Responsible Business Practices = Customer Retention

In the current climate of uncertain finances and regular reports of identity theft and fraud, consumers are looking more closely at where they put their business. From purchasing an automobile or a cell phone plan to choosing a bank or a doctor, we are all thinking twice about what we can afford to spend and who we can afford to spend it with. With that in mind, there are a few things to consider in your records management practices.

For starters, most industries are under some form of legislation regulating how they must maintain their records. It goes without saying that some of the rules can be vague at best and downright tedious at worst. However, if you take the extra time to reorganize your business practices to work with these rules instead of making small concessions to skate by, you are often going to find that your business will begin to operate more smoothly and give you less cause for panic when an audit or inspection rolls around.

Secondly, how much data do you really require on each customer or patient in your records? According to the New York Times (4/5/09), professors at The Wharton School view retention of any personal data as a liability and strongly recommend keeping the amount of information in your possession to a minimum. Do you really need that social security number? Last three employers? Credit card number? If you don't have to have it, don't put your clients (and yourself) at risk by keeping it in your files.

Finally, use your records management practices as a marketing tool. Are you archiving your hard copies at a secure offsite facility rather than within the grasp of every new employee that walks through the door? Are you shredding confidential information with a bonded company rather than throwing your shredded (or, Heaven forbid, unshredded) documents in the dumpster? Are you keeping your records backed up offsite or in the cloud in case of disaster? Your customers will value the security and be far more likely to keep their trust in you when they are cutting budgets if you can show them that you take their peace of mind seriously.