Guest
Article:
How
to Save You Time In Your Small Business with Microsoft Word Templates!
By Chris Le Roy
One of the issues that
most small business owners overlook when building starting out in
business is the use of technology. Whilst computer technology may
require a significant investment when starting out; Overtime, if
your systems are built correctly they will in fact save you very
large sums of money, in particular in the area of staff wages.
When I first started
my business, One-on-One Personal Computer Training, I started out
with a $3,000 Credit Card, which when you talk to any business adviser
or business-coach is absolutely the worst thing you could do. One
of the issues I have been most conscious of is the cost of having
a large number of staff. The way I achieved a high level of efficiency
in such a competitive market was to automate as many of the day-to-day
tasks as I could. The best tasks for automation are those that are
repetitive.
As soon as I mention
the word Business Automation, most technophobes will put up a barrier
and go into a minor or major fit. Business automation can be as
simple as creating just a few Microsoft Word templates. Business
automation doesn’t necessarily mean hiring a huge plethora
of software developers and toiling day and night to build some monsterous
and complex system. It can and should be simple so that you as a
business owner can in fact do it yourself. Let me explain!
Microsoft for all its
good and bad issues, has provided business one of the most awesome
tools - Microsoft Word allows you to build templates that you can
reuse as many times as you wish.
What Is A Microsoft Word
Template?
Essentially, a Microsoft
Word Template is like any traditional word document, the difference
is that it is designed to be reused as many times as you require.
Why not create a normal word document then. Well, the difference
is that when you use a Microsoft Word Template, you can store the
template under the New dialogue box, so that each time you want
to use the document you go to that one point and it will be available.
Did you know that you
can even create your own folders in the New dialog box? For our
team at One-on-One Personal Computer Training, we have created our
own tab called One-on-One which is where we store all of our templates
for our staff to use.
What Sort Of Templates
Might You Need?
This is one of the key
questions I get asked the most. The most common templates I see
small businesses require are items like Sick Leave Forms, Leave
Applications, Order Forms, Sales Letters, Purchase Order Forms and
so forth.
One of the reasons why
I chose to build Microsoft Word Templates in my business was to
ensure a level of continuity of contact with our customers. By building
a series of Templates such as:
- A Company Letter Head
- A Company Fax Sheet
- A Company Leave Application
- A Company Thank You Letter
- A Company Weekly Timesheet
- A Company Sales Letter
- A Company Visitor Sign-in Sheet
- A Company Purchase Order Form
- A Company Order Form
By having these forms
in a central place I have ensured that my staff don’t need
to be recreating these styles of documents each time they have to
send a letter or fax. Further to this, I know that certain sales
letters used by my staff will achieve the sales outcomes that I
am looking for. By using a Microsoft Word Template, they know that
when they get and enquiry that they can simply fill-in the customer
details and the letter is done.
In our sales letter templates
we use Microsoft Word’s Fill-in field to prompt our staff
for key information like the Customers Name, Address and Company
Name ensuring that the information does get put into the letter.
Once they have completed that they simply press the Print button
and its ready to go to the customer. As a business owner, knowing
that that’s all my staff have to do to achieve the sales makes
me feel far more comfortable than them having to write their own
customised letters each time a customer enquires about our training.
Microsoft Word templates
are an incredibly useful tool in automating common documents that
your staff maybe creating and I believe that this is the first process
that all business owners should be using in automating their business.
About
the Author:
Chris Le Roy is the Managing Director of One-on-One Personal Comptuer
Training. He is a Microsoft Office Specialist Master Instructor
and MCSE and has written a range of training material to help individuals
become Microsoft Office Specialists. To find out more visit - http://www.1-on-1.biz
or online shop at http://shop.1-on-1.biz.
One-on-One Personal Computer Training also offers a Free online
help forum for Microsoft Office Issues at http://help.1-on-1.biz.
|
