Are we really your best choice?
“Are we really your best choice? Isn’t either X, Y or Z a better option for you? Why don’t you check with them first?”
Sometimes we give bizarre responses, like the above, when a client approaches us to do something outside of our focus areas. For many, it is a notion that’s a little difficult to comprehend, but this comes from our core values that guide us in what we do:
In particular a core value we have is we help all stakeholders make the BEST CHOICE, even if it is not with Frontier.
We believe it is the right thing to do, to help team members find better jobs, and our clients better business partners, if Frontier is no longer their best choice.
As our business grew, we have built our “brand” and “relationships”, not only about the specific work we carry out, but in a general perspective that we could be trusted and good at a variety of things. However, we don’t really want this developed comfort and familiarity to be something that wins us business. If someone is better than us at a certain job, we believe that we are only adding negative value by trying to do the same. We want to be the best. Ideally, “the only ones.”:
We also like to ask ourselves the question; ‘what valuable products/services are not being offered?’. This is the strategic ethic that has driven us since our inception, and as the market changed around us, we have so far been able to keep expanding into new areas, and hope to keep doing so.
Our values could sometimes be confused as “new-averse” due to our discomfort in robbing someone of business they do better.
We are, however, definitely willing to venture into unexplored waters looking for new things that no one else does. We are experiencing change in the way we do things and we do not shy away from opportunities to rapidly experiment with new ideas. But we do not take anything head on just because there is a simple opportunity for us when we are well aware that there is someone who could do it better.
We believe businesses are there to solve problems and if we are not the best choice to solve a problem, we think we are only demeaning the value of our stakeholders’ time and the work entrusted upon us.
We apply the same values to our internal stakeholders. Recruits and current team members are constantly allowed to question if, “Frontier is the best choice for them?” They could function better at a different environment or belong in an entirely different field altogether. We allow and often encourage and guide them to make that choice, providing direction into understanding what suits them best.
For us, it’s not all about saying “YES”, but to make sure the client chooses the most optimal solution possible — even if it’s not with us.
