If You Dont Focus, Innovate and Evolve, You Die

After 128 years of business, a household word, Montgomery Wards, Inc., closed their doors forever and filed bankruptcy.

With 258 stores and 28,000 employees in 30 states, Wards fell victim to competition from service-driven retailers like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Circuit City. Wards claimed a "poor retail environment" for the failure. Interestingly, Wal-Mart and Home Depot didn't shut down. (Editorial sarcasm).

Wards is a perfect example of a company that thought it was in the retail business and missed the fact they're in the service business.

Perhaps they rested on their laurels. After all, 128 years in business is rather noteworthy in today's ever evolving economy. And clearly, size nor name recognition saved this organization from distinction.

The 28,000 employees will soon be looking for work. Why? Because the organization missed the mark. They remained retailers when the competition had evolved to a more personal, service oriented approach. And I'm willing to bet that most of the employees are "stunned," "surprised," "confused". They thought the old way of doing business was just "fine".

Perhaps this can be a wake up call for every business. What exactly does your business do? The quick answer is generally, "we make, manufacture, service the best darn 'Gismos' in the universe".

The focus is on the "stuff". The focus needs to be on the outcome.

Sure you might "make, manufacture, service the best darn Gismos in the universe" but if the end result isn't happy, satisfied customers who enthusiastically spend more of their money with you while telling friends, family and associates, you're destined for short term success, at best.

Remember, Wards was in the "retail business". Now their inventory is being liquidated at 40% to 50% savings.

A further wake up call might be on the horizon. If the U.S. economy moves toward a slow down, customers are going to be harder to find and still harder to keep. Following years of rapid growth, stunning sales with record profits, most organizations have felt little need to focus on customer retention, customer satisfaction, keeping customers, customer loyalty, customer service, customers for life or any of the current "service" mantras.

In fact, talk to just about any executive and they'll tell you their organization is "committed" to customer loyalty. Give them a few more minutes and they're likely to brag about the level of service their organization is currently providing. And just look at the numbers-they must be doing something right.

But just wait. The companies that spent the time to build and grow a powerful workforce with a focus on excellence and service will be light years ahead of the game as competition increases.

In other words - "Good times can camouflage poor performance".

So what's this mean to you and me?

First, FOCUS, Re-Focus and continue to RE-Focus. What is your company in business to do? What role does your department play in the process? How can each player move performance to the next level? Keep answering and re-answering these core questions.

Second, EVALUATE, Re-Evaluate and continue to RE-Evaluate. Take a hard look at the service offered by your company, your department, your team from the customers' eyes. Be on the lookout for opportunities to take performance to the next level.

Evaluate opportunities to enhance performance internally with your important Trapeze Buddies - the people you count on most often to complete a task, function or provide you with information so you can get your job done.

And never assume that "no news is good news". Your customers are talking - it just might not be to you.

Third, INNOVATE, Re-Innovate and continue RE-Innovating. Buggy whips sold well in their day but if you're in the buggy whip business today, you're short on customers.

Innovation is essential for continued, long-term growth. Look for innovation opportunities in the following areas: 1. Enhancing your core product or service; 2. Saving customers time or money; 3. Reducing customer's headaches and hassles; 4. Helping your customers gain a competitive advantage.

The rules of the game keep changing but one universal truth is this: the job of every business is to attract and keep satisfied customers. Period.

2005 © Mark Rosenberger All rights reserved.

Mark Rosenberger, CSP helps companies transform employee performance, productivity and sanity. He is a sought after speaker, performance strategist and author of six books. Do you count on certain people to make your life work? Discover how to be caught more and dropped less, plus achieve more than you ever thought possible - download the FREE Trapeze Buddy e-book at http://www.NoSplatZone.com

---

The Top 10 Priorities That Guard Your Five-Star Reputation

Making money doesn't make your reputation... your reputation makes you... Read More

Offense: Beat the Odds

When in doubt, cut that out! Yeah, yea, doubting Thomas... Read More

Describing Intellectual Property in Your Business Plan

Most companies that are worthy of raising venture capital have... Read More

Are You Aware of Planning in Business?

Human beings are rational agents. Rationality endorses one to take... Read More

GOT MEME? How to Attract Your Clients and Customers Attention

No "meme" isn't a typo and Got Milk, the more... Read More

Planning for Success

Business planning is widely acknowledged as one of the keys... Read More

Top Ten Reasons To Create A One Page Business Plan

There is a story, about a business owner who wasn't... Read More

10 Ways To Make Your Business Unique

1. Largest Selection -One way that you can make your... Read More

Pave the Way to a Successful Strategic Plan

Many very successful business owners may never have had a... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Placement/Recruiting Agency example ? overview for consultant

Microsoft Great Plains does wonderful ERP job for horizontal markets... Read More

More Uses for Your Business Plan

You have invested a lot of time and energy on... Read More

TQM Total Quality Management, the book

Every decade we seem to come up with a buzz-word... Read More

Mobile Franchise Business Expansion Strategy

If you own a mobile franchise business and wish to... Read More

Innovate Today for Great Leaps Forward Tomorrow

How often does your company make a quantum leap forward?... Read More

The Power of Strategic Thinking: Creating Meaningful Success

Too much goal setting and strategic planning can leave you... Read More

Making a Decision to Outsource: Strategic Constraints

Many companies are reluctant to dive into outsourcing ocean because... Read More

How to Develop a Successful Board of Advisors (...and Why You Should!)

In today's rapidly changing and highly competitive markets, many privately... Read More

The Best Entity to Hold Real Estate

Possibly THE most frequently asked question of me is "What... Read More

Regroup - How To Do It And Why It Works

Regroup?is this a new management trend? Not a chance! Regroup... Read More

Art of Succession Planning

Succession planning, like any business acumen, is both an art... Read More

3 Ps of Planning - Prepare, Personalize, Pilot

Here's a really simple way to make sure your plans... Read More

Why Do a Business Plan?

To Grow (Catapult) Your Business That's Why.When it's in your... Read More

Laying It Out On Paper

You might be thinking to yourself, "Why should I waste... Read More

Business Ideas: 3 Smart Ways To Generate Profitable Business Ideas Anytime

Creativity is one of the greatest tools for success in... Read More

The 7 Critical Steps to Formulating Your Annual Strategic Business Plan

Businesses tend to avoid doing their annual business plan thinking... Read More

Site Selection and Demographic Tips for Establishing Outlets

Many cities have home pages on the Internet. Many of... Read More

How to Write a Business Plan Market Analysis

Writing a business plan is an essential part of the... Read More

Buying Used Detailing Equipment and Rainy Day Services

Mobile auto detailing equipment becomes very inexpensive around March each... Read More

Creating a Vision That Achieves Results

How important is a vision statement to your company or... Read More

Strategic Planning Consulting

Strategic planning and consulting is the strategy roadmap to manage... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains in Agriculture ? implementation highlights

In this small article we'll concentrate on farmers associations and... Read More

Fail to plan... or Plan to FAIL??

Running a business, whether it be an offline multi-billion dollar... Read More

Benefiting from Strategic Thinking

I recently took an organizational behavior class where my professor... Read More