All posts tagged strategy execution

It’s Not Too Late To Transform Your Business This Year

In my last post I highlighted 3 reasons why business owners don’t create the right strategy that can take their business to the next level.

Basically…

They can’t find the time;
They didn’t know how to create a strategy plan or
Because last year was good enough they didn’t see the point.

If you fall into the 1st group and you haven’t read my last post then please do, because I focused on the importance of setting aside the time and how to.

If you fall into the 3rd group then you should read my report, Why Most businesses Fail, and see why no matter how successful your business was last year, it could easily have gone the other way and why having the right strategy would in fact have made last year even more successful and this year even better.

In this post I want to briefly talk about the 2nd group of business owners – those who don’t really know how to create a strategy that can make this huge difference to their business.

If you fall into that group, I have some good news.

The first piece of good news is that if you are simply carrying on from where you left off last year and haven’t created a strategy that could transform your business this year and beyond, well it’s not too late. Continue reading →

March 8, 2017 Chris Briggs 0 Comments Strategic Thinking, Strategy business strategy, strategic planning, strategy, strategy execution, strategy plan

What are you doing?

Assuming your annual cycle began last week then ideally your ship has left the harbour it was docked at for the Christmas break and has now set off on its new 2012 course.

Your company is in the new Deliver phase of your strategic planning cycle and you and your teams are implementing the tactics that were set to achieve the objectives and milestones which were created to achieve the goals which were established at the end of last year to drive the company to where it needs to be at the end of 2012.

Not only have you made sure that everything is connected from your purpose through your vision and mission, and your goals and objectives to your tactics, but you have aligned everything to make sure they have the best chance of being achieved and producing the best return possible.

For example, one of your objectives may be to convert a specific number of new prospects in a particular market sector. Your sales tactics will include visiting these new prospects to convert.

Sales will struggle to do this if the right prospects haven’t been identified and the right messages and solutions put together by marketing. So, marketing are working on the tasks to identify these prospects, understand their needs and match the best solution to meet them.

Marketing will also need to create the compelling marketing messages which will attract these prospects. That way there will be a higher probability that their sales colleagues will be able to make the visit, address any questions and objections and eventually convert the prospect to a buyer.

Peter Drucker once said something like, “The purpose of marketing is to make sales superfluous.” Marketing should at least aim to present sales with a warm, receptive customer and ideally one that craves what you are selling.

For sales to have the best possible chance to achieve their objective they may need training if the solution or benefits are new. This should be an objective of say HR and have been scheduled in advance to minimise disruption.

And we haven’t touched on engineering or support being aligned to provide and support this new solution.

Every new idea, every new goal, new objective will disrupt the status quo and so everything that needs to be done needs to be planned and the stages connected both hierarchically, between objectives and tactics, but also across the tactics themselves. If they aren’t then actions will be less effective or be lost, milestones missed and time and money wasted getting the business back on course.

Even if you run a business of one, the principles are the same.

We haven’t looked at the systems and processes that are involved and the impact on them in achieving this objective so I’ll cover this next time.

Have you connected the dots from your vision to your tactics so that everything is aligned to hit your milestones and achieve your targets?

January 11, 2012 Chris Briggs 2 Comments Business Strategy, connect the dots, Control and Certainty, Deliver Phase, Planning, Processes, Strategic Leadership, Strategic Planning certainty, control, goals, leadership, planning, strategy execution, time management

Try something new

Yesterday I did something new in my business…I created a video. Now this may not sound particularly exciting but, from a personal perspective, when you do something you’ve not done before, and it goes well, the feeling is tremendous.

It’s like when you were a kid and you rode your bike for the first time without stabilsers, or your first kiss or passing your driving test or your first trip on a plane. These things are done every day by thousands but it doesn’t take away the buzz you feel when it happens to you.

I can’t say that this gave me the same buzz as riding my bike or my first kiss, but it still left me with a smile on my face for the rest of the day and a feeling that I’ve achieved something that I was very uncomfortable with. I feel far more confident and will now do more and get better at them….watch this space. (And thank you to Dexter Moscow, who, apart from having the best name ever, gave me invaluable guidance.)

When was the last time you and your team did something different in your business? If you use the same tactics and initiatives for finding prospects, engaging with customers and marketing your products and services then why not get together or take yourself away be creative and come up with something new.

Don’t change your strategy plan without a good reason but there is more than one way to achieve an objective, so get creative. Do something a bit different, try it, test it and, who knows, it might return better results than your old method.

Have you done something different recently? Share them and inspire others.

Image:tomleininger.net

August 17, 2011 Chris Briggs 0 Comments Strategic Leadership, Strategic Planning, Think Phase change, leadership, strategy execution

Quarterly reviews…last word

If, like most companies you’re at the half-way point in the year, you’ll be checking your progress against your business plan.

This month I have been focused on how to have effective quarterly review meetings in both this blog and my email messages because these up-and-coming quarterly review meetings will be particularly important. This is your last real opportunity to adapt your strategy plan and make any significant course corrections.

As you prepare for your quarterly review meetings I’d like to make a suggestion. I’d like you to think about how to make this and future quarterly reviews as mutually benficial as possible.

This aim might sound a little obvious but from my past experience, and in speaking with others, the vast majority of meetings tend to benefit the reviewer rather than the reviewee. (Just to be clear, the ‘reviewer’ is the one seeking the data such as a the silicon vendor and the ‘reviewee’ the one collating and presenting it, such as a distributor.)

As the reviewer who gains more from the meetings, speak to the other party prior to the meeting and outline why you need the information. Explain that it isn’t just a data mining exercise and outline how the findings from the meetings will also benfit the reviewee.

For example, explain that if a particular product isn’t selling well, then with the reviewee’s feedback as to the the challenges they’re experiencing, the reviewer’s company will discuss the problems and either improve the product, or the sales training or marketing messages or whatever else is needed, to help the reviewee meet future targets.

As the reviewee, if there are topics you wish to raise then explain why and get them on the agenda prior to the meeting.

Great leaders negotiate for mutually beneficial results and both sides need to be responsible for ensuring that these meetings achieve just that.

Enter the meeting knowing why you’re all there and the mutual gains to be had. Work as valued partners on the same level and adopt the attitude that these are vital meetings that are worth every minute spent on them and which will help keep both companies on course.

What do you think will help quarterly reviews be the productive, mutually beneficial meetings they should be?

June 30, 2011 Chris Briggs 2 Comments Deliver Phase, Processes, Review, Review Phase, Strategic Leadership, Strategic Planning Adapt and learn, control, goals, leadership, planning, strategy execution

“Strategic planning? Why?”

A friend of mine when at a networking meeting last week ended up in a discussion about strategic planning. The other person’s opinion was that strategic plans are fine for corporate giants but for small businesses it’s essentially overkill. Creating the plan will take time, will somehow slow it down and restrict it. In other words, having a strategy plan would somehow stifle creativity and shackle the company to the path that it started out on.

Of course my first reaction was poppy-cock (or words to that effect) and then I started wondering how many small businesses thought along these lines. How many small businesses try to grow their business without an integrated strategic plan to make that vision a reality? How many don’t even have a vision to base a plan on? And how many think a strategy plan is the same as a business plan or is a part of marketing?

Do you have a strategic planning system and a coherent strategy plan at the heart of your business? If you don’t and it’s because you think you don’t need one, then download my free report, Why Most Businesses Fail and see why it’s vital that you do have one.

Growing a business is an exciting road to be on, never a dull moment, but it can often be a long, hard and sometimes lonely road. I also know there are occasions when you think maybe you should get a 9-to-5 so you can relax more in the evenings and at weekends and just switch-off. So, when help is offered, check it out, it could be just what you need.

If you’re still not sure or need help to create the right strategy plan for your business then do contact me and let’s discuss your concerns.

June 10, 2011 Chris Briggs 0 Comments Business health check, Business Strategy, Control and Certainty, Review, Risk Analysis, Strategic Planning control, health check tool, strategic plannig, strategic planning health check tool, strategy execution, tool