One of the first things that struck me as I took up my appointment of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Zambia Association of Manufactures (ZAM), was the tagline – “We Add Value”. Not only was it an eyecatcher and a good three-word liner, but it also got me thinking. What really do we add value to?
Of course, being part of the ZAM Secretariat, my first impressionist response was – we add value to our membership. I will ask whether this is true to you later but let me not lose you just yet.
What about you? As a manufacturer, who subscribes to this tagline what is your value proposition? For most, the concept of value proposition is vague. The Corporate Finance Institute defines it as that which specifies what makes your company’s product or service attractive, the reason behind why a customer should purchase it, as it spells how the value of your product or service is differentiated from similar offerings. For some manufacturers, value may lie in efficiency and scale and this works in their favour as they can compete on price. For others value lies in the scarcity of a product and association people want to have with it. Wherever your value proposition lies, it should be effective to ensure that your clients are satisfied.
So, we come back to the Secretariat. My value proposition to you our members is that ZAM will enhance its value addition services to you, after all, we add value, right? To do this, I would like to understand your needs, wants and your desired benefits from ZAM. Our anticipated first step will be to draft a vision that highlights where the manufacturing sector would like to be in the next 10 years in line with vision 2030. The vision will be drafted into a strategic plan detailing how and when the sector could fulfill some of the goals and objectives in the next five years. As you can imagine, such a process could not be accomplished without member participation. Therefore, in consultation with you our esteemed members, your support in form of responding to information calls, requests, questionnaires etc. will be cardinal for us to establish the status quo and map the way forward.
The information provided will be used to strategise and establish what can best be done by the Secretariat to achieve set goals in the sector. And I can imagine your first response to me will be policy changes. Yes, policy has a role to play but be sure I will ask you, “If the Government changes the policy in your favour – will you supply to the market the required quantities in the best standard and without coercion to the customer?”. If your answer will be no – then we should be working on you to ensure that you have the right quantities, at a competitive price and with great quality. Developed suppliers will allow us to easily get those policy requests we may make from the Government.
So, ZAM going forward will work to handhold the small enterprises and help them improve their business processes, investment opportunities, growth strategies and formalisation. We will work with the medium manufacturers to help them with licensing, understanding their sector and compliance with regulators. And, with the large businesses pursue export market analysis, liaison with regulators and trade negotiations with Ministry of Commerce. Please feel free to add what else ZAM should do. Some of these value addition services will come at a cost but it’s in the hope that you our manufacturers will place value on them. ZAM will nonetheless continue to be the voice of industry, in policy matters, supplier and trade linkages and your all-time advertising platform.
As you grow, the secretariat will need to grow with you. So, to you our valued members the plea is say a good word about ZAM so that you bring your neighbor company and friends to join us. We want them to see the Secretariats value from you. But for the Secretariat to get to the place that it needs to be, we need your honest feedback. Please give us your thoughts here.
