New Year – New Mindset

Posted Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 in General

Almost everyone I have talked to in the last 18 months, regarding their next 6 month plan, has repeated the mantra “do more with less”. Sounds simple enough but those of us that are responsible for that task, at any level of our respective company, know how difficult and challenging it really is. We are all putting more pressure on our vendors, coworkers and managers to do more “things” with less resources. But sometimes more pressure isn’t what’s needed, sometimes we need to more creative in our tasks. Just because we have always done something a certain way doesn’t make it the most effective, most efficient, way to do it.

Let’s examine a fictitious company, we’ll call them Al’s Auto Parts. Al’s has always had a pretty loyal customer base because of Al’s great service. Al’s main communication with his customers has always been it’s yearly catalog, a 600 page monster that contains every wing nut and light bulb put into a car since 1980 from every manufacturer, foreign and domestic. Al’s has always been proud of their catalog and love the fact that their customers have it as a desktop reference. What Al’s doesn’t realize is that the catalog is very inefficient and cumbersome to find parts. Al’s has never polled it’s customer base and learned that 87% of them never use 75% of the catalog because they only service certain vehicles. If Al’s would be open to changing the build of it’s catalog and simply ask it’s customers what sections they need, Al’s could save a LOT of money in print and distribution costs, and have a more useful reference for his customers.

This is one example of how we need to start thinking in 2010. Our same marketing and communications approach that has worked for the last 5 years may not work this year. We need to be more targeted in our approach. Be open to the fact that not all of our customers are the same and do our best to identify their needs. You will be surprised what customers and clients will tell you if you take the time to ask. It might be the difference between success and failure in the coming months.