How to compare to your competitors?

In business there are always competitors. Contrary to popular opinion it is necessary to know and understand what your competitors offer. Potential clients are going to research and compare you with others in the market. How will you stand out from them if you aren’t aware of what they offer? Knowing your competitors and developing your point of difference is fundamental to success.

Do your people recognise and value the point of difference for your business and can they effectively communicate it?

Ritchies IGA is one of the largest independent Supermarkets in Australia, but this wasn’t always so. In fact, about 20 years ago Ritchies IGA was on the edge of closing their doors forever. CEO, Fred Harrison had to develop a strategy to stand out from the 1000’s of other Supermarkets around the country. Offering great specials and rewarding customers is a start but not enough to convert people permanently, because in reality most Supermarkets offer this. Fred’s development of the Community Benefits Program was the turning point for Ritchies. The program enables each customer to nominate a school, club, or charity to receive a certain percentage of the profits from their purchases. Today, thanks to this key Point of Difference, Ritchies appears on Australia’s top 20 retailers list and has donated over 50million dollars to nominated organisations.

So, the TRUTH is; although you are special, extraordinary, and provide value in what you do every day, you probably aren’t unique. There are likely 100’s or even 1000’s of others that are just like you. One of the greatest strategies to thrive in business or life is to find a way to stand out from your competitors, and that starts with your point of difference.

So, DARE to be bold. Dare to take chances. Do not be afraid to try something that has never been done before. When you are confident in what your point of difference is, learn how to convey it in different ways to effectively communicate it to any individual or corporation along your journey. Drop an emoji if you are ready to dare to stand out.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

– Thomas Edison

Ferne Eliz King

Love Life Love YOUR Life

Growing your business

This week I ask a very pointed question. It gets people uncomfortable. We all need to be confident with our strengths and capabilities, and if there is a need that you cannot fulfill you must define your boundaries and play to your strengths.

But companies must set their people up to succeed. They should know the strengths and capabilities of each of their employees and use it to their advantage. It takes a certain style of person to create a product or service, and typically different type to lead the product or service into the market.

And then there is the skillset that can lead different WAYS to take both current and new products and services to the market.

It is about using the right roles, the right people, for the right tasks in growing your business.

Ask yourself:

Can your companies current capabilities expose your  value to the market in new and different ways?

Taking your value to the market effectively is an intricate process. If a comedian stepped onto a stage and said, ‘I’m funny person,’ would you believe them if you had never heard one of their jokes? To make their audience laugh a comedian has to be funny, not just state they are. They need to continuously measure the reactions of the crowd, at times alter their punchline or delivery to have a higher chance of success in entertaining different audiences. Their craft takes years to perfect, but even when accomplished the need for new material is endless. If they repeated the same jokes at every gig, their fans would lose interest. Comedians need to be resourceful to develop new fresh material, a lot of them will find inspiration in the most mundane of daily experiences such as seeing someone walking their dog each day or a conversation they overheard on public transport.

This is not dissimilar to taking your product or value to the market in business. As a comedian looks for new ways to entertain and provide fresh material, your people need to constantly pursue new markets and deliver new value to your existing market. As with comedy, timing is crucial- you must warm up your targeted market and deliver your value at the right moment, blindly posting an ad to a cold, and broad audience is not likely to get you any ‘laughs’.

Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together

– James Cash Penney

Ferne Eliz King

Love Life Love YOUR Life

Do your employees work like a well-oiled machine?

Strategic Portfolio Management – My sweet spot! Aligning strategies with investment availability for growth vs keeping the lights on vs operational improvements. It’s not just investment availability it is matching the capacity and capabilities to be able to achieve the imaginable future.

You need alignment of stakeholders to have the courage to continually review activities. The activities aligned to your business planning cycles.

It is about the right things, at the right time, done in the right way.

I’m here to tell you it is achievable.

Can you assess your current investment portfolio (who is doing what and why) and have the courage to reprioritise, merge, stop, accelerate and start within 2 weeks? Can you match this against capability and capacity to do the work in the time required?  Have you the right advisors or thinkers to think differently than today to achieve tomorrow?

Have you ever seen anything more incredibly controlled and organised as a pitstop crew in Formula One racing?

The driver must stop on the exact mark to allow easy access for the crew. The driver shifts into neutral and keeps a foot firmly on the brake. Simultaneously the ‘wheel gun crew’ immediately remove the wheel nuts, the ‘jack crew’ raise the car, while the ‘refueller’ has 1.5 seconds to connect the hose. As the refuelling begins the ‘tyre off crew’ have 2.5 seconds to remove the wheels and move out the way so the ‘wheel on crew’ can attach the new, preheated wheels within 3.5 seconds and another crew member can clean the driver’s helmet visor. Then the ‘wheel gun crew’ tighten the nuts, and the ‘jack crew’ lowers the car. Finally, the driver shifts to first gear as the refuelling finishes and a crew member wipes spillage. The driver takes off .3 seconds after fuel hose is removed. This all occurs in a maximum of 16 seconds! There are over 20 people involved in a Formula One tyre change and refuel, and every one of them needs to be in exactly the right place, doing exactly the right thing, at exactly the right moment. While each crew members sole focus is on their specific job, they need to demonstrate awareness of the sequence of roles for the rest of the team in order to beat the clock.

It astounds me that so much can be achieved in so little time when managed correctly. This is what I want for you. I want your business running like a well-oiled machine. I want you to reprioritise your focus over the coming weeks to set the path to achieve your imaginable future. I want you to set clear objectives for yourself and your people, so everyone knows the role they are responsible for. Teamwork is imperative, but that begins with each individual realising their value within that team.  

Think about the gap between your now and your imaginable future, what actions can you take NOW to begin your journey?  .. and hand pick those that can think differently about how to achieve outcomes for the future.

Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don’t let these feelings stop them.

– T. Harv Eker

Ferne Eliz King

Love Life Love YOUR Life

Do you have a plan to succeed?

IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, YOU WILL END UP SOMEWHERE ELSE.

– Yogi Berra

The thing is, when I ask an individual or team for details on their plan to succeed, more often than not I get no clarity in their answer. If I am not clear on the roadmap, I can guarantee you that some of your people will be just as confused. Remember that longevity in business involves evolving with the times, market and trends. Continuing to ‘do’ might be adequate for now but is not a plan for long term success.

So ask yourself this:

Do you have a roadmap of the journey to achieve your imaginable future, in relatable terms that will inspire people? Do you have a program to humanise the engagement between executives and your front line?

When approaching your employees remember that just because it is clear to you, does not mean it will be clear to all. Think of it this way, If I gave you a map and told you to get me from A to B would you remain composed? Or would anxiety start to creep in?

There are 3 types of people in this world; those that can read a map, those that cannot and have no problem admitting it, and those that are pretty sure they can, or at least don’t want to admit they can’t, but wind up getting lost along the way. Some would consider the invention of the GPS a blessing, being that it is easy to follow, gives verbal prompts, reliable, and almost impossible to get lost… But what about the people that aren’t tech savvy?

Developmental psychologist Howard Gardner uses his model of 9 multiple intelligences to demonstrate how our brains work in different ways. He promotes how each of us have our own strengths in learning and understanding and how leaders must comprehend these dynamics when managing others. This is why, for example, someone may have great ‘people skills’ but are not strong in mathematics or problems involving logic. Or why others may be very coordinated and excel in physical tasks and activity but are unable to articulate the words to express their feelings or desires effectively. To ensure you are inclusive to diversity of thoughts, consider the 9 intelligences listed below when conveying a message or vision to others.

• Bodily-Kinesthetic: Coordination of the mind and body
• Existential: Abstract, philosophical thinkers that question the big picture
• Interpersonal: People Smart. Sensing feelings and motives of others and reacting appropriately
• Intrapersonal Intelligence: Self Awareness. To understand yourself and your desires
• Linguistic Intelligence: Word Smart. To articulate what you mean effectively
• Logical-Mathematical: Number and Reasoning Smart
• Musical Intelligence: Music Smart
• Naturalist Intelligence: To understand living things and reading nature
• Spatial Intelligence: Visual thinking. Ability to visualise in 3D (People that are great at reading maps!)

What is the point of making a map if no one else can read it? Or having a map that the majority of people understand when there are others afraid to speak up in fear they are the only ones that don’t ‘get it’? Be aware that what makes sense for one will not make sense for all and consider the various ways people interpret and process information when you develop your roadmap. Be proud of your plan, but ensure your people are just as inspired and excited to guarantee their support on your journey.

The two words ‘information’ and ‘communication’ are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through.

– Sydney J. Harris

Ferne Eliz King

Love Life Love YOUR Life