By Jim Lanzalotto
I’m a big sports fan. I live by statistics.
One of my favorites is the bounce-back for golfers. It’s determined by the percentage of holes on which a golfer is over par on one hole and under par on the next. As you’d figure, the percentage is pretty low. The best players in the world hover around 30%. (For a 9-handicap like me, it’s a lot lower.)
What’s most interesting is that it’s a leading indicator of great players. In 2008, for example, Phil Mickelson, the #2 player in the world, led the PGA Tour in the category.
It’s also a great business statistic. What companies bogeyed a year or a quarter and then came back strong the next year? In these economic times, it will be a critical indicator, since 2008 was a bad year and 2009 is looking cataclysmic for many firms. All of which makes that birdie putt pretty tough right about now.
So, how can companies bounce back? Before they can begin to grow again, firms have to staunch the bleeding. Rebuild. And then get back into the growth mentality. It's going to take a solid business strategy to get there, with none of the typical “selling harder” or simply hiring more revenue-generating staff.
In preparation for a mid-September speaking engagement at the Health Care Staffing Summit, I’ve studied a number of healthcare firms that have grown strongly over the past several years to determine how they’ve been able to do it. My goal at the Summit, which is run by Staffing Industry Analysts, is to lead the poor, unwitting souls in the audience through a blueprint for sustainable, strategic growth no matter the economic environment.
I’m a big believer in positioning as the foundation for strategic growth. Positioning is about the science and art of understanding customer needs and creating a unique spot in the market to differentiate from the competition. And then operating the company by following that path.
My research has led me to three healthcare staffing companies with a unique positioning that has helped them generate significant growth in the past several years, including 2008:
- Emerald Health Services, a nursing company in Marina del Rey, CA, positioned itself as logistics experts in the in the arcane elements of the nursing travel sector. By differentiating the company as an authority in this space, they’ve worked with both buyers and candidates to become a font of knowledge in a pretty lucrative niche. Now, there’s not a lack of competition in the market, but they’ve gone from $0 to more than $60 million in sales in six years with that strategy.
- The Delta Companies, a Dallas firm with a significant healthcare business, has a focus on creating unique customer experiences. The Delta Experience Index is a program that measures and communicates the firm’s strategy to improve a customer’s experience. According to Delta, each of its units beat industry benchmarks for customer service. This approach works on several levels, primarily because a distinctive customer relationship is extremely difficult for competitors to replicate. And it’s worked well for Delta: the company has grown at a 58% compounded rate (CAGR) in the past five years.
- Jackson Healthcare has built a nearly $400 million business with a 30% CAGR over the past five years by following a segmented business approach. But it’s their approach to employee relationships and the execution of that strategy that’s distinctive in the staffing industry. My view on this is that many companies tout and promote a worker-friendly environment, but most of it is window dressing to attract staff; few actually pull it off and even fewer are recognized for the programs that put employees first. And that’s increasingly critical in an industry in which high operational turnover is a significant management issue. Named one of Atlanta’s Best Places to Work for the past several years, the company’s philosophy of putting its people first has paid significant dividends. That’s a noteworthy message for the HR decision-makers at Jackson's customers – since they’re in the people management business.
Each of these companies has one key element in common. Each has built a position that enables them to tell the market how they are unique. It’s not about simply sending out a press release or having a cool web site. It’s about how they run the company. Whether it’s by becoming an expert or creating an inimitable customer experience, any firm can build a unique foundation that helps set them apart from the competition. It’s not easy and it takes time to take root in business operations, but the long-term growth opportunities are significant and rewarding.
Author Bio
Jim Lanzalotto runs Scanlon.Louis, a strategy and marketing firm that helps companies grow. He can be reached at jim@scanlonlouis.com or 610.212.5411.