Defining Strategy for Dummies: The Most Strategic Question: “Why do we exist?”

Here is how you can simply define your corporate strategy. There is one simple but crucial question to answer in order to streamline your thinking strategically.

“Why do we exist in Business?”. It is a fundamental question, the answer which will drive your corporate strategy. The good thing about this question is that there is a clue to the answer. The answer simply relates to ………….whom do you think about? – The CUSTOMER.

Unless you have something to offer to the customer (the target market), which is significantly different or even unique in terms of meeting client needs compared to existing competition, there is no reason to go any further. Let’s see an example. When FedEx decided to go into the courier business when DHL still was dominant at the time the answer to the question, why should we exist in this business, was overnight 24 hour service. That was a need their competitors did not considered at the time.

When one of our clients in construction was confronted with this question, the answer was: Meeting project deadlines consistently at the budgeted cost or even better. Most contractors in Cyprus fail to deliver a project on time and at budgeted cost. Guess What? Within 8 years, the company changed from being a small construction company of 5 million turnover to a 20 million turnover competing company even compared with the big boys and is going strong even during recession.

Clients have needs and expectations falling into 3 categories: Stated (contractual or order needs), Implied (those needs which mostly relate to service) and expectations that go beyond needs, and those are the moments during company – client interaction where the client says or thinks WOAOY!

Recently, one of our clients called me at 21:30 hour while I was going to bed and she was in agony. She was going to travel to Germany early in the morning next day to meet her associate and she wanted some changes in her Company Marketing Plan that we had prepared for her a few days ago.  What do you think happened? I woke up, drove to the office, made the changes and sent her the revised plan by email within an hour and a half, no charge.

That was not a day to day chore. It was an action evolving from strategy – Why do we exist? We never say “it can not be done” to a client. Is that a strategic competitive advantage? You bet it is.

So, go ahead today and start thinking strategically by asking yourself, your colleagues even your customers. Why do we exist? And please, don’t come up with quick and vague answers such as good quality, fast service etc, etc. Take your time, push yourselves to your limits and come up with a REAL answer, because if you don’t, most likely you shouldn’t be in business or even if you are, you are already struggling.

Yiannakis Mouzouris

Head of Consultancy and Training

Conicon Ltd.