A disappointed salesman of Coca Cola returns from his Middle East assignment.A friend asked, “Why weren’t you successful with the Arabs?”

The salesman explained

“When I got posted in the Middle East , I was very confident that I would make a good sales pitch as Cola is virtually unknown there. But, I had a problem I didn’t know to speak Arabic. So, I planned to convey the message through three posters…

First poster
A man lying in the hot desert sand…totally exhausted and fainting.

Second poster
The man is drinking our Cola.

Third poster
Our man is now totally refreshed.

And then these posters were pasted all over the place “Then that should have worked!” said the friend. “What the hell it should!? said the salesman,but I didn’t realize that Arabs read from right to left”

It is a very interesting compilation, the companies about which I enjoyed reading the most are:

The barbers at the shop showed great professionalism[both in terms of work and customer delight] which can be easily co-related to our day to day activities.

Below are the 6 simple learnings from that experience:

1. Always be watchful for customers
I went to the saloon in the afternoon & due to heavy rush there, I returned back home.When I again went in the evening, that same barber recognized me & asked me the reason to do the same i.e whether there was a problem or I was not satisfied with their service during the previous visit or any other reason.
It is very important to take feedback from the customer since, in today’s time, customer always has more choices than you can ever think of !!!

2. How to break the communication barrier
As I don’t belong to Bangalore,some times it becomes difficult to communicate[especially if the other person does not know Hindi or English].Hence,if I don’t hand over the exact requirements, I cannot expect a proper output from that person.Same was the case in the saloon where language became a communication barrier .But soon, I remembered about my passport size photo in my wallet and that photo became a single line requirement for the barber.
It is of utmost importance to find alternate as well as smart ways to break the communication barrier else it would have a negative effect on the deliverables.

3. Benchmarking always helps
As mentioned in the previous point,my photograph became a benchmark for the barber and benchmarking always speeds up things.
Always check out if there is a benchmark in what you are doing & that would speed up your entire process of development.

4. Team-work is the mantra
At one point,the barber who was making my shave got confused & could not proceed.Immediately, the other barber came to his rescue[though he was not called for any help] & took over the baton from him.
In a team,it becomes very important to gain as well as share knowledge as at the end of the day, one person failing in a team would lead to the entire team’s failure !!!

5. How to kill the Distraction
As you are aware that all saloons at least have a TV & many times, it becomes a source of distraction rather than entertainment.Same was the case with the barber, who concentrated equally watching the TV along with the hair-cut.His co-worker switched off the TV[after a while] when his slow output was creating an irritation to customers.

This article is divided into three parts namely:

1. What is Customer Driven F.S ?
2. Thin line of difference between B-Plan and Customer Driven F.S
3. Contents of Customer Driven F.S

What is Customer Driven Feasibility Study
During the course of any opportunity, the Market Analysis/Study phase always remains iterative.However, at one point of time, the evidence gathered through the research would help us understand whether the opportunity is REALLY an opportunity.This feasibility study is Customer Driven because , unlike most organization charts which has the founder/ CEO at the top and people serving the customer at the bottom, the feasibility study begins with the target customer, without whom there would be no business. It is an internal document that should cater to the seven requirements which are discussed later.

Difference between Business Plan and Customer Driven Feasibility Study
Though there are a number of overlaps in the B-Plan and Customer Driven F.S , there are three major areas where they tend to differ :

1. Customer Focus :
The purpose of any business it to win customers and the Feasibility Study completely caters to that requirement which is quite different from that of most B-Plans – to win an investor. If there is no likelihood for customers, there would not be any investors.

2. Fundamental Economics :
The feasibility study addresses the fundamental economics of the business, by identifying the key drivers of cash flow: revenue, required capital investment, gross margins etc. If these drivers are satisfactory, than detailed strategies like marketing, operations and financing can probably be developed to make the venture economically viable.

3. Mindset :
The purpose of the study is not to sell the venture’s merit whereas a B-Plan organizes the answers delivered by the feasibility study and goes on to develop marketing, operating and financing strategies in an effort to sell the opportunity, in a focussed way, to the investors and other stakeholders.

7 step “Customer Driven Feasibility Study”

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY :
This briefly describes what follows [tells the reader(s) what you are going to tell them]

2. MICRO- level MARKET assessment :

• TARGET market and it’s pain identified; benefits of your solution identified, with evidence that those in this segment are willing to pay a price that works.
• Target market segment, size and growth rate.
• Options to grow into other segments.

3. MACRO- level MARKET assessment :

• OVERALL market size and growth rate.
• Macro trends analysis to assess future market growth and attractiveness.

4. MACRO – Level INDUSTRY assessment :

• Five forces analysis : Whether or not the industry is attractive.
• Likely changes that may happen going forward.

5. MICRO – Level INDUSTRY assessment :

• Any proprietary elements.
• Any superior organizational processes, capabilities or resources identified that are not easily duplicated or imitated.
• Economic viability of business model established :

– Revenue Forecast.
– Customer acquisition & retention costs and time required to obtain a customer.
– Gross margins.
– Break even analysis.
– Operating Cash Cycle characteristics.

6. TEAM assessment :

• Team’s mission, aspirations and tendency for risk.
• Team’s ability to execute the mission.
• Team’s connectedness up, down and across the value chain.

7. SUMMARY and Conclusions :
Tell the reader(s) the key highlights of what you have told them – why this is/is not – opportunity attractive and future prospects of the opportunity.

Just came across an interesting video of a child selling peacock fans on the streets of Mumbai [near Hanging Garden], the special part is , He has learnt many languages, only to the extent that he can answers his customer’s queries – “What is Peacock Fan”, “It’s uses”, “It’s Price” etc. etc.