Be Smarter at Cost Cutting

Source: Management Tips – Harvard Business Review
 
Almost all companies have or will need to cut costs to survive in the current environment. Unfortunately, not all do cost cutting smartly. Consider these three pieces of advice before making cuts:

  • Put Strategy first. Cut across the board rarely, if ever, lead to effective results. Laying out strategy first helps you decide where to cut and also helps employees accept the cuts as a step towards a goal.
  • Focus on good customers. Rather than cutting valued services to valuable customers, “fire” high-maintenance customers who create unnecessary complexity. Focus on serving you more cost-effective customers who are happy with your products and services as they are.
  • Keep your business simple. In a healthy economy, it’s easy to overlook processes and activities that are redundant or overly involved. Simplifying them can save you money, with the added bonus of increasing both customer and employee satisfaction.

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