Change And its Concomitant Opportunities For Forward-Thinking Organizations

Amid reoccurring change, organizations’ survival hinges on keeping their best talents, identifying business opportunities, and creating viable strategies that center around sustainability.

The pandemic came down hard on businesses. It created a space in the market by increasing the demand for several products and services. While it shrunk the size of some huge markets and bulldozed others open.

For example, the aviation and tourism industry suffered due to minimal local and international movements. But it was a boon for the telehealth industry and e-commerce. Internet shopping experienced a surge as people purchased everything they needed online.

The pandemic-induced change and its concomitant challenges trickled down to increase the demand for resources, and personnel to fill the yawning gaps in the market as people battle to adjust and survive the pandemic.

While a change of any kind might be responsible for why you pack up and close shop, it’s going to be the reason why some other businesses are going to thrive. Technology change, environmental change, and change due to new government regulation would invariably require organizations to regularly re-evaluate their strategies, identify a new set of priorities to determine a way forward.

*

Change Cuts Some Markets Open And Closes Many.

When a company faces minor challenges caused by change, they quickly initiate new strategies to cushion the effects and fill any gap that emanates from the change-induced challenges.

However, when the scope of the change and its side effects are mammoth such as a global pandemic, many businesses will suffer, suffocate, and may even become comatose….

The one commonality in every change irrespective of the size is that they create a challenge in the lives of people who would flood the marketplace searching for the right product or services that would solve their latest problems.

Companies that survive or thrive when they encounter a difficult challenge caused by change spend their time and resources looking for a space in the market, redesigning their strategies, and developing new products and services to fill some identified and emerging gaps in the market. These companies will find themselves in an advantageous position to attract more businesses if a change causes any anticipated or unanticipated space to open up in the market has succeeded in building an ark before the rain started.

Apple introduced a product that filled a gap in the market in 2020. The Millions of people that purchased the iPhone SE in 2020 did so because it served the need of getting a budget-friendly quality smartphone during the lockdown. What Apple did was to use their existing technology and resources to design a product that would appeal to their teaming customers who ideally would like to replace their phones with a budget-friendly quality smartphone.

*

Why You Should Regularly Re-evaluate Your Strategies.

You can’t always predict customers’ behavior, but you can create a brand that can attract and retain customers by frequently reevaluating your strategies to spot emerging trends in the lives of people. Doing this would allow you to have the right product or service to introduce to the right people at the appropriate time.

As rapid growth in technology and environmental challenges continues to shift the status quo and reshape business activities globally, company leaders have no choice but to continue to make slow and quick changes so they can adapt, survive and maybe thrive during a difficult time.

When you spend time setting up the foundation of your business to be firmly rooted in spotting trends, understanding consumers’ needs, and delivering values to customers, you end up attracting individuals to do business with when change happens.

A strategy that works is one that’s designed to have talented employers on board who can quickly work together to answer customers’ questions with the right product or services.

*

Customers Have Become Smarter

You’re also required to regularly reassess how you deal with current and potential customers because change has also caused buyers to become smarter with their buying decisions. They’re always re-evaluating their relationship with companies so they can connect to the ones that are relatable and reputable in delivering on their promises.

This is how they ensure they’re going to get value for their money. Value includes quality products or services, affordability, speed in delivery for online purchases, and a positive after-purchase experience with the product and the manufacturer.

The availability of several appealing alternatives makes it easier for people to move elsewhere to get the same product or services. A sophisticated customer who receives countless newsletters from rival firms can easily move to other attractive options if you fail to deliver values that meet expectations. Some customers even prefer to stick with a brand that offers a better after-buying experience than one that’s famous for using the latest technology to build and introduce new products and services, but offers an abysmal after-buying experience.

It’s inarguable that technology and innovation is the key driver of growth in every industry, however being able to use the latest technology to design, and deliver quality products and services doesn’t guarantee success anymore because other companies can equally build a quality product.

Where your brand settles in the mind of customers is key to building lasting customer relationships. How they feel while using your product and how it continues to fulfill the need that prompted the purchasing decision would play a big role in future buying decisions.

*

Can You Provide Solutions to The Current And Future Needs of People?

What questions have you answered through your products or services? Are your products or services going to feel a void in the marketplace? Are they going to stand like an unappealing statue that attracts a few or zero eyeballs? Can you provide solutions to the current and future needs of people?

Being able to use data tools to predict and spot trends allows you to strategically position your business activities to quickly offer solutions in the market. Also having a business you can quickly deploy as a solution to a yet to emerge space in the market keeps you ahead of the game.

Zoom Inc was able to establish itself as the top platform for crowd meetings because they had a business they rapidly presented as a solution to the business world when the pandemic destabilized the normal way of conducting business activities and compelled organizations to pivot towards virtual engagement.

Forward-thinking organizations don’t rest on their laurels. They’re always thinking of how to move their business forward amidst unprecedented change. Having the right team on board is of utmost importance in sustaining organizational growth and keeping the organization firmly on the path to success.

This story was previously published on Medium by the same author.