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Words by Timothy S. Mescon, Ph.D.

In today’s competitive global marketplace, successful businesses meet their market’s needs in real time, says Go’s business training columnist.

the old model of business argued that “big beats small.”  Historically we always believed that size matters, that girth and critical mass were essential for any enterprise to be truly successful in business. Today that model has changed. In a hyper-demanding, hyper-competitive global marketplace, fast beats slow. Speed matters. Successful companies understand the importance of strategic agility, and that loyalty is built b y responding to the market in real time. And while the market has been awash in corporate consolidations, often the resulting operational ineffi

ciencies is testimony that many of these merged enterprises are bloated, nonresponsive and cumbersome compared with their nimble, focused competitors.

What follows are two examples of two very successful companies—in these instances, one getting it wrong and one getting it right.

Talk to the hand

About a year ago, in March 2005, department store giant Kmart merged with Sears. the resulting company, Sears Holdings Corporation, is the publicly traded (NASDAQ: SHLD), th ird-largest broad line retailer in the country, with approximately $55 billion in annual revenues and 3,900 full-line and specialty retail stores in the US and Canada. the company also asserts it is the nation’s largest provider of home services, with more than 14 million repair calls made annually.

So imagine my amazement when I called the Sears appliance repair toll-free number in an urgent attempt to fix my dryer. Many would not panic with a dryer on the blink, but with four teenagers at home, who change their clothes at least th ree times daily, a fully functioning dryer was essential. When the call was connected, I was greeted by an automated voice response system that was maddening—I found myself screaming into the phone in reply to the prompts. After eventually navigating the system and inputting my phone number, address, dryer model number and desire for an in-home repair, I was ready to enter the repair date and time on my calendar. To my dismay, the earliest possible appointment was one week later. Adding to my astronomically high level of frustration was the fact that I simply could not reach a living, breath ing customer service representative to whom I would plead my case. the result?

I gave up. Reaching for the yellow pages, I promptly found a local service entrepreneur who was at the house with in two hours and gone with in th ree.

the punch line is this. It’s taken Sears decades of focused business practices built on tackling and meeting consumers’ needs to achieve 14 million annual repair calls. Yet falling from grace from this preeminent market position could happen overnight. What brought the old Sears Roebuck to this position might not sustain it in the years ahead. Today, it’s about strategic agility and meeting customer needs instantaneously.

Be nimble, be quick

Now here’s the story of an amazing competitor. Headquartered in South Florida, Brandsmart USA is one of this nation’s leading retailers of consumer appliances, electronics and housewares. Each Brandsmart USA, located th roughout the state of Florida and metropolitan Atlanta, contains th ousands of products, including televisions, appliances, video equipment, home theater systems, car stereos, computers, cell phones, satellites, entertainment centers and th ousands of accessories for your every need. Imagine, if you will, that a single Brandsmart USA store will have annual revenues in excess of $120 million. the unique interior store design gives customers a th ree-tiered view of every item, and as merchandise comes and goes, the loading docks are an incredible sight to behold.

What makes Brandsmart USA so impressive is its commitment to delivering products to customers almost on demand. this family-owned business realizes that the best reinforcement to a consumer purchase of a television or video recorder is to deliver the item as quickly as possible. the company has built its legendary service reputation on providing urgent deliveries to clients with appliance emergencies—even on a Super Bowl Sunday.

In a recent campus speech, company executive vice president Larry Sinewitz mesmerized students withexamples of customer-focused service, supply chain solutions and technology applications. these competencies have allowed Brandsmart USA to capture an enormous loyalty and market share and beat the bigger competitors at their own game. In 2006, Brandsmart USA will see company sales exceed a whopping $1 billion—and there’s no end in sight. Fast beats slow every time.

As you examine your business, contrast these two illustrations of response time and see how you rate. Today’s consumer has little patience and even less tolerance for failure. there are too many options and too many customers who just won’t wait.

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