According to the media, the financial crisis has reached Canada and the province of Quebec. One thing is for sure, our work environment has changed, and chances are that these changes will be permanent. The team at Communication 8020 has outlined the main challenges to be expected in 2009. Reading their article has given me food for thought, and I have realized that three tools can help us deal with the current changes:
1. Flexibility
2. Innovation
3. Speed
Let’s be flexible!
How can you turn an unfavourable situation, i.e. recession or economical slowdown, into a business opportunity? For many enterprises, one of the main challenges will be finding a way to properly respond to the current changes. In some cases, companies will take the LEAN approach. However, some other cases will need a complete re-assessment of customer services, or even sales pitches. Whether your enterprise faces one or the other, you will need to be flexible in taking decisions and applying them in order to change your course in a timely manner.
Let’s be innovative!
Why not see the current changes as an opportunity to re-assess our business strategies? Think about how competitive you are. What are your competitive advantages? Innovation remains one of the best ways to remain competitive and boost your company’s value. Being innovative could mean developing new products or services, but can also be rethinking your creative process or the way you present those products or services.
Let’s act rapidly!
We know for a fact that speed creates a major edge in the business world. It is imperative to act in a timely manner when confronted with a new need from one, or several clients. To be able to stand our own against foreign competitors, offering high quality products at a low cost is no longer enough. Many new business opportunities can arise via Internet at any moment. In order to compete with them, your enterprise will have to be able to rapidly answer your clients’ new needs. This new tendency is a worldwide occurrence that will affect industrial companies, such as service businesses.