Insights on the A La Carte Customer® for business leaders from Silicon Valley based business consultant and configuration management expert, Dave Gardner.
Is it a hoax or a cover-up? Sometimes it doesn’t matter. The word “hoax” has been used to dismiss factual situations. “Hoax” means “a humorous or malicious deception.” Characterizing something as a hoax can also be a means of covering up a legitimate concern that needs to be addressed. A hoax or cover-up can actually be a legitimate threat to the future of a business.
What executives with configurable products & services want for their businesses, employees, and customers.
-Increased market share
-Delighted customers
-Improved quality
-Improved operating margins
-Differentiation/Competitive advantage
-Lean the business–eliminate waste
-Happy employees
The downside of bundled products and services? What happens when a consumer is limited to buying in bundles? Friction! Friction means the buyer is looking to replace you. Offer A La Carte Customer® business model instead.
If you wanted to start a company that offered highly-configurable products, the worst business paradigm you could select would be engineer-to-order (ETO).
There is conventional thinking for durable competitive advantage during normal economic conditions, but I’ve added 2 action steps for durable competitive advantage during economic crisis, like this Covid-19 economic crisis.
A decade ago, I wrote an article in Fast Company called We Offer It, You Buy It; Take It Or Leave It. Here’s how I kicked off that article: Does the headline of this article represent an attitude that customers are drawn to? It sounds like a customer strategy taken Read more…
The problems with off-the-rack CPQ software solutions are in what the software doesn’t address. The vendor application you chose is a small part of the solution.
Configurability and the back office black hole happens if no guidance is offered in the ordering process. Imagine going into a restaurant that merely tells you they serve “food.” They provide no insight into the type of food they serve. They simply ask you to tell them what you want. Read more…
Getting configurable customer orders right: “We are having problems getting the right parts delivered to support installation of the customers’ orders.”
If you watch television, it’s likely you’ve seen the commercials featuring Limu Emu and Doug promoting Liberty Mutual’s car insurance. The listener is told you can “customize your car insurance” by “only buying what you need.” What Liberty Mutual is doing isn’t unique, but positioning themselves as being able to Read more…