Simon Beat the Crisis: 33 Quick Solutions for Your Company

1. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4419-0823-0
Verlag: Springer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 169 Seiten

Newspaper columns blare the news daily. There is no doubt that we are struggling through a worldwide economic and financial crisis of a magnitude not witnessed since the Great Depression. In this environment, fraught with danger, no company can afford to take a wait-and-see attitude. One hesitation or misstep can result in the rapid demise of a once stalwart enterprise. Even small miscalculations can topple mighty empires; consider the U.S. auto industry, for example. The severity of the crisis demands that your company understand its causes, diagnose carefully, implement decisively and monitor constantly. However, the crisis also creates chances for companies that learn to assess risk, recognize opportunity and take action quickly. This book is an antidote to the chorus of doom-and-gloom, a manual for business leaders and employees who are ready to fight. In Beat the Crisis, international strategy guru, Hermann Simon, offers 33 practical actions that any company can take immediately. Organized into broad categories-'Changing Customer Needs,' 'Sales and the Sales Force,' 'Managing Offers and Prices' and 'Services'-Simon shows companies how to focus on the areas where emphatic action can have quick and maximum impact on corporate performance. Drawing from dozens of successful cases around the world, Simon helps readers learn to read the market signals, develop quick solutions, and stay a step ahead of their competitors, while avoiding the pitfalls looming in the crisis. A concluding chapter looks beyond the crisis and considers the longer-term socio-political and business consequences, in which Simon foresees a new era of restraint.

Hermann Simon is Chairman of Simon-Kucher & Partners, Strategy & Marketing Consultants, with offices in Europe, Asia, and the United States. He is an expert in strategy, marketing and pricing, advising clients and speaking to business organizations worldwide. Prior to taking on consulting full-time, he was a professor of business administration and marketing at the Universities of Mainz and Bielefeld, and has served as a visiting professor at many universities, including Harvard Business School, London Business School, INSEAD, Keio University, Stanford, and MIT. Named one of Europe's most influential management thinkers, he has served on the boards of numerous journals, including the International Journal of Research in Marketing, Management Science, and European Management Journal, and has published over 30 books, including the worldwide bestsellers Hidden Champions (1996), Power Pricing (1997), Manage for Profit, Not for Market Share (2006), and Hidden Champions of the 21st Century (2009).

Autoren/Hrsg.

Simon, Hermann

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Foreword;5
2;Contents;7
3;Diagnosing the Crisis;11
3.1;What Are Causes and Effects of the Crisis?;13
3.2;How Has Customer Behavior Changed?;29
3.3;Summary;32
3.4;Endnotes;33
3.5;Understanding Supply and Demand;36
4;What Works and What Doesn’t Work Against the Crisis;36
4.1;Profit Drivers and Their Effects;38
4.2;The Speed of the Effects;42
4.3;Solutions That Don’t Work Against the Crisis;45
4.4;Summary;48
4.5;Endnotes;49
5;Intelligent Cost Cutting;50
5.1;Understanding Cost Drivers;50
5.2;Apply Multiple Cost Parameters;53
5.3;Take Advantage of Insourcing;58
5.4;Where Not to Save;58
5.5;Summary;61
5.6;Endnotes;62
5.7;Quick Solution 1: Offer Extended Warranties;64
6;Quick Solutions for Changing Customer Needs;64
6.1;Quick Solution 2: Arrange Trial Periods for Machines;66
6.2;Quick Solution 3: Accept Success-Dependent Payments;67
6.3;Quick Solution 4: Communicate Tangible Benefits;67
6.4;Quick Solution 5: Capitalize on Your Financial Strength;68
6.5;Quick Solution 6: Accept Barter Trades;70
6.6;Quick Solution 7: Lure Customers Away from Weakened Competitors;71
6.7;Quick Solution 8: Develop New Business Models;72
6.8;Summary;74
6.9;Endnotes;75
6.10;Quick Solution 9: Boost Your Company’s Sales Performance;76
7;Quick Solutions for Sales and the Salesforce;76
7.1;Quick Solution 10: Increase Your Core Selling Time;78
7.2;Quick Solution 11: Visit Customers More Selectively;79
7.3;Quick Solution 12: Strengthen Direct Sales;81
7.4;Quick Solution 13: Penetrate New Customer Segments;82
7.5;Quick Solution 14: Offer Special Incentives;83
7.6;Quick Solution 15: Redeploy In-House Staff to Sales;84
7.7;Quick Solution 16: Lure Salespeople Away from Competitors;85
7.8;Quick Solution 17: Mobilize Top Sales Excellence;86
7.9;Quick Solution 18: Step Up Cross-Selling;87
7.10;Quick Solution 19: Expand Your Sales Portfolio;89
7.11;Summary;90
7.12;Endnotes;91
7.13;Quick Solution 20: Cut Your Volume;92
8;Quick Solutions for Managing Offers and Prices;92
8.1;Quick Solution 21: Cut Prices Intelligently;95
8.2;Quick Solution 22: Give Out Discounts in Kind, Not Price Discounts;101
8.3;Quick Solution 23: Deploy Non-linear Pricing and Price Bundling;102
8.4;Quick Solution 24: Defend Your Prices with Tooth and Nail;105
8.5;Quick Solution 25: Increase Prices Under the Customers’ Radar;107
8.6;Quick Solution 26: Clean Out Your Discount Jungle;108
8.7;Quick Solution 27: Charge Separately for Hitherto Inclusive Services;110
8.8;Not a Quick Solution: Price Wars;112
8.9;Summary;113
8.10;Endnotes;114
9;Quick Solutions for Services;116
9.1;Quick Solution 28: Extend Your Value Chain by Enhanced Service Offerings;118
9.2;Quick Solution 29: Increase the Share of Customers with Service Contracts;120
9.3;Quick Solution 30: Change from Product to Systems Provider;120
9.4;Quick Solution 31: Increase Your Service Flexibility;121
9.5;Quick Solution 32: Shift Your Focus from the Original Market to the Aftermarket;122
9.6;Quick Solution 33: Develop Innovative Service Offers;123
9.7;Summary;125
9.8;Endnotes;126
9.9;Avoiding Major Mistakes;127
10;Implementing the Quick Solutions;127
10.1;Evaluating the Quick Solutions;128
10.2;The Implementation Process;130
10.3;Training;138
10.4;Employing Consultants;139
10.5;Leadership in the Crisis;142
10.6;Summary;142
10.7;Endnotes;143
10.8;The Course of the Crisis: V, U, L or Hysteresis?;145
11;Beyond the Crisis;145
11.1;Socio-Political Consequences of the Crisis;147
11.2;Market and Corporate Level: The Crisis as Catharsis;153
11.3;Summary;159
11.4;Endnotes;161
12;Acknowledgments;164
13;Index;166