Throughout life, everyone takes up some assignments, personally or organizationally. Some of these may be taken up, for the
first time. But if we find the assignment difficult, & we have to redo or rectify, it will lead to time over run & cost over run. Both are not in the interests of either the individual, or the organization. Over all these years, competition having increased substantially, the time required for development of a product, from idea or concept stage, to its ready-to-launch-in-market stage, has shrunk considerably. Actions, reactions & activities in the market are taking place very fast with no scope for failures, & no trial-and-error is possible. Hence, we must be in a position to get the job done right, the very first time. This precisely is the subject discussed in nine Chapters of this book, along with real life examples. One of the
important considerations in this respect is, finding the future first, which is discussed in one of its Chapters. For any company, for sure success it is absolutely essential, not only to have knowledge of current status of the market & the competition, but also correct anticipation of future. But the forecast should be based on facts, so as to be as close as possible to the reality. Also, we must remember our past mistakes, so that we do not repeat them again & again. Based on the knowledge available with us & others, there are techniques available for anticipating the future. Annual reports of the companies, give lot of information regarding, what happened in last year, & what is planned for future, & this can be a basis for future forecast. We can try to write next year's annual report today itself, in which we can consider the expected important events about customers, technologies, documents, sales channels etc. for important business. Thus, we can see the future from close quarters. In another way, we can see as to how, one of our main customers will describe the benefits received by them from our company, in its next year's annual report.
customer's annual report is a very important document, & it may provide potential values of the business innovations, or products & breakthroughs for selling our own product(s). We can also carefully choose, one of our customer companies (as our poster boy or model or visionary for our company), which gives the best example of use of our product. Thus, working in a reverse way, we can focus on the important points & expected problems on our side. This idea can also be applied for choosing, distribution channel & business partner.
Another method is to present the offer to the customer, in a powerful & motivating manner, so that it can not be refused. It is said to be, a killer value proposition, a sure shot. We can convince the customer, as to how he will benefit from it in a big way. The author advises that for dramatic results, the killer value propositions should be made before (& not after), completing the design of the product. Next, the killer application means, some innovation, which is liked & accepted by a large number of customers. It is a centre of attraction, due to its quality, looks, benefits or usefulness etc. Hence, the company should develop a product of this type, having potentially strong applications. Once identified, the demand for the item will soar substantially. Once we follow its path, it largely helps in ascertaining future. These killer applications may be, within a particular segment, specific industry, or in general. But our aim should be to analyze, & obtain a larger killer application for the future. Further it is said that, chaos gives opportunities. When there is chaos in the market, it is considered that the things are changing, & probably for the good. Therefore for looking at the future, we must study the market to see, if it is disrupted, troubled, unsettled & chaotic, & thus ascertain, if it provides any likely opptunities, & then utilize them for our eventual good, by making substantial changes where required. As a matter of fact, we have to find opportunities in several fields, & not in any particular field, & then maximize our ability to meet the future.