Don’t cut costs; Eliminate waste!

By broadening your focus to finding and eliminating waste, rather than just cutting costs, you’ll provide a better service to customers and yourself.

By broadening your focus to finding and eliminating waste, rather than just cutting costs, you’ll provide a better service to customers and yourself

“What costs can we cut?” Common question these days. Wrong question though.

Better questions: “What waste do we have? And how do we eliminate it?”

The difference? A scalpel as a tool instead of a chainsaw.

When companies cut costs, they often make across-the-board slashes. You know the drill: 10 percent budget reductions, no non-essential business travel, and two-ply toilet paper.

Yet, if you go after waste, you identify the features and costs that customers could care less about. Then you do away with them—the waste, not the customers. Your customers either won’t notice or they’ll applaud you for getting rid of something that they don’t value. You save money and you keep customers satisfied.

From a consumer standpoint, think about all the streamlined packaging many companies have adopted recently. It’s a triple win for customers, companies and the environment.

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.