The business environment has changed dramatically. Across all industries, we have seen technology emerge rapidly, customer preferences and expectations shift, niche competitors enter the market, generational priorities evolve, and substitute solutions reshape how value propositions are assessed and compared.
Failing to adapt to this fast-changing environment can — and often does — threaten an enterprise’s performance potential. To ensure that your company thrives and avoids unnecessary compromises to its long-term sustainability, consistently ask yourself these four important questions:
How does my customer define value? What a client once viewed as essential value may no longer be a top priority today — or in the future. For many, quality and accessibility have become baseline expectations, while speed, data, information and access carry increasing importance. The ability to integrate efficiently and effectively into a client’s processes and decision-making is also becoming more critical. External economic pressures and generational shifts within buying organizations are driving greater objectivity and more transactional purchasing behaviors. Seek to understand what matters most to your clients and customers, then evolve your products, services, and perhaps even your business model, to deliver value as they define it — not as past relationships or current capabilities might suggest.
Who is my competition? There was a time when many of us could name our competitors company by company. Today, the landscape is different. Revenue and margin pressure often come from sources beyond familiar company logos, including emerging or lower-cost technologies that enable customers to insource, integrate broadly and directly, or replace existing products and services. We also compete with rising buyer expectations shaped by a highly developed consumer marketplace. Customers now have more information than ever, even when they are not actively seeking it. Today’s competition may as likely be a new concept as much as a comparable company, making progressive thinking and innovative action essential.
What do I see on the horizon? Tomorrow’s winners are already focused on what will keep them relevant in the future. Most of us follow historical trends and forecasts within our own industries, but that is no longer enough. Read, watch, interview and learn from people in industries that may be more advanced than yours. Compare how products, solutions, business models and entire industries have evolved — or disappeared. Surround yourself with forward-looking board members and advisers who can offer practical perspective.
How can I remain most relevant to the customers I depend on? Although much has changed, some fundamentals remain constant. One of them is this: if choosing you makes your customer or client materially better, your business relationships are more likely to endure. Understand how your customer generates financial return, manages risk and defines success. If you are not clear, ask. Then bring products, services, data and quality to the market that directly support those objectives. Doing so helps ensure your customers receive tangible value — and that you remain relevant to them. ●
Jerry L. Kelsheimer is President and CEO of MMG Healthcare Solutions/Medic Management Group
