Four Drivers for Success: How Money Makes More

Yes to all of the above. But underlying those base points is how a company responds to and adapts to change. Right now, leaders have an opportunity – and an equally important responsibility – to leverage the changing business climate for good. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a profound exclamation point on the concept that change is inevitable. Responding effectively to those changes goes much deeper than money and financials.

1. Focus on what you’re doing well. Rather than look for dramatic innovation, companies can drive progress and growth by learning to identify and capitalize on what they’re doing well. A mindset of continuous improvement can shift attention and effort to making 100 small innovations that help customers instead of the one “next big thing.”
2. Maintain operational excellence. To sustain long-term growth and a position as a true industry leader, a company needs to build a culture of operational excellence. That’s far more than doing an excellent job and being paid well for it. It’s about really doing the next right thing for the customer – time after time – and about creating cohesiveness between business groups within the organization. In our company, asking questions of the customer and learning their business model is at the heart of every step we take. Once we have a true, deep understanding, then we develop and suggest a financing program that is appropriate. Doing it this way, the only way in our opinion, makes process execution simpler and streamlined.
3. Value business relationships, not price relationships. Plenty of companies will say this, but few really do. You can have a great, cordial relationship with a customer or a prospect but if you don’t have that customer’s business model and long-term goals at the forefront, the business relationship will be less than solid. By extension, if you prioritize a short-term sale based solely on price, it will be just that and never more. To be an industry leader and outstanding performer, it’s talking about more than the next deal or money. The required effort takes time, availability, thought and attention to customer needs.
4. Be intentional about initiatives. Today, as a result of the pandemic, business leaders have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redefine work. The situation is an excellent example of how important it is to think and decide carefully about initiatives in the workplace so that they become valuable integrations into a business – not just flash-in-the-pan efforts.
   
   How companies manage the return-to-the-office process is more about productivity and culture than it is logistics. First and foremost is safety: Will employees feel safe in an office environment? If the answer is “no” or “I’m not sure,” productivity and culture are endangered. If the answer is “yes,” effective and efficient work can take place, and employees – and the business – can grow.
   
   Next, to drive success, companies must grapple with, and be intentional about, maintaining and disseminating their corporate culture. Culture – a major component of a company’s essence and brand – is perishable. Time spent out of the office affects culture, and none of us knows the true impact. Add to that, new employees have never spent physical time in an office environment, which equates to loss of culture. As many companies deal with employee turnover, they face the question of how to disseminate their culture among new hires.
   
   While we don’t have all the answers, we know that spending time with colleagues is important. How to use the time together needs to be thoughtfully and intentionally determined. In a post-pandemic world, training on how to work with different people will be key. So will identifying the skills that come from learned behavior and establishing effective opportunities to foster those skills.

To be successful going forward, it will be important to guard against paradigms – whether they are holding monthly meetings just because you’ve always done so, or making a sale based singularly on price because you can. This really is the time of our lives, and it’s up to us to drive our own success.