Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese word coined to define continuous improvement in each and every aspect of life.This is the one single strategy that made Toyota what it is in terms of quality,market share and the overall leading innovations in the car industry.In its short 81 years of existence its managed to out-grow and out-pace the Ford Motor Company thats 115 years old,a company famously known to have brought the car,as an invention,to the masses.There is a saying that states 'The minute you stop growing is the minute that you start dying' in business this is more literal and significant.For instance when Nokia ignored the changing innovation trends in the mobile industry's operating system market they were overtaken by Google and not even being acquired by Microsoft could save them.A business has a step by step process from conceptualization all through to maturity and if innovative enough will stay at this point,avoiding the decline stage,as they re-brand and refresh their products or services.
At the heart of the continuous improvement process of a company I believe lies Customer Service,this is so because if you are always maintaining a strong relationship with your customers as a business they will always have your back in that since you are solving a problem that they have they will not want to see you crush and burn,from your own errors.Satisfied,happy and loyal customers are always advising the company directly of the situation on the ground from their perspective,for example potential customer complaints or compliments,competitor information,technological trends and policies change within the operating environment.This will in turn save the company a lot of research and development costs,marketing costs and trade-wars costs associated with trying to increase a company's market share of their product or services.
To illustrate this I shall use a hypothetical electricity supplying company example Y&N Power.For at least two years now they have been receiving major out-cries from small and medium sized businesses of abrupt long hours power outages that happen frequently,despite their reason being upgrades and maintenance.
Some of the recommendations I would give as a customer service student would be;
They should first and foremost fore-warn their clients of pending electricity supply interruption based on the grid outlay and overhaul from the old to the new equipment thus managing expectations and anxiety.For example by taking this action they will have enabled a barber plan for his profit & loss balance and save him some time,for a professional metal worker or welder he/she might spend an extra hour or two on the previous day to cover his future loss of time and earnings.By doing this Y&N Power will improve its trust levels among its customers of whom might cut them some slack.
Y&N Power should also anticipate the need for change,by this I mean in growing urban areas if they had initially set up transformers with the capacity to supply 5,000 homes and the constructions are increasing at the rate of two apartment blocks per week they should replace the smaller capacity transformer with a bigger capacity one.By doing this they will have avoided compensation costs due to malfunctions and blow ups and they will have also reduced the amount of time and work that will be required in the future,after all you'd better be safe than sorry.
I tend to believe that a company's continued growth is not influenced by how much money it really makes but by its flexibility,agility and value for its reputation.Once a client becomes the center of your attention then you will always be ahead of the curve in growth,development and sustainability.