Remember that the 6 most expensive words in business are “We’ve always done it that way”

Catherine Devyre

A quote every business and marketing manager will have seen and used at some stage in their career in order to push their own brand. How many have considered it internally though?

Businesses have been changing their products and brands for years in order to survive. Take a brand of razor we all know, Wilkinson Sword. That company didn’t start out making razors, Henry Nock, the company’s founder, started manufacturing swords in 1772, and the company then went on to make other products like typewriters and motorbikes over the years to come. They evolved their brand and products to suit public demand. How else would they have lasted so long? Have you met anyone who wanted a sword recently?

Let us consider what consumers are receiving now at home. Energy companies have started offering smart meters to help us better manage our energy usage and improve the accuracy of our billing. The stated aim is to make our lives easier by knowing exactly what we energy we are using and where it actually going. Obvious right? They want to make our lives easier and therefore keep us happy as customers, as a result we stay with them because we perceive them as acting in our interests.

People run businesses and people value long-standing relationships. Quite often I come across companies that have a long-standing relationship with a supplier and they haven’t actually changed anything for 10-15 years because “we’ve always done it that way”. Sometimes nothing has changed because as long as the supplier continues in the same way and doesn’t suddenly increase their prices by too big a leap, it is just too much trouble to disrupt that long-term relationship, and rather than “rock the boat” we carry on “doing it that way”.

However far too often, when companies do look more deeply into what they are actually receiving, they find that the service hasn’t changed in years and neither have their bills. The company consequently is being overcharged for the service they receive, just because “we’ve always done it that way” and the supplier hasn’t worked with them to make sure they are taking full advantage of what they are being offered.

When you look into which the best businesses are to work for or which the fastest growing companies actually are, quite often you will spot a trend. The businesses that care about evolving and taking full advantage of what is available to them to get ahead in their field are the ones which are growing. The suppliers that they work with to continually grow and innovate. Making their processes easier faster and more cost effective. THEY PARTNER WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS!

Next time you find yourself in a “we’ve always done it that way” moment, look into what is available and question whether your current supplier has tried to help you grow and evolve. Your decision will always come down to what is most cost effective and the initial price tag shouldn’t be a put off. If there isn’t a clear return on investment, a partner will make that clear and not try to push something that isn’t right for you.

Whether we see it or not, there is always something that we can do to evolve and make running a business easier and more cost effective. The right changes won’t jeopardize results or security but actually enhance them.

For example when it comes to the documents within a business, we know that the way we print, process, archive and retrieve them is often overlooked as an area for improvement. Print isn’t secure and businesses frequently find their waste paper full of unnecessary prints. Invoices which are manually processed and handed around a business cost time and money. Many documents are paper based and risking being lost or misplaced; what if that document was for £100,000 worth of business and you had risked losing that opportunity? Whereas, an efficient, cost effective Managed Print and Document System will streamline your business processes and help your business to evolve.

So is it time you took a look at the way you “have always done things” and wonder whether it is time to make some changes to help your business grow and evolve?

Cameron Arnold - Corporate Account Manager 

Email: Cameron@woodbankoffice.co.uk or visit www.woodbankoffice.co.uk