There are times in business when things are slow and the phone just isn't ringing. So here are some things to do when you are bored!

Revisit your business plan

Business plans are dead easy. Take a sheet of paper and divide it in four. Then outline your plan as follows.

Then all you have to do is do it. Simple!

Check out the competition

Take a morning to write down all your competitors. There is more help on leap-frogging your competition in the "How To" guides section on this web site.

Few businesses systematically keep tabs on competitors yet such knowledge can give you a big competitive edge. So ask them to send you an information pack, assess how they handle your call, and start building a file on them. Look at everything from the customer's viewpoint.

Be wary of doing this to companies where you are known. If this is the case, get a colleague to call for you. Never misrepresent yourself or you could damage your reputation.

This exercise will also give you loads of ideas for new avenues to explore.

Revisit your marketing materials

If you have a standard sales letter, then create a second and test one against the other.

Things to test include the headline, the actual text of the letter, price, the extras, the delivery mechanism... Whatever you do, do not assume you have the best model. When doing a mailshot, split your list in two and test. Always track the results. When you have a winner, test another element.

Create two new markets

If you sell muffins to passing trade from your bakery, who else could you sell to?

You could open a tea room and sell to customers. You could sell to hotels, local teashops, delicatessens, supermarket deli counters, restaurants, tea rooms at historic sites, businesses holding meetings...

You could sell muffins individually in paper bags, in small batches in boxes, wholesale in trays...

The trick is to think outside the box! Pick the two that seem easiest and start researching your new market.

Identify five new prospects

Instead of simply writing to or calling up the next prospect, find out a little bit more about them first. If they are a company, what does their sales literature tell you about them? Do they have a website? Do you know anyone who knows them who could tell you about them, even give you an introduction?

This kind of information will help you when you are speaking with them because you will sound more knowledgeable. You will also have a better understanding about what makes them tick.

Consider your image

Your image is not only your dress and stationery but every facet of how you present yourself. For a start, what impression do people get when they visit your premises? Are they tidy? Clutter gives the impression that you are disorganized. What of the d´cor? Could the walls do with a lick of paint? Look at your business through a prospect's eyes and give it a polish.

Catch up on your reading

Well, speaks for itself, doesn't it! Actually, while you are about it, make a note of any interesting stories and create a short ezine for your customers to send by e-mail. This is a useful way to boost your credibility and help keep them up to date with relevant and interesting industry news.

Deal with a frustration

A frustration is a recurring set of events over which you feel you have little or no control. The fact is, if you understand what the real issue is, you can always create a solution.

For example, no one checks incoming supplies properly. 'No one'?

Actually, people are never the problem. The problem, 99.99% of the time, is lack of a system. The reason no one checks things properly is that they haven't been given a foolproof system for getting it right.

Obviously training would help. But what if the new expert is off sick? The answer is to write down the procedure so that anyone could follow it. Here's how:

• Give the procedure a meaningful name.
• Describe the result. 'To ensure suppliers send the right parts and to handle incorrectly sent parts.'
• Map the system. Write down in boxes the steps involved.
• Design the system itself. Take people through the steps mapped out in detail. For example, if there is a form to fill in, design the form and tell them where to find it and where to put completed forms afterwards. For example:

• From the purchase order (not the delivery note), cross-check each part number item by item, ticking off as you go.
• Sign the order acceptance form if everything is correct and file it (define where).
• Store the supplies (define where).
• Put a cross beside incorrect parts on the purchase order form.
• Label the incorrect parts (define how) and set aside (define where) ...

Get your accounts up to date

Get those invoices out on time! Chase late payers politely, but hard. If you offer credit, create a system that ensures you invoice the same day a project is finished, or a product delivered. And create another system that flags up when those invoices are one day overdue. Otherwise, you are, in effect, acting as their banker and offering loans for free!!

Take a break

If things are really quiet, and you're feeling down, take a break. Switch on the answering machine, lock the front door, and go to a Theme Park and ride a rollercoaster, or go bungee jumping or do something that you don't normally do. Shock the system. Create excitement. Feel alive.

As Lincoln said, 'In the end it's not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years.' The same goes for your business.

This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate.

© 2008 Published by Cobweb Information Ltd