What does SOP process mean? Practical template + case study to teach you how to do it in one step✅

What exactly does the SOP process mean?

This article not only allows you to thoroughly understand the core concepts of standard operating procedures, but also provides real cases to teach you step by step how to build an efficient SOP system for your company, quickly improve team execution, make management easier for bosses, and have employees be self-driven and set standards!

Don’t blame the employees for being unreliable, it’s because you don’t understand what the SOP process means! 🔥

Do you know that employees fall into traps every day? It’s not because they are stupid, but because you didn’t teach them how to avoid them.

What exactly is the SOP process?

To put it in one sentence:SOP (Standard Operation Procedure), write down every position, every task, and every step clearly, so whoever does it can execute it just like copying and pasting!

It sounds simple, but there are very few people who truly understand SOP.

When many bosses mention management, they only say: "Keep a closer eye on him", "Why does he always make mistakes", "How many times have I told him?"

But the problem is not that people are not good enough;Unclear process!

The essence of SOP: not standardization, but replication of success!

Everyone always thinks that SOP is used to regulate employees, but this is actually wrong!

A truly great SOP is one that turns experience into standards so that others can learn quickly, get started quickly, and produce results quickly!

For example, if you hire a new customer service representative and the SOP is well written, he will be able to handle 80% of the issues on the first day;

The SOP is poorly written and he still looks like a new employee after working there for three months.

If the sales process you have summarized after ten years of hard work can be turned into an SOP that everyone can replicate, this will be a real "corporate asset"!

The secret to a company’s easy operation is for all employees to follow SOP!

I'm not exaggerating, but in some companies, almost no one works overtime, and no one holds meetings every day to argue.

Why?

Just one word:Write!

An SOP must be written for each position, and after writing, it must be reviewed and updated regularly.

Some SOPs are even written from a single A4 paper into dozens of pages of PDF, and then optimized into an online visual operation process so that anyone who comes will understand it and anyone who sees it will be able to use it.

There are fewer and fewer problems every day, fewer and fewer errors, and management is becoming easier.

The boss is too lazy to urge people to work. The procedures just lie there and talk more than me.

Now let’s start practicing!

Private Domain SOP: Let operations no longer rely on "metaphysics"!

Speaking of private domain, I wonder if you have ever been confused by various "private domain masters".

What are labels, fission, refined operations, social networking transactions...

But have you discovered:The reason why private domain is difficult is that everyone operates differently!

Each customer serviceCopywritingIt’s different. Every community has different rules, and the process of each activity is different, so the result is of course a mess!

Therefore, many leading private domain teams now have already turned all their operating processes into SOPs!

such as:

• After acquiring new customers, what words should be sent within 3 hours
• Which wave of benefits will be launched on the 7th day?
• How long does it take for a user to be silent before activation? How to activate?
• How to follow the rhythm of community operation and how to design scripts

You will find that: if the private domain does not have an SOP, it is like a racing car without a steering wheel. The faster it runs, the easier it is to overturn!

Yu Donglai's SOP management changes lives

In 2014, a friend of mine met Yu Donglai, an entrepreneur from Xuchang, by chance.

At that time, Pang Donglai was not as popular as it is now.

But when my friend visited their store for the first time, he was shocked.

There are standards for every employee’s behavior;

Each process has a written record;

Behind every event, there is a complete set of SOPs to support it!

Only then did I realize that a business does not rely on talented people, but on talented systems!

After my friend returned home, he started writing SOP frantically.

Later on, every action of the customer service, every operation in the warehouse, every reimbursement process in finance... were all written into an operation manual.

The reason why my friend’s company is so stable today is that the seeds planted at that time have sprouted.

Without SOP, you will have to wait for “firefighting management”!

To be honest, many companies are struggling because they don’t have SOPs.

Every day we are stuck in a vicious cycle of “something happens → find someone → talk to them → correct it → something happens again”.

You think it's an employee problem, but in fact it's the boss who didn't establish the process well.

You think you can solve the problem by hiring people, but in fact you don’t even give them standards on how to do it.

There is an SOP,The first step to transform a company from “rule by man” to “systematic management”!

A truly awesome SOP must be able to continuously evolve!

Many people write SOPs and then throw them aside. They are not touched for several years and employees still have to look at them with a magnifying glass.

That’s not called SOP, that’s called “cultural relics”!

A useful SOP must be iterated on a regular basis!

For example, we organize a "process optimization meeting" every month, and each department must make suggestions on where things are stuck, slow, or complicated, and optimize them!

If the SOP of a position is optimized every three months, the gap will be significant after a year.

So how do you start making an SOP? I’ll teach you four steps!

1. Disassembly task

Make a list of all the work content of a position.

For example, customer service work: receiving new users, answering questions, handling complaints, after-sales service...

2. Refine the steps

Each task is broken down into detailed execution steps, and the standards and precautions are marked.

For example, "Welcome new users":

• Step 1: Welcome
• Step 2: Understand the needs
• Step 3: Send product introduction copy
• Step 4: Collect customer information

3. Create templates and forms

Make the SOP visual. Don’t just write text. Add pictures, videos, and templates so people can understand it at a glance!

4. Fixed review rhythm

Review once a month, collect employee feedback, and revise and iterate in a timely manner to make the SOP more and more powerful!

SOP template form + practical case

The following is a concise, clear, and easy-to-understand SOP template + case demonstration, which can be used directly for actual operations👇

✅ SOP practical template (applicable to any position)

Step Number	Job title	Operation steps (detailed instructions)	Standards/Requirements	Attention points	Responsible Person
1	Receiving new customers	Send a welcome message to customers and introduce yourself proactively	Complete in 1 minute	Friendly tone, no advertising links	Customer Service A
2	Obtain customer needs	Use preset questions to understand the customer's current needs	No less than 3 key questions	Avoid asking too many questions and causing customers to be disgusted	Customer Service A
3	Recommend suitable products	Send corresponding product introduction copy or video link according to customer needs	No more than 3 products can be pushed	Avoid excessive referrals that lead to customer churn	Customer Service A
4	Collecting customer information	Obtain the customer’s WeChat ID/mobile phone number and mark the information into the CRM system	Information must be complete and accurate	Don’t force it when the customer refuses	Customer Service A
5	Follow-up reminder settings	Set up an automatic reminder for a second follow-up after 3 days	Set up in the CRM system	The frequency of follow-up should not be too frequent	Customer Service A

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🎯 Case: Community Operation SOP Flow Chart (taking 7-day fission activity as an example)

If your company doesn’t have such a form yet, it’s not that your employees don’t work hard, but that they don’t know what to do! 😅
Copy this template and you can start process management right away, and your efficiency will be up! 🚀

SOP is not just a process, it is also the boss's management哲学!

The essence of SOP is actually“Proceduralize” the enterprise operation mechanism, just like a programmer writes code, hard-coded system logic, the machine can run normally.

Management is to write the behavior of "people" into a set of "operating systems".

Whether a company can survive long and run steadily does not depend on how capable the boss is, but on whether it has established a system that allows “ordinary people to produce extraordinary results.”

This system is SOP.

The ultimate form of management is not to do it yourself, but to let the system work for you.

To sum up, what important things did we talk about?

• SOP process is a standard operating procedure, not a formality, and is the lifeline of the enterprise.
• A good SOP is a replicator of experience, allowing everyone to avoid detours.
• Without SOP, company management can only rely on yelling and urging, and always put out fires
• Private domain SOP is the foundation of private domain operations. Only with clear processes can growth be guaranteed.
• SOP is not finished once it is written. It needs constant review and iteration to get better and better.
• Most importantly, bosses should treat SOP as a strategy rather than a trivial paperwork.

If you also want your company to run on autopilot and no longer be in a state of panic;

If you want your employees to perform like a military unit;

If you want to change from a “doer” to a “system builder”;

The first thing you should do now is write down the title of your first SOP!

(Of course, you can also useAIOnline ToolsTo improve your SOP process)

Why don’t you open Excel and start writing your first process? Your future “freedom to slack off” depends on this! 💻💼🔥

Get started now, your company will thank you.