Learning is one of the main conditions for a company to survive. The combination of a rapidly changing outer world with considerable internal mobility makes learning a necessarily high priority.
The economic environment and the competitive dynamics of each era produce tremendous changes in the conditions necessary for a Company to be successful. These external changes have led to a complex and sometimes confusing variety of competitive environments. There is no planning system with which to plan strategies for sure success.
The strategic requirements of any business are determined by the competitive environment and by the possibility that it varies over time.
The first is the magnitude of the advantage that can be achieved with respect to the competitors. The potential performance of a strategy will only be great, when the advantage that can be obtained is also great.
The second is the number of roads to travel, by which that advantage can be achieved. When several alternative strategies are used, several successful alternatives will also be possible.
What is the Strategy?
Today is probably the word of the most used and abused in the business world. We have strategies for everything: from advertising to logistics, from human resources to reengineering.
Bruce Henderson, founder of the prestigious Boston Consulting Group, defined the strategy in a classic way: - All competitors that persist over time have to maintain, by differentiation, a singular advantage over all others. The essence of long-term business strategy is the management of such differentiation.
In his theory, he describes the existence of two trends in the nature of strategy: strategic competition and natural competition.
Strategic competence has as fundamental elements:
- The ability to understand the interaction between competitors as a complete dynamic system. The ability to use this knowledge to predict the consequences of a specific intervention. The availability of uncommitted resources that can currently be devoted to different uses and purposes. The ability to predict risk and return with sufficient accuracy and confidence - a willingness to act decisively and commit those resources
Natural competition has the following characteristics:
- It is tremendously opportunistic in the interactions of each moment. It is extremely conservative in behavioral change. It is evolutionary. It proceeds by trial and error, and with little risk.
Strategy and Learning
In a rapidly changing industry, learning and strategy are so closely linked that they are almost synonymous. An effective strategy cannot be established if top management does not know exactly what changes are taking place in the competitive system and their consequences.
The most difficult aspects of learning in connection with strategy are the following:
- Abandoning outdated concepts: it is difficult to get rid of old concepts, which is an obstacle to learning new things.Creating relationships that make learning feasible: Whether learning is feasible within a company depends decisively on the nature of the relationships between people.
Which should include:
- Relationship between management and subordinates.
- Relationship between the components of senior management.
- Relationship between management groups and support services.
- Perceiving the rates of change: One of the most severe tests of learning is finding out if something has been so well understood that the rates of change can be predicted.
One of the preconditions for learning is to continue to produce complete information on external reality and to spread this information throughout the company. This forces group activities to be carried out, something that can only be effective if there is leadership that makes them effective and a commitment to dedicate enough time to them.
Marketing strategy: Company and market
One of the fundamental tasks of marketing is the preparation and execution of an annual plan that ensures an acceptable level of sales and benefits for the product or range of products in question. These objectives require an analysis of the business and the company and the market to develop an appropriate strategy.
- Company: The first part of the evaluation consists of determining the vision and strategy of the company as a whole. Vision is the mental image of what the company will be like in the future: the products it will offer and the markets it will serve. Business strategies are the overall plans to move toward those goals. Products and marketing tactics must be consistent with that vision and will bring the company closer to its goal: customer satisfaction.
The assessment also examines general culture, the strengths that make up your core competency, the weaknesses that need to be minimized, and the role that a product or a variety of products play in realizing your business strategy. Culture is the way the company operates: its principles, its management style and its structure.
Several questions need to be asked in the framework of the business evaluation to help detect key management strengths and weaknesses, core skills, the planning process, and other functional areas. A thorough SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) would be a very useful tool at this stage.
- Management: In the analysis of business management, the following questions should be asked: Who are the driving forces of the company? And who should be part of the realization of a new product?
That is to say, all the resources that we will have, especially humans to carry out an adequate plan and in this way, involve the different players in the corresponding areas (budget, marketing, commercial, market analysis, administration, etc.)
The planning process: It is important to highlight what the basic focus of tactical and strategic planning will be within the company. Ask how we will make the company grow and what tactics we will have (market absorption, penetration of new markets, increase in the current market). Prepare the documents that allow us to carry out the planning and mark the general objectives of the business (business plain), mark the particular objectives and main attributes of the product (for example, in the extensions in the product ranges, in new applications, in new products, etc.) and mark and define local, regional or international growth plans. This planning process leads us to carry out a strategy on the market, based on an analysis of it.
- Market analysis: Refers to the study of current and potential buyers of a product or range of products and then to its division into classes or segments. Segments are groups of customers with common characteristics, common needs, or common uses of the product. Segmentation allows the marketer to get closer to the customer and focus their attention on the needs of smaller groups. This is extremely beneficial, since it helps to know how and why customers buy. It also ensures a better allocation of resources because the benefits sought by specific groups are better understood. This should make it possible to incorporate competitive advantages into the product. And finally, segmentation allows the company to exploit opportunities by discovering gaps in the market.
Segmentation of current clients: In order to segment our current Client portfolio, we should ask ourselves, among others, questions such as What is the profile of the average client? Which segment is the one that buys the most? The least? What type of clients is more profitable? Who are the real buyers and who is influencing them? Are there any segments in the market that only buy competitive products? Could they be developed with a new product, segments that do not yet exist?
Breaking down the global market into segments with different needs allows the development of different marketing strategies and specific commercial actions for each of them with communications addressed to each segment.
As an example, I am going to explain how field work was carried out in a Water and Sewer Services Company in a suburb of Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its most important capital is 20,000 clients whose consumption was measured in 80% of them and who receive the water network service at home. Given that the rates are governed by the government, due to the need for investments and to widen their scope, it was decided to segment the current portfolio based on the following main parameters: Type of Client (family, commercial high consumption, commercial medium consumption and commercial low consumption, large customers, others), these categories are ranked by cubic meters of average consumption, historical consumption, stationary consumption, etc.And in this way it was possible to segment the Clients in order to carry out specific actions and be able to generate added value to the service offered.
Importance and profitability of each segment: After detecting the segments that have different needs (and in the previous example, consumption), examine the results of the product in each segment. What is the average order size, the segment sales quota, and what is the revenue generated? Using secondary data, estimate the size of the total market segments. Multiply by average revenue per customer to determine total revenue potential (for all competitors in your business area). Attractiveness can be determined by the absolute size of the segment, its growth rate, the strength of competition in that segment, or a variety of other factors appropriate to the business area in question.
Following the example of the service company in the previous point, once the average consumption of the different sectors was detected, the payment date, means of payment, days of delayed payments were ranked, and in this way a map was obtained socioeconomic of the clients to offer them different alternatives of products and / or services.
- New segments that are highly profitable: This step forces marketing to look beyond the current customer base to try to find opportunities. There are almost always groups of clients that are not effectively reached, but that offer potential opportunities for a company. Markets are increasingly fragmented, so they must be analyzed in this way.
In the exemplified service company, once customers were identified by consumption and socioeconomic level, it was decided, through direct communication and prepared for that segment, to offer them new products and services within the market share of the business, obtaining as a result an increase important in billing, but most importantly, highlighting the company as a service provider that improved the quality of life, instead of being a mere distributor of drinking water.
Strategy in HR management
In the new globalized economy, the importance of human resources in the value creation process of any company is greater every day. In this context, the role of the human resources department has increased its role and acquired new responsibilities.
The objective of the human resources department is to convert human capital into productive value for the company and its clients. It is to improve the productivity and effectiveness of the organization from the side of the people.
His job is to direct the organization of acquisition, maintenance, development, supervision and maintenance of the human asset and the results of his work; specifically quality, productivity, service and sales.
| Function | Processes |
| Staffing | Job offers Interviews Hiring Acceptances / rejections |
| Remuneration | System planning Job evaluation Salary setting |
| Training | Program design Teaching programs Improving the set of qualifications |
| Development | Creation of teams Development of work techniques Effective guidance of employees |
| Organization | Job content and layout Increase job attractiveness Troubleshooting |
| Labor Relations | Negotiation of agreements Processing of complaints Resolution of problems |
| Benefits | Processing of applications |
Managing human resources in a company involves:
- Acquire new skills outside of the company. Develop new skills within the company through training or active learning. Retain employees who have the skills we need. Dismiss individuals who are underperforming or underperforming.
To optimize their service and increase value in your company, personnel executives should take on the following tasks:
- Develop an improvement plan that integrates processes, structure, systems, culture, and work capabilities with business strategy and customer expectations. Assess customers, staff, and providers to locate gaps in service delivery and establish continuous improvement policies. Guarantee the commitment of individuals to the company. Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each member of the company. Create a work culture and provide stimulating jobs that allow taking the job as a challenge. Ensure a compensation system that treats all employees fairly.
- Personnel selection policy: The human resources plan must detail the number and types of people needed to be able to meet the company's objectives. People are the key assets in today's market. And when a new need arises, the most capable person must be found to satisfy it.
The first task is to carefully define the profile of the job, only in this way can we find the person we need. The ideal candidate must show characteristics and behaviors consistent with the business model.
The selection process is a complicated task as each candidate offers a unique combination of preparation, experience, attitudes, abilities, interests, goals and qualities. Success will depend on the adequacy of the selected one to the necessary job profile.
When faced with a new vacancy, the first decision is to opt for external candidates or for internal promotion. We must bear in mind that internal promotion is an important source of motivation. The second decision is to establish whether the hiring of personnel is carried out by the company's own human resources department or by external consultancy. Finally, the planning of a personnel selection operation has to take into account two basic aspects: The cost of the selection:
Announcement and times used by our own staff and the time necessary to fill the position must contemplate various processes: define the need, publicize the search, read the applications, call and interview the applicants, check references, confirm the offer with the management or the necessary area, guide and train the new employee on the most relevant aspects of the company in general and its area in particular.
Strategy in customer management
What should executives do if they want to know their clients?
They need to do more than gather and analyze quantitative information, as most are used to doing. Many companies struggle to accumulate information about their customers, but: What do they really know about their customers? And how effectively are you managing that knowledge?
Unfortunately, accumulating information is only the first step towards creating the knowledge companies need to successfully carry out a customer connection strategy. Information is the raw material that is transformed into knowledge through its organization, analysis and understanding.
The words customer, knowledge and management are very independent. To get full value, the three elements must come together in a closed-circle environment, in a way that focuses on acquiring the right knowledge from the right customer, and puts the knowledge to work in a way that maximizes the value of the customer relationship.
To manage the real knowledge of the Client, it is necessary to have appropriate access to all the information that is held about them, as well as a system and set of processes to collate that information. Most companies have only a partial understanding of their customers or lack a unified system for gathering customer insight from various sources. Costumer Relation Management (CRM) is a management trend that emphasizes the customer perspective and gives new meaning to the business processes in which it intervenes, such as marketing, sales or service.
This information will allow us to know the behavior of the Client, in addition to that, in each interaction that the client makes with the company, the person or system that attends to him will have quite exhaustive information on all the significant events of our relationship with him, what which translates into personalized, contextualized and proactive attention. The objective of CRM is to obtain new clients and retain the current ones and, in this way, guarantee future benefits.
The CRM encompasses all areas of the company, from the marketing department to which you can manage your campaigns (design, planning, deployment, monitoring), segmenting them and evaluate models of behavior.
The sales team, or telesales, will have very useful information to direct the product / services or generate the needs of the Clients according to the segmentation obtained. The call center or Customer Service will be facilitated in its task both for the attention of orders, claims or post sales and maintenance services.
In the company referred to as an example, the call center had a series of screens that before each call received could enter the Customer's history and segmentation, which allowed them to address it according to the previous data available. In addition, in the face of outgoing campaigns or field actions, the information allowed them to be properly directed with appropriate economic benefits.
It is important that the decision to implement CRM is not made hastily. It must be done properly and everyone in the company must be prepared for the process. The implementation of a CRM strategy usually involves big changes in the processes, systems and organization of the company, as well as in its organizational culture and the skills of its employees.
There is a set of relevant aspects that must be taken into account to be successful, among which the following stand out:
- Managing change to an advanced model itself The speed imposed on changes The degrees of freedom available The difference between the starting point and the destination point
As I have already stated, CRM is not an exclusive project in the commercial or marketing area, nor in that of systems. If anything differentiates this initiative, it is its multifunctional character as one of the keys to success. If doubts persist about the department where the CRM should be housed, the solution would be to locate it in the place in the organization where the greatest value could be generated for the company and the customer, facilitating profitable and sustainable growth.
Obviously the new scenario is not implanted overnight. This transition is marked by increasing competitiveness and another topic that, increasingly, becomes a reality: "the customer is king" and wants to be treated as such.
It is in this context, highly competitive and multi-channel relationships, where CRM can provide more value, allowing each interaction with the client to be an opportunity to meet their needs and exceed their expectations.
Quality management strategy
A service company is that business in which the offer is dominated by intangibles whose utility lies mainly in the resolution of customer needs or in the changes that operate in them. For a definition of quality of services we refer to the set of actions of a company that allow a customer to be satisfied and that predispose them to buy from the same supplier again.
The first mistake that is usually made when talking about service quality is associating it, even if only mentally, with things like luxury, whim, snobbery, etc. Nothing is further from reality. The concept that best captures the essence of quality is that of identity or character. Quality is the adaptation of the company's activities to the definition of the role that its managers want it to play in the market.
There are a series of levels that define quality in a service company:
- Segmentation: who do I want to be useful to?
The identity of a company is determined, first of all, by the characteristics of the market segments to which it has been decided to pay particular attention. A market segment is a homogeneous group of clients. The best variables to segment are those that capture the specific needs of the customer group, as described at the beginning.
- Conceptualization of the service: what do I want to be useful for?
Companies ultimately sell a set of things in which tangible elements coexist (what things they give me), perceptual elements (what enters my senses) and evaluative elements (what I think of all this). The latter two are intangible and often dominate the former. For example, an insurance company sells a promise to act in the event of an event covered by the policy. A water network services company such as the one exemplified, not only sells water, but also life well-being, which is a much more complicated task since the assessment of the tariff (how much I pay) with respect to a determined consumption interacts.
- Service creation system: how do I design operations?
The character or identity of a company is gained, to a large extent, in the perceptions that are generated day by day in contacts with customers. These perceptions are the result of the performance of the service delivery system, which, in turn, depends on compliance with the standards of the three elements that comprise it: employees, facilities and processes. These elements must be used and designed with the explicit and manifest intention of achieving the type of identity desired, since they have greater potential to influence customer memories.
Make the personality of the company more visible: Service companies must be very attentive to communicate, with all the means at their disposal, their character or personality.
This is where the meeting place with the company comes into play, which is the set of moments when a customer comes into contact with something or someone from the company. In the contacts between the company and clients, ranging from the attention of the telephone to the clarity of the invoices, through the education with which one is treated and the ability to respond to a request, perceptions are generated about the service. The sum of the perceptions that a client has every time he comes into contact with something or someone in the company, determines, together with the tangible and evaluative elements, the product of a service company.
To make a good management of the meeting place it is very useful to distinguish three elements: The task, the treatment and the tangibility. It is about creating the conditions so that from the three elements value is added to the customer. The task is the most obvious element is the actions that from a technical point of view are necessary for the purely material performance of the service.
Improvements in service quality through better verification of service errors and recovery of disgruntled customers. To all and always.
It should not be forgotten that the principle of the company is to satisfy the Clients. The opposite is bad business. If a customer is not satisfied, it is logical that they have the means to make it known and that the company is interested in the circumstances. If the fault of the dissatisfaction is of the company, the logical thing is to compensate the client. If not, at least you are interested in better understanding the value judgments that the customer has made and trying to influence them. If customers are not satisfied, the marketing expense has gone to waste.
Methodologies for recovering disgruntled customers
Faced with a complaint, a recovery system must be put in place. How to proceed when you have the complaint before you? There are a few steps that, if followed, can turn a complaint into a recovery and a stimulus for service improvement:
- Thank the customer for taking the time to send their comment. To the extent that he is right, it must be given without excuses. If the client has doubts, he must be told something equally pleasant. Show the usefulness that the complaint received has had or will have for the company. Reinstate the damage. In principle, a company does not deserve to charge when it makes mistakes that harm its customers. Finally, it is necessary to analyze who, within the company, really has the knowledge, means and courage to recover dissatisfied customers.
In a publishing company, with a massive product, in which he managed the door-to-door production and distribution area, he based the training of more than a hundred people, so that every time they knocked on a door to deliver the product, they could Obtain an objective response on the reaction that product gave the Customer upon receiving it. From the multiple responses I was able to analyze the best way to deliver the product, the times that were best received, what aspects stood out in the first view of the product (cover design, typography, layout, delivery method, punctual delivery, etc.) and with that data, the entire chain could be segmented and the Customer's needs could be satisfied, making him feel like the only recipient of a massive product.
Theories of quality: Like other aspects of the company (finance, marketing, HR,…), quality must be managed. The contributions of various authors have insisted that quality can and should be planned following guidelines, principles or programs.
- Quality planning: Determine the clients' needs and we develop the ideal products and activities to satisfy them. Quality control: Evaluate the actual performance of the quality, comparing the results obtained with the proposed objectives, and then acting to reduce the differences. Elaborate changes based on current data. Quality improvement: Establish an annual plan for continuous improvement with the objective of achieving an advantageous and permanent change. What is considered admissible today will no longer be tomorrow. Study the results, confirm the changes and experiment again
In order for Quality processes to take place, the following are needed: Management commitments: senior management must define and commit to a quality improvement policy. Prepare quality improvement teams that will be formed by the representatives of each department, whose main tasks will be to collect data and statistics to analyze trends and problems in the operation of the organization, pay for doing things wrong and not doing it well. the first, to train and proclaim quality awareness by training the entire organization and teaching the cost of non-quality in order to avoid it.
Then, this team will evaluate the changes made in the organization and take corrective measures on possible deviations on a zero defect planning basis that will be defined with an action program with the aim of preventing errors in the future and the objectives to reduce errors are set.
Zero Defects Day: the date on which the organization experiences a real change in its operations is considered and rewards will be determined for those who meet the established goals and quality councils will be issued, the aim of which is to unite all workers through communication.
"Start over: Quality improvement is a continuous cycle that never ends."
The ISO 9000 series is part of a set of three international standards that respond to three different models of quality assurance. The three standards establish the requirements that a quality system must meet in order for it to fulfill its objective. The choice of one or the other model will depend on the type of organization and the activity it carries out. However, after providing services in multiple companies and observing many others, I consider that the quality standards to be used do not have to be regulated under the ISO series, but rather that each company should create its own quality standards that best suit to the needs of its Clients.
Service Strategy
Today, a company that offers a guarantee of service produces a double effect: on the one hand, it loyalty to its customers and, on the other, it launches an internal message of effectiveness focusing the entire organization towards a clear and defined objective. From here, the rest are all advantages.
A prerequisite to the implementation of a guarantee is that you really want to satisfy the customer. Some companies are stingy in providing their collateral and fail to win the trust of their customers. But if you are aware of the importance of customer service, the warranty process involves:
- Know in detail the needs of the clients. Define concretely the service to be offered. You have to run away from generic concepts to go towards concrete and measurable action points. Determine the current capabilities of your company. It is a sine qua non condition that the company is able to provide the service without defects. Determine the role that the guarantee will play in its competitive strategy to optimize profit.
The guarantee is a powerful marketing tool, increases market share, loyalty to customers, increases the average life of the customer and improves the profitability of the company.
* First of all, the guarantee focuses the company on the customer, it requires knowing the exact needs and expectations of its customers. It is the previous step to be able to satisfy these.
* Secondly, it sets clear objectives, it increases the morale of its people and their performance. Create a team spirit and pride of belonging to the company.
* And finally, it provides feedback on how the services work in the company, detecting non-quality costs and areas for improvement. The entrepreneur knows where he is failing, how much it costs him and what are the consequences of having unsatisfied customers. That is, you have information on what aspects of your service should be improved.
If guarantee and quality of service go hand in hand, one of the aspects that must be pampered when designing a service strategy is the guarantee. For it to be effective it must have the following qualities:
- Unconditional: An unconditional guarantee means giving customer satisfaction without exceptions.
It is the opposite of "yes, but…". Thus, for example, the return of the product is facilitated at any time and the possibility of receiving your money or choosing another product. Clients do not need an attorney to explain the terms of the warranty. As there is an unconditional guarantee, the client will more easily lean towards our company; Your risk when choosing us is less than if you choose a company that does not guarantee your service. The guarantee, therefore, also supposes a competitive advantage for those companies that have it.
- Easy to understand and communicate: This implies that it must be written in a non-technical language and understandable to the client. Excessively technical guarantees make him distrustful of them. If the guarantee is easy to understand and communicate, the advantage is twofold: customers know exactly what to expect and employees know exactly what to do.
Example: delivery in 30 minutes, instead of fast delivery.
- Significant: If the guarantee is not significant, the client will not grant any value. To be meaningful, the aspects that are important to the customer must be guaranteed, delivered quickly and represents a return that the customer values. Thus, for example, ensuring the best price and returning to the customer the price difference that would have been paid.
- Easy to invoke: The guarantee cannot be an obstacle course because they further exacerbate the customer. Impose on the client the need to speak with other departments, to express complaints in writing, to answer an infinity of questions from the company… everything contributes to devaluing the guarantee. Faced with this, companies must return the money or provide the service immediately.
- Easy to receive: Customers do not have to go through an ordeal to receive it. The procedure should be easy and fast; better if it's in the moment. Never create a guarantee that is not very easy to receive or its effect will be against the company.
Logistics Strategy: fulfillment
In theory, the logistics service is simple: the product is delivered when, where and how the customer wants it to be delivered, implementing greater demands on the logistics service.
New logistics companies must incorporate advanced technology in warehousing, inventory management, route design, processing, and order picking.
In other words, logistics services do not only include traditional transport, warehousing and distribution services, but also cover all aspects of the value chain. This type of comprehensive provider is called fulfillment.
In this sense, the logistics company must know the needs of each of the suppliers and customers to give an adequate solution to each of them, learn their buying habits and preferences and make good use of the data generated during the transactions.
This information spanning the socioeconomic position of the company and its customers and their purchasing preferences helps intermediaries and carriers reduce costs, but can only use it to compete with retailers.
In an economy where information supposes both income and power, SMEs must consider how they can strike a balance between the efficiency offered by the information provided by the logistics service and the confidentiality of storing the data in the company.
- External elements of the logistics process: Many companies that sell their products focus on displaying it in an attractive way to attract customer attention. However, an aspect that will determine the image that the consumer has of the company and that will influence a subsequent purchase is often neglected: the conditions for shipping the product. As in the promised time and period, at the address indicated by the buyer and the delivery of the product with the quality and characteristics specified at the time of purchase.
The external features of the product packaging are the company's cover letter and the first opportunity to advertise quality. One of the fundamental aspects is to make shipments in appropriate packages that do not jeopardize the content using quality packaging materials and securing the product with protective wrappers.
However, other details that build brand recognition and communicate quality cannot be neglected either. An example would be to put the company logo on the box, offer promotional gift products and even give instructions to recycle the biodegradable components of the package.
