Our business is helping your business
How many times have we heard this from suppliers? Are they really there to help us and our problem – or are they there to sell a product? Or is this just a fad tag line in the business world?
This is much like the training and learning debate occurring in training – the ‘training provider’ having a product and the learner having a need – but do they really match?
The identification of needs is really important to identify the gap (gap analysis). In the world of training and development a tool or approach called Training needs analysis (TNA) or Learning needs analysis (LNA) is used. But when we are engaging consultants from other areas what do we use?
One such model for enabling one business to help another is a Business Improvement Review. An effective Business Improvement Review does a number of things:
It looks at the company/ organization in a holistic way (PRIMO-F)- It takes the views of all stakeholders in and around the organization
- Is change management led
- Is not tied to the political ‘whims’ of local funding, but the real needs of the organisation
- Is not linked to a framework which is used for competitions
- Provides the ability to measure and evaluate progress against any action taken
- Is owned by the management of the organization being reviewed
Having looked around the web I love the way that organizations attempt to show that they will solve your business problems..
Here are some strap-line examples:
- Our business is helping your business purchase the best solution at the best price
- Our business is helping your business, and a killer logo is the first step to a successful business presence
- Our business is helping your business grow – xxx as a location for xx-sector-xx related activities
- Our business is helping your business succeed in the xxxx region
- Our business is helping your business succeed
- Our business is helping your business prosper
- Our business is helping your business take full advantage of its information system resources
- Our business is helping your business work better…at all levels
- Our business is helping your business make money
Can you see a theme here…? and if you search the net for these you will find in-excess of 16000 business using this as a strap-line..
Buying a product is one thing, having a service provider sell you their service without considering the impact on the whole of your business could amount to commercial suicide.
Why business development or outsourcing fails
Our research on why business development fails over the last 20 years shows:
- Not linked to organisational objectives
- No overall strategy for corporate development
- Corporate culture not taken into account
- Purchasers not clear about what they are buying
- Suppliers finding solutions to problems they can solve
- Lack of evaluation
- Time pressures on managers
- Change process not managed
Before purchasing any business solution, make sure that these issues are addressed
rapidbi says
09/10/2009 at 07:19Comment from a LinkedIn group:
Given that it is probably written on a piece of marketing blurb, it is just that – blurb. Most of this stuff seems to be writtten in a vain attempt to get ones staff to think about customers as the lifeblood of the business rather than as a bloody nuisence. My prescription, everyone on the minimum basic pay plus big performance bonuses related to monthly gross profits. Not only might this get the messsage through about customers coming first, but it would also solve the unemployment problem as we would need to take on so many people in HR to sort out the ensuing rows over money!
By Jon Radford
Web Consulting says
03/10/2009 at 23:54Our business is helping your business to grow (or survive) – tag …
rapidbi says
03/10/2009 at 11:50Hi Alex
I’m glad you don’t agree – this site is as much about debate and stimulation as it is facts.
In many ways I agree with you, a mastermind groups’ purpose is to help each others business, where peer helps peer – however the article is looking at businesses who claim to be in the business of helping other businesses – the bit they forget to add is (..in our area of specialism, ignoring stuff we don’t know about and giving the wrong help at the wrong time can be equally dangerous. This is treating the symptoms
for example if a person has a headache – they take pain relief – then they do this for several days/ weeks (much like many businesses use sales, PR, and other outsourced solutions to solve a ‘pain’ – however the person has brain cancer or tumour of some kind… no amount of pain killer will help – the WRONG symptom has been addressed. The same is true in business.
A mastermind group where it is peer support is great – personally i do not favour the “I’m the expert mastermind groups” – its a great MLM and web based sales approach but having worked in the business support business for over 10 years I know that no single specialist has the answers – it needs a team approach.
Looking at your site, you are applying Reven’s Action Learning Set methodology to networking – which is not the same as I am describing in the piece – although without appropriate guidance for the group, they could fall into some of the traps I have mentioned.
The article is about “tag lines gone mad” – rather than anything else – what are your thoughts specifically?
Heather Townsend says
03/10/2009 at 10:56RT @rapidbi Our business is helping your business to grow (or survive) – tag lines gone mad!
Alex Parr says
03/10/2009 at 11:18I don’t know if I agree totally with this article when it comes to mastermind groups which is business development and they do help insofar as there is accountability and you are involved in the process. I would welcome your comments.
Neil Ryder says
03/10/2009 at 10:36New blog from friend Our business is helping your business to grow (or ..
I hope it is useful