“Trends, like Horses, are easier to ride in the direction they are going” – John Naisbitt.
Organizations are in dire need of people who hold the nerve of the markets, be it any Industry, sector or country. The trends are like passing wind, you may set the sail for easterly wind but if you do not manage your timing, the wind would have passed. It’s getting out mostly important to have correct direction and timing to keep afloat on the success boat.
Believe me – it’s no rocket science. The only thing that you need to do is, do your basics right, here’s how:
1. Interaction:
As it is mentioned in earlier posts, the key is to “Listen – Listen to assimilate”.
- Gather the information about your customers, their future plans, how is their industry behaving? What are their plans to counter? What growth are they predicting for themselves & industry on the whole?
- Have internal interactions on any major technological breakthroughs, new product developments / innovation in current features / applications have happened.
- Interact with peers in the industry on where they see the industry heading, what are the major challenges / opportunities / pitfalls they see.
Assimilate all this data and then try to make a complete picture from these jigsaw blocks of information. Based on your understanding, perception and focus, judge where you are in leading position, what’s lagging? Where are the market headwinds? Are you in position to be benefited or hammered by them?
This will help you find the Direction.
Imagine Tesla offering to buy SolarCity, Facebook’s acquisition of Whatsapp. The trend is lateral growth.
2. Introspection:
This is a very important step in finding the trends: charting the customer voice:
- What is customer perception about your organization? Are they happy with value you create for them? Are there any special needs, being overlooked by you?
- How do they rate your products? Do they think they need more from it than it delivers? When was the last new product launch? Are you just selling what’s in stock or customizing the product?
- How is your pricing? Does the customer think it to be win – win? How does he rate you in comparison to competition?
These hints will lead you to understand where your strong points are and where is the possibility of losing the ground.
It will brief you on which products are perceived good and which are not the talks of town? How is your pricing – value perceived by customers? What needs to changed or reinforced in your customer handling?
Capitalise on the same and make a SWOT on the same.
It’s not uncommon these days to sell your non – core assets or buy strategic units for brand extension or strategic partnerships for more market coverage. For Example: Century Textile selling their cement plants to Ultratech or Google buying FitBit or Ford and M&M joining hands, HDFC Life merging with MAX Life.
These are some bright examples of market trends towards consolidation.
3. Initiation:
Once you have the Direction and SWOT the main job is to initiate the actions. For Example:
- New Products to be introduced in existing / new markets depending on SWOT.
- Aligning your products and pricing to market trends and your own SWOT.
- Outdated products to be shelved.
- Changes in supply chain or over all offering to the customers.
Remember the INDIGO CS by TATA, – It was a generation of a new Segment – Compact Sedan, in between the Hatch and Sedan. I 20 also created a completely new segment – a premium Hatch. Currently the Hyundai Venue creating a new affordable SUV Segment.
The most integral part of predicting the Market Trend is being in control of your current position and having the head high enough to differentiate between the clutter and real information. Once you have the clarity on your plan then just go out and implement it to the fullest & fastest.
Speed will always be the key for charting the new trends and riding them.
Hope you liked this article. Your likes & comments are welcome.
Do visit below links to know more about the Customer Intimacy, Market Headwinds, Sensory Intelligence etc.
beyondobvious.in 
Actually customers now a days want new products with more features. Just like mobile phones, most of the products are going to face the same fate now.
But automotive companies are finding it difficult to introduce new products every now and then. KIA carnival booked 1410 with price range of 24 to 31 lacs.
Where is the slow down. Only customer focus is shifting and customer is taking more risk as well. It can be treacherous as well for companies who are riding this kind of wave.
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