Be Different or be dead

February 3, 2015

3 simple steps that will improve your understanding of people

Source: Pexels

3 simple steps that will improve your understanding of people.

A continuous process of learning about customers is a core competency that remarkable organizations have; the periodic study process of market research is simply not good enough.

These 3 steps will deepen the understanding you have of your customers and will move you ahead of the pack.

1. Deep segmentation

Define as many different customer segments as you can. Obviously the more segments the more you will know about each individual in the segment.
The objective is to learn about the unique fingerprint of each individual person as opposed to studying the ‘average’customer in a mass market group.

There is no such thing as an average customer. If you think there is, you haven’t segmented deep enough. Keep segmenting until you get as close to a segment of 1 as is practically possible.

2. Ask the customer

On a regular basis (actually every time you contact a customer) ask questions that will give you a better insight into the individual.
Every time your organization ‘touches’ a customer you have a strategic opportunity to learn something about them that you can put to good use: top-line revenue generation or loyalty-building.

Actively listen to what they say. Pay your managers on their ability to contribute toward the organization’s repertoire of customer knowledge - revise your compensation plan to reward this behavior.

3. Understand customer behaviour

Track and study how your customers use your products and services. Actual usage will help you understand the value they receive.
Product and services that tend to be bought together and in specific combinations will also be evident. Use this information to develop predictive purchase models to aid your marketing efforts.

Work on all three fronts and take your marketing efforts to remarkable levels.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 2.3.15 at 01:00 pm by Roy Osing
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December 22, 2014

Why great leaders don’t choose among options, they create something new and remarkable

Source: Unsplash

Why great leaders don’t choose among options, they create something new and remarkable.

Why don’t leaders create something bloody remarkable for their organization? How do leaders create a successful future for their organization?

Some leaders say the answer to the question lies in defining a number of potential alternatives and select the one that provides the highest net benefit —the highest NPV.

I believe most leaders operate in this mode which, in my experience, produces incremental gains.

Breakthrough performance doesn’t come by choosing among which path to follow; it comes from creating a future that you and only you own

Creating a new box to play in. Colouring outside the lines to form art that has your signature alone.

Create don’t choose.

The next time you are asked to choose, don’t. Ask for the impossible; the unheard of; the unconventional.

Talk about that.

Debate that.

Do sensitivity analysis on that.

Unless your chosen path broaches the unknown, you’re not doing your job.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.22.14 at 04:35 am by Roy Osing
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December 15, 2014

Why the best business to start is ‘creating experiences’ for people

Source: Unsplash

Why the best business to start is ‘creating experiences’ for people.

What if you didn’t think of your business as:

A restaurant
A bank
A car dealership
A wireless company
A hardware store
A ski resort
A cocktail lounge
An airline
A computer repair company

What if you decided you were in the experience creation business and then plug in your product or service into the experience?

This means that your product would play into an experience frame rather than be the singular product or service focus.

The experience creation process would be architected and then a product or service would be inserted into the mix.

The number one priority would be the experience; products come second.

Back in the day, The Grateful Dead had the objective of creating mind blowing experiences for their fans. Everything they did was aimed at enhancing their fans’ experience. And along the way, they sold (and still sell) millions of records and memorabilia.

Richard Branson created a customer service culture and applied it to a number of businesses: music, travel, broadcasting, personal financial services, cosmetics, communications and the list goes on.

It’s a powerful notion. It’s different.

It’s not something the herd does.

Must be something to it…

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.15.14 at 05:15 am by Roy Osing
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December 1, 2014

Why business plans are given high priority but they’re really not very important

Source: Unsplash

Why business plans are given high priority but they’re really not very important.

Your business case has been approved. Yes!  All your hard work has paid off.

Your business plan is approved! The hours of research and analysis. The days of lobbying spent gaining for support for your proposal throughout the organization.

Make no mistake about it though.

All you have done is make the ‘paper case’ that your proposal will succeed and deliver the benefits you have postulated. The paper case is merely a theoretical construct that shows a result given a number of assumptions. There is absolutely no guarantee that the results you expect will materialize.

The most egregious example of this that I have seen is acquisition proposals. The accretive benefits of acquiring a company look great on paper but are rarely realized because the plan wasn’t implemented that way it was intended.

The critical work happens after your business plan has been approved

Execution brings your case to life. If execution is flawed, results miss the mark regardless how pristine and theoretically pure the paper case is.

Whatever the number of hours invested in developing your business case, invest 3 times more effort in creating and fulfilling a detailed execution plan.

Your execution plan should contain these elements:

▪️The specific steps that must be taken - The WHAT

▪️The individuals who are accountable for each step - The WHO

▪️The expected completion date for each step - The WHEN

▪️A schedule of meetings to review progress. Which steps have been accomplished; which are behind. And what is the action needed to get back on track.

▪️Contingencies for when things go off track (and they will). Plan B work is extremely critical to success yet it is rarely done.
For some reason people think that the business case will actually come off as originally planned. That the assumptions will all prove to be correct. I have never seen this happen. Be good at anticipating; be great at responding when things go wrong.

▪️A post-implementation review 12 months after investments were made to see if the business case benefits were realized. Did results = expectations? If not, what actions (with WHO and WHEN) need to be taken to remedy the situation?

Your business plan has given you the right to commit resources to a given course. Don’t assume that it will deliver the results you expect.

Success comes only from post approval discipline and hard labor.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.1.14 at 04:42 am by Roy Osing
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