"Know yourself and know yourself, and you will win every battle." This law is not only respected by many military strategists at home and abroad, but also applies to all fields of social life, especially to the current economic field, as a strategy of wisdom and winning decision.
In fact, many successful entrepreneurs at home and abroad, and many enterprises that will never fail, are examples of being very good at using the strategy of "know yourself and know yourself, and fight every battle". ?
What is "there"? What is "self"? From the perspective of management, the so-called "self" mainly refers to various factors to which the operator belongs. These factors are all-round, covering every link of managers themselves. The so-called "there", in a broad sense, all external conditions belong to the category of "there" In a narrow sense, "you" can also refer to the objects of management-existing customers and target consumers. ?
For everyone who is interested in business activities or is engaged in business activities, we must first understand this: consumers are our parents, God and our rice noodle boss. It is necessary to analyze and study in detail, deeply understand and accurately grasp its various situations, and truly know yourself and yourself, fully grasp it, and know fairly well. ?
So, how can we effectively implement the strategy of knowing ourselves and ourselves?
There are many specific operation methods. Different businesses have different operation methods. One of the most commonly used, needed and effective methods is to do a good job in market research and grasp the first-hand information of consumers as the basis for business decision-making.
Many famous large foreign companies have done very well in this respect, which is worth learning from. ?
An article in the American Wall Street Journal wrote:?
"No one knows you better than mom, but does she know how many pairs of shorts you have?" ?
However, George International Research Company knows! ?
"Does mom know how many ice cubes you put in the water in the cup?" ?
However, the Coca-Cola Company knows! ?
You see, in order to truly "know yourself and know yourself" in enterprise management, some foreign companies even know more about consumers than mothers know about their children. Moreover, some even know things that consumers don't know or never know, but they know clearly, even a hundred thousand miles apart! ?
For example, the Coca-Cola Company found that people put an average of 3.2 ice cubes in each glass of water, and each person saw an average of 69 advertisements of the company every year. ?
For another example, McDonald's company accurately knows through market research that in a certain country, each person eats an average of 156 hamburgers and 95 hot dogs every year. ?
Hanbao company is more exciting. It has secretly investigated whether consumers fold when using toilet paper, and even recorded their respective proportions. ?
In the United States, 73% of enterprises have a very formal market research department, which is responsible for product investigation, prediction and consultation, and conducts special market research when each product enters a new market to keep abreast of consumers' enjoyment. ?
Obviously, in-depth and meticulous market research is an important means of "knowing ourselves and ourselves" and the main basis for making correct business decisions. Without in-depth and meticulous market research, how can decision makers "know yourself and know yourself"? How can we make the right decision correctly?
No matter what you do, the guiding ideology of "know yourself and know yourself, and fight every battle" is very important. This truth seems to be well understood by everyone, but in the actual operation of management, how many people can really know ourselves and ourselves?
China once held the China Trade Fair in South Africa. Although the exhibitors made a lot of preparations in advance and claimed that they were 1 0,000% sure, there was still an ironic "confidant" instead of "knowing each other".
A home appliance company in Guangzhou took it for granted that since South Africa is an African country, it will be very hot, so it only brought a cold air conditioner, but when it arrived in South Africa, it was found to be very cold! Regret not bringing cold and hot air conditioning. ?
Other companies are even more outrageous. The products they brought to the exhibition turned out to be sugarcane machetes, while South Africa does not grow sugarcane at all! ? There are too many ridiculous examples of "bosom friends" not "knowing each other". ?
Although the classic wisdom saying "Know yourself and know yourself, and fight every battle" is the quintessence of our country, many foreigners are more proficient in it than many of us, using it more carefully and deeply, and seeing more kung fu in application. ?
Not long ago, a well-dressed foreigner carefully knocked on the door of an ordinary resident in Chaoyang District, Beijing. Under the enthusiastic guidance of the host, the guests not only carefully observed the layout of the living room and the structure of the kitchen and bathroom, but also carefully understood the brands and functions of various household appliances, and also asked the host about the purchase and use of these household appliances. It seems that this guest is very interested in all home appliances. The host was very surprised, and only after asking did he know that this guest was actually the CEO of Electrolux Company in Sweden! ?
It seems incredible to many of us that the CEO of a multinational company should personally go deep into the homes of ordinary people to conduct market research, but foreigners regard this as a necessary working procedure. This shows that they attach importance to "knowing each other". ?
"Know yourself and yourself" has always been regarded as the premise of business decision-making. Compared with foreigners, how do our decision makers do in this regard? You should reflect on yourself, such as whether you have a thorough understanding of domestic and foreign market conditions, and whether you have a thorough understanding of consumers' potential needs and consumer psychology. Do you know everything about your competitors? Is there an accurate forecast and estimate of the current potential market? All these require us to reflect.
From 1997 to now, another large foreign-funded enterprise has successfully entered the China market by leaps and bounds. At first, the company's advertising words were only six simple words: respect for people and value to people. Plus a very eye-catching CIS image. ?
When the image of CIS is widely known, or the brand image is deeply rooted in people's hearts, we found a series of more than a dozen products of this brand in the home appliance market. To our surprise, a series of office supplies from the same brand are overwhelming. Then, in almost all cosmetic shopping malls in China, brand counters with the same style have been set up in a very conspicuous position. From foundation cream to mascara, dozens of beautiful glass bottles, large and small, are available, attracting the strong attention of many beauty lovers. ?
Such overwhelming and uniform distribution of goods shows that it was not idle people who ran the market at that time, but a group of very great marketing elites. ?
Why can they occupy the market quickly and successfully in such a short time? The reason is very simple and complicated, that is, they have made great efforts in the investigation and study of the China market, and truly "know yourself and yourself": they have a thorough and detailed understanding and grasp of consumers. ?
From this example, it is not difficult for us to understand that "knowing ourselves and ourselves" is the premise for businesses to make correct decisions, and it should become the motto of businesses and one of the basic rules for business decisions. Look at a negative example.
Great White Shark Restaurant is a restaurant specializing in Cantonese cuisine, side cooking and snake dishes. Located at the intersection of Beijing North Second Ring Road and Xinjiekou, backed by the business circle and facing the Second Ring Road with smooth traffic, the geographical position is quite good. When you walk into the great white shark restaurant, you will find it is located on the beautiful west coast of Shichahai. Sitting in front of the dining table on the first floor, you can enjoy the sparkling lake outside the window. The breeze blows, and I feel very comfortable. It's really a good place to taste delicious food.
However, it is such a restaurant with superior geographical location and comfortable and elegant environment, which has been unpopular since its opening, with less than 30% attendance at each meal. Why? After a thorough study of its symptoms, it is not difficult to find that the reason for its bleak management is that it neither "knows the other" nor "knows the other".
The first is that there is no confidant. The internal layout of the restaurant is not very practical and reasonable. For example, each floor is a small dining table, which can only accommodate four people at the same time. There is no big round table, so it is very inconvenient for many people to eat. And the layout of the tablecloth is too dense, giving people a very cramped feeling. In terms of business projects, most northerners are not very interested in cooking and eating snake rice, which obviously shows that the goods are not right. ?
Secondly, there is a clear mutual understanding. Do not understand the preferences and needs of diners. Diners in Beijing have tasted all kinds of delicious food in the north and south of the river, but they still feel that home cooking is the most cordial. In recent years, Beijing cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and Northeast cuisine have prevailed in Beijing restaurants, while Guangdong Cantonese cuisine has been difficult to become a climate in Beijing because of its great gap with northerners in taste. Moreover, northerners are not interested in snake food. It happened that there were pictures of scary snakes on the menu of the restaurant! Obviously, this is extremely inconsistent with the preferences and needs of Beijing diners. ?
How can we win the market if we don't understand each other?
Now the great white shark restaurant has been completely renewed, replaced by Beijing-style popular dishes and special dishes, and the business is getting better and better.