Insights
"Slater's Dozen for 2012"
by Simon Slater, Managing Director, Intelligent Office Consulting Services
So here we are, into year 5 of a prolonged economic downturn. And by now most sensible people have decided not to take too much notice of the gloom pedalled in certain quarters of the media and instead to simply get on with their lives by focusing on the things that really matter.
Successful people, successful businesses never lose sight of the basics. Having worked with a wide range of leading professional service firms over the years and observed what makes them tick, here are my tips for sustained success over the coming year:
- Know who your top 10 clients and prospects are
- Truly understand their business and long-term strategy
- Plan your growth in harmony with theirs
- Deliver consistently excellent service
- Invest in your talent - involve them and let them flourish
- Reward teamwork - group targets always trump individual targets
- Invest in new product development (NPD)
- Differentiate - don't follow the herd and don't be vanilla (that's a crowded market with few winners)
- Drive a premium price
- Ensure operational efficiency
- Minimise overheads - shift any that are fixed, but not core to the client experience, to variable
- Analyse profitable and unprofitable clients and service lines
There you have it: your path to competitive leadership and superior profitability in a nutshell. Like everything, it's not astrophysics, but don't be fooled; the challenge lies in effective execution.
There's nothing particularly new there either. Indeed, I could have said the same last year and the year before that. As my father used to say, "the more things change, the more they stay as they are!"
This is especially true of leadership and I couldn't put it better than this:
"Leadership is about inspiring and directing energy" - Dominic Taylor, CEO PayPoint plc
simon.slater@intelligentofficeuk.com
t: +44 (0) 845 658 9443
f: +44 (0) 845 658 9445
m: +44 (0) 7786 903 530
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