How to effectively manage a credit

Had the company been open about its plans, it would have recognized the issues up front and worked with these groups to minimize the product’s negative impact. But working with old mental maps, the organization wasn’t willing to disclose what it needed to—and was unwilling to risk trusting the advocacy groups to become partners in introducing the product. The telephone company ended up supplying a feature, free of charge, that allows subscribers to block their telephone number from being identified. Instead of a number, the product shows “number unavailable.” Although the company had the technology to do this from the beginning, it thought the issue was a minor concern and not worth the slight effort required to implement the blocking feature.

Closed behavior is the response of those operating with a past orientation who need to maintain the status quo. The status quo offers a kind of homeostasis within closed minds or closed systems. Change creates an imbalance between what we believe and what we see occurring around us. A common defense mechanism to help us resolve this state of imbalance is the denial mechanism. For most of us, it is easier to deny information than to challenge long-held assumptions based on our history. People operating in a closed system are less trusting and less willing to share decision-making processes. They have a strong need for control. And they refuse to share their future plans lest someone “steal” them. In this age of industrial sabotage and high-level power plays, there might indeed be some justification in such a reaction. But when weighed against the possibilities of an open paradigm or future orientation—the benefits of sharing the wealth and the knowledge—the positives far outweigh any strategic advantage of secrecy. Secrecy seems pointless anyway. Today’s organizations have the ability to replicate what they see a competitor doing almost overnight. The advantages of secrecy, therefore, are minimal.

Sales, marketing and brand management decisions can be as difficult as they are important. Below are some of the issues that may need to be considered on a regular basis.

• How elastic are product prices? Could prices be increased without reducing revenue?
• When is the next price rise planned? Could it happen sooner?
• Are forces driving down prices in your market? What are they and how can you counter them?
• Who fixes prices in your organisation? How do they do it and could the process be improved?
• Are discounts targeted at the right sectors, or are they needlessly eroding profitability?
• Could pricing be used more aggressively?
• What are the barriers to entry in your market? How much of a barrier are they? Could you make it even harder for competitors to enter the market?
• When is the best time to enter or leave the market? Can action be taken to discourage and reduce the effectiveness of competitors entering?
• If you are planning to enter a new market, what makes your offer distinctive and likely to succeed?
• Are other firms entering the market? If not, why?

Once a profile of potential customers has been drawn up and their needs and wants identified, it is then possible to:

• ensure that their needs are met and that the value proposition is compelling enough to sustain their interest;
• decide how best to appeal to this audience, considering everything from tone of voice to frequency of contact;
• decide how to engage the target market – when to ask for input, whether to offer discounts and generally how to ensure that the product offer is sufficiently attractive;
• decide how to capture details of enquirers so that they can be contacted later.

This list is by no means exhaustive. The trick is to start focusing on the target customers and ways of attracting them. It is also worth considering two other things. First, it is important to understand not only which customers to attract, but also which ones you definitely do not want to lose. Second, remember that the customer who makes the purchase may not be the person who decides to make the purchase or the end user, as is often the case with purchases by businesses.