Value Beyond Technology

When a crisis has been identified and work is about to be done, an important decision needs to be made. This decision already has a default answer and will be implemented if you, the owner, do not make a conscious and resolute choice. Too often many make a half-hearted selection, but in the end succumb to the default answer. What is the decision to be made? Are we going to solve the root cause of the problem or are we going to put a band-aide on it?

I have witnessed many managers and owners verbally say they want the root cause identified and resolved. However, when hours of effort go by and other work starts to pile up, the decision is made to "go with the temporary fix" - the default answer. Here is the fuel for future fires. A problem not driven down to its root cause and then resolved is a problem waiting to happen again. If this is your normal mode of crisis management, then you will ultimately have an environment riddled with band-aides waiting to pop off! What is ironic about this is that these temporary fixes can not handle much stress or strain and will invariably fall apart at the worst moment when you are the busiest.

It is imperative that at the beginning of managing the crisis that a resolute decision is made to get it fixed completely and correctly. With this may come the need for some over-time for salaried employees. This is not desirable, but I have experienced that these same employees would much rather get it totally fixed the first time, than to constantly spend extra time and frustration cleaning up the messes of unsolved problems. You as the owner or manager must be willing to pay the cost.

Once you have established a pattern of resolving crises, you will start to notice changes. The number of crises and their frequency will start to reduce. In addition, the severity will diminish. Overall the operation of your business will improve and its throughput as well. After all, you have fewer issues interrupting the work to be done.

Resolve to start wrestling the problems to the ground. Don't let go until it is completely resolved. Manage the crisis; don't let it manage you!

Over the years, I have noticed that owners and managers handle crises differently. Some take the "all knees and elbows" approach while others go ultra slow and methodically. Another interesting observation is the apparent contradiction to what is classified as a crisis. Is everybody right? Are these just "style" differences? I am going to explore over the next few posts what are the key elements and approaches needed to successfully manage your way out of constant "fire fighting" mode. 

Let's start by describing "fire fighting". As with real fire fighting, we are talking about a situation that appears to you and/or leadership as an emergency. Immediate attention is needed. All other work ceases and this becomes your ONLY priority!

How do we know it is a fire? What guidelines do we use to determine it is in fact a fire? Before an actual problem occurs we need to establish the criteria that will be used for evaluation. This is how we are going to determine what and when a problem falls into this category. Remember, all items that hit here get all resources, time, and people needed to resolve it now. Do you really want to waste your company's money by overspending on fixing a problem that is not an emergency?

So let me offer a couple high level filters. First, are people's lives in immediate danger? Ok so maybe this would be rare at your company but this needs to still be a criteria.

Secondly, is the situation going to directly impact the company's ability to meet customer order delivery? Or another way to look at this is, "how will this situation impact our customer?" As a business owner virtually everything you do as a business should be run through this filter. Remember, customers are why you are still in business!

One final point, non-emergency items can turn into emergencies when ignored! It is vitally important that we don't try to rely totally on our "sharp" memory. If you are like many typical owners, you have many responsibilities in various areas of your business. Do yourself a favor. Write it down! I can not say enough about writing down your to-dos in one place.

Next time we will take a look at tackling the crisis once and for all!

Most small business owners can quickly tell you who their customers are. In ten seconds or less they will tell you that my customers are "schools and sports clubs",  "young teen-age girls", or "whoever is hungry!" These are good answers and have probably defined who your customers are from the very beginning. But do these accurately describe just exactly who likes your services or products? Have these definitions limited your vision of who may benefit from doing business with you?

The first step in defining who your customers are is to group them by large sweeping categories. In the above examples, the business owners have done that. However, most stop with just one or two categories. Try pushing the envelope by seeing how many ways you can group your clients - by age, location, special interests, gender, type of organization, etc. These will serve as your high level categories.

Next, for each category try to determine "why" this group buys from you. Is it price? Speed of delivery? Quality of product? As you do this, I suspect you will gain deeper insight into why your customers buy from you and not the guy down the street!

At this point it would be good to point out that you may discover "why" some are NOT buying from you. The heart and soul of doing business is to somehow meet the customer's need. It is the customer who determines what the need is and what will satisfy it. The business owner's job is to find out what is needed and fill that need.

Finally, armed with this information, look at your marketing efforts. Is your advertising targeting the right groups? Does it reinforce the "why" they like to buy from you? If you are like most small business owners, you probably have some adjustments to make. In fact, it would be good to go through this exercise periodically to make sure you are still on track.

Marketing to the right crowd is vital to doing business. By identifying and categorizing your target market you will be ensuring you are selling to the right group. Nothing is harder than trying to "sell snow to Eskimos"!

Have you ever heard the saying, "He could sell snow to Eskimos"? This saying speaks to the ability of the salesman to get somebody to buy his product even when it provides no benefit to the customer. Here is another saying, "The products are flying off the shelf. They practically sell themselves". This saying stands in stark contrast to the first. Which saying would you like to have working for you?

Selling snow - what is key here is the amount of effort it normally takes to sell snow to Eskimos. This effort can be represented in the amount of money that is spent on advertising, marketing brochures, TV commercials, etc., as well as the sluggish sales, excessive product stock sitting on the shelfs, and the lack of Eskimos in our store. The required effort is too hard for the average person.

Flying off the shelf - here it is clear that something has taken place. There is no mention of exceptional or unethical salesmanship. Products are not mis-matched with the customer (snow - Eskimos), and yet customers are in the store buying the product. They want what you have.

While I have somewhat oversimplified the above two scenarios, they do accurately represent two different approaches to marketing. The better solution is to match your product  and marketing to the appropriate customer. Once your product, marketing efforts, and customer are all in alignment, beautiful things happen!

Next week, I will cover some ways to help define just who your target market really is!