A recent Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundationstudy revived the term “gazelle companies” to describe the young, rapidly-growing U.S. firms that are producing the majority of new jobs in the U.S. The report recommends that policy-makers nurture Gazelles to stimulate job growth at a time when unemployment is high.
I’m interested in another class of companies—young, well-run firms in emerging regions like the sub-Sahara. Like their Western counterparts, they’re creating a disproportionate number of jobs. But these young African companies are playing a more crucial role than gazelles do in driving market growth.
To belabor the metaphor, I call them Impalas, after the lean, swift gazelles indigenous to Africa. Impalas provide technology-enabled and outsourcing services to a growing number of multinational (MNC) service providers – mobiles, airlines and banks – in Johannesburg, Accra, and Nairobi, etc. They share many of the characteristics of gazelles, but there are some notable differences.
One of the best things about my work is what my colleagues and I call the “hat trick”. In sports like cricket and hockey, a hat trick is accomplishing a feat three times in a contest. I’ll explain what a hat trick is in my world and why it’s thrilling to pull one off.
Our mission is to help clients enable their customers to enjoy richer, more satisfying service experiences.
A hat trick is when we not only help clients to better meet the needs of their target customers, but also enable them to increase customer loyalty and revenue. We do all this while also cutting service costs — sometimes up to 20%. Almost every assignment offers hat trick potential.
I spent the last couple weeks on assignment in Accra, Ghana. On this trip, I’ve seen more growth than any time since my company started working there in ‘07. This is a period of unprecedented business activity and promising new projects within and beyond the mobile sector. Meanwhile, new competitors from around the world are streaming in. This corner of Africa’s business scene is pulsating.
Astute businesses here are taking steps to preserve their client base and deepen relationships with their customers. We’re privileged to work with a new generation of African business leaders with the courage and determination to transform their offerings to meet the needs of an emerging class of consumers.
It’s a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. -Lev Grossman, Time Magazine
The Urge to Connect
History shows that that when robust tools serve a powerful human drive, revolutionary changes occur. That’s happening now as social media enable people to satisfy their primal urge to connect with each another. Social media are ubiquitous, cheap, and accessible, and their widespread use is having a profound impact on business.
While the technology is grabbing the headlines, the more interesting story is how people around the world are using social media. They’re fulfilling their desire to connect with each other, forming communities in the process. The communities function like virtual beehives — amorphous, dynamic structures where members coalesce to share information.
Smart companies recognize the commercial value of communities. They treat community members more like stakeholders than consumers. Instead of broadcasting their messages at them, they engage followers in dialogue. In time, followers can be converted to evangelists. In a hyper-connected world, evangelism carries messages fast and far, boosting the value of the brand.
Over the last few weeks, my colleagues and I presented value propositions to separate audiences in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Clients in each of these markets face unique challenges and opportunities to be sure. Our offerings addressed their different needs, but our approach is fundamentally the same everywhere.
Our work consists of three steps:
1) Develop a better understanding of customer needs by getting closer to customers and engaging them wherever possible,
2) Use customer insights to continually improve offerings,
3) Deliver a customer experience that’s better than the rest.
The good news is that these steps apply to clients everywhere, despite cultural variations. The not-so-good news is that succeeding with these steps is almost impossible unless there is substantial buy-in at the highest level in an organization.
“The formula is simple and it’s reduced to four words every kid in the world knows: Tell me a story. It’s that easy.” -Don Hewitt
Last week, Don Hewitt, founder and long-time producer of 60 Minutes, died. He’ll be remembered, among other things, as an impresario who created one of TV’s most successful programs. There’s a potent lesson for all of us in his “storyline”.
Hewitt’s vision and instincts culminated in a new, highly successful form of entertainment known as the “news magazine”. As important as that accomplishment is, his greatest feat may be his proving that story-telling is the key to success, not only in TV, but in every medium. We, in business, have much to learn from Hewitt’s dogged pursuit of the story.
If you use Twitter or any of the other social networking tools, you’re bound to notice how much people crave acceptance and appreciation. Twitter users are delighted when their posts are re-tweeted (re-quoted) or commented on by their followers.
It’s obvious that people like being shown appreciation, but there’s more to being appreciated than meets the eye. Social scientists say we’re hard-wired to respond powerfully to appreciation. In fact, the quest for acceptance and appreciation may be one of our stronger drivers.
When we’re validated by others, we’re inclined to bond with them. I call this the Validation Principle, and it’s one of the keys to building durable customer relationships.
The notion of trust-building in business is gaining lots of attention these days. People crave trust more than ever before. In a world of complexity and uncertainty, where our vaunted institutions are faltering, consumers are drawn toward trustworthy brands, and away from those which are unreliable.
During uncertain times like these, having a trustworthy brand is a strong competitive advantage. Yet few companies intentionally take steps to engender trust. Organizations ought to instill trust in their brands with the same fervor that they pursue new business or cut costs.
A recent Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation study revived the term “gazelle companies” to describe the young, rapidly-growing U.S. firms that are producing the majority of new jobs in the U.S. The report recommends that policy-makers nurture Gazelles to stimulate job growth at a time when unemployment is high.
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