INSEAD Library

Includes bibliographical references and index

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Recession Storming Thriving in Downturns through Superior Marketing, Pricing and Product Strategies Contents in Detail Preface v Introduction 1 Business Cycles are Inevitable 1 The past is another country 1 These strategies work for sector recessions, too 2 A time of competitive opportunity 2 Bad times show up bad management 2 A time to shake up your company 3 Be ready for the Recovery 3 Organization of the Book 4 Chapter 1: Understanding the Business Environment 5 Chapter Structure 5 Comprehending the Economy 5 The One-Eyed Man is King 5 Understand the 3 Common elements of Recessions 5 Several different types of recessions 7 Economic recessions 7 Industry recessions happen more often 8 Hard to spot turning points 8 Poor statistics 9 Politics affects economics 9 The experts are often mistaken 10 Credit is hard to come by 11 Why so great an effect on your company? 13 Appreciate the effects of the multiplier and accelerator 13 After-effects linger 14 'Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it' 15 Be flexible in preparation for a recession 15 Section Summary 15 Managing the Politics in your Company 15 Oversight of all expenditures 15 Paying late and reneging on existing contracts 16 People on the board with no experience will make decisions for you 16 New cost-cutting techniques will abound 16 The budgeting process will be endless 17 Change will cause flipflops in strategy. 18 Others will search for revenue without thought of margins 18 Targets and priorities will change constantly as the crisis deepens 18 Section Summary 19 Out-thinking your Competitors 19 Expect them to hardball. 19 Expect new competitors and new products to muscle in 19 Expect spoiling tactics from your competitors 20 When entering some else's turf expect them to fight harder than you expect. 20 Expect that some competitors will go lower in price that you can 20 Expect a competitor to subsidize his business in your field with profits earned somewhere else 20 Expect certain critical assets to be occupied before your get there 21 Competitors will surprise you with an endrun 21 Section Summary 21 Feeling your Customers' Pain 21 Of course they are going to want a better deal 21 Existing customers will play you off against your competitors 22 Your customers are going to be trying to reduce the number of their suppliers 22 Most importantly, customers will renege on contracts and cancel orders. 22 New customers will want to exact concessions 22 Section Summary 22 Chapter Conclusion 22 Chapter 2: Making the Most of your Existing Customers 25 Chapter Structure 25 Focus on the Right Customers 26 Segment your customers 26 Target customers who are locked into your products 26 Go for Customers for whom your product is best suited 28 Exploit brandname insensitivity 28 Section Summary 29 Reinforce Customer Loyalty 29 Evaluate your customer's loyalty 29 Lock in customers, lock out competitors 29 Set up long-term agreements 30 Take care of your customers 31 Ask, do, tell 31 Give them what they ask for 33 The Symbiotic Value-Managed Relationship 33 Use VMRs to substitute for price cuts 34 Use VMRs to prevent loss of customers 35 No better time to set up a VMR 35 Lower Customers' costs throughout the whole value chain 36 Save the customer money and inconvenience 38 Fully exploit IT and the internet 39 Make it easy for the customer to specify your product 39 Streamline Customers' processes with Rapid transfer of information 40 Manage a customer's inventory 41 Lockin the customer using IT 43 Section Summary 44 Squeezing Out More Revenue 44 Maximize Repeat Business 44 Get them to upgrade 44 Search through your customer database 45 Cross-sell your other products 46 Section Summary 48 Chapter Conclusion 48 Chapter 3: Maximizing Margins through Pricing 49 Pricing has significant bottomline impact 49 Chapter structure 50 Exploiting Key Pricing Concepts 50 Supply and Demand 50 Differentiation or Low Cost Base 51 Price Elasticity 51 Some problems of price elasticity 52 Section Summary 52 Optimizing your Positioning 52 Consider the 'Whole Product 53 All goods and services are differentiable 55 Price using lifetime cost of ownership 56 Price for peace of mind and insurance 56 Show that your product will save the customer money 57 Showing that your product will make the customer money 58 Minimize cost to customer by emphasizing resale value 58 Price using 'funny money' 58 Price' in a noncomparable manner 59 Price for support and reduced risk perception 59 Use every intangible 60 A customer's perception is his reality 60 Target the real decision-maker and his needs 61 Position your company to higher level management 61 Structure prices to match budget thresholds 62 Section Summary 62 Using Game-Changing Pricing 62 Get paid by results 62 Lease and pay-as-you-use 63 Provide financing to customers 63 Section Summary 64 Raising Prices 64 Yes, increase some prices 64 Consider sharp increases 65 Blame inflation 65 Achieve higher prices for irregularly-purchased items 66 Charge for everything 66 Charge more for faster delivery 67 Charge for convenience 67 Start low and add extra margin 68 Get higher margins on smaller cost items 68 Manage competitors when raising prices 68 Signal your pricing structure to competitors 69 Consider following competitors' price rises 69 Section Summary 69 Managing Price Reductions 70 Drop prices openly 70 Watch for when cutting prices doesn't help sales 70 Reduce offering, reduce price 71 Consider unbundling 71 Maintain a facade of good value 71 Be ready to walk away 72 Disguise price falls 72 The three types of pricing 74 Steer clear of predatory pricing 74 Avoid non-price predation 75 Section Summary 75 Marginal Pricing: your Secret Weapon 76 Understand your costs: the key to low pricing 76 Avoid a price war 76 Discount selectively 77 Understand the legislation 77 Base your price differentials on cost 78 Negotiate prices 79 Section Summary 79 Aggressive Lowest Cost Base Pricing 79 Vigorous competition is legal 80 Achieve a lower cost base than the rest 80 Target your competitors 81 Manage competitors when dropping prices 82 Section Summary 82 Chapter Conclusion 82 Chapter 4: Moving Ahead with New ProductOfferings 85 Chapter structure 85 Exploring Short-Term Fixes 86 Renew Your Products 86 Customize products 86 Enhance the product with ancillary services 86 Diversify modestly 86 Remember that services and products can be equivalent 87 Maintain research and development budgets 87 Section Summary 87 Designing a Great Product-Offering 88 Achieve rapid adoption through ACCTO 88 Use substitution to circumvent competitors 89 Win using better trade-offs 91 Bust your way out of trade-offs with blue ocean strategy 91 Section Summary 92 Recurring Revenue: the Ultimate Product Strategy 92 Recurring Revenue Strategy 1: Consumables 93 Recurring Revenue Strategy 2: Disposables 94 Recurring Revenue Strategy 3: Services 95 Section Summary 96 Seeking New Product Ideas 96 Analyze customer segmentation and surveys 97 Use in-depth customer interviews based on outcomes 97 Find ideas from lead-users 98 Commercialize ideas from customers who have already invented a solution 99 Ask Dealers and Distributors for their Opinions 99 Search for ideas from abroad 100 Learn of new ideas from other industries 101 Dig up ideas from the past 102 Adopt ideas from competitors 102 Search through old patents 102 Browse through eBay 103 Look out for the incongruous 103 Be ready for the unexpected 103 Identify a bottleneck 104 Section Summary 104 Accelerating the New Product Development Process 104 Use rapid development techniques 105 Section Summary 107 Chapter Conclusion 107 Chapter 5: Expanding into New Markets 109 Chapter Structure 109 Flooding into Near Markets 109 Go where the money is 110 Select customers with the greatest ability to buy 110 Go for the big potential customers 110 Target customers with the greatest insensitivity to price 110 Target nearby noncustomers 111 Search your customer database for clues to new markets 111 Go or customers able to switch 111 Target niches 112 Section Summary 112 Increasing Market Coverage and Presence 112 Maximize product coverage and presence 113 Employ dual marketing 113 Section Summary 114 Reaching for Far Markets 114 Don't stray too far 115 Target sectors insensitive to recession 115 Target 'must-have' categories of products 117 Reach for counter-cyclical markets 119 Hit 'em where they ain't 120 Align with big growth trends 121 Go for Government contracts 122 Seek out markets growing through changes in legislation 123 Exploit time lags 124 Target new geographies 125 Section Summary 127 Chapter Conclusion 128 Conclusion: Building an Integrated Recession Strategy 129 References and Further Reading 131 Index 135 About the Author 139