Right Tturns Saves Lots Of Thimblefuls
Recently I read that United Parcel Service changed the way they route their brown delivery trucks to make right turns instead of making left turns and crossing oncoming traffic. According to UPS, this saves time and fuel while waiting for traffic to clear on busy roads and at stoplights. It is also safer because there is less exposure to opposing traffic. With all the trucks they have on the road, saving just a thimbleful of gasoline per vehicle per day results in a large cost saving.
Assuming UPS is correct, if I were to follow this example I might save enough money to buy a cup of overpriced coffee this year, but this story still made a big impression on me. Why? Because it illustrates how analytical and process-oriented some companies are to be competitive in an increasingly difficult business environment. It is an example of creating a model of a business, inspecting it, and asking important questions about the way every facet of the business operates:
What can be done to increase customer satisfaction?
What can we do to deliver our product faster? Less expensively?
How can we make fewer errors?
What can we do to process our paperwork with fewer steps?
What can we change to lower our costs without lowering our quality or time standards?
Where will we get the biggest return on our investment in marketing or training or equipment?
These are questions that need to be asked in every business every day. These questions bring answers that need to be discussed in order to make the best decisions possible. Many businesses find they are challenged in this economy. Some will figure out what they will have to do in order to grow or just to survive, others will just hope things will get better.
I’ll bet on those that seek and find efficiencies, mine their databases to discover customers they can satisfy more often, and work over their marketing plan to optimize every promotional opportunity. The answers to those questions might increase sales a thimbleful here, save a thimbleful there and it all adds up.
Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler” For a free coaching session, email Larry for an appointment - Larry@larrygaller.com Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com
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