How Successful Businesses Make Their Own...

I’m about to flip a coin so call it in the air. Heads or tails? … What did you choose? If you were making a bet, which side of the coin would you bet on and how much are you willing to lose? In the movie The Dark Knight, before he becomes a villain, Harvey Dent is the white knight. He takes risks and flips a coin to make major decisions betting that luck will make him a winner. It seems foolhardy until you come to realize, actually, he makes his own luck. BT Global operates much the same way. The difference is that where Harvey Dent takes a villainous turn, BT maintains its longstanding heroic posture, driven to connect the world for good. Still, like Dent, BT is always playing two hands at once, betting on both sides of the coin to make its own luck. It is what Chet Patel, the Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director, Americas at BT, says has helped the company make its own luck for more than 100 years. How did BT do it and how does it work with and prepare customers for problems right now and those to come?  Find out on Business X factors.

Main Takeaways: 

• Make Your Own Luck: Rather than take a passive approach, companies need to always be working to set themselves and their customers up for success. In order to make your own luck you have to dig into a number of areas of your business, work to disrupt yourself, and always keep an eye on the competition and never be afraid to go head-to-head with them. 
• Develop Product Paranoia: The saying goes that every cloud has a silver lining, but in an uncertain, disruptive, ever-changing world, looking for the dark cloud in the silver lining can help you to prepare for the next storm. Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines insisted on lean operations and cost-cutting in good times to be prepared for the next storm and at BT, there is always an assumption that the competitors in the field are working to out-innovate and surpass the company, which creates a sense of urgency and creativity that might not otherwise exist.
• Give Customers a Future Roadmap: Many companies are reluctant to share their future roadmap with customers because they don’t want there to be any disappointment if things don’t go to plan. Sharing a roadmap can, however, lead to valuable customer feedback and it creates a relationship of trust with customers. When you share your plans, customers can see exactly what you are working on and they would feel more invested in your company. But it is important to follow through and implement great ideas otherwise customers could lose trust in your company.

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