The importance of being relevant
Staying relevant to your target market
As the world changes rapidly, one of the greatest challenges we all face in business is staying relevant to our target markets. Losing relevance will ultimately cost us market share and even worse, we follow the path of the typewriter – confined to history.
When we look at the many definitions of relevance words like connected, appropriate, important, prominent, and adaptable come to mind. It also implies that to be relevant we need to be of value and in some areas integral to our customers’ success. And it is not just about being relevant today but being relevant in the future.
Mpact Plastic Containers sells its products to many diversified markets. Within these markets are a broad range of customers, each with their own unique requirements. However, what we are doing today will probably not be good enough tomorrow or next year. Therefore, the challenge is to continually look for ways to stay connected and remain important to our customers and adapt to their requirements.
To do so we should continually ask ourselves the following questions:
Are our products benefiting our customers and adding value to their operations?
In addition, we need to understand that a customer has alternative options. The classic marketing question needs to be asked, “are we satisfying the customers’ needs”? This requires a deep understanding of our customer needs and critical analysis if we are not meeting these needs.
Are we as a company useful to them, and are our products useful to them?
Our products are used in many different applications.
If purchasing our products becomes a burden, difficult to acquire, and not fulfilling the promise then our relevance declines.
Are we proud of what we are doing and proud of the products we supply?
Being relevant starts with all employees of Mpact Plastic Containers. We need to be proud of the products we supply and our service levels. If not, we need to take the necessary action
to correct it.
Do we make our lives and the lives of our customers simple?
Purchasing our products should not become an obstacle course further down the line. Customers have multiple tasks to attend to. Our products should not contribute to complexity and inefficiencies.
Are we adaptable?
What we did last year may not be good enough in the future. Relevance requires that we pay attention to the changes in our markets and industry trends. In other words, we need to be “in tune” with our market and customers to know what to focus on and what to change.
Staying relevant is all about paying attention to what we do and what we should be doing in the future, and adapting to market changes. Adapting means that we need to take the necessary action needed. It is our actions that will make us ultimately more relevant. Without action, great plans and ideas are futile. They remain just great plans and ideas.
Credit: David Qvist
