Currently the CEO of Synergy Life Science, Chris has 25 years of experience creating, distributing and supplying quality ingredients.
As business leaders, we are responsible for fostering positive change in our companies and industries. Years spent at the head of various businesses with innovation at their core have taught me that leaders can pursue a few simple concepts to make significant positive changes in any industry. Let’s explore these three concepts.
1. Educate the public on your unique products and services.
It’s important to educate consumers so they can make informed decisions about the products they choose. Providing honest education and trustworthy information to potential clients can help propel your industry toward a more transparent, equitable place and win you customer loyalty in the process. In my experience, public education is especially important when dealing with technical, complex subjects or novel products.
Providing ample information about the products and services your company specializes in can also help boost your sales and drive brand awareness. Though many potential clients will be well-versed in your field, not all will be. Providing educational resources appeals to both groups. If you can answer a common question about your services, you can capture potential customers who have yet to hear of your business. Even if individuals outside the market for your products happen across your educational resources, providing them with valuable information helps introduce them to your company and increase your brand recognition.
Personally, I believe in sharing one’s expertise whenever possible and prioritizing educational content on your company’s website. There are many ways you can educate the public on your products and services, such as:
• Educational blogs optimized with an up-to-date SEO strategy.
• Online panels and forums of other experts who want to share knowledge.
• Articles in publications targeting your ideal audience.
• Interviews with trusted figures and organizations.
• Educational media, such as YouTube videos and LinkedIn posts.
2. Reduce costs for your company and your consumers.
Reducing the cost of your products and providing customers with more affordable products and services can push your industry forward by increasing availability and accessibility. Lowering company costs can be difficult, but it’s not impossible—it simply requires ingenuity and innovation.
Consider performing research on how to make your existing processes more efficient, and to find new, more productive methods to experiment with. Researching for efficiency can also reveal novel uses for existing products, allowing you to expand your product line with lower overhead costs. Refining your processes can allow you to lower your expenses without sacrificing product quality, and you can reduce your clients’ costs as a result. Your company can also reinvest the money saved into programs to improve the lives of your employees, customers or community.
Another way to help customers save money directly is by offering novel products or services that meet multiple needs simultaneously. For example, my company offers some multifunctional products that allow us to cut down on the number of different ingredients our customers need to source, directly saving them money and, in turn, allowing them to help propel the industry.
3. Develop innovative products to address unmet needs.
I believe one of the most impactful ways to positively influence your industry is by creating products, services and processes that meet unique consumer needs.
For example, before French physician René Laënnec invented the stethoscope in 1815, doctors would place their ears directly on a patient’s chest, a method that didn’t work well (if at all) if the patient had considerable insulation in the form of fat or breasts. While the invention was initially created for propriety and to listen to the heart, more than two centuries later, this device now also helps doctors calculate blood pressure, listen to lung sounds and detect bruits, to name a few uses.
Another example, this one from my own experience, was when my wife went through a period of severe allergies that, when triggered, required medicine delivered through a nebulizer. Conventional nebulizers were bulky and required wall plugs, making them challenging for people who needed to use them to go out and about. Her struggle inspired me to create a lightweight, fully portable nebulizer. This product ultimately allowed us to corner multiple markets, including people who consume tobacco or cannabis via vaporizer; positively impact our industry; and bring value to customers’ lives.
We have a responsibility to improve our industries.
Business leaders can improve their companies and industries in multiple ways. Education can help strengthen the field and allow consumers to make informed decisions; price reduction can increase accessibility of products and make room in the budget for social initiatives; and innovative products can directly benefit countless consumers. No matter what industry you work in or what your company produces, I believe these three techniques can help you bring positive change to your field.
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