Be Different or be dead

August 25, 2014

Why being different is urgent for survival and success

Source: Unsplash

Why being different is urgent for survival and success.

Never has it been more important to carve out a distinctive and unique place for your organization in the market than it is today

The economy is unpredictable.

Competition is intense as new competitors are entering the market at a blistering rate.

New technology disrupts organizations relentlessly.

Markets are cluttered with sameness; products and services are undifferentiated and competitive claims are lost in the crowd.

Customers are more empowered than ever before, establishing relationships with suppliers that deliver distinctive solutions and ignoring those that don’t.

Which organizations are successful and survive this challenging business environment, and what separates them from the others that struggle, hang on and eventually fail?

Those that are able to win this battle are different from their competitors. They survive the scrutiny of the discriminating customer by providing relevant, compelling and unmatched value.

Those that have no distinctive identity simply don’t make it.

They die.

How can organizations stand-out from the herd and distance themselves from it?

Business plan — It starts with reinventing how strategy is developed. The emphasis is shifted from strategic direction to execution. Many plans look good on paper but can’t be executed. They are theoretically pristine but worthless as they fall short of delivering results.

The strategic game plan — business plan —  in common lexicon, is designed for execution and is created by answering 3 questions:

1. HOW BIG do you want to be? - growth goals;
2. WHO do you want to SERVE - target customers to achieve growth;
3. HOW do you intend to compete and WIN - the value proposition that gives the WHO reasons to buy ONLY from you. Being the best of the best is ignored; being the ONLY ones that do what you do is coveted.

Marketing — Marketing is focused on creating experiences rather than flogging products. Investing in current loyal fans is given priority over providing special promotions and deals to acquire new customers.

Mass markets are ignored in favour of concentrating on the individual and discovering their secrets that will unlock economic value. The world of ME gains momentum.

Customers are looked at holistically; experiential packages are designed for each of them to satisfy their broad life desires. Creating happiness is the marketer’s end game.

Customer Service — Customer service the way it has been traditionally practiced is out; SERVING customers is in with the end game to dazzle the customer and take their breath away. Internal rules and policies are re-vectored to make customer engagement a friendly process.

The customer is brought in to the organization to get their fingerprints on how they want to be treated.

Leadership —  Leadership is practised by serving around is the new culture. “How can I help you?” are the words leaving leaders’ lips not “Do this.”

To Stand-out from the Herd you need to provide VALUE that people CARE about and that is UNIQUE. Failure to deliver and you’ll be IgNORED, InVISIBLE, CoMMON and DeAD (sooner or later).

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

• Posted 8.25.14 at 02:36 am by Roy Osing
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August 11, 2014

Why success is doing lots of imperfect stuff fast

Source: Unsplash

Why success is doing lots of imperfect stuff fast.

How do you consistently move the yardsticks forward in an organization? What actions are predictors of success?

Here’s my experience. Success has a really simple formula.

Success = (Doing) (lots of) (imperfect) (stuff) (fast)

Let’s break it down.

(Doing):

Acting not pontificating;
Not too much analysis;
Risk taking;
Gut and heart motivated;
Passion fuelled;
Making tries.

(lots of):

Don’t look for the silver bullets;
Be ok with making a ‘nano-inch’ of progress;
Failure is at the heart of successful ideas, so fail a lot;
Innovation doesn’t come in big chunks, it comes in bits and pieces;
Engage everyone in the organization because they all have ideas;
Shoot more than the other guy.

(imperfect):

Accept the fact that there’s no such thing as perfection;
Perfection seeking = no action; nothing is accomplished;
An imperfect idea successfully implemented beats an intellectually pristine notion that never gets off the ground;
Perfection cultivates innovation rigour mortise.

(stuff):

Make weird choices;
Look for DiFFERENT solutions;
Take contrarian positions on issues;
Unique;
Unleash the ’special’ in you and your organization;
Avoid copying at all cost.

(fast):

Know that speed is a competitive advantage;
Accelerate past the failures and try something else;
Avoid dragging, it robs you of your nimbleness;
Beware of your competition because they’re watching you.

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

• Posted 8.11.14 at 03:11 am by Roy Osing
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July 28, 2014

Why failing leaders are people who constantly flit around

Source: Pexels

Why failing leaders are people who constantly flit around.

Why do so many leaders flit around all the time?

Many so-called leaders don’t lead at all, they flit from this to that.

From one crisis to another. From one priority to another.

They don’t land on anything. They chase. They are captured by activity; busyness.

They move quickly from issue to issue avoiding any chance of getting pinned down.

They measure the worth of the hours they put in by the calories they burn.

They run toward whatever their boss says is important. And they run away from issues their subordinates claim are critical.

They are skin deep, with a shallow perspective on the issues of the day.

They have no opinion of substance.

They can’t give direction.

They are never physically present; always on the go attending ‘business lunches’ and meetings with their flitting colleagues.

They are completely reactive with no proactive bone in their body.

I reported to the VP Marketing at one point in my career, and he was a flitterer extraordinaire. A nice enough person, but not someone you could go to for specific direction. Always passing my proposals on Marketing programs on to the President for his opinion before approving me to take action.

Virtually zero value added from his executive position. An open valve in the decision making conduit of the organization.

They are everywhere.

Observe your own behavior. Be honest with yourself.

Make sure you don’t practice flittership under the guise of leadership.

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

• Posted 7.28.14 at 05:04 am by Roy Osing
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July 7, 2014

Why ‘serving’ customers is way better than ‘servicing’ them

Source: Pexels

Why ‘serving’ customers is way better than ‘servicing’ them.

What promise do you have in your service strategy?

“I promise to service you.” or “I promise to serve you.”

Which sounds more appealing? Which sounds more sensitive to your wants, desires and expectations?

Do you really want to be ‘serviced’?

Customer service in most organizations involves the application of the company’s service structure to people. It subjects them to the rules, policies and practices the company has created to control the customer engagement process.

It boils down to a set of policies being applied to everyone regardless of circumstance.

How often have you heard: (even though we all know it’s ridiculous) ’I’m sorry you can’t do that because it’s company policy.’

And yes, control.

Policies for the most part are intended to minimize risk (for the company), increase efficiency (for the company), maintain or reduce operating costs (for the company) and create consistency (for the company).

What’s missing?

Service is all about the company yet it implies that it is all for the customer. Nonsense!

If you REALLY want the customer to come first, you need to subordinate the company to a serving role. And you need to start talking about ‘serving customers’ not providing customer ‘service’

What it means to serve:

▪️ The customer is engaged to determine what the company’s rules, policies and procedures look like;

▪️ Employees try to find a way to say yes to every customer request whether it satisfies a policy or not;

▪️ Frontline conversations with customers always include the question “How can I help you?”;

▪️ The measure of the customer engagement is whether or not they were dazzled by the service experience they had, not how proficiently the rules were applied.

Do you service or do you serve?

Should you be trying to improve your customer service, or should you be trying to serve customers in a more warm and caring manner?

What do you think is the winning approach?

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

• Posted 7.7.14 at 03:01 am by Roy Osing
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