Today, I would like to talk about “accurate forecasting” and “speed” as keys to success.
If you do things right away, you will waste time because you don’t do them, you will have problems because you are late, and you will lose profits. Time is finite, and there is no time to hesitate, worry, or dither.
Once you decide what to do, do it immediately without hesitation.
However, the question is what to do immediately.
In our work, we are supposed to respond with speed to objects that are likely to be profitable. So how do we predict what is likely to be profitable?
Predictability
There is a “Faux Leather Riders Jacket” that became a hit product during my time at Company T. After a research trip to Europe, the designer said to me, “I saw a lot of leather. It might sell well in Japan,” I felt that it would sell.
On the spot, I gathered the sales staff and designers and told them, “Do in-store research by the end of this week and buy all the leather products you think will sell well. By that weekend, I gathered samples that would sell well and bought several copies of the same product that would sell best,
We send them to a few of our main manufacturers to collect materials and find a factory that can sew them. At the same time, we begin to study designs and prepare patterns.
In any case, we would prepare for planning and production before our competitors could make proposals, and we would examine ways to reduce costs.
In any case, we believed that speed was the key to making a sale. After having all the materials, factories, quotations, and delivery dates ready to go
We would then start proposing a plan all at once. We are able to respond quickly to questions from our clients, so orders proceed smoothly.
The orders were delivered to the customers, and the orders for additional products started coming in, and the factory began to increase production.
This story would not have been possible if I had not been so sensitive to the designer’s words. If I had checked with every one of my clients to see if they could sell the product, I would have missed the timing.
By trusting my own predictions and being prepared, the speed increases dramatically.
My sequence of operations leading up to this hit product was
I think it goes as follows: forecast→preparation→proposal→taking orders.
But how can accurate forecasts be made?
Kyocera Honorary Chairman Inamori says in his book “How to Work.
If you keep thinking about something so much that you forget to eat or sleep, and keep thinking about it over and over throughout the day, the thought will gradually penetrate into your “subconscious mind.
The “subconscious” is a kind of consciousness that lies deep within a person, unnoticed. It does not usually come to the surface, but it appears unexpectedly or at the most inopportune time, and it exerts immeasurable power.
Perhaps in my case, too, I was thinking intently about what would sell, which is why I was able to respond sensitively to the designer’s words.
It is important, though, to make accurate predictions and deal with them with speed,
It is something that we just have to think about every day.
At any rate, we will seriously tackle and solve the problems in front of us. And then move forward to new challenges that will improve results. Whether you use your time effectively or waste it is entirely up to you.
It is not for the president to judge or decide. I have no doubt that if you yourself have a positive mindset and make time your friend, your work will produce results and your life will be fulfilled.
Especially these days, long working hours are out of fashion, so it is a matter of how much work you can get done in a given time.
This is the same for our clients, so it is obvious that once they decide to do something, they want to deliver it to the storefront as quickly as possible.
If you do not respond promptly to delivery dates and quotations, which are the deciding factors in product decisions, you will fall behind your competitors. The same goes for planning proposals.
However, it is not enough if the proposal is made quickly. If there is laxity in the speed and finalization of the delivery date and estimate, the proposal may be taken and the order may be passed on to another company.
I believe that the decisive factor in the finalization and speed of the proposal is the advance preparation.
I have sent you a column on advance preparation in April of this year.