Maintaining Identity and Bespoke Solutions.

Competition is quite often seen as the largest challenge, when operating in the Service Sector (or any business for that matter). Any successful company however, is also challenged when offering a constantly evolving service, and maintaining their identity.  All business is subject to a process of ‘corporate tempering’, where it has achieves a greater commercial ‘toughness’ by decreasing the ‘hardness’ or inflexibility of its operation, by the very act of doing business.

Experience drives discovery, innovation and incremental change, but at what point does the step change, result in an unrecognisable gulf? In other words, at what point do we prioritise business identity (and principles), over the constantly changing and evolving needs of those we offer bespoke and tailored service solutions to?

I can’t help but notice a recent shift for many service companies to offer ‘completely unique / bespoke service solutions, designed by you’.  The notion of such ultimate flexibility, which could be seen to constitute ‘corporate plagiarism’; the pursuit of doing everything possible to completely emulate the identity and culture of those you do business with.  This of course, undermines the very value of business partnerships – the exchange between two businesses of ideas and practices, that allow both to flourish, grow and be tempered.

Many service companies now seem content to identify themselves as completely flexible in solution delivery – thereby seemingly shunning any principles or founding identity, and the ability to claim that their expertise has intrinsic value. This seems a reductive position that could be argued to start and finish with the notion: “We are expert at subject matter X, but please tell us how to do it”.

Clearly, all customers like to be listened to, and to feel assured that their position, wants and desires are incorporated into the solution delivery. Equally however, any specialist should be duty bound to advise on what their limits of flexibility are, within the context of the area which they know best.  That is after all, what we should be paying for..