“Mast Year” Strategies

I was driving down the road yesterday when my car was pelted with a hail of acorns. My first instinct was to look for the school kids running off, but no one was to be seen. Truth is, this is a “mast year” when the trees put out a super-abundance of seeds, hoping to maximize their chance of progeny. They change their strategy from a careful deliberate effort of dropping a few dozen acorns to absolutely flooding the forest. Whether this is due to the climate, weather, stress, or the heavens is up for debate, but this change of strategy is very effective.

In today’s volatile business climate, it is a good idea to take a look at your current strategy, be it at the corporate, business or product level, and make some changes. Most life science companies operate with differentiation and focus as the roots of their strategies. Similarly most of the companies we work with are urgently seeking differentiated targets for maximum returns. Low cost products and shotgun-marketing approaches are very rare indeed in the highly technical products of life science research.

However, times are changing, and it is apparent that low price and efficient distribution are far more important to customers than they used to be. With increased restrictions on spending, customers will accept compromises in features to get a product at a lower price. So if you haven’t examined your strategy lately, now is a good time to look at it.

Here are some of the indicators that your current approaches to building the company, creating products, and getting them to the desired customers are in need of a tune up.

• Your relationships with market influencers and channel partners are not what they used to be.
• Your sales force grumbles about high prices and inconsistent sales messages.
• You feel like you are spending more time reacting and not enough being proactive.
• Partners and allies are more difficult to obtain.

Granted some of this is the result of market conditions, but since you can’t change the market alone, you need to look at yourself and think about how to better adapt. Some companies have made adjustments, as a recent tour of trade journals shows many more offerings stating things like “Value,” “Better Prices,” Compelling Prices,” “Affordably Priced,” “Economical Alternative.” Though we’re not saying let’s race to the bottom, it is a concept that needs to be considered as you revisit your current strategy.

The oak trees have done well with parsing out a few dozen acorns a year, and it is clear that the change in strategy provides them big benefits. So go ahead and examine your current assumptions – see if you can find your “mast year” strategy that will bring great rewards.