Publication number: ELQ-10726-1
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How to Move Your Business Up Another Level
In today’s world of growing competition and customer evolution, growing to the next level is a constant challenge.
Introduction
A theme I often hear from the entrepreneurs and startups I advise is that once they see that first surge of traction from customers, they can relax and enjoy life for a change. The reality could not be further from the truth. In today’s world of growing competition and customer evolution, holding your own, and growing to the next level is a constant challenge that can never be ignored.
Even companies with long-established and well-respected brands, such as Apple and Amazon, can’t afford to rest on their laurels. According to experts, as many as 50 percent of the existing S&P 500 companies will be pushed aside in the next 10 years, and the lifespan of successful companies is getting shorter and shorter. It’s time for new strategies for growth and survival.
In this context, I definitely agree with the need for new ideas and principles, as was expressed in a new book, “Wild Thinking: 25 Unconventional Ideas to Grow Your Brand and Your Business,” by branding though leaders Nick Liddell and Richard Buchanan. Here are a few of their key insights, with supporting comments from my own experience in businesses both large and small:
- Step n°1 |
Inspire your customers – don’t merely meet current needs.
Most businesses have learned to ask their customers what they want, and then work diligently to provide it. Unfortunately, in these days of dynamic change, customers are not so good at projecting what they will need in the future. You have to excite them with new alternatives.
Apple and Steve Jobs have been masters at this, convincing them of the need for, and inspiring them to want, a new category of products, as they introduced the iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. Uber and Airbnb did the same for shared transportation and hospitality.
- Step n°2 |
Treat employees like your most demanding customers.
The reality is that a company that is loved by customers, but not respected by team members, is not sustainable in the long term. Very few organizations communicate internally with the same investment of thought and professionalism as when implementing their customer-obsessed strategies.
Jeff Bezos at Amazon, for example, preaches that he is obsessed with customer needs, but also has demonstrated the same focus on employee engagement, by setting high standards, defining shared values, and constantly driving the culture to meet their needs.
