The Secret to Becoming a Market Leader
格雷厄姆·肯尼（Graham Kenny） | 文 ??

The best-kept secret about strategy is that?you are in control.?You get to choose the game you want to play and how you might win it. Further,?you can choose?to lead on a variety of dimensions – market share, innovation, product quality, or customer service. You can tip the odds of success in your favor with these decisions.

關(guān)于戰(zhàn)略，最不為人知的秘密就是你要掌控局面。你可以選擇你希望玩的游戲以及你可能贏得它的方式。此外，你可以選擇在不同的方面領(lǐng)跑——市場(chǎng)占有率、創(chuàng)新、產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量、客戶服務(wù)。利用這些決策，你可以增大成功的幾率。? ??

If shoes were your business, for example, is your market “shoe retailing”? Or is it the retailing of “high-priced, custom-made women’s leather sandals”? Your answer will determine your chances of becoming a market leader. You may have no chance of dominating the shoe market in general, but you may become a market leader in your niche. So why not forget about school shoes, sneakers, and slippers and focus on the part of the market that interests you the most?

比如，如果鞋業(yè)是你的業(yè)務(wù)，你的市場(chǎng)是“鞋類零售”還是“高價(jià)位定制女士皮涼鞋的零售”？你的回答將決定你成為市場(chǎng)領(lǐng)軍企業(yè)的機(jī)會(huì)。你可能沒有機(jī)會(huì)主宰整個(gè)鞋類市場(chǎng)，可是你可以成為你所在小眾市場(chǎng)的領(lǐng)軍企業(yè)。因此，何不把學(xué)生鞋、運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋和拖鞋拋在腦后而將關(guān)注點(diǎn)集中于你最感興趣的那部分市場(chǎng)呢？

Choose Your Marketspace

選擇你的市場(chǎng)空間

FCB Group,?which now describes itself as “Australia’s leading workplace relations specialists,” was faced with the need to define its market during the early stages of its existence. It began in 1995 as a mediocre employment services firm. Years into its existence the partners realized that the firm was never going to become a market leader by spreading itself thinly over a wide range of expertise and an even bigger range of customers. They had to bite the bullet and clearly define the firm’s market.

FCB集團(tuán)現(xiàn)在稱自己為“澳大利亞領(lǐng)先的職場(chǎng)關(guān)系專家”，它在發(fā)展的初期階段就曾面臨過界定市場(chǎng)的需要。該公司1995年成立之初是一家普通的就業(yè)服務(wù)公司。發(fā)展多年后，各合伙人意識(shí)到，該公司靠在大范圍的專業(yè)知識(shí)領(lǐng)域和范圍更大的客戶群體中廣種薄收永遠(yuǎn)也成為不了市場(chǎng)領(lǐng)軍企業(yè)。他們必須咬牙忍痛，明確界定公司的市場(chǎng)。

FCB zeroed in on the medium-sized enterprise with “complex employment structures” in three industries – logistics, retail, and manufacturing of fast-moving consumer goods. They reasoned that clients in this category lacked the required in-house legal expertise to successfully deal with legal issues, while still being big enough to create them.

FCB將注意力集中在三個(gè)行業(yè)——物流、零售和快速消費(fèi)品制造——中“就業(yè)結(jié)構(gòu)復(fù)雜”的中型企業(yè)。他們斷定，這類客戶缺乏成功處理法律問題所需的內(nèi)部法律專業(yè)知識(shí)，但其規(guī)模又大到足以引發(fā)法律問題。? ? ?

The partners decided that FCB Group would become these clients’ outsourced legal department in human resources. Its early mantra was “timely access to a quality response.” And it worked. They chose their market, focused on it, and reinvigorated the business. Today FCB is the market leader in its niche.

合伙人決定，F(xiàn)CB集團(tuán)要成為這些客戶的外包人力資源法務(wù)部。它早期的真言是“及時(shí)獲得高質(zhì)量的回應(yīng)”。這一招奏效了。他們選擇了自己的市場(chǎng)，專注于該市場(chǎng)，重振了業(yè)務(wù)。現(xiàn)今，F(xiàn)CB是這一小眾市場(chǎng)的領(lǐng)先企業(yè)。??????

This realization can be like an epiphany. After a recent?online strategy workshop, I asked participants for feedback on which of my five sessions they found the most beneficial. The CEO of an IT contracting firm told me, “Defining your market and focusing on your target customer. We’ve let ourselves be led around by big clients. We haven’t?built?the business,” he said. “After the session finished, I immediately got on the phone to my two senior managers and told them we have to sort this out. We’ve been mucking around with this issue for years.”

這種認(rèn)識(shí)堪比一次頓悟。在最近一次在線策略研討會(huì)上，我向與會(huì)者征求反饋，看看他們認(rèn)為我的五次研討中哪一次最有收獲。一家IT承包公司的CEO向我表示：“是界定你的市場(chǎng)并專注于你的目標(biāo)客戶。我們一直被大客戶牽著走，我們尚未建立業(yè)務(wù)?！彼硎荆骸霸谀谴窝杏懡Y(jié)束之后，我立即打電話給我的兩位高級(jí)經(jīng)理，告訴他們我們必須把這事理順。我們?cè)谶@個(gè)問題上已經(jīng)胡亂折騰了多年?！? ? ?

Of course, you must be very thoughtful about how you select a focus. Defining your market requires an assessment of both client needs and your business’s capabilities. You need to find a market demand large enough to support your business’s growth.

當(dāng)然，你必須縝密思考如何選擇關(guān)注點(diǎn)的問題。界定你的市場(chǎng)需要對(duì)客戶需求和你公司的能力都進(jìn)行評(píng)估。你需要找到足夠大的市場(chǎng)需求來支持你公司的發(fā)展。

Go Deep to Dominate

深入一步，主宰市場(chǎng)

Narrowing your view of “the market” allows you to go deep and dominate. By focusing you can meet more of your customer’s specific needs.

收縮你的“市場(chǎng)”視野讓你能夠深入一步，主宰市場(chǎng)。通過聚焦關(guān)注點(diǎn)，你可以滿足客戶更多的具體需求

Take the German manufacturer of dishwashers,?Winterhalter, as an example.?It explains?its awakening thus: “We analyzed the entire market for commercial dishwashers and found that our world market share was well below 5%. We were an insignificant follower. This prompted us to completely realign our strategy. We tailored our services to serve hotels and restaurants exclusively.”

以德國(guó)洗碗機(jī)制造商Winterhalter為例。該公司這樣解釋它的覺醒：“我們對(duì)商用洗碗機(jī)的整個(gè)市場(chǎng)進(jìn)行了分析，發(fā)現(xiàn)我們的全球市場(chǎng)占有率遠(yuǎn)不及5%。我們只是無足輕重的跟風(fēng)者。這促使我們徹底調(diào)整了我們的策略。我們專為酒店和餐廳提供量身定制的服務(wù)?！? ? ?

In doing so the company decided to go deep ensuring that the end-result for its customers is close to perfect. Instead of chasing fickle trends in the domestic retail market, the executive team pivoted to present their chosen market with new services, including state-of-the-art water treatment devices, effective detergents and rinse aids, and close-to-the-customer service.

在這樣做的時(shí)候，該公司決定深入一步，確保對(duì)客戶產(chǎn)生近乎完美的最終結(jié)果。高管團(tuán)隊(duì)不是去追求國(guó)內(nèi)零售市場(chǎng)上變化無常的趨勢(shì)，而是轉(zhuǎn)而為他們選擇的市場(chǎng)提供新的服務(wù)，包括最先進(jìn)的水處理設(shè)備、高效的洗滌劑和漂洗助劑以及貼近客戶的服務(wù)。??????

FCB Group has also gone deep to build the customer experience using technology and a subscription model. Over the last ten years FCB Group has progressively “technologically enabled” its routine work. This move has allowed its professionals to concentrate on providing high-level, in-depth expert advice and systems to support it. One example of this is?enableHR. It’s a cloud-based technology that provides a centralized employee records system with standard contracts for the employment of staff and contractors. It also houses best-practice guides on work health and safety procedures. One client,?Solotel, runs 19 hotels and restaurants with 1,200 employees.

FCB集團(tuán)也深入了一步，利用技術(shù)和一種訂閱模式構(gòu)建客戶體驗(yàn)。在過去的10年里，F(xiàn)CB集團(tuán)已逐步“用技術(shù)支持”它的日常工作。這一舉動(dòng)讓其專業(yè)人士能夠集中精力提供高水平、深層次的專家建議和系統(tǒng)來支持公司。其中一個(gè)例子是enableHR。這是一種基于云的技術(shù)，為一個(gè)集中的員工記錄系統(tǒng)提供雇傭職員和承包商的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)合同。它還包含工作健康與安全程序方面的最佳做法指南。該公司的一家客戶Solotel經(jīng)營(yíng)著19家酒店和餐廳，擁有1200名員工。??????

This move has been coupled with a subscription model that builds a close and on-going relationship with clients. The firm found that many of its clients struggled with costs – specifically the hourly rates of lawyers. They regarded them as “really expensive.” So, the Group introduced a monthly fee based on the number of employees, contractors, and volunteers a client had. EnableHR, for example, has over 11,000 subscribers. FCB uses its close relationship with its market to anticipate needs for products and services. In other words, it proactively leads the market, rather than reacting to it.

這一舉措已經(jīng)與一種可與客戶建立密切、持續(xù)關(guān)系的訂閱模式相結(jié)合。該公司發(fā)現(xiàn)，它的許多客戶被費(fèi)用所困擾——具體而言，就是律師的時(shí)薪。他們認(rèn)為這費(fèi)用“著實(shí)昂貴”。因此，該集團(tuán)推出了一種按照客戶的員工、承包商和志愿者數(shù)量計(jì)費(fèi)的月費(fèi)。比如，EnableHR擁有11000多訂閱者。FCB利用其與市場(chǎng)的密切關(guān)系來預(yù)測(cè)產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)需求。換言之，它可以主動(dòng)地引領(lǐng)市場(chǎng)，而不是被動(dòng)對(duì)市場(chǎng)做出反應(yīng)。

Gather the Courage

鼓起勇氣

The CEO of the IT contracting firm I mentioned said that “we lacked the courage to make the necessary decisions.” This trepidation holds entrepreneurs and CEOs back from making a commitment to focus. Instead, they play it safe by trying to be all things to all customers. Mediocrity and average returns become the result – at best.

我提到的那位IT承包公司CEO表示：“我們?nèi)狈ψ龀霰匾獩Q定的勇氣?！?/strong>這種不安妨礙了企業(yè)家和CEO們致力于聚焦關(guān)注點(diǎn)的決心。相反，他們?cè)噲D為客戶提供一應(yīng)俱全的服務(wù)，以此求得穩(wěn)妥。結(jié)果充其量就是庸庸碌碌和平均水平的回報(bào)率。