To build an organization in a dynamic environment and imperfect legislation is capable of those who can dispassionately assess the situation and adapt their plans to it. Bringing into the system received during practical work and observations of knowledge, I would like to draw some important, in our opinion, conclusions for understanding the reasons for the success and longevity of some modern organizations. We have tried to present them in the form of abstracts.

Bringing into the system the knowledge gained in the course of practical work and observations, I would like to draw several important, in our opinion, conclusions for understanding the reasons for the success and longevity of some modern organizations. We have tried to present them in the form of abstracts.

1. Ideal organization

In her organizational culture openness, benevolence, but also pragmatism prevail, which allows it to quickly adapt to a constantly changing environment. Employees of the “ideal organization” are interested in the final result of its activities and are not afraid to accept both organizational problems and the characteristics of the environment as they are, without fear and tantrums.

For such an “ideal organization” to exist, it is necessary that “ideal managers” work in it. “Ideal managers” are people who have systems thinking, who clearly know the boundaries of the subsystems they manage, their general and personal goals, who are able to take into account the dynamics of the processes taking place in the organization and the environment, who are able to see and evaluate both possible threats and opportunities.

Today, the “ideal manager” is a person who, first of all, possesses the skills of the profession, a tough pragmatist, focused on success, with iron nerves, but also quite flexible. A person who knows exactly what he wants and how to achieve his goals. Such managers close to the ideal in our country are becoming last years more and more, which inspires hope for the emergence of “ideal organizations” in the near future.

2. About the benefits of common sense

A modern manager is forced to rely on the achievements of scientists from different fields. However, all these scientists in the vast majority of cases conducted their research, development and came to some conclusions, studying the experience largest corporations peace. Only such giants have the opportunity to spend huge amounts of money on research and development in the field of management.

For these "monsters" competing with each other, any, even minimal competitive advantage, due to huge turnover, turns into hundreds of millions of profits. These corporations, being in extremely tough competitive environment, most interested in the implementation latest developments. The overwhelming majority of other organizations have resources of a completely different order, are in a different cultural environment, and are forced to obey completely different market requirements.

Quite often, following the managerial fashion, Russian managers cause irreparable harm to their organizations. The price of abstractly useful innovations is exorbitant. What was effective abroad, in Russian organizations often looks foreign and pretentious.

Saves from such traps only common sense, which allows you to pragmatically assess the real resources of the organization and develop it systematically, soberly assessing the necessary and sufficient changes.

3. About priorities

The main talent in the work of a manager is the ability to build problems according to their degree of importance, to isolate the main thing. Not knowing where to start, what to give preference to, makes the work of a manager meaningless and dangerous for the organization. Too often decisions are made chaotically, haphazardly, based on past experience, either "by science" or simply because of personal preference.

Here is an example. Organization of the beginning trading business from scratch. Naturally, the organization of sales technology should have come first in the list of problems. First, customer and product marketing, and only then - building an adequate, effective sales technology and a management structure that is convenient for management. However, the managers who founded this firm read several books on the subject of Optimal Management Structures. Then they discussed for almost a year what kind of management structure they need - matrix or divisional. Business all this time did not develop.

4. About power

Horizontal management systems, creation of management teams, development of leadership instead of the usual administration can only be useful when both the organization and its environment are ready for it. Exactly to the extent that the top manager gave away power and rights down, to the extent that he himself lost it. He must abandon the usual "general" style and turn into a facilitator of the team interaction of his subordinates.

At the same time, no one relieves him of responsibility for the mistakes of his subordinates. Moreover, a command style of communication is only possible if there is openness in the culture of the organization, the right to express any thoughts and feelings without fear of losing status, access to any information related to the organization. The implementation of these mandatory requirements for command management is hindered by all previous managerial experience. In it, power is both a means to achieve one's own goals and the goal itself, and the possession of information inaccessible to others is the main symbol and instrument of power, where confidentiality is promoted instead of openness.

Managers in today's Russia are not too ready to accept power and responsibility. Power cannot be simply obtained, just as it cannot be imposed. It must be won, because in the organization the power of the manager and the level of responsibility taken by him are directly proportional to the amount of his income.

In practice, we do not meet with the hosts very often and CEOs, really trying to give away power: in business, this means the right, first of all, to independently manage money. Even rarer are managers who are actually capable of assuming this power and responsibility. They are not ready for them either in a psychological or material sense, when in case of failure and failure they have to pay with their own money, reputation, career prospects - take the risk on themselves.

5. On the scale of the organization

If you own a bakery in a residential area, then your marketing and work with the social atom will be reduced to interaction with the residents of the area and municipal authorities. At the same time, the main thing for you will be the satisfaction of the needs of customers in bakery products and the prices corresponding to the purchasing possibilities. If you are the owner of a bakery and a chain of bakeries, then you have at least two options:

In Russia, the myth is widespread that only a large organization is stable and invulnerable, that the goal of management is to ensure a continuous increase in the size of the organization. However, this myth often directly contradicts the main requirement for the organization - to be a tool for achieving goals. It makes sense to build a transnational corporation only when its size corresponds to the goals of the leaders and other members of the organization.

6. About creativity in management

In Soviet science, for example, creativity practically knew no boundaries. It was funded by the state, and any creative idea or hypothesis could be implemented and tested regardless of economic feasibility.

In the job of a manager, this kind of boundless creativity is not only dangerous and harmful, it is shameless. After all, an overly creative manager plays a risky game of chance with other people's money.

Unfortunately, in many Russian organizations, where decision-making criteria are not defined, "scientific creativity" flourishes wildly. Impatience, a penchant for original, interesting, but non-systemic and ineffective solutions is the trouble of many Russian managers.

In the vast majority of cases, the leader of an organization is also its owner. This is a huge problem, since an entrepreneur is a person who risks his money in business, and a manager is a person who is obliged to minimize these risks. When these two completely different views on the problem coexist in one mind, it is difficult to expect effective management and smart decisions.

7. About panaceas in management

Unfortunately, one has to part with illusions: there is no single right way, there are many “right ways”.

In developing a program of change, any leader of an organization should be clear that one can strive to reduce possible risks to a minimum, but it is pointless to hope that there is a solution that involves no risks at all.

Any change in the organization necessarily implies some change in the leader himself. It is very difficult: after all, I would like everything around to change, but not myself. In addition, people who have the right to control the first person are simply not supposed to be inside the organization. Therefore, it is fundamentally important that any manager who decides to develop and implement a program for changing his organization includes requirements for himself and develops a mechanism for implementing and monitoring the implementation of these requirements. Otherwise, no significant changes will occur, simply because everything that happens in the system comes from its leader.

Human communication within an organization is rather a matter of the ability to feel and understand people, to be open to them. First of all, a manager or entrepreneur must know exactly what he wants for himself. Only by defining your goals, you can create an image of the organization in which they can be achieved.

To build an organization in a dynamic environment and imperfect legislation is capable of those who can dispassionately assess the situation and adapt their plans to it. A good manager avoids unnecessary risk, counts everything that can be counted in the organization, and does not count what cannot be counted (for example, the level of culture). A good manager must be able to do what no one else will do, but also be able to entrust the appropriate employees and specialists with what he himself should never do.

The ongoing revolution in communication, communication and automation, including mobile telephony, user-generated content (social media), the development of interactive technologies and self-service systems, and of course the Internet, has seriously affected the nature of commercial interactions and customer service in general. Therefore, in many industries, a variety of methods for improving efficiency have been introduced, including those borrowed from the production sector (in particular, the experience of Toyota). What should the ideal consumer-oriented company look like today in the light of ongoing changes and eternal values? And what about a company that thinks about customer service in the last place?

Ideal company

Let's focus on the characteristics that ideal companies have in common, firms that satisfy their customers by providing them with outstanding, customer-focused service in all interactions. How does such an ideal company appear to a new or existing client - high-tech or the most ordinary?

1. The client feels the "hospitality" of the ideal company even before his arrival - real or figurative. And this fact does not depend on what channel of communication is used. Is it about the internet? e-mail, phone, in social networks, chats or video conferences, employees of the firm always greet customers and give them a concrete, clear and friendly idea of ​​their position in the market, brand and firm as a whole.

Companies often analyze the Internet, telephone and other means of communication to make sure they are functioning well enough and keeping up with the demands of the times. Any channel through which a client can contact the firm should be analyzed in terms of efficiency and user friendliness. This applies not only to the company's own websites, but also to third party websites such as Google Places. (It's important to remember that consumers won't blame Google for misreporting hours of operation and office locations. They assume—and most often correctly—that the firm didn't bother to update this information to be true.) TripAdvisor and similar forums are usually followed by polite responses, so that the new user knows that even if the company is not perfect, it cares about its reputation, tries to correct existing shortcomings and improve customer service.

2. The company can spoil the first impression of itself with barriers that are perceived by the consumer as a hindrance. Ideal company goes out of her way to remove all barriers so that the client immediately feels friendliness from the firm. In the physical world, for example, you need to think about parking and transportation for customers. The proposed directions must be perfectly accurate, preferably with GPS coordinates. If a customer needs to park on the street, the firm should provide them with change for the machines and a reminder to pay for parking. You can even assign a special employee to help customers. With an interactive Internet login, the registration process should be simple and accessible. Ideally, your site should not have any difficulties such as entering a code word. If you're setting up filters to cut out spam or bots, then you need to provide a user-friendly audio experience for visually impaired people and for those who browse your site on a smartphone keyboard that isn't the most comfortable to use. The consumer does not have to look through hundreds of names in the classifier to select his own country - after all, this can be easily determined by IP address or by customer base.

3. Your employees must show a visible and sincere interest in customers. Follow this. Employees should maintain goodwill and affability even in the most difficult situations client service. Employees must be friendly consciously and not just to avoid disciplinary action.

4. The company must respect the desire of customers for self-service ... but at the same time give them the opportunity to choose. A customer who chooses self-service should never be without available support or abandonment of such a system. You should not punish him in any way for the choice he made. For example, when a store has self-service checkouts, store employees are always on duty to help customers who encounter unexpected difficulties. When telephoning, customers always have the opportunity to contact the operator in a convenient way- waiting for his answer, pressing the appropriate key or saying a specific word. Websites usually have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section. At the end of the answer to each question, there is an opportunity to contact the operator and get further clarifications if necessary.

5. Processes, technologies and systems must be organized in such a way as to anticipate the needs and desires of customers. Anticipation-based service is not only about the right recruitment. Yes, of course, an empathetic person who feels responsible for anticipating the client's desires is very important. This is the central element of perfect service. But it's also important that your company's systems are attuned to the wishes of the customers—even before the wishes themselves are voiced. Companies achieve this by letting employees know that their job is to learn to think like a customer, to observe and predict customer behavior, to guide their wants and needs so that the company can anticipate what customers will want in the next moment. And that brings us to the critical next step: the resulting knowledge and attitudes must be built into systems, processes, and technologies.

I will give a simple example. It snowed heavily in Philadelphia during the winter and my flight was delayed by two hours. No wonder I missed my connecting flight from Denver. But as soon as I got off the plane in Denver with thoughts of waiting in an endless line, begging for a ticket to another plane, or calling 800 and waiting for the operator to answer, I was instantly approached by a Southwest employee who holding tickets for another flight. She asked for my name and handed me the correct paperwork for the next flight to my destination.

6. The company must take into account the time constraints of the consumer and his pace - and this factor should be considered paramount. The ideal company never wastes a client's time. In an ideal company, you don't have to wait. Temporal Needs and Expectations individual customers are taken into account by both experienced, dedicated staff and well-thought-out technological systems. For example, a tourist who is on vacation has a completely different attitude towards the Internet system and the signals received from it. He may well prefer face-to-face communication or a phone response from an attentive employee to scouring the Internet. Such a person will appreciate the receptive software, which allows the user to answer a series of questions: "Not now."

7. The emotional state and needs of the client is of great importance for any company.. Don't think of a customer as someone who called just to make a big purchase (or any purchase at all). Perhaps he calls or comes because of a temporary feeling of loneliness. Maybe he needs support related to your products, or maybe he has some questions. In order for the relationship with the client to be long-term and profitable, you must definitely take into account these non-commercial desires and purely human needs.

8. The company must recognize and take into account the unique circumstances of the individual situation of a particular client. In other words, employees need to understand that while the vast majority of customer interactions follow one of several typical scenarios, each such interaction for given customer unique from his point of view. I once spoke at a conference of the Student and Youth Tourism Association (SYTA). A tour operator who was there told me what he had to deal with every day: given the tour could be the first and possibly the last.”

What a great and precise attitude! But what role such attitude can play in company policy? Maybe the company prides itself on fulfilling customer requests "within 12 hours", and perhaps this promise is used in advertising. This, of course, is very likely if the client has contacted the firm with the first request. But forcing a client to wait 12 hours between requests if the response to their first request was "Please let me know what operating system you're using and I'll give you an answer" is completely unacceptable. However, as sad as it is to admit, this is very typical for many firms. Yes, really, it may take a company 12 hours or more to fix the problem, although it was stated in two, and not in one request. The ideal company understands this very well.

9. Standards exist - and are implemented in life. For example, in an expensive hotel, you will never see a doorman standing with his back to a client trying to open the door. Why? Because they are standards! In this case, the standard is that doormen work as a team. They look at each other and give each other a sign if someone comes up from behind. Doormen literally cover each other's backs. Thanks to this, the client has a feeling of hospitality and comfort in general.

10. Additional services are standard. Ideal companies always offer something above the existing standards. Admittedly, in difficult situations, shareholders will always seek to reduce these additions in the first place, but without them it will be impossible to differentiate your service. When you buy an iPad from Apple, you know you can read e-books. Great. The industry leader Kindle offers the same service. And Nook. And Kobo. And Sony Reader. To understand that you are dealing with an exceptional company, you are helped by an “unexpected addition” - the ability to virtually “turn the pages” and read an e-book like the most ordinary one, only printed on special paper.

Ideal service in the physical world is carried out in the same way. During the last economic downturn, the Ritz-Carlton's Horst Schulze said that economic hardship was no excuse for a luxury hotel to forego "nice little things," such as daily fresh flowers in the rooms. The guests of such a hotel do not buy four walls and a ceiling, but an elaborate sense of exclusivity. And if they do not feel it, then they are unlikely to want to return.

11. The company should strive for efficiency, but in no case at the expense of the client. Service is a unique situation that does not always meet the modern requirements of speed and continuous improvement of efficiency. Yes, production techniques are used quite widely in the service. However, if you want to be ready for any customer requirements, then you have to put up with inefficiency in the production sense of the word. It will be necessary to have an increased stock in stock, and for a fairly long period of time. Ideal companies are well aware of when it is possible to use efficiency techniques (for example, demonstrated by the firm), and when they are not applicable.

12. Customer experience must be constantly improved. As consumers, we all appreciate the convenience and familiarity with the process, which makes it easy to order and purchase goods and services. When I order something online from a company I've dealt with before, I expect all the on-screen menus to look exactly the same as before. I want to see what I'm used to, not re-learn ordering protocol. The same thing happens when I call the company that supplies me with fuel for the heating system. I'm counting on the usual protocol of being told the price per gallon, offering a reasonable delivery time, and providing a driver who already knows my home's system and how to use it so I don't need to be there.

However, while consumers value consistency, the ideal company understands that service needs to be improved even to maintain a sense of consistency as consumer expectations continue to rise.

At the beginning of the 20th century, about 30 years after the invention and widespread use of the telephone, Marcel Proust, with his usual vivacity, wrote that the telephone had come to be taken for granted. People began to perceive the phone as ordinary household appliance and began to complain more about the static noise on the line than to admire this amazing marvel of new technology.

What Proust wrote about the telephone applies to every aspect of the consumer experience. Today, the period during which the perception of something new changes dramatically is much shorter than it was before. What was considered an incredible achievement in customer service last year is quickly becoming commonplace, if not outright unacceptable. What seemed fast last week looks awfully slow today.

The ideal company understands this very well and is constantly improving. For example, retail network, opening new points, sets itself a very specific task: make the new store better than the previous one. Dot. This is the optimal path to improvement, which saves the company from unnecessary thought and regrets about the mistakes made.

All 12 components will be discussed in more detail a little later. Each of them has its own significance for consumers.

Disaster Example: Fatal Error in an Ideal Service

I hope that this list of 12 features that characterize a company with excellent customer service did not confuse you. And that's good - I prefer to deal with an unafraid reader. However, around us we constantly see examples of the opposite. There are many anti-consumer (and usually anti-collaboration) companies and firms in the world that do not intend to be different from competitors, rarely meet customer expectations, and certainly never exceed them in anything - except by accident. In an ideal company, all potentially destructive elements should be identified and eliminated. Therefore you must analyze negative characteristics in their "natural" form. Let's take a moment to understand what the ideal company shouldn't be. Remember how inspired preachers paint pictures of hell before their flock. Let's talk about this abyss, where any company can collapse.

To make the example as accessible as possible, I invite you to join me and go grocery shopping, which we do every day. What could be more positive and human-friendly than a well-funded, fully stocked and conveniently located grocery store? Well, let's go? We head to an expensive grocery store in a suburb that I won't name (although I'm tempted once again!). This is a branded boutique owned by a well-known corporation. The store is ideally located, both geographically and demographically. It is surrounded by private houses of quite wealthy citizens, where there are many old mansions. These houses are inhabited by people with a high level of education, and within a radius of six kilometers there are four colleges, etc., etc. Let's start our shopping. Don't forget that we came looking for unpleasant surprises.

Entry and unnecessary barriers. Even before we are in the store, it is clear that interaction (or interaction attempts) will not be easy. Before we go shopping, we look at the site to check the road and opening hours, but we do not find information. Yeah, the site has a live chat button. Let's try. Two unbearable minutes of waiting pass, and finally someone answers. Indeed "someone", because the answerer does not introduce himself - most likely, this is some automatic program because no useful information we did not learn from these voice messages.

Waving our hand to the store's website, we find it on Google Maps where opening hours are also mentioned. Unfortunately, the hours shown on Google Maps and Google Places are incorrect. (Actually, 16 months ago they were correct, but since then the store has not bothered to contact Google and update the information, and because of this, customers like us often find themselves in front of closed doors.)

Let's try to remain calm in this situation. On the second attempt, we arrive at the parking lot of the store during those hours when it is still open. The first noticeable obstacle is purely physical. The shopping carts are in a "corral" that completely blocks a person in a wheelchair from leaving the disabled parking lot. On the disabled person, his friends and family members, such a situation will not make the most positive impression.

Arrogance and carelessness of the staff. And here we are in the store. We see a young saleswoman placing bottles of balsamic vinegar on the top shelf. She climbed onto the stepladder with "the top of her thighs" pointing straight at the incoming shoppers. The saleswoman clearly does not know how to communicate with customers. She doesn't even greet us. Something out of the ordinary? Unfortunately no. We walk around the store, but none of its employees, even those who facing us, and not other parts of the body, do not pay any attention to us. Nobody says hello. Doesn't smile. Doesn't offer help.

New imperial carts. Okay, no one paid any attention to us. Let's walk around the store with cute, but extremely inconvenient shopping carts. We need to buy something. Everything seems to be simple - if you have never tried to roll a cart on hard rubber wheels on a floor lined with fashionable ceramic tiles - with an uneven surface and large gaps between the tiles filled with a thick mortar that mimics manual work. The cart hobbles across this floor with a terrible rumble. It looks like we've been hit by shelling. By the end of shopping, the hands are numb with terrible force.

We did it! And here we are at the checkout. Having overcome all the obstacles, we put the necessary products into the cart and dragged it to the checkout. And finally she is: the cashier is the first human being who, by virtue of her official duties must contact us in person. Really personal: face to face. Oh happiness! We have a moment of human communication!

Roll up your lip! They don't even notice us! The cashier is busy - she chats with other cashiers: she tells them about her unsuccessful date yesterday. The conversation is extremely exciting, and even the need to twist her neck in order to be heard does not stop her.

Angry that she had to interrupt the conversation, the cashier tosses the punctured products into bags - strong-smelling cheese ends up in the same bag with equally odorous sushi, heavy apples crush fragile cookies into crumbs.

We could have hoped that, without bothering to make human contact with us, the cashier would pay more attention to the correct packaging of products, but, apparently, our hopes were not justified.

flower disaster. Sometimes the strongest impressions of contact with a certain organization occur "at the edges": at the very beginning and at the moment of completion. For me, the most terrible disappointment was a visit to a flower shop, all in the same expensive grocery store. Look there with me, but this time remain an observer - a kind of fly on the wall. Time? 6:45 p.m. is a regular business day (the store closes at 7 p.m., as it says on the front door, although Google has completely different information). I went to buy flowers, but I have no idea what kind of bouquet I need. For about three minutes, I absently examine the flowers on the shelves. The saleswoman asks if I have made my choice. I answer that not yet. She keeps pushing but offers no help or advice. She finally announces sternly, "We close at seven."

As politely as possible, I reply, "Actually, I think you should close the store after the last customer who entered before 7 p.m. has left the store." To my amazement, the saleswoman reacts completely differently than I expected. She is quite sincerely surprised: “Really? I did not know that. I had so many problems when I closed even a minute later than seven that I was sure that by seven o'clock all customers should leave the store..

How did such a striking example of what not to do come about? Let's go back to that grocery store again.

Against employees, against customers. My conversation with a flower shop clerk showed you everything you need to know about catastrophically anti-consumer companies. They are set not only against customers, but also against their own employees. They cause the same harm to employees and customers, forcing sellers to literally push customers out of the store at exactly 19:00. All the actions of this store are based on a superficial and extremely harmful desire to achieve their goal at any cost. This approach leads to negative, and sometimes downright terrifying results.

Lack of purpose and standards. Now let's take a closer look at the mistakes that were made at the checkout. Firstly, the cashier thought only about her professional duties - punching the goods, taking money from us and throwing the goods into bags. She did not have a goal to help the store flourish. Thoughts that the same thing can be done in a human way, so that the buying process becomes as pleasant as possible for buyers, she clearly did not attend. This behavior of the store employee working with the checkout is the end result of poor training and mismanagement.

Secondly, the cashier did not have standards performance of their duties. One of the standards was to understand which products can be put in one bag, and which are better to put into different ones. It is not difficult to learn such a standard, but the absence of it can completely spoil the customer experience from visiting a particular store. Standards should be developed, taught to staff, and then enforced to adhere strictly to them. The devil most often lies in non-standardized details.

Thirdly, the cashier did not make the slightest effort to support her customers. She wasn't happy about them at all—she preferred to crane and twist her neck at the risk of injury, but to chat with her girlfriends rather than doing her actual job, which (let me repeat) was to improve customer satisfaction, not is to bundle their purchases into packages. Why did the cashier act like this? Most likely, she simply did not feel like a part of the company and did not consider herself obliged to increase customer satisfaction and thereby contribute to the success of the company.

Reasons why employees turn away from customers and do not come into contact with them. How can a salesperson not make contact with incoming customers and even turn around to face them? How can one salesperson after another ignore the customers who are in the store? Yes, they are busy - they put up and adjust the layout of goods on the already sparkling shelves, doing other things. But all these people, like the cashier, do not fulfill their main task - they do not care about customers. Solve this problem without reviewing the entire corporate culture impossible.

Bumpy floor and misplaced ramps. What do you say about the wrongly located ramp, which the disabled cannot use? And what about a ceramic field that is not adapted to move shopping carts? These mistakes are explained by the fact that the sellers and the store management have never put themselves in the place of buyers - and it is not surprising that they leave their personal cars in a special parking lot and enter the store through other doors. Few of them know what it's like to enter through main entrance, drive out of the handicapped parking lot, etc. (The exception is young employees who collect carts in the parking lot and return them back to the store. If they reported a problem, the higher managers did not listen to them, or even simply stated, that it's none of their business.) The motivation of the store staff is completely wrong - people perform their duties in order not to run into punishment, instead of serving the prosperity of the store. Handicapped parking was made for an opt-out only, as such parking is required by local and national laws. If the store management really thought about the disabled, then everything would be different. If store owners are oblivious to the barriers that prevent disabled people from using their store—and even deliberately place barriers between parking and entry—then there must be some explanation. Apparently, this store just wants to cut off a certain segment of the market base - the disabled and those who care for them.

Actions taken for the wrong reasons, and therefore poorly executed, are unique to bad companies. If the firm is not flexible about working hours, then it often receives results from employees of poor quality, but received at a strictly defined time. Firms that treat sick leave unfairly or overly harshly can rest assured that all of their able-bodied employees will certainly make full use of all scheduled sick leave days. forgetting about the real security, and in an effort to just get rid of safety checks, companies are creating dangerous jobs. The result is poor quality customers - or lack of them, because there is no law that would require people to shop here.

Yes, I guess it's a bore - useful, I hope, but still boring... I'm glad to say that now we'll move on to something a little more fun.

And what do you think of all this?

Here are 12 characteristics of ideal companies.

1. The ideal company welcomes customers - through any channel! And even before the client arrives - literally or figuratively. The company constantly analyzes the experience that its customers receive using the Internet, telephone and other communication channels.
2. When a customer arrives at a company, there should be no barriers in their path that could cloud their experience with the company.
3. Employees of the company show a sincere and deep interest in the client.
4. The company respects the client's desire for self-service... but always provides an opportunity to move to direct communication with employees.
5. The company has the processes, technologies and resources necessary to meet the needs and desires of the client. In other words, you need not only employees who feel what the consumer wants, but also systems that are focused on satisfying his desires, and even before these desires are voiced.
6. The company must take into account the time constraints and wishes of the client. Customer time should never be wasted. The most important thing for a company is to take into account the pace needs and expectations of a particular client.
7. The emotional needs and state of mind of the client are extremely important. Employees of the company must be friendly and polite with customers, even if their calls do not have immediate commercial value.
8. The company recognizes and takes into account the unique features of the specific situation of a particular client. Even if the vast majority of customer interactions follow one of several typical scenarios, employees need to understand that every interaction is unique to that customer from their point of view.
9. Standards exist and must be followed.
10. Extra amenities are standard. Without unexpected and pleasant additions, it is almost impossible to differentiate your service.
11. Efficiency is important, but it should never be at the expense of the customer. A certain amount of inefficiency, being ahead of schedule (as opposed to strict timeliness), and excess inventory is sometimes necessary to keep a company ready for any customer request.
12. The customer experience must be constantly improved, often through continuous improvement methods borrowed from the manufacturing industry.

There are not so many ideas about the ideal organization that can be officially declared (as not directly contradicting the legal structure). We list the most common.

Normal organization. The idea is based on the elimination of contradictions between different structural levels.

For example, the implementation of the plan (legal structure requirement) is not possible due to outdated equipment (technical structure capability). At the same time, it is impossible to organize work on new equipment due to the lack of qualified personnel (opportunities for a personal structure), and free rates are not high enough (opportunities for a formal structure) to invite qualified workers from outside. In this situation, changes are made to the formal structure (salaries increase) and an attempt is made to solve this set of problems.

Management is at the tail end of events. Certain steps are taken after this or that contradiction has surfaced: “Let's restore elementary order...” or “Let's solve the problem of housing...”. And this patching of holes can last indefinitely.

The image of opponents of this approach: “hovering in the clouds”, “walking away from real problems”, “enterprises not living with worries”, etc.

Organization of an advanced enterprise. The model is based on the desire to bring the company to the number of "advanced", "known as advanced" by borrowing best practices in various fields and advertising their own achievements.

The growth of the prestige of the enterprise facilitates the solution of any problems - from the priority allocation of resources to the attraction of qualified work force. The desired is often presented as real, since the reality of achievements does not always matter for advertising. Management steps are largely random and depend on the degree of awareness of other people's achievements in a particular area. The borrowed innovation undergoes “improvement” even before it is fully understood: “And we will do even better!”.

The image of the opponents of this approach: “conservatives, mired in routine”, “incapable of understanding new and complex things”, “not thinking about the prestige of the enterprise”, etc.

Organization of general employment. The model is based on the desire to fully load all the employees of the enterprise.

All workers are busy with some business: one writes, the other counts, the third digs the earth. Nobody sits idle. This picture pleases the eye of the leader, as well as the champions of "social justice :)", understood accordingly.

Whether it is necessary or not, whether it is carried out by effective or ineffective methods, is a secondary issue. The main thing is that no one shy away from work and that this work be visible to the naked eye. Thinking and smoking, talking outside the formal meeting are annoying: they take off from work and set a bad example for others.

The image of the opponents of this approach: “loafers”, “freelance artists)”, “those who put themselves above others”, “misunderstood geniuses”, etc.

Organization of rational labor. The bearers of these ideas are driven by the desire to improve every work and every business, eliminating everything superfluous and unnecessary.

Anything labor movement any employee should be extremely rational. No forces - human or mechanical - are wasted, everything is thought out, Yese is regulated. Any movement of the leader's little finger (which, however, is also regulated) sets in motion a huge production mechanism in which each employee is a cog that correctly understands his role, is satisfied with it and receives precisely calculated remuneration for it.

The image of the opponents of such a campaign: "suffering from a lack of gray matter", "who do not understand the essence of the scientific and technological revolution", "succumbing to emotions", etc.

Organization of human conditions. The idea is generated by the desire to create such conditions for all employees under which the work would give them maximum pleasure (or minimum displeasure), so that they would not even think of causing any damage to the enterprise or looking for work on the side: “All forces to the native enterprise!” .

The main thing is a living person with his problems, and not a far-fetched principle. All issues are decided only by those who are then responsible for them. The role of the manager is reduced to providing more qualified managerial ("fatherly") assistance to subordinates.

Personnel policy is put forward in the first place, which is understood more broadly than usual: if an employee has personal problems, let him have the opportunity to solve them in the first place, otherwise he will still think about them and work poorly!

The image of the opponents of this approach: "strangers, dangerous people”, “those who take dirty linen out of the hut”, “those who would be more suitable for work in another organization”, etc.

As a result of studying this chapter, the student should:

know

• some models or images of ideal organizations;
• definition of the organization and features of certain types of organizations;
• determining the image and reputation of the organization and the factors that shape them;
• signs and features of a learning, leadership, innovative organization;
• the main elements of the Japanese management system;
• factors that determine an innovative organization;
• differences between pioneering and innovation;

be able to

• distinguish between the expectations of different interest groups regarding the organization;
• identify and take into account in their leadership activities the interests of the employees of the organization and their diversity;

own

• skills to determine the image of the organization;
• the ability to select parameters and evaluate the characteristics of the organization - a real, ideal or promising place of work;
• the ability to separate an innovative organization from another type of organization.

The object of consideration in our book is leadership in the organization. The subject is the forms, qualities, properties, characteristics of leaders different levels, their behavior and development in organizational conditions and in different situations external and internal environment and while working in a team.

The leader of the 1st level generally creates and (or) ensures the development, competitiveness, survival of the entire organization and (or) the direction of its activities. The success of the organization he leads largely depends on his qualities. Leaders of the 2nd and 3rd levels are responsible for the success of the group of workers they lead. A professional leader also interacts with the organization, works for the organization or for the organization. The mutual influence of leaders and organizations is obvious: leaders determine, albeit to varying degrees, the success of the organization, organizations create conditions in which the qualities of leaders will manifest themselves in the best possible way and develop, or will be oppressed. There is an interdependence and mutual influence of the leader as an employee, as an official and organization. Theories of leadership, qualities of leaders, images of ideal leaders for employees are discussed above and in many other sections of this book, as well as in numerous other publications. Building an organization and interacting with the organization, the leader usually forms in his mind or takes as a prototype a certain ideal, image, clear or unclear, of the organization in which he would prefer to work. The leader needs the ideal organization to develop a strategy for creating or developing an organization, setting goals, comparing with the real organization that he has or is getting, just as the image of an ideal leader serves for him as a source of formation of goals for his own improvement.

The ideal of organization in today's world must be considered from the perspective of different interest groups, including, at a minimum, different groups employees (top management, other employees of the administrative apparatus, middle management, specialists, workers, etc.), owners, consumers, local community and the organization itself as a whole, a subject in the market, a large and complex living system.

Let us consider some descriptions and images of organizations, on the basis of which we can try to create a generalized image of the ideal modern organization, if possible, meeting the interests of all or at least many interest groups. The object of our attention remains, for the most part, such interest groups as company employees occupying executive and managerial positions in the organization, and customers, consumers of the company's performance results. At the same time, we will not pay special attention to the image of an ideal organization for shareholders (owners), having determined that their expectations are as follows: an organization - a place of investment, must ensure the reliability of investment returns and their size at a level not lower than that of a bank. The higher the current and prospective return on investment, the more attractive the organization looks to investors. All other qualities of the organization in the eyes of investors are associated with the image of the company as an investment object.

What would be the image of an “ideal” company in terms of sales? Is it a company that has the best sellers "in its class"? No! This is a company that has the best system sales? No! Is it a company selling on an "industrial" scale? No! In this article, the author offers his vision of the "ideal" company in terms of sales.

In the article "How to build "industrial" sales: 5 necessary levels" I tried to give an algorithm for the practical construction of the Sales Department, as a system that implements "industrial sales" and provides a significant increase in sales in the company.

The image of the "ideal company". What can he be?

If you imagine the image of an “ideal” company, you can get something like the following picture:

Perhaps this is the dream of any business owner! When "all by itself".

What's going on in today's market?

So what are we seeing in the market today?

1. From 500 to 1000 projects per year, which are implemented by large design companies (for example, IT companies) do not give anything. In the best case, this is the fulfillment of the sales plan and growth by 10-15% per year.
2. hundreds thank you letters from customers, press releases about successful implemented projects and so on - all this is lost in a huge flow of information and is practically no longer a help in business.
3. Hundreds of salespeople of large companies "fight to the death" for their customers with competitors. And with varying degrees of success.
4. Companies participate in hundreds of competitions with the same variable success. Etc.

Why is that and what is the problem? The main problem of large and customer-oriented companies with a wide product line is that they are "everywhere and nowhere." There are many suppliers for one customer. It is impossible to “detune” from competitors and stand out from the background of many similar companies! But!

What does it take to make the "ideal" company?

A respected reader will probably say: “This is all good and, perhaps, right!”, But “Where can I get a “candy product” and how to create it?”, “Where can I get services that are highly demanded by the market and how to make them perfect?”, “How to stand out from the general mass of competitors?”, “What do you do in such a situation?”, to the point that “All this is theory! In practice, everything is different!

There is only one answer - we need a new strategy! A strategy aimed at moving to a new plane of work, which will allow you to develop and get new strong competitive advantages, stand out “from the crowd” and “show the product face”.

What exactly is needed for this? And you don't need much:

1. Take a fresh look at the chain: customer needs - product - sales - project implementation (or delivery).

a. See that the Product is primary! And the product must meet the needs of customers as fully as possible. Then it will be a highly demanded market. Then:

b. There will be a desire to create "candy products" and a desire for impeccable quality of services. Then:

c. There will be specific tasks of creating "candy products" and providing impeccable quality of services.

But this is far from everything in the modern world. Therefore, you still need:

3. Start building a new company awareness (new brand). Not by the name of the company, its turnover or its positions in the ratings, but by completely different parameters:

a. By recognizable goods and services - "candy products". It is not necessary to have a unique product, you can provide a number of services better than competitors.

b. For implemented large, complex and possibly socially significant projects.

c. According to the company's competencies in certain "locomotive" areas. To let the market know that projects<такой-то направленности>TheBestCompany does the best.

If the project company has a wide product line, then you need to build following blocks, but in a new way (on specific examples):

1. Strong Marketing Block.

Purpose: to analyze market trends and the efforts of competitors, demand and form proposals according to demand.

Who is needed for this? For starters, 1-2 strong marketers on 2-3 most successful and promising solutions of the company. For what? In order to permanently bring these solutions to “candy products” (!) in close connection with the Block of innovative and technical competencies.

2. Strong block of innovative and technical competencies.

Purpose: improvement of their products (goods and services). According to constantly emerging new (innovative) technologies. Let for starters - "locomotive", for which there is the biggest backlog. How? "Locomotive" solutions (2-3) should be based on the latest technologies that are in demand on the market. Then they will first become competitive, then they will become better than their competitors.

If these blocks do not work in close conjunction, there will definitely not be a result!

3. Strong Project Management Unit.

Objective: to analyze the progress of the implementation of, for example, large and significant projects and introduce new approaches and principles project management. For what? To implement projects faster and better than competitors, which means to receive additional margin and profit, as well as to stand out from their background for the better.

Who is needed? For starters, 2-3 of the strongest project managers (RP) and, for starters, "playing" coaches. For what? To disseminate the best approaches and principles of effective project management in the company. How? Analyze current projects, correct the progress of their implementation, adjust the composition of the project team (if necessary), train less strong PRs, etc., up to replacing ineffective PRs.

5. Strong Presale Block - The sales block of the future.

Goal: the highest quality and effective work With potential clients in order to receive an order. Myths about sellers who are able to "sell snow in winter" but who do not know their products are just myths. And illusions. Both product knowledge and sale-skills are important. It’s easier to increase sales skills than to dive into the industry of technically complex solutions.

Over the course of 20 years, so-called "product managers" periodically appeared on the market, who were trained in products and acted as the main sellers of these products. Then the paradigm of companies changed, product managers changed to managers for working with corporate clients, then they reappeared, then again "disappeared". Why?

Because:

a. "Primary" product. If the product is not good enough, the market will not consume it widely.

b. There was no broad "coverage" of the market. There was a product, but the market didn't know much about it.

What would be the path to achieving the state of the "ideal" company?

There is only one way - striving for impeccable quality of goods - striving to create "candy products" and striving for impeccable quality of services - striving to impeccably implement projects or provide services highest quality. This is true for companies with completely different lines of business - consulting, servicing clients, performing certain work (projects) for them, etc.

If there is such a desire, the tasks of creating “candy products” and providing impeccable quality of services will certainly appear. I will give some options for possible business development for companies of different levels of development and scale.

It is quite obvious that it is rather difficult to “jump” from one state to another, for example, to grow a company with several thousand employees from StartUp with developed production, sales, marketing, HR, etc. services.

1. For companies with a single product, the key will be to improve their product by building up the technological block and marketing, and more powerfully promoting it to the market.

2. For companies with several key solutions (products), it would be advisable to choose 1-2 of the most successful ones and implement a pilot project according to the approaches described above.

3. For companies with a weak Sales Block, it is advisable to build a classic sales system. This will allow you to have sales (projects), develop and eventually move to a new level of development.

4. For large companies with a wide product line and a well-established sales system, it is quite possible to offer the following sequence of actions:

a. Implement a pilot project according to the proposed approaches and within a small working group. IN large companies you can always find "smart heads" ("diamonds") to solve such a problem.

c. Achieve the result - recognition by pilot solutions / services.

Analyze the results of the work done: what worked, what did not work and why? Correct further work.

d. Go to the next in the list and importance of goods and services (products).

Of course, this is not quick and easy. But I'm sure it's possible.

Classic Mistakes

The approaches described above already exist in the practice of a number of companies, but many of them turn out to be ineffective. Why? Because the "boiler method" is used and not purposefully, but formally. For example, the Center for Innovative and Technical Competences is being created. What happens next?

1. There is no clear statement of the task for this Center and the required sequence of actions. As a result:
2. A manager who does not have the relevant competencies is invited to this position. And this question is key! Further:
3. The entire product line of the company (consisting, for example, of 50-70 major solutions/products) is “hung up” on this Center at once. Keywords: "immediately" and "all".

It is quite obvious that the output will be 0. Why? It is impossible to find such an amount of resource that would be able to digest such volumes of information and perform such work in the foreseeable future! Companies "rebuild" for years. Why should changes, and quite significant ones at that, be implemented quickly? Unclear!

Conclusion

Conclusion: the ideal company in terms of sales is a company in which there are no traditional sales!

In fairness, it is worth noting that such an image of the “ideal” company may not be achievable. Especially for design companies. Or we can achieve it, but in the horizon, say, more than 5 years and only through clear and purposeful work in this direction. But! Striving for this - such a chosen strategy - will definitely contribute to the growth of the company faster than the growth of the market. Why?

Because the essence of the approach is the formation of the strongest competitive advantage, work with the market at a different - higher level, the formation of a recognizable brand and the desire for technological / product (or operational; for various companies various) leadership.

"If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete."

Jack Welch

But better: “If there are no strong competitive advantages, they need to be created!”.