Back in the 1990s I was working in the mobile phone business here in Atlantic Canada. One summer when I was on leave of absence completing a degree, I spent a summer selling mobile phones, including the big, old bag phones and the fixed-installed phones that were popular at the beginning of the industry. It’s astounding how many people I met in later years who proudly told me that they bought the first mobile phone in the province. I swear I didn’t mislead anybody.
Marketing Analysis
Later in the 90s, I was working in marketing, poring over
spreadsheets and working to understand past trends, patterns, and drivers of
change, looking to improve margins and invent new product offerings. One day I saw an interesting anomaly in annual
sales and revenue. The company I was
with was the result of a merger of four smaller companies. As I looked at the past
revenue and sales results from the four companies, I noticed that all four had
record breaking years in the same year. I
believe it was 1997 when each performed exceptionally well.
It was time to make some phone calls and see what had
happened that year. In my home province the answer was that the company had
released a ‘self-optimizing’ rate plan and customers never again had to worry
about exceeding their voice usage allotment. The customers loved it and as a
result the company had their best year ever. (It’s hard to believe that data
usage came along later and originally the traffic was all voice or text).
I called someone who was with a second company back then and
she responded that they had introduced the Motorola Star-Tac phone for $99 on a
3-year contract. Customers loved it and as a result, they had their best year
ever.
I called someone who was with a third company and he said
they had introduced simplified long-distance calling zones and boundaries to
simplify long distance charges.
Customers loved it and as a result they had their best year ever.
I called someone at a fourth company and she said they
hadn’t done a lot that year other than open a couple of new retail locations,
but yes, that was their best year ever.
Right place, Right Time: Be Prepared
So, four companies in close geographical proximity, four separate
actions, and each with their best year ever.
I think the real answer for their success in 1997 is that the entire
industry took off that year, and while each company took well considered
actions, all benefited from overall industry growth. We were all in the right
place at the right time, and prepared to benefit.
I enjoy remembering this story, and those conversations, and
the pride in the actions taken. The
preparations each had made was so important to realizing their opportunities. They
were ready as the industry blossomed.
Each had retail operations, customer management systems, physical inventory
and more. If they had not, the opportunity would have been lost.
In contrast, I watch our current challenges with affordable
housing and note that governments pursued population growth and immigration, both
of which are desirable. But without planning for where people will live, any population
growth could be short lived if newcomers can’t find affordable accommodations and
speculators drive up the prices on existing housing inventory.
Be Prepared
I relate this sort of preparation to communication and
leadership training. Some people take
training because they’ve had an experience which taught him that his skills
were not as sharp as they should be. I view communication and leadership skills
as core skills, and I want mine to always be sharp. Communication skills
include responding to awkward questions, giving timely feedback, and
organization of thoughts and ideas. Leadership skills include running meetings,
keeping teams focused, providing performance feedback and more.
Toastmasters
If you agree with this point of view and you wish to keep
your communication skills sharp, I invite you to visit one of our 16,000 Toastmasters
clubs, to join, and attend regularly or semi-regularly. You can learn more at www.toastmasters.org
When your industry takes off, when opportunity knocks, you
want to be ready and prepared. If you’re ready and prepared, you can have your
best year ever.
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