Smart company - Wednesday, 11 June 2014 09:29
AMANDA JESNOEWSKI
3 leadership gems
1. Stay focused on your customers, not your competitors
Get inside your customers head, and make your product or service more relevant. Give your customers what they want and they will not only keep coming back, they will also refer more people to you.
So be a leader, find opportunities to be different, stay focused on what your customer wants and continually value-add and innovate to give it to them.
Do this and you won't have to worry about your competitors. They on the other hand will have a lot to worry about with you!
2. Anticipate needs and trends
A true market leader will not just meet current customer needs and wants, they'll also anticipate future needs, wants and trends.
Look for patterns that are forming, frustrations that are growing, trends and technology that are going to impact how you provide and deliver your products and services or how you customer will use them, and watch for what no one else is doing. Most importantly, listen to what your customers are saying – and not saying.
3. Play on your strengths
Each business has its own strengths. It could be your knowledge, specialist staff, results, your high quality products and services, your level of customer service and follow up, your creativity and ideas, your industry experience, your client base, your large budget, your size and infrastructure, your available resources, your entrepreneurial thinking, or your agility.
Whatever your strengths are, use them to your best advantage. Too often we focus on other people’s strengths and our weaknesses. But for a competitive advantage in business you need to be focused on your competitors’ weaknesses and developing your strengths.