to your optimized processes. Following that, we use ongoing optimization. So we partner with you and it doesn't end after the implementation of the project, will continuously monitor and refine your processes to ensure they remain aligned with your evolving business goals and because you want to continually monitor and improve. Mh. So as we conclude today's discussion on business.
Process optimization. Remember that the journey starts towards efficiency and ongoing... Okay. Let me start that over. So as we conclude today's discussion on business process optimization, remember that the journey towards efficiency is an ongoing 1.
By taking proactive steps to optimizing your processes, you're setting the stage for continued growth and success in your business. In our upcoming episodes will dive deeper into key areas of optimization including identifying inefficiencies in your business, automating routine tasks, enhancing customer experience and streamlining operations for growth. So, stay tuned for these exciting discussions and continue your journey towards a more streamlined and successful business. Thank you for joining us today. Until next time, keep optimizing.