Ask Marcia Leadership Q and A’s: Strategies for 2022

Q. What are some strategies that can give us a competitive edge in 2022?

A. Hope is not a strategy, so identifying what strategies can deliver high quality and a competitive edge for your customers is key. From the customers’ point of view, what matters? So many organizations are on the brink of closing for multiple reasons (while others are booming.) One of the most basic needs of customers is responsiveness. More so now than ever before, customer service and wait times are exasperating.

What if the leaders designed the systems to ensure that the phone gets answered immediately to make reservations, for technical support, or to select a new service? How long is the wait time? As I’ve suggested before, have your executives call in to your company and see how many times they get re-routed and how long the wait time is? Is it two minutes or two hours? Too many executives are out of touch with what is happening with their customers, the real measures of business success. Create an amazing, optimized system that responds to customers. Then adopt a continual improvement strategy and an innovation strategy for your customers and your business.