Achieved Strategies

The start of a new year is an accepted event when we’re all given a clean slate to explore what’s possible.  The annual ritual can be a source of optimism or a source of anxiety and a reminder of what we’re not doing.  The latter is really a defeatist approach to growth or dare I say change.  But my readers know that I’m an optimist.    So as we head back to our work this week, I present the first of three posts this week on radical business changes.  These changes can be essential to growing your business and bringing you greater success in 2011.

As a leader in business, I assert that you must be willing to make radical changes to how you cause success in 2011.  And I’m not talking about eliminating merit increases for individual contributors or laying off your workforce.  I’m talking about thinking beyond overused, short-term actions and perspectives that are in abundance in American executive’s management-playbooks.

The first radical change is reengineer how you interact with customers.

When it comes to customer input, behemoth organizations arrogantly rely on their notoriety in the market place.  They are lulled into believing their brand is rock solid.  Executives ignore or put off shaking up how they interact with customers.  Rigid hierarchies in these large companies reinforce inflexible responsibilities. As such, executives and mangers occupy roles that don’t have time for making changes to customer interactions.  Engrained cultural norms around customer interactions are established and difficult to change. This is an opportunity for the “smaller guys” to make big plays to capture the “big guys” unhappy customers.

Last year social media technologies skyrocketed into infamy and their importance solidified in establishing and deepening customer relationships.  If your business has not developed strategic plays to incorporate social media technologies in how you listen and communicate with customers, you’re missing the boat.  Along with the use of social media technologies, here are 13 simple and complex areas to investigate and potential blow-up.

1.     What bureaucracies are in place to approve communications?

2.     What decisions are middle managers making that delay implementation of communication tactics?

3.     What technologies are not permitted by IT that would enable you to listen to what customers are saying about your company?

4.     What mental models are prohibiting senior executives to learn about social media technologies and solutions?

5.     Do you have a CRM to help identify trends in customer needs and offer timely, segmented solutions to problems?

6.     What policies and procedures are in place related to customer interactions?

7.     Does your company value input from customers?

8.     Does the organizational structure enable sincere, consistent conversations with customers?  If not, what in the structure needs to change?

9.     Describe your company’s relationship with its customers? Do you like what you hear?

10. What processes enable and cripple your ability to learn from customers?

11. Do your back office functions have timely handoffs when input from customers is received?

12. Do you have metrics associated with customer engagement? Do they need to be updated? Do they measure widgets or outcomes?

13. Are employees empowered to improve customer interactions and use of your products and/or services?  If not, what’s in the way?  If so, what can you improve, eliminate, keep the same?

An important principal when reengineering any major system in your business is to maintain a holistic perspective.  By changing how you interact with customers requires that you evaluate all implications to people, processes, procedures/policies, and technology.  Simply proclaiming the need for deeper customer connections is not enough.  And customer interactions are not just a “marketing thing.”

The “big guys” are taking big hits in how they run their companies.  For “smaller guys” who are more agile, this is a great opportunity. Capitalize on the opportunity to reinvent how you create value and the levers you pull to do so.

Happy New Year. I hope for you unstoppable success.