It is indeed the best of times for business in Dubai. I shudder to think what Mall of the Emirates is like on weekends, when its bustling on weekday afternoons. Property prices and rents continue to rise, and if anyone looking to buy a luxury car in the short-term, good luck in finding the trim you want.
It’s a great time for sales professionals since the balance of demand and supply is still tilted in their favour. Even the most ornery of sales consultants are racking up scores like they were Virat Kohli before the turn of this decade.
Kohli is one of the all-time greats of cricket but something has happened to him. Since 2020 his performance is characterized by inconsistency and losing his wicket to balls pitched outside the off stump. This area used to be where he was invincible. How could his strength turn into his weakness?
Follow the method – and repeat
The answer like the answer to most failures perhaps lies in a lapse of technique/process and overconfidence. The area between 6-8 meters in front of the batsman on his off stump or just outside is referred to as the ‘corridor of uncertainty’. This is where it is decided if he will win or lose, because in a split second, the batsman must decide whether to attack, defend or just leave the ball which pitches in this area.
Akin to any business process, a batsman also follows a method. The setup of his batting stance, a back and across motion as he watches the ball leave a bowler’s hand, gives him a clue as to where it will land and how much it would bounce. And if it will move in or move out.
Having assimilated all this in less than a second the batsman decides whether to execute a shot or curtail it. This is the battle that a batsman should fight with every ball he faces. Robot-like repetition does take some of the charm out of an act which is so instinctive but that is what it takes to be successful.
With success, our ego tells us that we are invincible, which leads to us taking shortcuts when it comes to following the process. That is when we get it wrong and if you add an element of bad luck, it ends in disaster.
Just like Kohli’s inconsistent scores, look at the Google reviews of some property agents and luxury retailers and you will come across some horror stories in terms of customer experience. A business perhaps doesn’t take cognizance of this as the times are good and one lost prospect is replaced by another fairly quickly. But how would these bad habits affect business when an abundance of buyers is replaced by scarcity?
Businesses need to ‘read’ the conditions
Cricket is a great metaphor for life as it is characterized by both subtle and not so subtle changes. The circumstances change, so do the conditions of play and the instruments of play, and a batsman needs to adapt his approach constantly in order to score runs.
The same is true for businesses - market conditions might slow down, the competitor might come up with a better offering, or the business might just encounter bad luck. When times are good, the sensible ones invest in improving their strengths and ruthlessly deal with weaknesses.
Business owners might be considering expansion or acquisition on the back of bumper profits recorded of the past. But they should also invest in the improvement of processes in existing businesses. As they say in cricket, it is necessary to keep your eye on the ball…
