How to remain competitive in an economic downturn

The current economic meltdown in the West poses a number of lessons to financial institutions in the developing world.

Established and profitable business organisations in the West are reeling under the threat of bankruptcy and government bailouts. Any business turmoil in the West will always have spill over effects in the local economy.

It is therefore necessary to carry out an assessment of local market conditions and come up with competitive strategies that will help overcome any emerging challenges. A business organisation must position itself in the market. This is achieved through optimum utilisation of resources such as human capital, physical resources and time.

A business firm may distinguish itself from the rest in terms of speed in introducing new products, promoting existing ones, and placing them within the reach of customers.

For instance, whenever multinational firms are introducing new products, they make them available to the target customer simultaneously with their launch.

The speed at which a firm is flexible in adjusting prices and packaging to reflect market conditions is an indicator of how it utilises time as a resource. This is in essence time bound competition.

It is important to appreciate customers as individuals with basic needs that ought to be addressed. The profitability of a business depends on customer patronage, which in turn is influenced by the business organisation’s promptness in providing goods and services.

Some of the customers’ needs are quite urgent and require immediate attention.

Prompt service delivery is one of the key indicators of customer appeal against the background of competition. In the service industry there may be firms that provide near homogeneous products that make the customer indifferent on where to secure it.

Firms that utilise time optimally to deliver service to customers distinguish themselves from competitors and have an edge in the market place. They have a short turn-around time between requests and availability of service or product to the customer.

Prospective customers are therefore keen at the response rate by the service provider. The number of times the office phone rings before being answered may be one of the measures of a firm’s capability in utilisation of time.

It is equally important to carry out proper staff deployment on the basis of skills and competencies. Introverts should not be deployed as receptionists as this would send wrong signals to clients.

Instant service
A customer who has emergency to sort out requires instant service. If an organisation is capable of handling customers’ emergencies promptly, then its efficiency in service delivery is exceptional.

There are those categories of customers who have urgent demand for services and this implies that their needs may hold for a short while but should not be unduly delayed.

There are those individuals whose requirements for a given service may be deemed to be important as they can wait a little longer.