Skip to main content

can you stomach differentiation?


First and foremost when I think about differentiation in the service business I immediately think about ways to create additional value for our clients. The trick is to create this value in such a way that it is easy for your organizations culture to adopt, affordable to implement, and very difficult to replicate by your competitors. One of the challenges within service businesses is not only finding the time but finding the right opportunity to create differentiated ideas. The fact of the matter is that service is a blocking and tackling business. We often get so mired down in the details, that at the end of the day there is little room left for conceptualizing and visualizing out-of-the-box approaches. Make no mistake though, if you can figure out a way within your organization to carve out the time required to allow those creative minds in your employ to express themselves, you will come up with tools and processes which create value and differentiation.



The size of a service business has its' pros and cons. Larger organizations are often afforded the luxury to be able to leverage individuals focused purely on looking in to the business from the outside and creatively coming up with solutions which can differentiate you in the marketplace. However, not all is lost if you are not one of these large service organizations.  Some will start with the time-tested suggestion box. Unfortunately these mechanisms often fall short on capturing the essence of the request and more importantly fail to put these requests into some actionable format. Instead consideration should be made to establish a formal ideation process.  Tools put in place designed to capture new ideas and alter existing ideas is a great first step.  Take the time to identify, within your organization what you are trying to achieve, either in the form of strategic or operational objectives, goals, etc.  Align the ideation process directly with these over-arching objectives and you will not only produce an openness to share ideas but also insure that efforts are properly threaded with the business. 



-----

Next post:  client buy their own parts?

-----
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

resilience, do you believe?

Seeking out the closest spot to the door of the office was not a common practice; however, at 07:00 on August 24th, 2022 the temperature was already 96' and 98% humidity.   The building would have a hell of a time keeping up today, rolling black-outs and brown-outs would be inevitable.   It likely won't be an outright equipment shut-down, instead we will have to endure the impending "brown-out" conditions, a slow, low voltage and high amperage stressing of our electrical infrastructure and connected systems. Our deliberate and continuous leverage of Industrial IoT (IIoT) technology and the companion AI prescriptive models have positioned us well. It had to be around the year 2018 when we invested in IIoT.   Heck, most were comparing our endeavors to the "Nest" thermostat, a pioneer (yet very fundamental) entrée into home-based IoT.   Naysayers were laughing that we would never see the benefits; however, our fragile National infrastructure and Mothe...
Post a Comment
Read more

In$pired

As the steam from Avid Andy's coffee fogged his glasses on this crisp January morning, he reflected on last year and thought enthusiastically about the year ahead.   Sometimes the noise of business is deafening, we rarely take the time to contemplate our moves, instead are often thrown one direction or another.   Hey, face it, if you are reading posts to gain perspective you fall in the group of folks who pride themselves as obsequious hoop-jumpers.   We live to help others and expect that all of those around us feel the same way.   I just love Influential Irene.   Okay, it is out in the open, she is an inspiration for me and so many others.   Irene reminds folks every year, without fail, these three statements which she fondly refers to as "the punchline" (although this is no joke).   Businesses, of any size, will be successful if they remember that it is people that make a company.   Put this advice into practice, today: Sincerity |...
Post a Comment
Read more

Should you expose yourself?

Respected Ron was starting his work day from the home office.   Making himself comfortable behind his beautiful mahogany desk, Ron settled into that oversized leather chair while contemplating which task he would jump into first.   He decided to start with taking a look at a handful of contracts awaiting his input.   Suddenly, that all too familiar feeling washed over Ron and he began to fidget in his chair, internally Ron was torn on how he should share his perspectives.   It seemed that he had so many things to consider in this digital age, Ron reminisces for a brief moment on how much simpler business seemed when folks met face to face.   However, at the current pace, there is simply not enough time in the day.   Given the single dimension of computer-based communication, Ron had to consider his approach, here are some of his thoughts: create a dependency | of course, I will spin a web that nobody can escape.   Darn, just then R...
Post a Comment
Read more