In a recent article you learned about SWOT analysis, which is a tool that helps you reflect on where you are. Flowcharting is another analysis tool, but it can also be a planning tool, too.
What are flowcharts?
Most people have seen them. They are a visual representation of a system. A system includes actions, processes, decisions, and many other features. They are designed to help you understand the starting point, the ending point and everything in between.
The simplest flowchart might look like this:
Get in car. > Drive to work. > Get out of car.
Flowcharts that are detailed will help you improve your processes. The more detailed they are, the better they’ll be. How can a flowchart help you?
It will highlight areas where you’re inefficient.
It will highlight areas you’re doing well.
It will highlight areas that could be adjusted slightly.
Exercise
One great exercise is to do a flowchart of your website. This complex exercise will help you see the areas where you may be losing potential customers. It may seem quite time consuming, especially if you have a large website, but the end results will be very telling.
1. At the top of the page put your URL with a box around it.
2. At the bottom of the page put a box around the word “sold!” This is the last point; the point where your customer has purchased something.
3. Above the sold page, working backwards, write “shopping cart” (or however it is that you make a sale on your website).
4. Now start filling in the pages in between. (Soon your page will resemble a plate of spaghetti).
5. Draw a box representing each page on your site.
6. Under each box, write a list of links on that page.
7. From each link draw arrows from the link to the page it links to. If the link takes someone off your site, draw an arrow pointing off the edge of the page.
Once you’re done, what do you notice?
Like most people, you probably notice that some of your links take customers off your site. Probably more than you need. After all, you want potential buyers to remain on your site!
You probably notice that each page sends customers to your other pages.
What else do you notice?
Many people who try this exercise will notice that their website only has one or two pages out of a dozen that actually send the customer further on the process.
Most people find that their FAQ page and their “About Us” page and their “Contact Us” page only sends people back to their main page… not further along in the process. Can you send people further along in the process from these pages? You probably can! That was just one exercise. Here are a few others that could help you improve your processes:
Write out a detailed account of your cycle of service: the process your customer goes through from the time they see your advertising to the time they get your product. Now do the same thing for your top three competitors. Then compare. What do you notice? Is yours better? Worse? Different? How can you improve it and play up those differences to get more customers?
Write out a flowchart of the things you do in a day. Start at the beginning of your day and write it out for your entire day. Now look at it and give yourself some honest feedback. Do you work as efficiently as you could? Could you spend parts of your day a little better?
If you sell products over the Internet, write out your order fulfillment process. You may find a few ways to fine-tune the process and save yourself some time!
Just like any planning or analysis tool, the flowchart is only effective if you use it. Spend a few moments analyzing aspects of your business.
