Dear Colleagues,
I wrote following note, some 26 years ago ( Feb 1994 )
Obviously, with the passage of time, most of what I wrote then, must have become irrelevant in today’s context
But , one thing remains relevant
And that is , periodically asking ourselves :
“ What business are we in ? Who will obsolete us and when ? Do we need to re-invent ourselves in order to remain relevant ? “
Hcp
Riding Piggyback
20 Feb 1994
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I have, elsewhere mentioned about taking-up “ Direct Mailing “ activity as a business diversification
The more I think about it, the more it appears to have a synergy with our existing business of Executive search
There are following similarities in both these businesses :
Ø Building up databases of names / addresses from any number of sources
Ø Sending out MAILERS
Ø Receiving “ response “ – then Categorizing , Coding, Computerizing
Ø Offering databases for clients to “ search and select “ , one or more persons who meet their needs
Executives belong to the “ affluent “ class and are potential buyer of goods and services . With liberalization of economy, they are going to be in greater demand and will get progressively better paid. This class will get more & more affluent and will have increasing purchasing power
Therefore,
This will be a “ sought after “ class by all manufacturers of goods / provider of services
Service Sector itself will grow in a big way. This comprises,
Ø Hotel / Housing
Ø Tourism
Ø Hospitals / Health
Ø Financial Services ( incl. leasing / hire purchase )
Ø Banking / Mutual Funds
Ø Courier
Ø Cable Network ( for TV )
Ø Telephone / Fax networks ( E Mail / Voice Mail )
Ø Software
Ø Transport
Ø TV ( Star – Zee – MTV etc )
Ø Education / Publishing Idustry
Ø Insurance ……….etc
The list is huge
All the companies engaged in the Service Sector, want to increase their client-base. Obviously, each of these businesses is trying to :
Ø Build-up its own database of clients ( existing / potential )
Ø Reach out to these clients to offer their services
Ø
Both are “ continuous “ processes and market-driven
Continuously new clients have to be “ discovered “ and “ new “ services must be offered
Hence “ mailing lists “ must grow all the time and mailers be sent out all the time
Many types of client-profile must be compiled ( continuously ). Eg :
Ø Geographical
Ø Racial
Ø Social
Ø Educational
Ø Age / Sex
Ø Purchasing power
Ø Travel habits / Purchase habits
Each manufacturer / servicer, is interested in one or more profiles who could be his potential clients
We could start by offering to carry out mailing of literature / pamphlets / publicity materials, for a few select companies
Of course, we should carefully decide “ which “ companies would be interested in our database – and why . How does it stand to benefit ?
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23 Feb 1994
Only yesterday there was an advt from a company which said, it printed and dispatched , all within one week, 5.8 lakh Annual Reports !
Tata Press perhaps send out 30 lakh in a month !
L&T has 16 lakh share-holders and Reliance has over 28 lakhs
Obviously such “ mailing activity “ has to be organized as a FACTORY with,
Ø Storage ( of materials to be mailed )
Ø Machinery to place / insert the material into envelopes / packets, seal the envelope , attach pre-printed labels, frank postage stamp, stack in bundles ( city-wise )
City-wise bundling would make it easier for Post Offices to accept such bulk posting
If volumes / weighs – as in case of annual reports – are too large, services of couriers / transport contractors must be hired
A local city-agent ( a newspaper distributor ? ) would undertake door-to-door delivery in each city / town
If large quantity of one/two page newsletters are to be dispatched , an automatic “ paper-folding machine “ ( magazine for holding mailers ), would be required. I am sure such machines are available
The entire process should be computerized / conveyorised / automatic to the maximum extent possible so that minimum number of operators are required
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