The 4 C’s Of An Organization
To maintain a competitive edge, companies must contemplate four facets of their business: Communication, Customers, Culture, and Choice. It is paramount to establish the organization’s vision, its niche in the market, and how it caters to its customer’s needs. Failure to comprehend these four elements can lead to failure.
Customers
To recognize how your organization should carry out its operations, you must initially recognize whom it serves. The initial impression your business makes on a potential customer will decide if they go on to become a committed customer. The curious shopper is someone who has spotted something they like about your organization. This can be in the form of products and services offered or the general atmosphere of the workplace. This person will evaluate how they are welcomed and treated during their visit.
The big question
How does your business interact with inquisitive customers? Do you prefer the self-service approach or the support-oriented one? In the self-service option, customers can get what they need without any support from employees.
In recent years, big stores have transitioned to self-checkout and touch-to-pay technologies that allow buyers to purchase goods quickly. This method involves minimal contact with staff, but it reduces the overall quality of the shopping experience. On the other hand, the support-oriented option involves welcoming the shopper and providing them with assistance, which can save them time when searching for what they desire. This approach can also result in fewer returns since customers can get what they truly want.
The 10-10-40 philosophy
When engaging with potential customers, organizations should take advantage of the 10-10-40 method. Admittingly, I derived this approach from my time in retail and through direct engagement with customers. Under the 10-10-40 principle, if the customer is close by, it is essential to greet them in the first 10 seconds and, within the next 40 seconds, start a conversation that will help you to understand the purpose of their visit.
The initial minute is crucial for making a good impression and setting yourself up as a friendly and knowledgeable figure, as opposed to an uninterested party. It is important for organizations to understand that customers need to feel important and recognize their needs by showing a genuine interest in their requests. Moreover, customers want to know that their time is respected and valued by the organization.
Relationship between quantity and quality
It is essential to maintain a balance between the quantity and quality of the goods and services offered. Some may hold the notion that if the quality is low, then the cost must be low. Similarly, if the cost is high, the quality must also be high. There is an element of truth to the idea that quality dictates how an item may be priced. This same argument can be made as it relates to quantity. One means of controlling demand is to control the availability of an item in hopes of driving demand higher.
In the present market, where there are plenty of substitutes, it is risky to take any stance that might drive customers to your competition. If a customer’s needs are not met, the competition may provide a substitute that meets those needs on the terms of the customer. Organizations should be careful not to lose their competitive edge by compromising the equilibrium between quantity and quality. If the customer is pleased with what they observe and experience, they may become loyal. To reach this stage, the customer must be satisfied with what the organization has to offer. After all, remember it is cheaper to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one.
P.A.R.
Just like a car needs continual maintenance for the best results, the same applies to your business associations. To keep your customers, there are three major areas that need to be attended to consistently;
- Are the offers your company makes attractive to your intended client base?
- Do customers see your company as a place they want to visit? Are the shelves stocked and the aisles free of clutter? For online businesses, is the website easy to use? Can customers discover the right route with the menu options listed? Are you making your terms of service explicit?
- Does your business provide incentives for customers to keep coming back? Keep in mind that it is easier to keep a customer than to get a new one.
Addressing these essential components mentioned will ensure that your organization is better aligned to realize a competitive advantage. Approaching your customer with a “What’s in it for them” (WIIFT) ‘mindset is critical to building a solid relationship and potentially gaining a new loyal customer. As we become increasingly global, you must prove why you are a better option than the available alternatives.
Culture
As a company works to address P.A.R., it must also be completely aware of its internal culture and structure. The organization must comprehend the complexities of its day-to-day processes. Organizational culture is just the manner in which activities are carried out on a regular basis. The organization’s structure is officially defined as the system of responsibilities and reporting hierarchies that steer, coordinate, and motivate personnel so they can collaborate to meet the company’s objectives. It is impossible to discuss culture and structure without referring to the organizational design that needs to be implemented for them to function successfully.
Structure among chaos
How a structure or culture is established and advances over time can significantly impact how individuals and teams act within the organization. Once the organization has specified the behaviors it wishes to promote, the attitudes it desires to foster, and the goals it aims to achieve, it must then commence constructing its structure and developing cultural values and standards to meet these desired attitudes, behaviors, and objectives (Kinicki, A. & Kreitner, R. 2003). An organization is not able to function without structure. Structure can either be formed by someone else, or the organization itself can form it. When someone else creates the structure, it can cause disarray unless they have adopted the organization’s vision and philosophy of what it is trying to achieve. Ultimately, the organization should be ready for change, whether short-term or long-term, depending on the organization’s needs. What does short-term change look like for your organization? While addressing this question, one should also identify what long-term change looks like for the organization.
Performance assessment
The difference between an average and exceptional organization can be determined by assessing its performance. Assessing performance is an imperative part of actualizing change, achieving optimal results, and ensuring such changes are integrated into the organizational culture. The most effective route to measure any variations within a firm is to employ a 360 Degree feedback approach. This strategy offers people the ability to receive feedback from multiple sources about their interpersonal relations and their actions’ effect on those affected by them. Moreover, 360 Degree feedback allows personal and professional growth, team building, executive development, individual progress, and the development of tailored training programs designed to fulfill specifically identified needs (PDA, 2002).
The 360-degree feedback process is a unique way for any organization to evaluate its practices and performance by getting feedback from multiple parties. This can include direct reports, colleagues, clients (internal and external), governing bodies, and others. Moreover, it is the only system that recognizes the organization’s comprehensive training and development requirements for those who give or receive products or services from the organization (PDA, 2002).
There are numerous advantages of the 360 Degree Feedback model:
- Individuals usually demonstrate a marked improvement in their behavior after receiving feedback, before any training takes place, as they are eager to fulfill the expectations of others.
- People are frequently motivated to acquire new skills that can support them in addressing any developmental needs that have been identified.
- Organizations can pinpoint precise training programs to tackle specific requirements as a result of the assessment.
- Organizations can evaluate the performance of training and development programs as they are carried out in order to focus on the most critical needs (PDA, 2002).
Expectations
When an organization undergoes a major change, the decision-makers will be confronted with various issues. For instance, they may need to train staff, construct a new organizational culture, and handle those who are not accepting of the change. It is important for the organization to understand that employees will feel in control and can be open to transformation if they are supplied with the necessary abilities and mindsets to work in the desired organizational system. As it takes a long time to acquire these abilities and mindsets, it is unreasonable to anticipate that employees can discard their old ones and learn new ones in only a few days of instruction. Employees are sometimes provided training to gain technical abilities, not social ones and attitudes. Training intended to cause a significant shift in attitudes should be regarded as a mechanism for specifying the expectations and anticipated behaviors for the organization’s ideal future state. A ship changes direction and speed based on the actions of its crew and external circumstances (such as the forcefulness of the water), but it does not happen instantly.
A potential mistake any organization can make is not anticipating the necessity of equipping their personnel with the competencies required to adjust the culture. People’s indifference to the change can be an obstacle to the successful integration of a different organizational culture. Unless the existing culture hinders the operation of the organization, the impetus to alter it is not that strong. Nevertheless, when a culture is established, it may evolve unconsciously and without intention.
Make it clear
With a well-defined mission, managers and employees are better equipped to comprehend the organization’s objectives and direction. There is no easy solution to reducing discrepancies and potential opposition to transformation when different people are involved in a process. Establishing objectives and expectations is an inevitable step. After all, how can we anticipate people to adhere to an unestablished course? Adding cultural restructuring components that include human elements, personnel surveys, 360 feedback, and a variety of other initiatives can reduce a great deal of the reluctance to modify by uniting workers, advisors, and management to craft the most beneficial procedures for the organization and the transition of change to be applied. It is all about including, not leaving out.
If the leadership of an organization desires changes to be successful, they should embrace the participative approach. This technique promotes morale as it displays that leaders truly value their staff’s perspectives and beliefs. Additionally, it gives the leadership an opportunity to form a new relationship with the workforce. The most advantageous aspect of the participative leadership approach is that numerous obstacles can be solved simultaneously. A collaborative style results in a more content and enthusiastic employee base, and it produces plans that are much more efficient than if the leadership were to create them independently. Bear in mind that transformation is unavoidable at all levels of the organization, and if either supervisors or workers oppose the changes, it can impede the development of the transition.
Choice
Organizations must remember that customers have the power to choose whom they give their business. Therefore, businesses must make sure that they treat their customers in a way that will keep them coming back or risk the possibility of having to shut down for good.
Assumptions
It is not enough to have an esteemed name or to boast of certain values that your organization stands by if these are not translated into palpable benefits to the customer. The Roman Empire may be a fine example of this, for despite its impressive name and influence, it was not enough to preserve its dominance. Organizations that do not plan and adjust as needed are doomed to fail.
To determine if your customers have an alternative, ask yourself the following: Do I have exclusive rights to the goods and services I offer? Could a client get comparable results from one of my rivals? Do I have all the industry awards for my provided products and services? If you are in doubt about any of these, then your customers have a “choice.” Organizations that fail to identify choices through the eyes of customers fail to identify threats from competitors, both direct and indirect.
Final Thoughts
Customers will assess your trustworthiness before, during, and after they buy from or invest in your organization. The issue for organizations is identifying where they might be turned away in the process or if there is enough skill to encourage them to become faithful patrons. There are two components that are essential for commitment to your organization to thrive: a connection to the item or service and, secondly, a connection to the brand (Griffin 2002).
It is necessary to build affinity with the goods or services to develop a group of potential shoppers that can be persuaded to become devoted customers. In an age of endless options, organizations must strive to make their brand stand out from the competition.
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ReferencesÂ
Professional Development Associates (PDA). (2002). 360 Feedback System. http://www.prodevelop.com/360feedback.htm?source=overture
Kinicki, A. & Kreitner, R. (2003). Organizational behavior: Creating effective organizations, 6e. Creating effective organizationsÂ
Griffin, J. (2002). Customer Loyalty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.