It may seem a little complex to many people, but we will try to understand it from a very different perspective, from a lay-man’s perspective

What are Porter’s 5 Forces?

To put it in the simple way Uncle Porter says that if you want to start a new business or analyze an existing one you must consider following 5 forces/factors in doing so:

1. Threat of New Competition
   
2. Threat of Substitute Product or Service
   
3. Bargaining Power of Customers
   
4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers
   
5. Competitive Rivalry

A Lay-man’s Perspective – Example:

Okay enough business vocabulary; let’s understand the concept with an easy example. Assume that we want to start a business, say selling ice-cream on a cart (Thaelay wala). So what are the factors we must consider?

1. Threat of New Entrants:
   If we want to be the next guy on the street selling Ice-cream (Naya Thaelay wala) then the first thing we need to consider is ‘Possible Competition’ (other prospective Thaelay walas).

   

   So the question we must ask ourselves is that “Is it very easy to enter this business?” and if the answer is Yes, then there are higher chances of other people also entering the business (assuming that the ice-cream business has huge profit margins and market is not saturated yet).

   In simple term: Easier to setup a Thaela => More competition => Lesser profit per Thaelay wala
   

2. Threat of Substitute Product or Service:
   

   The second thing to worry about is the substitute product. What if we start an ice-cream Thaela and few days later someone comes up with a ‘Lassi’ or ‘Gola Ganda’ or ‘Kheer’ Thaele? If this happens than there are chances that our existing and prospective customers switch to substitutes.

   

   In simple term: Existence\introduction of substitute product => Possibility of lower profits in Ice-cream business
   

3. Bargaining Power of Customers:
   

   This one is interesting; once you decided to setup an ice-cream Thaela you must know the spending power of your prospective customers before setting up prices. If you setup a price that your customers perceive to be beyond their spending power then it will result in lesser sales, hence lesser profits. You must also consider other factors, like the area where you plan to setup your Thaela, since customers living n different areas may have different mindsets about how they perceive your product and it’s pricing

   

   Simple math: More bargaining power with customers => Lesser profit margins for Thaela wala
   

4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers:
   

   Well you have decided about setting up a Thaela, considered the possibility of New entrants and also the Bargaining power of customer; now its time to factor in the bargaining power of suppliers. What would you do if the raw material for Ice-cream (milk, cream, sugar, preservatives etc.) got affected? What if some of the raw material gets short from the market or your suppliers (Doodh wala, Cheeni wala) increase their prices?

   

   So it’s important to consider and plan in advance these factors.

   Simple math: More bargaining power with suppliers => Lesser profit margins for Thaela wala
   

5. Competitive Rivalry:
   

   Competitive rivalry comes from your existing competition, the other Ice-cream Thaela walas in your vicinity. This also affects your business, for example they may reduce prices to increase their market share. It is therefore also very important factor to consider while running a business.

   

   Simple math: Fierce competition => Possibility of lesser profit margins for you
   

Question???

Have you ever used Porter’s 5 forces analysis in business or if you are a student in case studies? Share your thoughts on the effectiveness of this model; feel free to share your critics too

Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.
-Peter Drucker

The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary.
-Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart

Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.
-Donald Porter, V.P. British Airways

In our way of working, we attach a great deal of importance to humility and honesty; with respect for human values, we promise to serve our customers with integrity.
-Azim Premji

Many professionals say and believe that these are all motherly statements/sweet talk and get confused when it comes to using science & technology to achieve their organizations’ prime objective – Satisfied Customers

Customer Excellence has evolved over time and now it’s more a science then arts. Today there are many tools available which can help professionals deal with their Customer Excellence challenges in an organized manner.

Fish Bone is one such tool that could be used to get to the root cause of Poor Customer Excellence efficiently in a structured approach.

One may use this tool almost with as many factors one wants to evaluate, be it 4Ps of Marketing (Product, Price, Promotion, Placement), 5 Ss used in Service Industry (Surrounding, Suppliers, Systems, Skills, Safety) or the 6Ms used in Manufacturing Industry (Machine, Method, Material, Man Power, Measurement, Mother Nature) or any other relevant method.

Using Fish Bone, An Example:

Let’s see how it works! Assume that we are running an organization that offers some service to customers. For the past few months we are observing that our Churn ratio is increasing (Churn= Customers who quit our service and switched to competition). So we need to find out the exact cause which will then help us take corrective actions to get back on track. Hence we use Fish Bone diagram and evaluate the factors we think might be responsible for the high churn ratio.

For example we want to evaluate above four factors (Equipment, people, Process, Culture) as shown in the fish bone:

Equipment: Brainstorming with team if our equipment played/playing any role in the churn? Maybe our customers are leaving because of our equipment being obsolete or slow.

People: Most of the times customers churn because of how the service providing organizations treat them. Time to reflect if our team is taking care of customers? What did some of the customers complain about before churning? Was it because of any mishap from any team member?

Process: At times customers churn because of organization’s specific process, policy, SOP (the killer….). We should ponder if our SOPs are there to serve customers or just to make things difficult? If it’s latter then it could possibly be one of the main reasons of high churn ratio. Discuss with team, especially members who are in direct contact with customers, they know best which process is helping customers and which one needs to be garbaged.

Culture: One of the most critical aspects of customer service is the culture of the organization itself. This is probably one factor that has the power to make or break any organization, especially a service providing firm. Evaluate how team members feel about the organization? Are things getting delayed even when proper equipment and processes are in place? Could this be the reason why customers are churning?

Once we have brainstormed all the possible causes and the reasons why they are happening, we get a clearer picture of the situation in hand and hence reach the root cause of the problem efficiently. If you want to take Fish Bone to the next level, you may use an extended version (Fish Bone -CNX) which focuses on other dimensions that play a vital role in reaching a solution, one which is simplest and most suitable to organization’s needs.

Food for Thought – Conclusion:

Steve Jobs once said: “When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions.“

Albert Einstein said something similar long ago: “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex; It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”

So start making things simpler when it comes to resolving Customer Excellence challenges in your organization. Remember simple is always better

In July, 2005 she was invited to visit Microsoft Headquarters in USA where she met Bill Gates and other senior IT professionals from Microsoft. The Vice President of the Software Development Division Mr. S. Somasegar wrote about her in his blog http://blogs.msdn.com/b/somasegar/archive/2005/07/13/438647.aspx

She also learned flying at a flying club in Dubai and flew a plane at the age of 10. I saw one of her interviews few years back where she shared her inspirations and plans for the future of Pakistan.

She said “I would want to get my education and give back to our nation” in that interview. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X07dB032Qs)

She also represented Pakistan on various International IT forums and brought fame to Pakistan.

In December, 2011 she fell ill due diopathic epilepsy seizures which led to her brain damage. She went into coma and kept struggling for her life till 14^th January, 2012 when she left this mortal world at the age of 16.

Jinhein Zindagee Ka Shaoor Tha Unhein Bayzari Nay Mita Dia,
Jo Giraan Thay Seena-e-Khak Par Wo He Bun Ke Baythay Hein Mutbar

Today we lost a great mind who was our nation’s pride. Her aspirations for Pakistan were commendable and she was a role model for millions of people around the world.

Today Pakistan lost its ‘Steve Jobs’, we lost our Arfa Karim Randhawa

I agree with Seth Godin when he says that “You don’t need a new plan for next year. You need a commitment.”

So let’s talk about being committed and looking at things from a different perspective. My idea for coming year is to become a ‘little better’ in everything I do instead of planning to change things in life 360 degrees.

Food for Thought:

How about focusing on small things which will then transform into bigger achievements in life?

How about deciding to be just a little better in everything we do in life?

How about trying to be a little better in our personal as well as professional lives?

How about smiling a little more?

How about being a little more optimistic?

How about trying a little harder to become better human beings?

We often forget the fact that it is about managing these small things that bring about big/better changes in life.

Every dream, every wish, every objective needs time and commitment to become a reality. So focus on those small but VERY IMPORTANT steps to achieve your goals in life. Remember the Law of Seed ?

To bring about the big changes we desire in life, it is important to start doing a few things ‘little more’:

A little more Optimistic:

Let’s start with being just a little more optimistic in life. Remember you can’t convert a pessimist into an optimist in a single step (Law of Seed…) so take the ride slowly. For New Year focus on becoming just a little more optimistic than you were last year.

A little more Humble:

Humbleness is the characteristic of Great. You want to be great, you got be humble. The target for New Year should be to become a little more humble than you were last year. DON’T try to be overly humble instantly; trust me you wouldn’t like the consequences

A little more Civilized:

This is probably one of the things that is very much needed in Pakistan. We need to start becoming a little more civilized. For starters respecting traffic signals and rules could be a step closer to becoming a little more civilized

A little more Spiritual:

Regardless of anyone’s religious beliefs, almost every one of us understands that this world is mortal and therefore it’s important to invest our energies in uplifting our spirituality. So start becoming a little more spiritual this year than you were last year. DON’T forget the rule “Never ever overdo anything instantly”. Don’t forget your spiritual needs and do something about fulfilling them regularly.

A little more Happy:

Last but not the least; try next year to be a little happier than you were last year.

Khalil Jibran says that “We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.”

So choose to be a little more joyous, choose to smile a little more and choose to brighten up people a little more with your presence next year

Our New Year resolution should be nothing but to strive to be a better human being, because if we fail to become better human beings we probably will fail to become a better anything (professional, successful, happier) ever.

Let’s try this coming year to become an ordinary person who enlightens others, the one who tries a little harder to be a little more optimistic, humble, civilized, spiritual and happy

So the question is that are we Intelligent fools or Genius people with courage?

About a year ago I received an email from a student who wanted to meet me & discuss his career plans. I asked him to drop by at my office and the meeting was setup. While I was reading his email, I asked myself if it was time to act like an Intelligent Fool or the other way around. That was the time when I pondered and found out PONDering

So what is PONDering??

Have you ever come across people who were very passionate about a particular field, had the right skill set and attitude too but still couldn’t make it? You will find out the answer to this question if you just PONDer….

Persistence:

No matter how good you are, but if you aren’t persistent then it’s not going to work. Remember the song ‘when the going gets tough, the tough gets going’?

You got to remember that persistence plays a very vital role in being successful. Whenever you fail in life remember the Law of Seed and remain persistent.

Optimism:

This one is my favorite and I believe that it’s a key ingredient of the recipe we call success. Optimism is the belief that goodness pervades reality.

You will NEVER achieve success without being optimistic. Optimism to success is like sweetness to Gulab Jamun

Networking:

A wise man once said: “If you dream to fly with Eagles, don’t waste time in swimming with Ducks.”

Networking with the right people will increase your chances of being successful in the industry. You must decide if you really want to fly with the eagles? And if you do, then you must network with them instead of wasting time with ducks.

Social media is your key to virtual networking with fellow professionals around the world. It’s your digital signature so use it wisely and efficiently.

Dream Organization/Team:

If you want to be the best in the industry, then you got to be working with the BEST in the industry. Strive for excellence and join the organization where you could learn, grow and become a better human being. If you can’t find such an organization then switch to entrepreneur mode & serve this unmet need.

If you are dreaming BIG, you got to have a Dream Team to support you. No matter how good you are at doing what you do, you won’t succeed without the right team.

Now that you have PONDered upon this recipe, do not hesitate to share this with people who might need PONDering

Navitus joined hands with HSM last year to represent the World Business Forum (WBF) and their other programs in the Pakistan Market.
WBF is the largest gathering of Senior Executives in the world. Every year 5,000 executives from 60+ countries access the brightest minds in Leadership, Management, Politics and Economics. The event takes place annually in New York City during the month of October.

The World Business Forum has been ranked Number One among the world’s top five most influential venues for CEO’s and C-Suite executives. It has also been acknowledged as the #1 best new forum by Burson Marsteller, a leading global public relations and communications firm.

Inspiring ideas and leadership lessons from global thought leaders like A. G. Lafley, Howard Shultz, Al Gore, Martin Lindstrom, Daniel Lamarre and others serve to make the experience enriching and highly rewarding.

WBF 2011

For those of you who could not make it to the World Business Forum in person, no problem.  The WBF 2011 WEBCAST gives you front-seat access to the ideas and trends that are shaping the future of business from anywhere in the world. For details and to register, visit: http://special.hsmglobal.com/us/wbfny2011/webcast2011.php

WBF 2012

The next WBF is being held in New York City on Oct 02-03, 2012. For details, visit: http://special.hsmglobal.com/us/wbf2012/

Then there were some smart people too who knew the art of treating these Excellencies well. They were the people who made fortunes, just by knowing the art of Service Excellence

But the world has changed, there are no more Kings & Queens ruling the world (or are they??) Think about it AGAIN…..

We still have Kings & Queens (Customers) who are ruling the world (Corporations).

Times may have changed but the game is still the same. Whoever takes good care of their Kings & Queens gets the reward (Market Leadership); and if any one messes with them, we already know what happens to them

So what do these Kings/Queens need?

Every King/Queen has 8 basic needs when it comes to Service:

1. Fastest Service:
   

   We are living in the internet era & the point of differentiation between the fastest machines or service is not the difference of hours or minutes but SECONDS. It takes just a few seconds to annoy a King/Queen.

2. Most Courteous Service:
   

   The rule is simple: If you are courteous your customer MIGHT show interest in your product, but if you are NOT then they wouldn’t (for sure), no matter how good your product is.

   The following grid explains customer’s response when it comes to courtesy from service provider:

   

3. Consistent Service:
   

   Give your King/Queen an excellent service the first time, they will be happy; give them a bad service next time and you are in a deep trouble.

   Royalties need the best EVERY SINGLE TIME…. You can’t say that I delivered best 99/100 times so I have the privilege to mess things up once.

4. Someone Who Listens:
   

   When your King/Queen come to you with a query, concern or complain, the last thing they want you to do is argue with them.

   Listening to their concerns is the first step towards resolving them. Remember the LEARN methodology (Listen Empathize Apologize Respond Notify) when you are in such situations.

5. Someone Knowledgeable:
   

   When a King/Queen come to you with a question (especially when it’s about your product/service), they expect you to have the answers on the finger tips.

   If you are unaware of the answers buy time, giving out wrong information or guessing means messing with the King/Queen, needless to say what could the outcome be?

6. Expert Advice:
   

   Since you are a product/service provider, therefore you are expected to be an expert on the subject too.

   Your King/Queen may ask for your expert opinion at times when it comes to choosing a particular product or service you are offering. An expert knows the needs & wants of their Kings/Queens and offers valuable input, whenever asked by the Royalties.

7. Smooth Transaction:
   

   When you are dealing with Royalties make sure your offerings are hassle-free. Would you dare asking your King/Queen to go through a process that is troublesome or stressful for them?

   The formula is simple, make the process SIMPLE.

   Smooth Transactions = Happy Royalties

8. Commitment:
   

   Here comes the last but probably most important aspect of customer excellence. Think thrice before you commit, but once committed then there is no turning back. For remembrance here is the dialogue:

   ‘Aik Dafa jo mene commitment kardiya, Uskay baad toh mein khud ki bhee nahe sunta’
   

   Miscommitment with your King/Queen will result in you becoming the person (remember Fool?) who tried to mess with the King

The days have changed, back then there were just a few Kings & Queens but today Each and Every One of your Customers is your King/Queen. If you treat these Royalties with respect and care, using the art of Customer Excellence, you will be rewarded (Customer Royalty=Profits=Market Leadership). If you don’t treat them like Royalties, someone else will FOR SURE because one person’s loss is another’s gain

So what is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

Abraham Maslow proposed his famous psychological theory of human needs (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) in 1954 in his book ‘Motivation and Personality’. The simplest way to describe this is by drawing a pyramid:

So as per the theory every individual moves from bottom of the pyramid to the top, when it come to meeting his/her needs & growing.

Physiological Needs:         Breathing, Food, Water, etc. (the most basic needs)

Safety Needs:     Shelter, Safety of life, Safety of belongings (person starts worrying about his/her belongings)

Social Needs:    Acceptance in society (person starts focusing on how people perceive him/her)

Esteem Needs:     Sense of achievement (person starts liking one’s self because of his/her achievements)

Self Actualization Needs:     Sense of being in a state where one becomes self aware, a state where nothing else matters or we may call a state of completeness.

Our Nation’s Dilemma:

If you ask people to discuss the issues Pakistanis are facing as a nation, some of the concerns would include:

• Why Pakistan isn’t growing?
• Why are we Pakistanis in general short tempered?
• Why we didn’t produce great minds in Pakistan?
• Why we aren’t a happy nation?
• People in general LOVE to frown in our society ….

  & the list goes on J

So what’s the root cause?

Well let’s review how we are doing as a Nation in light of Maslow’s theory of needs:

So keeping the current scenario in mind, how can we expect to grow as a nation? Most of our nation is busy in striving to fulfill their physiological / safety needs and hardly 5-10% is in a condition to think about their esteem needs.

For any society to grow:

• They must focus on growth
  
• They can only focus on growth when their basic needs are satisfied (Physiological & Safety)
  
• When the basic needs are easily satisfied, nations strive to focus on Social & Esteem needs

I am not an expert but in my opinion we need to start thinking on ways to eradicate the root causes of the problem so that our nation starts focusing on growth; and Education (not literacy) is one of those tools that could help us achieve this objective.

Many people are doing a lot but some of us are still unsure of what needs to be done. Apart from doing whatever we are doing to help our fellow citizens in trouble let’s consider some of the other options that we CAN do in order to improve the efforts:

1. Help shouldn’t be restricted to money; Time & Knowledge is also an asset which is need of the time. A lot of young people have come forward & are helping with their time & knowledge (meeting IDPs children & cheering them up by spending time with them) This is IMPORTANT & should be continued. I salute the youth for taking this initiative (Y)
   
   
2. In Ramzan it’s a common practice that we get together for Iftars with family & friends. The amount spent on Iftar dinners ranges from 500 – 1000 per head. Can’t we just sacrifice one such Iftar dinners & share our time with IDPs? The same Rs. 1000 can be sufficient for the Iftar dinner of around 10 people who are in DESPERATE NEED of food. CAN’T WE SACRIFICE ONE SUCH IFTAR DINNERS TO HELP OTHERS???

3. We should start thinking about their future as well; our objective should be to help them stand on their feet by creating jobs for them. Individuals and Organizations should come forward & brainstorm on this very important aspect also.

4. Last but not the least let’s show them some warmth, let’s start treating them with respect & if we can’t help them financially at least share a SMILE with them for it’s the best gift you can give to anybody
   

May Allah have His mercy on all of us & may He forgive our sins & guide us (Aameen)

Young students, at times even professionals think that training & public speaking are one & the same thing however the story isn’t that simple

Let’s try to figure out the difference between the two in simplest way:

Public Speaking:

Public speaking is an art that could be gifted as well as mastered with practice & experience. To be a good public speaker one must either have or should develop these basic qualities:

• Confidence
  
• Gracious personality
  
• Spontaneous mind
  
• PR skills
  

So if you want to become a good public speaker, you know the checklist

Training:

Training is a field of science that needs to be studied, practiced & continuously worked upon to bring results. One must have the expertise on IDEA the individual is selling (1^st hand experience of using & implementing the IDEA & not just ‘I have read the book Blue Ocean Strategy so I can train people on this’ mind frame)

Some of the most basic skills that are to be present in any professional trainer:

• Attitude of being a Learner
  
• Intellect & not just knowledge
  
• Confidence
  
• Composed personality & thoughts
  
• Excellent people’s management skills (intellectually)
  

So the next time you come across someone who thinks Training & Public Speaking are one and the same thing just tell them that Pentium 386 isn’t the fastest micro processor in the world