In a shopping center around the country, two stark reminders stand of why you need to follow a simple principle: Stay Relevant, Stay Viable
There's shuttered Blockbuster and Hollywood Video stores all over the country. When we first moved to Texas in 1999, there were two major video rental chains, Hollywood Video, and of course Blockbuster. A couple of years ago, Hollywood Video began shutting down its stores. They were having trouble staying viable since many people were beginning to get their DVDs sent to them through the mail using Netflix. Blockbuster took notice and began changing its policy about late returns. Netflix then began offering streaming video to customers who had enough bandwidth. Then RedBox kiosks began showing up everywhere. Blockbuster shut down a few of its stores. Now, they're all gone.
Then there is Borders Books. At one time, mega-bookstores were all the rage. You've Got Mail is a love story overlaid on the concept of the big box store putting the mom and pop stores out of business. Barnes & Noble and Borders were the kings of the megastores. Then Amazon came out with the Kindle. At first people scoffed. "I love the feel of a paper book in my hand" was the common response. Now of course many of us have Kindles or use the Kindle app on our iPad or phone. Barnes & Noble came out with the Nook which was meant to compete with Kindle. Borders did nothing. Now of course Borders filed for bankruptcy and the stores are closing. Seems that people would come in and browse, then order the book they wanted on the Kindle (I was one of those people).
So what's the lesson here? Do what you can to constantly stay relevant.
It's simple. Stay relevant and keep adding value. Make yourself indispensable. If they don't use you or need you anymore, they won't keep you. If you're a business owner, the same principles apply. Are you staying ahead of customer need and demand? Are you leveraging the newest technology? Are you actively polling your customers and following what your customers look for? If not, don't be shocked when they go someplace else.
A famous business seminar speaker noticed his business dropping off, so he worked hard to use technology to plan for the future. Since sending attendees to a workshop is cost prohibitive in a tough economy, he stopped doing public seminars, opting instead to come to their company. Since travel costs are high, he implemented interactive webinars (also since most younger college students are taking classes online, they're used to learning in this fashion). There is no guarantee it will succeed in the long haul, but he's betting most of my competitors aren't' thinking this far ahead.
What about you? Are you looking right now at your job and thinking of how your position could be eliminated or outsourced? Are you working as hard as you can so as to be deemed indispensable? If not, take some time to do it this week.
I think you're right, we must stay vigilant. But I won't necessarily agree with you in making yourself 'indispensable'. If you're indispensable you can never move up. You can never take another position. You're forever stuck where you are.
ReplyDeleteInstead, stand out. Make it so people trust you'll do what you're told when you're told. Do what they don't expect of you because you know it needs to be done. When you've goofed, and who hasn't? fess up and come up with the solution to get things back on track.
I do computer work, and will teach anyone anything I'm doing on their computer. What I do isn't magic. Some would think that would run me out of business. What it does is gives the people faith and trust in me to do the bigger things that need to be done, but often get put aside for lack of money or trust in someone doing it right. It has actually grown my business using that model over the last 20 years.
I do have to stay up on technology and know what customers could benefit from what technology. I have to think outside of the box and often be very creative in presenting projects to customers.
But I think the one thing I do that customers like some of the best of my company is that it's personal with me. If I tell a customer they should spend $1000, I would of spent that $1000 if it were my company and it were my money, and they know that. I know everyone from the janitors to the company owners when given the chance. Why? Because that's where the real problems are, down in the trenches. The owners just want their employees to be productive and happy making the company money doing their job. So if I know your son plays in the band and he's out there sweating practicing for the upcoming season, I'm going to ask about him. Why? Because then it's personal, and it's always nice to deal with someone who really cares AND can fix your computer then some guy who just cares about the 1's and 0's.
(since you moved the blog over here, I thought I'd move the comment over here too)