WHAT’S THE PROBLEM BEHIND THE PROBLEM?
Posted by Steve Reeves on January 19, 2011
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The beginning of a new year is a great time to review our strategy, targets and position in the market and how we are going to grow our business in 2011. It allows us to take a fresh look at the potential challenges and issues we face in the short to medium term and how we overcome them in order to grow.
However, identifying the real challenge and issues can often be difficult. At The Value Engineers, we believe in spending quality thinking time interrogating the challenges and issues your business faces. We do this through a technique called Fishbones which enables you to identify what is the problem behind the problem?
Sainsbury’s is a great example of how they re-expressed their challenge to open up new possibilities…
- THE CHALLENGE… BEFORE!
To grow revenue by £2.5 billion over 3 years. (A huge and almost abstract target). - THE CHALLENGE…AFTER
They broke the challenge down and worked out that if they got each shopper to spend an extra £1.14 per transaction then they would achieve their goals. They were therefore looking for a small change in behaviour amongst a big number of existing and potential customers! - THE RESULT…
Sainsbury’s changed their advertising campaign to ‘try something new today’ to move shoppers (stuck in a routine) from buy to try! The idea has accelerated Sainsbury’s growth and the revenue has grown already to £1.8 billion in 2 years.
What are the challenges you face in 2011 and beyond that you need to overcome in order to grow? For more information on Fishbones please contact The Value Engineers.
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