"It is often lonely being a CEO. Very few people truly understand the emotions, stresses, and challenges. With CEBI, I am given the opportunity to spend time with business owners, CEOs and leaders of small and mid size companies like mine."
Bryon Palitto
President/CEO
Palitto Consulting Services, Inc.
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Chief Executive Briefing #14:The 8 Most Important Changes CEB Members See In Their Markets
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Chief
Executive Briefing # 14
The
8
Most Important Changes CEB Members See In Their Markets
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Following
is a compilation of ideas expressed by CEB members on this issue.
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Increased sensitivity to price
The single most important change chief executives have noticed is an
increased sensitivity to price. In
fact, consumers will accept poorer quality in order to pay less.
As a result many companies are lowering their prices – and their
margins.
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Increased customer expectations
Quality is no longer considered a competitive edge.
It’s a given if you even want to break into the market.
In addition, customers are expecting shorter lead times and faster
service as a matter of course. They don’t expect to have to pay more for these services.
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Increased global competition
As the global market increases, customers are more and more aware of global
products and prices. As a
result chief executives are seeing more competition from other countries
than ever before.
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Increased customer sophistication
As customers become more knowledgeable they develop more technical knowledge, as well as additional pricing awareness.
This knowledge results in more sophisticated customers who know what
they want – and what they should expect to pay.
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Increased desire for partnering
Rather than develop all the technical skills they would need, customers are
relying more and more on suppliers for technical knowledge. As a result, they are reducing the number of suppliers they
use, focusing on developing more open relationships with a smaller more
select group of suppliers.
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Consolidation of competitors
To maintain profitability and market share more and more competitors are
consolidating. As a result the
big competitors are getting bigger, creating a stronger presence in the
market.
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Increased competitiveness
In light of constant consolidation competitors are becoming even more
aggressive and competitive.
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Decreased loyalty to suppliers
Although customers are developing more open relationships with their chosen
suppliers, there is less loyalty in the customer/supplier relationship.
Relationship selling is taking a back seat to price, which has become
the main factor in selling.
In
Summary
The
customer remains king more than ever before.
Customers now dictate what they will buy, when they will buy it, when
they want it delivered and how much they will pay. This trend in customer power shows no signs of abating and
should remain steady or increase in the near future.
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