If you do nothing else to improve your odds of success in these crazy times, improve your responsiveness! Too many people are whining about the recession, complaining about a drop in business, and neglecting the single most important act to ensure credibility and more business: being responsive. I contacted the Boston Globe to ask a question about subscribing and got no response. Meanwhile, I am supposed to feel sorry for newspapers? Do they have any interest in increasing subscribers? Have they given up?
Providing great value for which customers are willing to pay is the name of the game. But great value alone is not enough. If you build it, they won’t necessarily come. You can’t be a well-kept secret. Berkshire Brewing Company is a perfect example of a well-kept secret. As a matter of fact, it says so right on their website: “Western Massachusetts’ Best Kept Secret.” They aren’t a complete secret, of course. They have been brewing great beer since 1994 and have many fans.
Frustrated Shampooers Unite! Are you tired of reverse torpedo shaped bottles that rocket out of your wet and soapy grip? Would you hoot for joy over an easy-to-open bottle? Have you winced upon discovering a bottle left open now upside down above a colored streak wandering drain-ward? Listen up Suave, Fructis, Herbal Essence, Pantene, Aussie, Salon, Flex, VO5 and more! Please make shampooing easier! This innovation and customer satisfaction opportunity is brought to you by Uncommon Clarity, Inc. On the web at www.uncommonclarity.com.
Have you noticed hair color incongruities? Camouflaged slow downs? Attention seeking, albeit reluctant, talk of pain? Weight gain? Debates over gravity vs. discipline vs. new priorities? Poorly disguised flatulence? Discernible stair-top breathing? General angst? If not, you haven’t been listening! The Baby Boomers are aging. All of them! And that represents a lot of change and opportunity for businesses that are paying attention!
I was on the Chesapeake shore recently looking for one gorgeous night on the water before sailing the next day. I found a Hilton practically surrounded by water and told the receptionist I wanted a balcony and the best view. She was excited to quote me a great special rate and checked us in. The room was great but the view from the side of the hotel was disappointing. I could not believe there were no rooms on the back where the view would have been fabulous. When walking to dinner on the adjacent wharf, I discovered there were. Why hadn’t we been given one of those rooms? They certainly weren’t occupied. Was the receptionist so sure price was paramount that she was deaf to my request? I essentially told her I wanted to pay more and I was ignored. This is not uncommon these days. In fact, my husband is quite tired of me pointing out the frequent occasions where we’ve had to press a clerk to give us information on something other than the cheapest option. Check your own assumptions and those of your employees! Have you convinced yourself that price is all your customers care about? Now, more than ever, with this economy in turmoil, I hear businesses talking themselves into this doomed mentality. Focus on your customer and what they value, not on price. Listen carefully to their wishes and needs. Don’t make this Hilton’s mistake. They lost money AND made me unhappy!
More and more organizations are talking about value. This is good, because business success depends on offering something of value to those who value it and thus, are willing to pay good money for it. But then I hear those same organizations talking about the tough economy. Suddenly, it isn’t about them and the value they provide. Business is down because of external factors beyond their control. Of course there are external factors beyond their control! Always have been. Always will be. Always a little different from the time before. Change is inevitable. Neither good, nor bad, just inevitable. And a tough economy is just one type of change.
How do you win and retain customers? Perhaps you are better than the alternatives. With superior or breakthrough products and services. Providing more value for the money. Exactly what your customers need. Maybe you are convenient, easy, friendly – a standout for all those “free” intangibles that customers enjoy when doing business with you. Or perhaps you are someone’s habit. The phone number on the notepad. You once had an edge – a superior offering, the best location, a great brand – but now you are not so sure. Inertia and familiarity may be your greatest assets.
Quality is not a strategy. Books, strategic planning websites, and executives may all provide numerous examples to the contrary, but quality is simply not a strategy. Nor is process improvement. Nor productivity gains. Nor employee development. Nor improved marketing. Even growth is rarely a strategy. If these are typical outcomes of your strategy formulation, your operational focus is overpowering your strategic thinking. You are caught up in the “how,” particularly, the “how well,” and thinking too little about the “what” – what kind of value can you offer and what kind of organization could you become. You can’t expect significant gains by mostly doing the same old things a little better.
Operational excellence requires focus. We must know our customers and focus on their needs. Resources must be unleashed on the priorities and pried away from wasteful efforts. Processes must be tuned to ensure costs are controlled while simultaneously boasting top quality products and services. But at times, that same focus can be an enemy. Every time you describe your business to someone you verbally trace the boundaries of a box that defines your business. This box is not two dimensional. No, there are many dimensions. For each dimension, you have selected a segment for your focus: markets, customers, industries, products, services, production capabilities, core knowledge, distribution channels, sales channels, supply chain models, technology, natural resources, geography, and more.
While many organizations fall down trying to translate their strategy into action, almost as many don’t have a strategy to begin with. They think they do, but what they have are lots of plans and ideas for activity. Don’t feel bad if you aren’t sure. You aren’t alone. At the simplest level, the strategy is what and the plans are how. What you want to be vs. how you will get there and how you will deliver the goods until you get there. Defining your future, determining your approach, positioning yourself for success vs. determining who needs to do what and when in order to get there.