How important is a strategic plan for business?

Everyone out there is to sell something to someone. That's called as business in business language.

In today's VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world the sellers seem to outnumber the buyers. If yet not, then they will eventually do. Because, Everyone out there is to sell something to someone.

Naturally, it's important to answer a few questions before setting out to do business without bankruptcy.

How to do business with limited access to resources?

That's where comes the role of strategy.

In order to evolve strategy you need to probe into yourself as also into your business environment. It'll help you to do PEST and SWOT analysis as they say and do in business. PEST and SWOT you need to do both at personal as well as business level.

You need to know Where you want to go?
With what (offering) and how?

In order to do this adequately, you should've heard and read the VOC Voice-of-Customer.

Strategies derived earlier will help you to translate the VOC into delivery of the delightful offering to customer duly differentiated from competition and of course with cost leadership. Unless, of course, you want to drive volume leadership at calculated loss by design.

Now you need a daily control over the strategy to stay ahead of competition and stay successful sustainably.

How often do you hear VOC

Given an opportunity, which air-conditioner would you buy: split or window?

Would you buy 'split' at the price point of the 'window' unit?

Of course, I would go for 'split' at the price point of the 'window' unit. Less noise at lesser price! 

But I've not done so yet.
Not because the split unit is not available at the price point of the window unit but because I've been on a search for a split air-conditioner of which the diffuser is small enough to fit into the opening for a window air-conditioner. I am yet to be delighted on such an offering.

Like in most houses provision for a window unit is a given. 

Same isn't the case for a split unit which actually needs a smaller hole, much smaller than one for the window unit. Is it a design-flaw or is the exclusion itself by-design?

Whatever may be the case but above paragraphs have some Voice Of Customer (VOC) hidden in there that has potential to differentiate an offering. 

1/ For a builder-developer and an architect by providing a hole for a split unit at construction stage itself. This is to avoid the wastage of breaking the wall open for split unit.

2/ For an air-conditioner manufacturer-designer by making diffuser of a split unit small enough to fit into the opening provided for a window unit. This will create an opportunity for increased sale of the split unit.

From the configurations (see figure) of a typical manufacturer, you may find that none of the diffusers of the 'split' unit fit the 'window' width that is about 660 millimeters (standard). Of course, this is not until someone makes it to fit into the window and makes the customers aware of it thereby pulling 'window' unit customers to buy 'split' unit.

There are many opportunities if marketers and designers choose to innovate by mining into VOC such as above. Differentiated offerings as above could be possible by simple frugal innovations though many real innovations themselves are possible with frugal expenses on R&D if at all.

"How often do you hear VOC?"
Jokingly many reply: "Hardly any! Because she (customer) doesn't speak!"

Although this is fit to be a whatsapp reply, part of it is certainly true.

Customers are difficult to get to speak. Hardly any tell you what they want.
Fewer know what they need although they want to design their own life.
So somehow both the above types get rid of you by filling in the blanks in customer satisfaction survey forms in order to comply to your request. Analysis of such 'tick-marks' on the forms adds a little value if at all. 

If at all any of them do (speak), hardly 4-out-of-100 that are not satisfied with the offering, do so to complain reluctantly.
Rest leave without telling the supplier and join hands with the competitor.

Knowing this well some excellent companies capture VOC proactively.

Komatsu for instance fitted GPS-enabled software (KOMTRAX) in their equipment so that their engineers can capture and 'visualize' customer problems, needs, etc. in real-time as also they can value-add to their operations by updating them on their equipment utilization, etc.

Toyota for instance, fitted micro-phones in their new car models during test marketing so that they could capture 'feelings and expressions' of their customers that could be built into the product before commercially releasing them as competition to their own current models.

So do you have guts to cannibalize your own products before your competitors do?

Can't you make your customer speak, capture it, and build it into your offering faster than your competitor just as the Komatsus and Toyotas did?

Why not? 

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-1)
Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-2)
Functional-Aesthetics
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling
How To Make A Difference
Nauseous Communication Gaps
Judge If It's Paralysis-By-Analysis
Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!
Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily
Does recognition really matter
Customer or Custo-Mer ?
Experienced A Delightful Payment !
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul
Do you keep curing your brand ?
A customer gets what s/he deserves: Shoddy Quality!
Listen to iceberg of VOC to acquire customers
Do You Force Customers To Quit
Should one care for value ?
Treat Root-causes, Not Symptoms !
Do You Ask Right Questions ?
Talk In Order To Listen! 

Why Do People Go To Temples

"I feel relaxed there".
"I get peace there".
"I go there to connect to God".

Above kind of responses are not uncommon to a question "Why Do People Go To Temples".

Typically, someone goes to a temple.
Closes her eyes.
Meditates on (chants) a Mantra or a prayer.
Experiences that distractions disappear.

Actually meditation done there helps to concentrate on breath. Hence it becomes more rhythmic.
The resulting feel-good effect there helps to connect with one's inner 'self'. 

Then why isn't the same phenomenon possible everywhere else other than the temple itself?

A reason may be we don't choose to make it possible at the place/s of our choice. Some make it impossible for their own selves to believe in doing so. We force it on our own selves to believe that the God¹ is present residing in the sculpted idol inside the temple. Or that the God¹ is in the stone neatly installed under a tree where people visit with flowers to worship.

In some cases the story might be that some saint had meditated there in past. So the story-teller begins worshipping the site at times for vested interests of playing politics or making business out of it. Story-teller's disciples continue it. Thereafter passer-bys join the queue and make it bigger. Eventually a temple gets constructed at the site. More the passer-bys, more the story-tellers! And more visitors  get added to the passer-bys that leave their trails and tails.

Actually, some benefit does occur in the process. At least some people do visit such places with 'belief' and some with blind 'faith' though. But their good intentioned meditation (even that of a goon visiting) must be helping them clean up their auras that in turn must be leaving trails of positive energy at 'the site'. It is resonance of such positive energies that surely must be accelerating cleaning up of the aura of other visitors.

So, why do I visit such places although I do so rarely. I do visit them irrespective of their origin of place, caste, creed, nationality. It is for the benefit of the possibility of positive auras accumulated there.

But before exercising that option I do consider practising it at my current place of 'being' myself in real-time anytime for any amount of time without waiting for a Muhurta or an agent to advocate doing so.

Footnote:
1/ God I believe is some omnipresent subtle energy of highest nature and level. It chooses to manifest itself in various forms and shapes that an ordinary may be able to (but doesn't) see, touch and feel in the material world around and in the nature itself. God exists there-and-then in the form of 'that' helping person/soul when one gets or gives a Hearty-and/or-Soulful experience in a given moment or situation .

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

कधीतरी सापडेल का शोधता-शोधता ?
I am afraid ! What do I do !!
Fearful-Of-Death-of-Birth
Do you exercise your choice meaningfully
Do You Ask Right Questions ? 
Overworked? Tension? CPU of the mind hung-up?
No Time? Micro-Meditate ! 
Talk In Order To Listen ! 
Eternally Happy !
What You See Isn't What's Made
Am I 'Short-sighted' or 'Long-sighted'? 
Deity is in the eyes of the beholder
Forgive Or Don't? 
Simplicity Of Theory Of Relativity
The Business Of Businesses
Experienced A Delightful Payment !
Beware Of Political-Presentations

Do You Force Customers To Quit

Insurance policy of both my car and scooter was about to expire.

I'd sold off the scooter. So when my insurance agent called me to renew it's policy, I ignored it saying the new owner will take care of it.

After a couple of weeks, when my car went for road tax payment I realised that it's insurance policy had expired. Actually my insurance agent did call me to renew car's policy but I'd inadvertently ignored his reminder thinking it was for the 'sold scooter'.

Red-tape that followed was inevitable. The procedure explained to me by the insurance agent was:

Take the scooter to the insurance company.
They'll inspect it before issuing the policy
They'll charge fine for 'discontinuation'.

Making the job 3D: Dirty-Danger-Difficult for the customer. 

While the insurance agent refused to followup with the company, the road tax agent came to my rescue saying "don't worry". May be the former was lacking motivation due to 'smallness' of business while the latter was interested in acquiring a new customer: Market development strategy as the jargon goes in management world! Theory of relativity!

The road tax agent got the insurance done from another company. Everything home delivered at just ten percent charge of the total official receipt amount.

In fact the policy issued by the competitor was priced at almost thirty percent discount.

The indifferent procedure of the previous insurance company and the behavior of it's agent (the first touch-point as it's brand ambassador) to take the customer for granted costed them business.

The Cost-Of-Poor-Quality (COPQ) to them was not only the loss of business but also a permanent loss of customers. I said loss of customers because bad-mouth publicity by every dissatisfied customer takes away more than one potential ones.

What's the learning?

More than the hard quality itself of your offering, it's the lack of soft quality, your indifference, that forces customers to call it a Quit!

So better to be-aware of behavior!!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

In-a-problem ? No-problem! Dwell-a-while!
Customer or Custo-Mer ? 
Experienced A Delightful Payment !
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul
Do you keep curing your brand ? 
A customer gets what s/he deserves: Shoddy Quality! 
Listen to iceberg of VOC to acquire customers
Less With More And More Gets Sore
Should one care for value ? 
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 
The Business Of Businesses
That's how some business partnerships work
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!
Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily
Does recognition really matter
That's How Morons Work
Simplicity Of Theory Of Relativity

Experienced A Delightful Payment !

I was working for this company for the first time.

As usual I sent my diagnostic questionnaire: The tool that helps me in weeding out conn-enquiries. Conn-enquiries are the ones that call for the sake of calling followed by a call to visit them only to have a cup of tea.

Such conn-companies don't realise that primary raw 'material' for offering services is time. Material for product offering can be kept in inventory. Time can't be inventoried: Once gone, is gone for ever. That's why even a TV mechanic or a water-filter mechanic charges visit fees.

So if a company doesn't help you in diagnostics you are likely to end up being a 'pig'. 'Three-Pigs' was the name of my first company where I was one of the three with a mission to scavenge in industries.

If the company answers diagnostic queries, it's likely to be serious and your time is likely to go to the needy. Moreover your time gets saved. Because many a time companies call you to ask the same questions they could have been answered on phone or by mail. Why waste fuel, time and energy kind of questions hardly bother them.

The company I am writing about responded the next day.

Asked for the path-ahead for lean journey alongwith my quotation.

My office sent proforma invoice the next day.

The company sent me their 'supplier registration form' by return with a request to "comply by return". It was followed by a reminder mail saying "Waiting for your immediate reply."

The form was one of the most complete ones that included all the information such as whether my office was a brick or a RCC structure. My office sent back the form promptly duly filled in.

Same evening I got a call saying "Your 'supplier registration' is complete. Please ensure to get bill alongwith you. End of your counseling you will get cheque in your hand."  Communication was crisp and clear.

Deliciously delightful experience! First of it's kind for me!

May be the company had timebound performance criteria for their delivery processes. But I had seen many companies in spite of having such criteria failing to pay even after a couple of years.

A typical Indian company paid me half the amount overdue to me after half century of telephone calls and five times more emails. It wrote-off half, paid me half after two years. That means the money was depreciated by half due to inflation. I have not considered cost of follow-ups though which is actually a part of any Indian's routine.

I used to call my customer-friend every time Sachin Tendulkar used to hit half-century expecting the Sachin-fan's mood to be good, but in vain.

Some such company's performance criteria is to keep more amount in credit than debit. Their unwritten rule is to delay payment multiple times the agreed payment time. Former should overrule the latter or vice versa whichever worked out favorable to them.

This 'taking others for granted' is a typical behavior in high mistrust societies. Hopefully my delightful experience is not a mystery. Actually much more than the performance criteria, it's the culture: the soft dimension that makes the difference.

The delight company happens to be an Indian subsidiary of a Japanese company perhaps richer in the soft dimension: The Kaizen Culture!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling 

Make It Simpler, Rest Will Follow

How To Make A Difference 

An Experience of Heart-and-Soul

Take your career in fast lane!

Succession-Plans In Fast Lane!  

Nauseous Communication Gaps 

Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 

Will It Work Here?  

You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable 

Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation

Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 

Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 

That's how some business partnerships work 

Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 

Customer or Custo-Mer?  

In a Problem?: No Problem ! Dwell A While !! 

Do You Ask Right Questions?  

One-Is-Better for JIT

In response to an interview on style-tricks, an actress said: Focus on just one body part and show it off.

Whatever may be the message she expected her readers to carry home, to me it was a reminder to complete this long pending blogpost One-Is-Better!

Today when I read news "set up a biz with just one form" it further got reinforced.

In Five-S technique of Kaizen to improve productivity and performance there is a pillar titled Seiri. One-Is-Better¹ is one of the themes or campaigns driven under it.

1-is-better campaign is a means of streamlining operations. It also facilitates 1-piece flow as required to make a quick or JIT: Just-In-Time delivery. 

Take nail-cutting activity for instance. It involves cutting followed by polishing off burrs on nail. Imagine cutting nails of all the 10 fingers at once followed by polishing all 10 at once. You will be free to attend to any other interruption only at the end of 10 minutes if each nail takes 1 minute each for both cutting and polishing. Instead you could get ready to attend to next interruption at the end of every minute if the cutting of one nail at a time is immediately followed by polishing the same. 

It's like freeing up or 'delighting' 1-customer every-minute instead of processing a batch of 10. The latter forces all the 10 customers to wait until the full batch of 10 gets processed. Such batch practice thereby 'delays' the delivery. The latter forces one to work with more stocks than optimum that the former (that is the JIT) advocates as also makes it possible. Not only the former speed up delivery but also it reduces the cost of poor quality (COPQ) part of the cost of quality (COQ). 

Basically, 1-is-better thought is a way to eliminate redundancy. It strips away the un-needed (be it the activity steps or the material resources for activities). Imagine just a single key or 1-key (as pioneered by Japanese auto makers like Toyota, Honda, etc.) that opens a car-door as well as dickey and the fuel-lock. 

A 2-in-1-paper-weight cum penholder, a 4-in-1-color pen, a multi-function printer, a pen-pencil combo, a One-Point-Lesson (OPL), etc. are few other examples. Such 1-is-better ideas in action facilitate lean work culture and eliminate clutter (the visual noise) as well. Thereby they enable focussing on the task at hand. 

In general, the 1-is-better concept helps one to do more with less resources and less efforts and finish the work faster.

So isn't the Narendra Modi government's single form (administrative process) to incorporate business a most welcome step. In fact more the use of such One-Is-Better! themes better it is.

The 'easing' thereby reduces a lot of Waste as a result of eliminating 3D: Dirty-Danger-Difficult activities. In fact it improves performance also. India ranked 142 among 189 economies by the World Bank in 2015 is expected to improve its position to 50th in two years if such 'Ease of Doing Business' continues.

So let's be innovative to find more and more One-Is-Better! opportunities to improve whatever, whenever and wherever we can.

Footnotes:
1: Examples from the book "Visual Management through Five-S A Japanese Tool Of Kaizen" Author: Shyam Talawadekar

Also read a few relevant blog-posts hereunder: Please do consider sharing this post or sharing your initiatives on above lines in comment box.

Make It Simpler, Rest Will Follow 
How To Make A Difference 
Big-Be Or Bug-Be ! 
Treat Root-causes, Not Symptoms ! 
Nauseous Communication Gaps 
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 
Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell me Hey Raam! 
Will It Work Here?  
Some Moron ! Some Great !!! 
That's How Morons Work 
You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable 
Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass  
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling 
Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy 
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 
That's how some business partnerships work 
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 
Technology in-place, security dis-placed
IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important?
Do you know a Best-Career-Plan 
Customer or Custo-Mer?  
Experienced A Delightful Payment ! 
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul 
Less With More And More Gets Sore 
Should one care for value?  
ABCD of India Shining
Beware Of Political-Presentations 
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 
Hoarders Of Filthy Hoardings