David vs.

Goliath
Helping a small business survive next door to a giant competitor.
Challenge A Small cybercaf with 28 unbranded computers suddenly finds itself adjacent to a much larger competitor with more space, 64 branded systems, air conditioned halls and internet speeds that embarrassed our client. Sales were declining on a daily basis and in a country where light was irregular; they were not making enough to buy diesel to fuel their generator. The business was being squeezed to death. The question of closing down and cutting losses had been discussed before we came in, Discovery Given a free hand by management to save the caf, S&C conducted a thorough analysis of the market and made the following discoveries: TOOLS USED SPECTACLE Analysis

SWOT Analysis That about 70% of the towns population of 359,230 were located in the rural areas or were senior civil servants. Porters 5 Forces 90% of commercial activities occurred around a certain axis S&C Product 3C 95% of the population who used these cybercafs used it only to send mails Development & The other 5% were students who were engaged in research but Creativity Tool were not having much success or teenagers looking for music lyrics and movie reviews. There was economic growth at that time with the entrance of several commercial banks within that area, bringing with them staff that were internet savvy and relied heavily on these services.

he size of the competition did not enable its management interact with its clients and staff efficiently. As such, there were reports of staff being rude or unhelpful. Customer complaints were not attended too and staff were left to their own devices. Our clients could not compete with internet speed as their competition doubled as an ISP and so had speeds that embarrassed our clients upload and download speeds. However, a SWOT analysis of our client revealed that they had a strong network of loyal customers they had developed over the years, a solid reputation built around the MD who was a high standing member of that community and loyal staff who had grown from within the company. Its relatively flat structure was also a bonus allowing for flexibility and quick collection, trial and implementation of ideas from staff

S&C decided to develop the market and with the companies staff went to schools and churches and gave 15minute pep talks on how the internet could be useful to the target audience. They also distributed browsing tickets of 15minutes each with a validity of 3 days. There was also an information board put up with exciting sites, all in a bid to increase internet usage.

Its relatively flat structure was also a bonus allowing for flexibility and quick collection, trial and implementation of ideas from staff.

Emphasis was laid on customer service built on the SERVQUAL1 model, with staff trained on customer service and helping to build the customer service charter. To increase income, snacks and drinks were sold 24hours. All night browsing was held every day, starting an hour earlier and ending an hour later than the competitions with refreshments and help for students doing research. To encourage people to come in earlier, Early Bird browsing time was given on a daily basis- 1hr to the first person, 30mins to the second and 15mins to the third. A loyalty system was introduced with customers encouraged to open accounts. Extra time was allotted to these accounts on holidays and birthdays as a percentage of time used. As the competition offered zero level of privacy, the clients caf was redesigned to offer a level of privacy and a VIP section was created with just 4 systems that offered absolute privacy, webcams and voice chat. The staff were trained on using search engines and customer service, and were encouraged to bring up ideas in weekly staff meetings. Based on their interactions with customers, they were allocated to groups they interacted best with- civil servants, students, senior citizens and professionals. Metrics were developed to monitor performance and a reward system introduced to encourage them.

Impact Results were noticed within a week of implementation of the S&C plan. The company witnessed an astonishing 150% growth in average sales, a loyal customer base and staff motivation at all time high. Irrespective of their neighbors continued dominance of the market share within the city, our client was a close second in terms of revenue.

Parasuraman et al (1985)