Archive for the ‘Strategic Plan’ Category
Monday, May 14th, 2012
You embark down a strategic planning process, bring in a consultant and discuss the matter with your senior management team. Everyone comes to the same conclusion: your existing strategy will not work for the future. So you decide on a new strategy. It requires new core competencies, significant financial investment and possibly some leadership changes.
The strategic change scenario is pretty common. What is uncommon is a company’s success in implementing it. Unfortunately, the typical outcome is that change does not occur, and the company clings to its stale strategy.
Change requires commitment. Making a decision does not equal commitment to that decision. We all know that change is much easier to talk about than it is to execute. When a new strategy is introduced, the team seems to understand the reasons and is excited about a bold new future. Then reality kicks in. Inevitably, problems arise. Big problems. Little problems. Ultimately, when these problems occur, we are more willing to rethink the decision rather than address the problems.
As a strategic development coach, I have seen companies take years to come to consensus on a new strategy only to break their commitment a few months later.
The following are some of the common reasons why strategic change fails to occur:
- Overconfidence: Executive leadership overestimates their readiness to take the team forward.
- False consensus: Executive management fails to gain consensus among the leadership team. Everyone gives the nod and then maintains status quo.
- Shortsighted shortcuts: Relying inappropriately on “rules of thumb,” implicitly trusting the most readily available information, or anchoring too much on “facts” that support preconceived notions.
- Shooting from the hip: The plan to execute does not take into consideration all of the obstacles to success and/or all the necessary steps to achieve the desired outcomes.
- Poor communication: The mistaken belief that a group of smart people presented with exactly the same information will draw the same conclusions.
- Staffing: Inability to embrace and support new people, or lack of understanding of the behaviors, skills and values required of each position to take the company forward.
- Fooling yourself with feedback: Failing to interpret the evidence from outcomes for what it really says, either because you are protecting your ego or because you are tricked by hindsight.
The bottom line is that change is hard and requires focus, a detailed and disciplined process, people development, and mental toughness. However, the most important key to your change initiative is your commitment to your decision.
Howard Shore is a strategic development coach who works with companies that need leadership development and strategic business coaching. Based in Miami, Florida, Howard’s firm, Activate Group, Inc. provides strategic development coaching to businesses across the country. To learn more about coaching through AGI, please visit www.activategroupinc.com, contact Howard at (305) 722-7216 or email him.
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Tags:Activate Group Inc, change is hard, Change requires commitment, change requires focus, coaching, Executive Coach, financial investment, Howard Shore, leadership changes, making a decision, steps to achieve the desired outcomes, strategic change, strategic development coach, strategic planning process, why strategic change fails
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Monday, April 23rd, 2012
Whether you need to monitor your competitors, stay on top of industry trends, or keep tabs on your own online reputation, keeping up to date is easy if you know where and how to look. We live in a 24-hour news cycle world that changes at the speed of light. And while keeping up with the Kardashians is not essential to your business (or your life), keeping up with your competitors and industry is!
To stay competitive and smart you need to know about things as they happen—this is the way it is and it’s not going to change anytime soon. The good news is that even though the Internet is a place of information overload and unreliable sources, it also offers some great strategic planning and monitoring tools that are completely free and easy to access.
If you set up a feed reader (like Google Reader or Feed Demon) and add a few good RSS feeds, you can check in on industry news instantly once or twice a day just as easily as checking your email inbox.
If you have never used a feed reader or RSS feeds, it’s time you learned…seriously. Start with the simple step-by-step guide on RSS feeds and feed readers from CNET.
Some great places to grab RSS news feeds on your competitors, industry and yourself:
Alltop
This news aggregator site pulls in news and commentary, and sorts it by industry and keyword. Let’s say you are a leadership development coach (like me!) and want to keep tabs on the most influential blogs and news sources on the topic of leadership. You would go to their leadership news feed, copy the URL and add it to your feed reader. Then you will get up-to-date news on that topic right in your reader dashboard, without having to scour tons of websites and blogs.
Google News Alerts
Keep track of industry, brand and product news the moment it happens through Google—Yahoo also if you want to be extra diligent. Setting up a news alert is easy. Just go to Google News (from Google.com, click on “News” in the upper left) and do a search. Search for your company name, your competitors’ names, product/service or industry trade organization names. Once the search results page appears you can copy the URL into your feed reader or scroll to the bottom and click on “set up an alert” to have the results sent to your email inbox automatically daily, weekly or as it happens. Or you could click on “Add section to my Google News page” to add the news to your own custom Google homepage you create through your Google/Gmail account (this is a good alternative to setting up a feed reader).
LinkedIn Groups
There are tens of thousands of groups on LinkedIn, and if you haven’t joined any of them you are missing out. LinkedIn Groups can be one of the best sources for industry news, and the best part is there’s usually almost no “fluff” or useless banter going on in the groups. Most are closely monitored and moderated to make sure the info is useful and current and not overrun with SPAM! It takes a little time to find the best groups for your industry, and you may end up leaving a few after viewing some discussions—some groups might not be the right industry segment and some might be too focused on career networking. But once you find the three to five groups that are central to your industry, you can set your email preferences so you receive news and discussion updates daily or weekly.
It goes without saying that you should also subscribe to RSS feeds from industry and competitor websites and blogs.
Once you have the reader set up (it takes just a few minutes) and have your feeds loaded in, staying on top of essential business news and trends is as easy as scanning the headlines in your reader.
Howard Shore is a leadership development coach who works with companies that need leadership development and strategic business coaching. Based in Miami, Florida, Howard’s firm, Activate Group, Inc. provides strategic planning tools and management coaching to businesses across the country. To learn more about leadership development coaching through AGI, please visit www.activategroupinc.com, contact Howard at (305) 722-7216 or email him.
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Tags:Activate Group Inc, CNET, competitor websites and blogs, Feed Demon, good RSS feeds, Google News Alerts, Google Reader, Howard Shore, industry trends, keeping up with the Kardashians, keeping up with your competitors, leadership development coach, leadership news, LinkedIn Groups, monitor your competitor, South Florida Executive Coach, stay on top of industry trends, strategic planning tools, subscribe to RSS feeds, tens of thousands of groups on LinkedIn, Tools to Monitor Your Industry
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Thursday, April 19th, 2012
A few weeks ago, JD Power released its list of 2012 Customer Service Champions. I found it interesting that there were three airlines on the list. You don’t usually think of the airline industry as customer-focused. Yet three airline companies managed to impress JD Power with their fanatical attention to customer service—so much so that they made it onto this list of just 50 companies that are “champions” of service.
I am not surprised that the three companies are Southwest, Virgin America and JetBlue. These airlines have used customer service as differentiators for some time, each in their own unique way. Their customer service is finely honed and crafted especially for their core customer, which is why they all have such impressive brand loyalty.
The important thing to note is that great customer service is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. The customer service experience is drastically different between all three airlines, and that is by design. The loyal Southwest customer is drastically different from the loyal Virgin America customer. These customers expect different things and demand different experiences, and you could never interchange them. In all likelihood, a loyal Virgin customer would hate the experience of flying with Southwest.
Think like these customer service champions and design your customer service experience around the preferences and demands of your core customer.
Define Customer Service “Moments of Truths”
When I work with a company as a strategic planning consultant, one of the most important company functions we examine is customer service. When we evaluate their service processes, we identify their “Moments of Truths”. These are essentially their most crucial customer touch points—the times and places in their new business acquisition, servicing and retention processes that are so impactful to the customer that if they don’t get them all right, it could cost them that piece of business.
Every company and industry has three to five service “Moments of Truth.” How you touch your customer at these points defines your service experience. Let’s look at the restaurant industry as an example. Every restaurant must meet a certain standard in four key areas: Service, Price, Food Quality and Cleanliness. These are the four Moments of Truths for a 5-star restaurant or a fast food joint. However, how these two very different businesses deliver on these touch points is highly important for their core customers.
The 5-star restaurant customer expects extremely attentive and formal service, gourmet food and impeccable cleanliness, and for that they are willing to pay a premium price. The fast food customer still expects cleanliness, but service should be quick and casual at a low price. Both restaurants can be customer service superstars, but they must understand their core customers and design the service experience around them.
What are the Moments of Truth in your customer service experience? Define them and define the ways that you will use them to differentiate your company in the marketplace.
Howard Shore is a strategic planning consultant who works with companies that need customer service strategy and coaching. Based in Miami, Florida, Howard’s firm, Activate Group, Inc. provides strategic planning and management coaching to businesses across the country. To learn more about strategic planning consulting through AGI, please visit www.activategroupinc.com, contact Howard at (305) 722-7216 or email him.
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Tags:2012 Customer Service Champions, 5-star restaurant, Activate Group Inc, brand loyalty, Consultant in South Florida, Customer Service, Howard Shore, JetBlue, Moments of Truths, Southwest, strategic planning consultant, Virgin America
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Friday, April 13th, 2012
One of the most important strategic planning tools every company must have is a well-written business plan with a winning operational model. Well-constructed operational models answer nine key questions with a resounding ‘yes.’ Some small companies mistakenly think that only large companies need to address these operational questions. The companies that decide to put this off until they become bigger are among the 50 percent that fail within the first five years.
If you can’t answer these questions with a strong ‘yes’, your organization is probably under-performing in the areas of sales growth, customer service, employee satisfaction, innovation and profitability:
- Does your management team willingly participating in the annual planning processes?
- Does your organization regularly achieve all or most of the financial and non-financial goals in your plans?
- Does everyone in your organization know the plan goals and how they will contribute to them?
- Do the actions in your organization regularly resemble the plans?
- Do you receive regular input from all levels of the company and use it to develop your plans?
- Do you get regular input from your customers (not just complaints) and use it to develop your plans?
- Do you know what trends are going on in your industry? Who your competitors are, what your competitors are doing, and what your opportunities and threats are? (SWOT analysis)
- Have you identified specific market segments to focus on?
- Do you know what capabilities, management systems, people, and other resources you must have in place now and for the future, and by when?
If your answers to these questions are a definitive ‘yes’, you have a successful business plan. If not, you know exactly where to start improving your model and planning process.
Howard Shore is an executive leadership coach who works with companies that need leadership development and business management coaching. Based in Miami, Florida, Howard’s firm, Activate Group, Inc. provides strategic planning tools and management coaching to businesses across the country. To learn more about business strategy development through AGI, please visit www.activategroupinc.com, contact Howard at (305) 722-7216 or email him.
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Tags:Activate Group Inc, business management coaching, business model, Customer Service, employee satisfaction, Executive Coach, financial goals, Howard Shore, important strategic planning tools, improving your model, Miami, need leadership development, non-financial goals, operational questions, planning process, sales growth, South Florida Coach, strategic planning tools miami, successful business plan, Well-constructed operational models
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Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
Writing a business strategy can be daunting for anyone, even a seasoned business strategy consultant like yours truly. There are so many formats and so much information you could include, and you always end up questioning whether you’ve included too much or not enough. Admittedly, I have used multiple formats and metrics, and my style has evolved over the years, but today I can say there are six strategic planning communication “tools” that must be included in your plan.
1. Business Purpose. State the sole mission, or purpose of the company…in one word. I know, I know. This is a huge challenge, but it is an exercise that forces company leadership to get specific, visionary and inspired. It has amazing effects on the theme of the business strategy and unites the entire team behind one concept or idea. This one-word purpose will not change every year. Like the mission statement, it should only be revisited every 5 to 10 years, if it is written well.
2. One-sentence Strategy. What are you trying to achieve in the business right now, in one sentence? Like the “purpose” exercise, this exercise will help you get to the core of what your business aims to do, and communicate it in a concise and memorable way.
3. Brand Promise. What kind of relationship do you want to have with your customers? What problem do you want to solve for them? How will you make their lives better? This is what you want to describe in your brand promise, which will begin something like this: To be the best____ by _______. Or like this: To enhance our customers’ _______by _________.
4. Main Target Audience. Please don’t tell me “anyone is a customer”. Even if anyone could use your product it doesn’t mean they are the primary decision-makers. You need to identify one main target audience. You must do this in order to strategize which decision-maker pain points you will address, and how you will market and sell to them. In this regard, all audiences are certainly not created equal.
5. “Big Hairy Audacious Goal”. Business leadership is not for the faint of heart. It commands us to be bold and set our sights high for the future. What is the ultimate destination for your company? What does your Mount Everest summit look like? State it in a way that is inspiring—if Denzel Washington were describing it in the climax of a film, what would he say?
6. X Factor. What truly makes your product or service different? Be ruthlessly honest. What is the one thing you do that none of your competitors can claim?
When was the last time you revisited your business strategy? Does it include any of these tools?
Howard Shore is an executive leadership coach who works with companies that need leadership development and business management coaching. Based in Miami, Florida, Howard’s firm, Activate Group, Inc. provides strategic planning tools and management coaching to businesses across the country. To learn more about strategic planning and development through AGI, please visit www.activategroupinc.com, contact Howard at (305) 722-7216 or email him.
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Tags:Activate Group Inc, Brand Promise, Business Coach, business leadership, Business Strategy Tools, Coaching South Florida, communication tools, core of what your business aims to do, Executive Coach, executive leadership coach, Howard Shore, management coaching, mission statement, planning tools, purpose of the company, sole mission, strategic planning tools miami, target audience, Writing a business strategy
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Monday, March 26th, 2012
I have been a business owner and business management coach for a long time—since the times when there was no Internet. I have to say that being a business owner today is much easier than during the pre-Internet days.
The Internet has made entrepreneurship attainable for anyone by providing strategic planning tools and business information that previously could only be obtained from decades of mentorship and experience.
I’m always on the lookout for great business leader resources, so be sure to send me your favorites to add to my list. Here’s my list of favorites right now:
Entrepreneur.com: The magazine’s site is jam-packed with blogs, articles, videos and infographics that teach and inform on just about any business topic you can think of.
Harvard Business Review Online: I religiously read the research-driven articles on this site because they cover high-level topics and discussions that are revolutionary, thought-provoking topics you cannot find anywhere else.
StartUp Nation: This site is really geared toward the new business owner and has fantastic strategic tools, informative videos and a huge community of new entrepreneurs.
LinkedIn: This is the best social media platform for anyone looking to expand their professional network, but it is also a giant treasure trove of knowledge. Joining targeted groups and checking in on the group discussions as little as once a week might be the equivalent to sitting through hundreds of webinars.
American Express OPEN Forum: This is one of the biggest online libraries for business knowledge and advice out there. This site is always putting out great articles on how to handle the latest and greatest business trends and technology.
Dave Kurlan’s Blog: Being a business owner or business leader means having an expert-level of understanding of sales, and at bigger companies, sales development. There’s no one better than Dave Kurlan at tackling the issues of sales force development…I’m a little biased though; I’ve worked with him for years.
What are your favorite business-related sites and resources? Add them below!
Howard Shore is a business management coach who works with companies that need strategic planning and leadership development. Based in Miami, Florida, Howard’s firm, Activate Group, Inc. provides strategic planning tools and coaching to businesses across the country. To learn more about business development through AGI, please visit www.activategroupinc.com, contact Howard at (305) 722-7216 or email him.
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Tags:Activate Group Inc, American Express OPEN Forum, business leader, business management coach, Coaching in South Florida, community of new entrepreneurs, Dave Kurlan’s Blog, Entrepreneur.com, Entrepreneurship, Executive Coach, expert-level of understanding of sales, great business leader resources, greatest business trends, Harvard Business Review Online, Howard Shore, issues of sales force development, LinkedIn, New Business Owners, Sites for New Business Owners, StartUp Nation, strategic planning tools, technology trends
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Friday, March 23rd, 2012
At AGI, we provide strategic development services and sales force training and development—among other strategic business services. What may seem like two completely separate and somewhat disconnected services are actually highly synergistic. In the most successful companies, they work together, one feeding the other.
Everything grows from strategy—you should know this already. If you don’t, you need to understand this quickly: without an overall strategy for your company that includes defined goals and success metrics, you are only scratching the surface of your potential. And your sales team—your whole team—is operating without a clear vision of where they should be going and how they will know when they get there.
If I asked your sales team what the company brand promises are, or what makes your company different, or how you add value to your customers, would their answers match yours? Would there be consensus across your sales team? If not, why? Most likely your business doesn’t have a clear strategy. If it does have a strategy, you may not have translated this strategy to the sales mindset. And you really, really need to. If your team cannot explain why someone should buy from you over the competition it’s a sign that you lack a good strategy.
The sales function is the lifeblood of your company. If your strategy does not translate to a language that your salespeople can understand and implement, your lifeblood is severely anemic.
Here are some example strategic goals and how those goals could be translated into a sale development plan:
Strategic Goal :
Take 10% market share away from competitor
Sales Translation:
Develop guerilla sales campaign to sell away from competitor
Strategic Goal :
Launch new product/service into niche market
Sales Translation:
Create lead generation plan for niche
Strategic Goal :
Increase revenue by $1M by reengaging dormant clients
Sales Translation:
Assign dormant clients to sales reps and create “revive” plan
How have you tied your strategic plan back to your sales force plan? How do you know your salespeople are working towards the same goals?
Howard Shore is an executive leadership coach who works with companies that need strategic development services. Based in Miami, Florida, Howard’s firm, Activate Group, Inc. provides strategic planning and management coaching to businesses across the country. To learn more about sales force development through AGI, please visit www.activategroupinc.com, contact Howard at (305) 722-7216 or email him.
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Tags:a clear strategy, Activate Group Inc, Business strategy, Coaching in Florida, consultant, Executive Coach, Howard Shore, most successful companies, sale development plan, Sales, sales force development, sales force training, sales mindset, strategic development services, strategic goals, what makes your company differen, what the company brand promises are, your sales team
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Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
Dave Kurlan wrote an article a while back about 10 Rules for Building a Sales Culture —a highly recommended read from the best in sales force development. I’ve worked with him for years and he is always dead-on in his advice for building a company in which business development is the central pre-occupation. Frankly, this is the kind of culture every company should strive to become.
In addition to his golden rules of building a sales culture, I’d like to add what I believe are the 4 strategic planning tools necessary to build a sales culture.
1. Published Company Goals
The goals of the company should be published in more places than just the annual business plan. Specific and measurable goals should be provide for the sales team and each producer. Without hitting people over the head with it every day, company leadership should use any opportunity to remind people of the overall goals and highlight when anyone has done their part to contribute to these goals through an employee recognition program.
2. Position Profiles
We recommend detailed job descriptions for every position, which include key experience, skill sets and, most importantly, success metrics. Before a new employee is even made an offer, they should understand exactly how their new position impacts the bottom line and how they can contribute to it by meeting their individual goals. Having this clear blueprint for how they impact new business development will set them working in the right direction and contributing to sales—directly and indirectly.
3. Individual and Company Evaluations
A culture of sales is born from a culture that is obsessed with measurement and evaluation. Everyone from the top down should receive an evaluation, at least annually but quarterly is best. The company as a whole should be evaluated and the results published to all employees. When a goal or milestone is not met, everyone will be affected and want to work that much harder to hit the goal next time. Be careful to set realistic goals that are challenging but still attainable.
4. Focused Training and Development Programs
Reinforce the company goals by giving your people the tools they need to support the sales effort. Touching on subjects like how to ask for referrals, how to reconnect with “dormant” clients, and how to ensure customer satisfaction are great training topics that can help people think and act on supporting sales. In addition, each department or discipline should have a specialized training and development track that teaches how sales support translates to their work area.
Are you seeing sales support from all corners of your company? What is your biggest challenge in getting people on board with a sales culture?
Howard Shore is an executive leadership coach who works with companies that need sales force development and business management coaching. Based in Miami, Florida, Howard’s firm, Activate Group, Inc. provides strategic planning tools and coaching to businesses across the country. To learn more about sales force development through AGI, please visit www.activategroupinc.com, contact Howard at (305) 722-7216 or email him.
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Tags:10 Rules for Building a Sales Culture, Activate Group Inc, build a sales culture, building a company, Business Coach in Florida, Business Coaching in Florida, business management coaching, coaching to businesses across the country, company goals, culture of sales, Dave Kurlan, detailed job descriptions for every position, Executive Coach In Miami, Howard Shore, Miami, sales force development, strategic development services, strategic planning tools, strategic planning tools necessary to build a sales culture
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Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
Take our quick poll and tell us which of these five areas of your business strategy is the one you feel will have the biggest impact on your company’s success this year.
- Talent Acquisition and Retention
- Marketing/Communications
- Sales
- Technology
- New Products/Innovation
TAKE THE POLL
Howard Shore is a business growth expert who provides business strategy and consultation services. To learn more about how an executive coach, management consultant, leadership training, or business coach can help your team, please visit his website at www.activategroupinc.com or contact Howard Shore at (305) 722-7216 or email him.
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Tags:Activate Group Inc, business growth expert, Business strategy, Howard Shore, Poll, Strategy, What is the most important part of your business strategy?
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Friday, February 17th, 2012
Could your competition have a cost structure that gives their business strategy a competitive edge over you? If you are operating inefficiently the pricing you offer customers will reflect it. There are three main areas where inefficiency could be directly hampering your ability offer competitive pricing.
New technology. Are you still doing things manually that you could do more efficiently through technology? If not, you are passing the extra labor costs on to your clients. Your competitors know that and are capitalizing on it.
High labor costs. Are you using any proven systems to evaluate employee performance or are you allowing non-performers to keep their jobs for life? If you used a system like Topgrading you would ensure more “A” players on your team and would be able to get more done with fewer people. Leaner and meaner companies can charge less and compete on price.
Process Failure. Inefficient processes and communications systems coupled with redundancy, unnecessary meetings, ill-timed reviews, and other workflow issues significantly increase cost to each position. Usually this inefficiency is passed on to the client.
These three factors can easily add 40-50% to your overhead costs. Your competitors are paying close attention and address these issues. Then they go to market offering the same services at 40% less and create larger profits and market share.
Have you looked at your competitors’ pricing lately? Are you beating them? If not, it could be because they are beating you with a better business strategy.
Howard Shore is a business growth expert who provides business strategy and consultation services. To learn more about how an executive coach, management consultant, leadership training, or business coach can help your team with employee engagement, please visit his website at www.activategroupinc.com or contact Howard Shore at (305) 722-7216 or email him
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Tags:Activate Group Inc, Business strategy, coaching, communications systems, competitive edge over you, Competitors, competitors’ pricing, ensure more “A” players on your team, Executive Coach, extra labor costs, High labor costs, Howard Shore, New technology, Pricing Advantage, pricing you offer customers, Process Failure, Strategy, systems to evaluate employee performance, Topgrading
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