Wk5, Day 3&4 @ HBS - It is easy to forget the ABC of your business...
Very early, in the last module, the lead faculty had given a simple formula for ensuring business remains on track. He had also challenged, us that even though this is a simple thing to remember, we would soon forget it. "The difference between those who forget it and those who remember it - is the difference between a good business leader and great business leader" he had said.
At that time (about 8 weeks ago), it was quite amusing to see that professor's believed we were so low on our IQ that we will not remember a simple three point program. Well guess what.
We actually did forget it, at least most of us. I have tried to articulate a simple mnemonic based method to remember this.
"A" - Address your customers. Get to know WHO your customer is. What does he look like. What is his segment, his profile. It may sound basic, but you may want to define who your customer is NOT, and therefore arrive at a sub-set. The finer you can define your customer, higher is the delta returns of your investment.
"B" - what Benefits do you provide your customer - What need of your customer do you fulfill. Pretty simple, but keep the focus on the question and list 2-3 clear needs that you fulfill.
"C" - What Competitive advantage, do you have that others do not. Customer will buy something from you ONLY, when you have a unique proposition that your competition does not have. The sale happens, ONLY if you are able to demonstrate specific competitive advantage.
I have seen so many corporations failing to recognize the above three issues. You do not need 20 points in each of the ABC section, you need just one or two - as long as they are crisp, definable and your team, your leadership, your customers understand that.
Yesterday Google, Today Facebook... errr.. ??
While Google continues to please the business analysts and is happy posting progressively better results, Facebook has really never picked up the high mast it had set up at the time of IPO. In our rotation dinner last night, discussion also pointed to the fact that the very first quarter, post IPO, facebook had pushed in losses. This had not gone well with retail customers or financial institutions. As I write this blog, Facebook shares are still hovering @ around $25.69, down from an initial $38 IPO. In contrast, Google is valued at $600bn, it earns a revenue of $13.5bn while $60bn market capitalized facebook, earns around $5bn annually.
And when you get one of the facebook core team members to come and speak to you in the class, you realise the problem is not so easy to solve as it appears on the face of things.
Demographics of Social media
Fine print: The above values may be off by a few points here and there.
One would assume that with more than a billion people to serve, it forms an ideal platform for advertisements. Well, it so happens, that flat advertisement is not so well. It acts more like an interruption.
Therefore, the trick to leveraging social media is not through advertising - but to introduce concepts of "sharing", "network" and "interaction". It is important to think, what your social media strategy is going to be - how to truly leverage the value of social media. Be it whatsapp, twitter, linkedin or facebook.
It seems, the problem of monetizing the social network is not going to go away so soon. It is important to define, (A) Who you would be addressing via the social media , (B) What benefits will the social media offer to your customer and (C) How would you use social media that your competition cannot. The simple ABC.
What did I learn today ?
1. Thinking like a Union Leader.
Another important angle of discussion that came up, was the role of the Union Leaders and their expectations. If you lead a large sized worker organisation, then it is safe to assume that sooner or later, you would need to engage with the Union Leaders. So what does the Union leader want.
When you lead your business and want his support, these two things will be playing on top of his mind.
2. More for less is different from Less for less.
There is a market and need for both types of strategies in your offering. When you define your competitive advantage, make sure, you understand this and factor in the same.
3. Change Management is about perception management. Manage them well.
Alok Sinha
Very early, in the last module, the lead faculty had given a simple formula for ensuring business remains on track. He had also challenged, us that even though this is a simple thing to remember, we would soon forget it. "The difference between those who forget it and those who remember it - is the difference between a good business leader and great business leader" he had said.
At that time (about 8 weeks ago), it was quite amusing to see that professor's believed we were so low on our IQ that we will not remember a simple three point program. Well guess what.
We actually did forget it, at least most of us. I have tried to articulate a simple mnemonic based method to remember this.
"A" - Address your customers. Get to know WHO your customer is. What does he look like. What is his segment, his profile. It may sound basic, but you may want to define who your customer is NOT, and therefore arrive at a sub-set. The finer you can define your customer, higher is the delta returns of your investment.
"B" - what Benefits do you provide your customer - What need of your customer do you fulfill. Pretty simple, but keep the focus on the question and list 2-3 clear needs that you fulfill.
"C" - What Competitive advantage, do you have that others do not. Customer will buy something from you ONLY, when you have a unique proposition that your competition does not have. The sale happens, ONLY if you are able to demonstrate specific competitive advantage.
I have seen so many corporations failing to recognize the above three issues. You do not need 20 points in each of the ABC section, you need just one or two - as long as they are crisp, definable and your team, your leadership, your customers understand that.
Yesterday Google, Today Facebook... errr.. ??
While Google continues to please the business analysts and is happy posting progressively better results, Facebook has really never picked up the high mast it had set up at the time of IPO. In our rotation dinner last night, discussion also pointed to the fact that the very first quarter, post IPO, facebook had pushed in losses. This had not gone well with retail customers or financial institutions. As I write this blog, Facebook shares are still hovering @ around $25.69, down from an initial $38 IPO. In contrast, Google is valued at $600bn, it earns a revenue of $13.5bn while $60bn market capitalized facebook, earns around $5bn annually.
And when you get one of the facebook core team members to come and speak to you in the class, you realise the problem is not so easy to solve as it appears on the face of things.
Demographics of Social media
- Facebook has more than 1.0 bn subscribers - MORE than the total email addresses (about 800M)
- 57% of facebook users are Women.
- City dwellers are significantly more likely than rural residents to be on Twitter *
- Women are five times as likely as men to use Pinterest *
- Blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to use Instagram *
- 33% of time spent on facebook is to view profiles of their friends.
- 35% of time spent on facebook is to view profiles of strangers.
- 8% of time is spent on viewing your OWN profile (come on !!)
- Balance is games, ads, sharing etc.
- As of last week, Whatsapp has more subscribers than Twitter. More than 200 M active users, 8-12 Billion messages per day!!
- Click here for some interesting twitter facts.
Fine print: The above values may be off by a few points here and there.
One would assume that with more than a billion people to serve, it forms an ideal platform for advertisements. Well, it so happens, that flat advertisement is not so well. It acts more like an interruption.
Therefore, the trick to leveraging social media is not through advertising - but to introduce concepts of "sharing", "network" and "interaction". It is important to think, what your social media strategy is going to be - how to truly leverage the value of social media. Be it whatsapp, twitter, linkedin or facebook.
It seems, the problem of monetizing the social network is not going to go away so soon. It is important to define, (A) Who you would be addressing via the social media , (B) What benefits will the social media offer to your customer and (C) How would you use social media that your competition cannot. The simple ABC.
What did I learn today ?
1. Thinking like a Union Leader.
Another important angle of discussion that came up, was the role of the Union Leaders and their expectations. If you lead a large sized worker organisation, then it is safe to assume that sooner or later, you would need to engage with the Union Leaders. So what does the Union leader want.
- He would want more salary/perks/benefits for the workers. This impacts in your direct wage bill.
- He plays another important role in shaping the job description. (yes Job Description). At a macro level, he wants "MORE" people to be employed by you, (or conversely protect the interests of workers), by ensuring enough enough open jobs.
When you lead your business and want his support, these two things will be playing on top of his mind.
2. More for less is different from Less for less.
There is a market and need for both types of strategies in your offering. When you define your competitive advantage, make sure, you understand this and factor in the same.
3. Change Management is about perception management. Manage them well.
Alok Sinha
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