Posts Tagged ‘problem solving’

No one wants to be in a situation where they have to raise revenue quickly, but sometimes  that’s just a reality that decision makers have to deal with.  When a past client who does business in a service industry was facing a cash crunch due to price increases from two major vendors, the only solution he could come up with in two month’s time was to push his sales people to sell more contracts. After we spoke a bit longer, he admitted that he’d done the math and that in the back of his mind, he had serious doubts about the sales team’s ability to bring in the targeted funds in the time frame that he needed.

I suggested that he try instituting a nominal price increase to all his clients. He was concerned, stating that he had a client base of 4000 contract holders, and to make such a move would mean that he would have to have reps visit each client to rewrite their contracts, plus, he feared their negative reaction. But that was his assumption, not his challenge or solution.

We took a closer look at the client base and came up with a solution that would assuage his concerns, bring in the revenue quickly, and address any clients who might call to complain. He sent via regular mail and email a notice to clients that they would see a slight price increase on their next billing cycle. For clients who had small contracts of say $40, the price would move to $42. For clients of $400, the price would increase to $420 and so on.

Still worried that he’d have an onslaught of calls, he manned up anyway and braced for the worst. And then….nothing happened. A few dozen customers called and they made what ever arrangements necessary for the new amounts to be remitted. In the end. the client pulled in tens of thousands of dollars of additional revenue per month without much work.

I credit the success of this business owner’s across-the-board price increases to the tactics which included: a pricing model that would cause the customer to say to themselves “who cares,” a well written letter and email campaign, staffing for the ‘just-in-case complaints,’ the right name for the increase, and an accounting system that had no flaws in posting the increase.

There’s always a solution to every challenge. You just have to be willing to open your mind to new ideas and to swirl those ideas around ‘cyclonically’ until you find the best solutions to your challenges.

The next time someone says they’re frustrated, don’t ask why, how they feel, or try to solve it. Ask a much simpler question such as…

What initiated this feeling?
What sparked this change?
What conditions set this in motion?

You’d be surprised at how their response to any of these questions enables the person to put his or her feelings in check. Then, let their answers aid you in offering sound advice.

A Sr. VP of a legal department in a major insurance company realized that his department needed more resources to solve the challenge of always keeping current with existing legal changes around the country.

His solution was that in order to keep up, he’d have to hire two more people. To some degree, he was asking how many people he would need to keep up with the current and future influx of legal changes impacting his company. The answer: more staff.

I picture the teletype coming in and an individual reading it and then running around the company making sure that all the implementation is completed. My thoughts were confirmed. They did not know if all projects were completed nor did they track these changes.

What might have happened if he asked—what would it take to keep up with all legal changes impacting our company and to never have to leave the legal department?

Different question, different answer.

Picture this. An email coming in from the field and the GREEN button on the desk is initiated. A project is created that ties the necessary departments together assigning individuals to coordinate the project. One person from legal and one from the unit.

The plan outlines a 30-day program as defined by the Green Button versus the Red Button, which is 60 days.

Milestones are generated together of 10 days each.

Part one would be completed in ten days, part two in ten more, and everything finished at 30 days.

In the first 10 days, the work is done and when completed the individual in the unit hits a button that says completed. If not, an email is sent to get some feedback. All of this is automated. The next milestone requires a document for legal. One is uploaded at the appropriate time and the next phase is turned green; green denotes that the function is completed. Legal does their work in 3 days and sends back the results. The bar moves a step further. Finally, a notification comes in that the project is done.

All of this occurs while never leaving the seat of the legal department.

Now expand this. You have 17 different legal projects running, each tied to this digital screen. You only react, (fight fires,) when projects are late, or if they are being done on time. No worries. You could even be on a fishing boat tied to wireless connection, open the computer, look at the projects, and then go back to fishing.

Sometimes new ideas sound complicated. But if you think about it, this new process is not as complicated as hiring staff, training staff, and then paying for human error. This type of technology would leverage the department and not tie it down.

What questions are you asking?