Believing “everyone knows that” is a common assumption made by technicians. It’s an error that hurts many small businesses. Over 15 years ago I was a participant at a 3 day workshop for small business owners. One of the most important discoveries I made was that everyone doesn’t know what I know.

My Initial Conceit

During that workshop, staff selection was discussed. When my fellow business owners found out I’d published a book, audio and video about selection they sought my advice. I was astonished, for example, that they knew little about the high costs involved. They believed that you measured the success of your job advertisement by the quantity of applications. I thought everyone knew that was wrong. But they didn’t.

What It Really Means

“Everyone knows that” is only part of the problem. The unstated part is “and if they don’t, they ought to”. In other words, if you don’t know what I know you’re a bit of a dill. If you secretly believe this you’re headed for trouble. The other meaning, “she’s the receptionist, she ought to know that” is just as dangerous.

What Your Staff Know

A few thought starters: do your staff know exactly what results you expect from them? Do they know exactly how you want them to answer the phone? Do they know how you measure their effectiveness with customers? Do they know your corporate goals and how well you’re doing in achieving them. Do they know your target market precisely?

What Your Customers Know

A well informed, intelligent customer is a joy to work with. An ignorant, misinformed customer creates problems. Which sort of customers do you have? Do they know what you do best? Do they know how good you are at what you do? Do they know what you expect of them? Do you give them good reasons to continue to support you? What else do you want to share with them?

What To Do Now: Staff

Write down what you believe your staff know about your business, what you expect of them and how you measure their performance. Make the list as detailed as you can. And don’t believe for a nanosecond that because “it’s in the manual” or “standard procedure” that staff know about it.

When you’ve made your list, check your beliefs against their actual knowledge.

What To Do Now: Customers

Make a similar list about customer beliefs. Make sure you include subjects where you could share your expertise with them. The better informed customers are.about what you do, how well you do it and what benefit it is to them, the easier they’ll be to deal with. And they’ll be better advocates for you too.

Check your perceptions against theirs.

Conclusion

It’s an old truism but “knowing what you don’t know” is very important in business. Discovering what your staff and customers “know” and “don’t know” will give you considerable business advantages. But be prepared to be surprised.