How to effectively manage a credit

The possibilities of partnership synergy make it worth our while to withhold our prejudices. If we can check ourselves, we have more options. We can avoid the trap and anticipate some magic ahead. Most of all, we can look at the glass as being half full, not half empty. We can assume, that is, that others have more to give us than we can supply for ourselves. The good news is this:We can change.We can let go of our old maps and make new ones. This is especially important as we begin to form partnerships. It’s important to be open, to share nformation, and to dispel the myths that make up many of our mental  maps. It increases our Partnering Intelligence.

With one of my clients, I encountered the concept of “collective” mental maps. Collective memories exist in organizations and turn into powerful myths that defy logic and cause trouble. These myths can become so powerful that when enlightened management tries to overcome them, they are run out of town. In this case I was working with the product manager of a telephone company who was responsible for introducing a new product—Caller ID—in a western state. Janice believed the best way to introduce the product was to announce the introduction and call for the public’s response. The vice president of the organization didn’t agree.He wanted to introduce the product as quickly and quietly as possible—without controversy.

While Janice disagreed with this philosophy, the company’s culture was very powerful. Leadership disliked any publicity. The best strategy for introducing their product, they insisted, was to quietly seek regulatory permission and then advertise through bill inserts. An alliance of battered women’s groups, however, did not want the product introduced at all. It wanted safeguards that would allow a woman to make a call without revealing her number. Then a consumer group that monitors regulated industries discovered what the company was doing—and immediately created a coalition of its constituencies to fight the product’s introduction. Months of wrangling over this issue delayed the debut of Caller ID and cost millions of dollars in marketing, advertising, and training expenses—and many community supporters.

This means identifying customers with the greatest profit potential, rather than the ones who are most profitable now. Businesses often try to be all things to all people, disregarding the need to retain a focus on the most profitable parts of the market. Customer loyalty may be important, but if the cost of ensuring a customer’s loyalty outweighs the benefits
and revenue of that customer, why bother? Maintaining market share for its own sake is often an unwise approach. If a customer cannot be retained without losing money, then it is better to lose that customer and focus on those that will help improve profitability.