What would you think if your business was classified as not adapting to change?

What about if people said that you were inefficient and obsolete?

In a recent survey by a strategic brand and marketing company called Prophet they interviewed 5,000 US consumers. The question they had was; what businesses do you see as being on a deathwatch between now and 2015.

The businesses that made the list were; Eastman Kodak, Netflix, the U.S. Post Office, RIM (Blackberry) and Sears. What struck me were the comments of the people surveyed. They said that Kodak had bad product development, were not forward looking or adapting to change. The comments about Netflix were harsh; they don't know their own clients and they are not even clear with what they want as a company.

Kodak was started in 1892. Netflix was started in 1997. These two businesses are at both ends of the spectrum. If that is what people are saying about them, what are people saying about your business or your industry?

How can you show your potential customers that;

• you have great product development,
• you are forward looking and adapt to change?

How can you show that;

• you know your clients and
• that you are clear with what you want as a company?

The future is now. When will you start to improve your company?