The Business of Beauty: Everytime is a good time

By: Dra Rosalinda Ang-Hortaleza, Chairman/CEO, HBC Inc.

Introduction to the Columnist: Dra. Rosalinda Ang Hortaleza, Chairman and CEO of HBC, Inc, and Vice Chair of Splash Corporation is a recipient of the 2003 Jose P. Rizal Award for Excellence and recently won Working Mom’s Ilaw ng Tahanan Awards. Under her leadership, HBC won the Employer of the Year 2nd Runner Up and Philippine Retailing Association’s Hall of Famer Award after having won the Outstanding Filipino Retailer, Specialty Category for 3 consecutive years.

The Storm Ahead : When Everybody says 2009 is a DoomYear
Last December 10 in Mandarin Hotel, during my eldest daughter’s awarding as a Kotler Certified Marketing Professional, sitting and listening to the European Chamber of Commerce’s HR Survey of 2009’s economic outlook, 3 viewpoints were presented to us – that of a pessimist, a realist and an optimist. The results of the qualitative discussion revealed that the over-all mood is bordering between “wait and see” and the positive outlook, considering the resiliency of the Filipinos. It was at this point that I began to smile because I knew that the balance between optimism and realism was the secret of our success.

Why it Pays to Be Optimistic: I Have been through worst times
The year was 1985 and the country was in transition politically and going through a tough time – the economy was in a tailspin and foreign investors were leaving the country. Business prospects were likewise dim… to me, what is happening right now is like a Business Déjavu…and yet this same economic climate was the cradle that nurtured our group of companies – World Partners, Splash and HBC, which I fondly call a collective term named WSH, to where it is right now, multibillion companies and major players in their respective industries. Yes, I know, the situation right now is different – the crisis is global, and our country, heavily dependent on exports and remittances of our OFWs, will be having a harder time. To this, I answer a Chinese maxim that my father used to tell me during our humble beginnings: “We see crisis as the Chinese did: a time of great danger and a time of great opportunity.”

After all, where is China now, regarded as the new superpower? They are laughing throughout this crisis – instead of thinking that their exports will be affected, they chose to lend the much needed funds to US and strengthen their partnership. Truly, we have a lot to learn from the Chinese, and our blood, already mixed with this entrepreneurial spirit combined with the hard work of the Filipinos, will see us through this new year.

It is this same positive mind-set that I impart to my team. My leadership instinct moves me to reassure my people that what looms before us, like all storms -- will pass, and what is happening right now is only temporary. After all, Hope is all that you have when you are surrounded by darkness and frightening thunder. Hope is free, often understated, yet very powerful in strengthening employee morale to produce more, through a crisis. And so when there is a “brownout” due to a storm, it always helps to light a candle in the darkness.

Never Cross the sea when you are not Ready: Think Optimistic, Plan Realistic
When you know a storm is brewing, you prepare flashlights, canned goods, battery operated radios and candles. It is also a time to read a good book, gather together as one family to catch up and tell stories. The same is with your business. You stay positive that the storm will pass but you stay grounded and realistic in execution by foregoing on the unnecessary and sticking to the basics. Logistics are prepared for realistic projections or in our business planning scenarios – the good-better-best scheme. Over-all expenses are spent for conservatively good scenarios, supply forecasts are for better while targets are communicated to sales at best scenarios. This way, the organization stays positive but does not waste on resources and is flexible for any sudden change in climate that will calibrate product supply according to sales demand. In the meantime, gathering together or reading a book during the storm translates to our organization as the continuous investment on training. I believe that this is the perfect time to hone the skills of our human resource, so much that I recently gave a direction of at least 80 hours of training per individual and made a direction to prioritize the implementation of our annual manager’s conference this month. I strongly feel that this is the time to regroup and reassure one another that we are together as one mind, one goal, one team to fight and be successful in 2009.

Shining Beacon During A Storm: Your Vision
It is easy to get lost with a myriad of things to do during a crisis. Strategies are reviewed, so many activities are outlined and it seems that your managers easily get lost in all the activities. I make it a point that my people focus on their major Key Result Areas and that each area has a specific Key Performance Indicator to help us reach our goals. Also, it helps to always remind your team leaders of the Company’s Vision – and your reason for existence. Refreshing each other with reminders of your Brand Identity will help avoid unnecessary reactions to competition that will only be waste of your company money. Come to think of it, the blue ocean strategy that we are currently employing which is finding an uncontested area - - a sustainable oil field which for HBC is the total exclusive experience offer, is very relevant in this time and age. This will help us find our own market, without directly hitting competition head on which can be really expensive specially in a crisis.

We have recently launched our “Tatak Exclusibo” 5 points because I greatly feel that when all the others are cutting their ad budgets, the more that we should be visible to increase our share of voice. This will make us the preferred brand of choice once the dark skies clear and consumers start to gain confidence to spend more.

These 5 points are: First, Exclusive Customer Service, Second, Exclusive Value for Money, Third, Exclusive Brands – High quality products at reasonable prices, Fourth, Exclusive Free Services like free facials, foot spa and free hair coloring and Lastly, Exclusive Promos like automatic freebies for any purchase. This is a definition of the Total HBC Exclusive Experience: Real Customer Value that matters during these tough times. It is the time when customer service should be more than excellent and should be aimed for relationship building rather than just making a sale – at HBC, we call this our own brand of exclusive service called Serbex or Serbiyong Exclusibo.  Every time is always a good time to give excellent customer service – there is no excuse to bad service, even a bad economy.

Through it all, I have personally crafted HBC’s own leadership brand: our 7-Star Guiding principles that should serve as a beacon of light whenever we feel lost or confused: Speed, Simplicity, Self-Confidence, Straightforwardness, Selflessness, Stewardship and Servanthood. Speed for being a step ahead of competition, Simplicity is discouraging analysis-paralysis, Self-confidence is keeping in mind we can do it, Straightforwardness is saying what you mean to make things happen, Stewardship is efficient use of resources and lastly, Servanthood is emulating Jesus as a leader who sacrifices himself for his people.

These are the personal leadership attributes, when combined with our Core Values will steer our ship to success, and maybe our country to success.

This month, HBC is celebrating its 16th Year Anniversary. And looking back through those years, I am confident that based on my experience, it helps to focus on the silver lining of the clouds. After all, when the storm calms, there is always a promise of a rainbow – and I believe that there is no other time to get beautiful but now.

WSH Para sa Pilipino at sa buong Mundo !

For questions on the article, please email akahortaleza@hbc.com.ph