Today, Jonathan, our CMO & CSO, was helping out a team member and made a follow-up call to an opportunity in our pipeline.  It struck me that we are fortunate at BenchmarkONE to work with leaders who drive home the idea that true leaders don’t just lead, they serve. At BenchmarkONE, we know that our leaders are always willing to roll up their sleeves and pitch in so we can achieve the important objective we’re passionate about solving every day – helping small businesses to grow.

It also brought up another truth:

Scalability is everything if you want to grow.  

Jonathan is phenomenally passionate and knowledgeable about our product and our space. If he could speak to each and every small business that raised their hand to learn more about BenchmarkONE, he would. But that’s not realistic, and if that were our business model, we could never grow.

Scalable Process

As soon as he hung up, Jonathan put notes into BenchmarkONE and assigns the opportunity to one of our sales reps.  They’ll follow up to walk the prospect through BenchmarkONE to make sure it’s the right fit and close the deal.  Everyone, from the tippy-top of our company to each marketer, BDR and sales rep knows our process.  So as we continue to add new team members and grow, the small businesses we touch can continue to get the same great customer service experience that they’ve come to expect.

The beauty of small business is that we’re close to our customers.  In early growth stages, we know each customer by name, and can memorize the details of their account.  But if we want to grow, we have to let go, develop a process, train our employees, and let technology automate tasks so we can free up our time and use our brains and hearts to solve problems that matter.

Scalable Culture

Just the other day we grabbed lunch at one of our frequent lunch stops.  The regular potato chips were out, so we asked the hourly paid employee behind the counter if there were any more plain chips.

“No.”

Well, that left us feeling disappointed.  What are the odds of a sandwich shop running completely out of plain potato chips?  Not very good.  So when we spotted the owner we asked him if there were any more plain chips in the back.

“Of course, here you go.  They’re in your hand,” he said as he handed us the plain potato chips.

There was a big disconnect between the level of service and the culture.  The owner’s enthusiasm and passion for his deli were not being translated to his employees.  It’s this breakdown in process and culture that inhibits growth.

If you talk to anyone at BenchmarkONE, we are all on the same page.  If you ask anyone here what our mission is, they’ll tell you in their own way that it’s to provide small businesses accessible sales and marketing tools so they can grow.  That way, no matter who a customer or prospect speaks to, they get the same enthusiasm and the same message.  

With a scalable process and a scalable culture, your small business doesn’t have to worry if a customer gets a hold of the CEO or the newest employee.  Everyone delivers, so you can maintain the level of service your customers love you for, while expanding your reach and growing your customer base.