Open Your Horizons to the Many Forms of Value

While meeting with the CEOs and senior executives of many companies that have provided extra value at the same price, I was impressed with the large variety of ways that more value can be added. Even more impressive was that organizations who were good at this were ignoring most choices that others were finding to be helpful.

Seeing the many choices and single organization myopia about which choices to consider, I've organized them for you into categories to help stimulate your mind by focusing your attention in the most productive areas that others have experienced. In sharing this secret, be sure to appreciate that there are probably many other productive areas that are not yet known to us. So keep an open mind about where to find new advantages for customers.

To begin with, who will experience and enjoy the additional benefit? First, you can do something that only benefits the customer. Second, you can extend increased value just to the customers' customers. Third, you can go beyond those important people all the way through to benefit just the ultimate consumer or user. Fourth, you can create new connections to each of these people through the new benefits you offer.

Obviously, if you can find benefits that reach all these groups from a single change, you have located a most useful opportunity. By always addressing the full reach of benefits and their interconnections between chains of customers, you will probably begin to realize that some benefits that you have been choosing not to offer are potentially more important than you had previously realized. For example, your market share may be blocked by a downstream customer not being able to sell into an account that has a 70 percent market share. Help your downstream customer open up that account, and your volume could go up by several hundred percent over time.

Consider book selling. Prior to 1990, they were primarily a place to browse for books you might want to read and to pick out your next selection. Larger stores offered more selection. Smaller stores usually offered more book-knowledgeable staffs.

Then newer chain bookstores began to copy some independent bookstores and offer comfortable furniture for people to nestle in while they browsed. This seating was later expanded to include cafes where browsing could be conducted in even more comfort by providing room to spread out and while enjoying coffee and snacks priced like what Starbucks offers.

Eventually, people who work at home began to use these locations as temporary meeting rooms and as places to take work breaks. As bookstore cafes began to add electrical outlets, some customers next began doing their e-mail there using laptop computers with wireless connections. From those laptop computers, the customers could also order books on-line from the retailer's Web site.

As a result, the value of a trip to the bookstore kept increasing and the number of companies benefiting from one person's visit also grew, while the prices for books there remained the same as bookstores that did not offer these new benefits.

Then consider within the universe of each person who gets the benefit, what type of benefit is it? In our time-crunched society, many people favor products and services that take less time to use.

Customers at theme parks have typically struggled with long lines for their favorite attractions. Most of the day seems to be spent winding back and forth in line rather than experiencing the attractions. In recent years, many such parks offer the opportunity to secure an appointment for the most popular attractions. When you arrive, you spend 10 minutes in line rather than an hour. Attendance predictably increases after such innovations increase value at the same price.

For a business customer, helping your customer add new customers and more volume with existing customers will usually be the greatest benefit. For example, in the high technology business areas where new products have short lives, cutting elapsed time is often more important than saving the total hours involved in a process.

Every month shaved from elapsed development time, for example, can create tens of millions of dollars of increased sales. As a result, those who help their customers' customers get to market fastest will gain market share. In recent years, those who supply semiconductor design software, technology, equipment, and services have focused on reducing customers' elapsed time to market with new products.

Sometimes, allowing users to get more benefits is the only issue involved in accelerating market growth rates, and customer and company market shares. For instance, electronic devices are frequently limited by their battery lives. Few wish to carry around extra batteries and replace them, so the devices are often unused when the batteries run down. When Linear Technology began to design chips that extended battery life by being more stingy in power consumption, the company accelerated the purchase and use of all the portable devices that employed this new technology. Naturally, the demand for its chips rose, as well.

About the Author

Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Read about creating breakthroughs through 2,000 percent solutions and receive tips by e-mail by registering for free at

http://www.2000percentsolution.com .

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The Importance Of Research When Obtaining Business Insurance

Most savvy businessmen will recognise that operating a company carries an inherent risk that can affect the stability of the operations as well as its financial foundations. This is true for almost all types of business and hence having an expansive insurance policy is vitally important. Those without insurance should be acutely aware that their business is at great risk and hence obtaining insurance is essential. It is hoped that the following article will highlight the importance of insuring a company's operations and what is included in the process of signing up to a policy.

Small businesses are especially vulnerable and hence need insurance more than larger companies. This is because smaller companies find it harder to absorb financial difficulties and recover from unexpected circumstances. Subsequently having an effective policy is crucial should a business be protected from unforeseen events, not only does it secure an operation, but reduces stress for the company owner.

Before heading out in fear however it is important to take a conscientious and logical approach to selecting a policy. The first step is to assess exactly the level of cover that will be required. By understanding what parts of the operation must be protected it is possible to secure a policy that suits the needs of the company. The result is a smaller financial expense, as having cover for circumstances that will not arise is a waste of money. Ultimately obtaining only the policy inclusions that are vital to your operations is the preferred outcome.

As with any expenditure it is always advisable to research all of the options out there before making a purchase. Insurance can be befuddling at times although by using internet forums and advice websites it is possible to gain an understanding of exactly what you will need. The other option is to employ an insurance broker, a good one will only present you with what you need and will not give you a policy full of useless inclusions. Once again however researching the history of a particular broker is always advisable; normally using a personal recommendation is the best course of action. Of crucial importance is to ensure you are not underinsured, while it may be cheaper in the short term, it can work out far more expensive in the long run.

Once the research has been complete the next step is to assess the policies on the market and which are the best deal. Remember however that the cheapest price does not always relate to the best deal, in the decision making process the balance between costs and services should always be considered. Shopping around is vital, with so many insurers out there the deals to be had are vast. In some cases it can even be advisable to have different policies with a variety of companies if they offer the best deal on a certain policy inclusion.

Once you have selected the coverage and policies that you require, make sure to read the contract in detail. Make an understanding of exactly what you are paying for, never make assumptions that you are covered for a certain circumstance, finding out you are not covered after the event can become very expensive. Once again this highlights the importance of research in the process.

It is hoped that this article, however brief, has given the reader a better understanding of the world of business insurance. The main point has been the importance of research and a conscientious approach to purchasing. By following this advice your company should receive the right level of cover at an attractive price.

About the Author

Financial expert Thomas Pretty looks at the importance of business insurance and what decisions need to be made when looking at policies.

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Make Progress by Learning from the Most Succcessful

Put it before them briefly so they will read it,
clearly so they will appreciate it,
picturesquely so they will remember it and
above all accurately so they will be guided by its light.

-Joseph Pulitzer

I planned to create a series of books and articles that would begin sharing helpful information about our project to help the world make improvements at 20 times the usual rate between 2015 and 2035. I had almost no experience in this area. What sources and skill could I draw on?

I decided to get as much expert help from successful people as possible. That was the right way to go for me, and it will be for you as well. Here's my story.

One such source of material already existed. Since 1992, I had been analyzing the behaviors of CEOs whose companies grew their stock prices the fastest during the prior three years through an annual series of articles for a major magazine. This research was the first (to my knowledge) tracking study of CEO best practices, and I had high hopes for what it would reveal.

My idea was to locate practices that other company leaders could use to grow 20 times faster than usual. The study did indeed become a potent source of information. Carol Coles and I used the insights we gained to write about the importance of continuing business model innovation in 2003.

While the CEO tracking study continued, Carol Coles and I asked Robert Metz to assist us in creating a book that would outline a process that almost anyone could use to accomplish 20 times as much in a given area with the same time, effort, and resources. We correctly saw this book as the first major output of the 400 Year Project.

The good news was that we already had such a process that could be adapted for the purpose: the universal problem-solving process that Peter Drucker had noticed that we always used. He had correctly perceived that we had moved past our clients in creating innovative practices.

The key to our effectiveness was a master process that could quickly resolve most problems with superior solutions that no one had ever employed before. In early 1995, Peter began insisting that we take this process and turn it into a universal resource. Otherwise, he was concerned that a tool of immense practical value would be lost, potentially for centuries.

We were flattered by Peter's high opinion of our work's potential. The bad news was that Carol and I had no experience with turning processes we used into books. We again turned to Robert Metz to help us. Robert had written a number of investment-related books and had authored one best seller. Robert had helped new authors before and felt confident he could shepherd us through the process.

Having heard a lot about interfering agents and intractable publishers, we asked Robert to advise us on how to get an agent and a publisher. His advice was to simply write the book and then look for a publisher. In this way, we were likely to be able to write a book that contained the content we intended rather than the direction that a publisher wanted us to take.

Beginning around 1997, we started the conceptual development of that book. We needed to lay out a format that people would enjoy using for learning. Early on, we decided to fill the book with as many examples as possible and to make the information accessible to those with many different learning styles.

That approach was quite a challenge because most people have read or experienced relatively little in the way of advanced practices. We had to take the most solid information available and reduce it to tasty bites that contained the essence of the lesson without cloying our readers' appetites for more.

In one-on-one conversations about the project, it was obvious that people loved specifics and were confused or bored by general principles. But we needed to express general principles, or people wouldn't know what to do next. What model could we use to get around this problem?

The story of Scheherazade came to mind. She married a king who had executed a string of brides after each wedding night. To stay alive, every night she told her husband a new story that ended in a cliffhanger. She continued to tell the stories for 1001 nights, gave the king three sons, and so avoided execution.

Could we similarly string together a large number of fascinating stories, stories so rewarding that readers would race forward to find the next one? Well, it was worth a try. Robert, Carol, and I were all accomplished storytellers and had large repertoires of stories we had accumulated from our reading and contacts. We could draw on those resources and see what we could do.

How can you use experts to provide models and help in making faster progress?


About the Author

Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Read about creating breakthroughs through 2,000 percent solutions and receive tips by e-mail by registering for free at

http://www.2000percentsolution.com .

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