Let me first start by explaining the question as there are a lot of layers in this question.
Firstly I am trying to ask:
Can one ordinary organization delivery Unique Value Proposition in an industry where everyone is talking same stuff!
Can this value Proposition be continuous in nature? If yes then how?
The biggies of the Industry have the capability to make your Value Proposition common in no time. How you fight that?
If you think that you will get all the answers to these questions in this blog, then DO NOT read any further.
I am just trying to pose a lot of questions, observations and discussion with colleagues which made me ponder. I truly believe that if you are asking the right questions, the solution emerges on its own from these right questions.
Let me start with a small observation:
A had been to an Irani joint a few days back. ( I don't think any 5 star can give you the anda bhurji that you get here.) As a habit i asked for a tissue paper to wipe my hands after my meal . To my surprise the tambi gets a cloth napkin telling me that it's a clean napkin and I can wipe my hands comfortably with it. I surely did wipe my hands with it and my purpose got served.
At another incident, I happened to be in a 5 star hotel with a lot of colleagues. One of my colleagues had a severe head ache and asked for a disprin. The reception lady told us that they can't give her as they do have the permission to do so. Probably they did not have a process for this scenario.
The question that came to my mind was " What makes these Customer Interfaces (Tambis in the Irani joint case) to go all the way to solve customer's problem? Where does this humility come from? Why does this kind of an incident not happen in a 5 star? Why does a tinge of arrogance set in a large successful organization (even in hospitality Businesses)? Why does this humility get lost in the lower levels of Customer Interfaces of the Organization? Definitely putting a process to handle all exceptional scenarios is not the answer for creating a VP (Plzz read VP as Value Proposition as me bored of writing these words again and again!!)
Arrogance is mostly seen at the bottom level interactions . Relationships at the top most levels are very humble said a friend when discussing this point. Whatever value an organization proposes is not maintained by these bottom levels. Arrogance sets in because individual at all levels of interaction are not evolved to the level of people who have taken the organization to the level which it is at currently. One of the ways they see to fake the same level of evolution is to be arrogant. This may not be done consciously but happens very subtly.
Taking the theory on arrogance as given, the next question that comes to my mind is then “How do you make so many individuals reflect or strive to deliver the same VP?”.
The answer is definitely in people’s ability and not efficient processes.
In almost all civilizations we have seen people strive for a particular cause collectively. This cause is so higher that personal interests are sacrificed in the process. What made so many people follow Gandhiji? It was not only his efforts but strong role models around him who followed his philosophy to deliver freedom as a Value to the nation. Also the people of India were bound together by a common disparity i.e. discrimination done by British towards Indians. So a ‘Common area of Pain’ and strong Role Models helped Gandhiji bring a transformation in every Indian to deliver the VP.
Another example is today’s Terrorism in the name of Islam. The terrorist are speaking and exploiting a ‘Common area of pain’ in all Muslims over the world. The pain area is so exploited that people are ready to die for that cause.
So applying the same theory in case of Organizations too, unless we have a ‘Common area of Pain’ which has the capability to bring employees collectively and also strong Role Models who live the Values, it is not possible to deliver VP at every level of Customer Interaction.
So the advantage for a small player is that, there is lesser number of people to touch so transformation becomes a little easier. But transformation is not an easy job. The question that organizations need to answer for themselves is whether they have the perseverance to get into this game? Whether they can see that far? If yes, then are they in the right frame to view people as not mere resources that need to be used but are viewed as individuals with shared purposes who in turn become harbingers of VP.
The biggest question is " What is that 'Common Area of Pain' which will bring all the employees of the organization give in their best and make sacrifices of individual interest (if required) for delivering that VP. The fact is : It is not easy to find 'Pain' in prosperity . And in a mature Industry 'Prosperity' is given.
1 comment:
Hi,
I would disagree with the opinion that the people lower down the hierarchy in an organisation are arrogant.
In fact, my belief is that it is quite the opposite. The lower the hierarchy, the more a person is bound by policies and processes. As a company grows, it sets up processes for efficient delivery, but sometimes these processes are not flexible enough to accommodate some customers.
To put it as example, I am sure the reason the reception lady could not give the medicine, is because of the hotel policy of not serving drugs, not even OTC.
The more people are empowered, the more they feel they own the company and the job, and automatically the service improves.
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