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Vietnamese Where will your company be this time next year? Will you be celebrating record profits or planning a bankruptcy strategy? The answer depends on what you do now to prepare for tomorrow. Business as usual doesn’t exist anymore. Our marketplace has changed from a multichannel environment to a maze of channels and platforms that distract buyers and stretch limited resources. Maintaining a presence on all of the relevant networks is impossible for small businesses and fiscally irresponsible for large ones.
The economic downturn combined with an influx of new opportunities to connect with customers is overwhelming to even the most seasoned marketing teams. When faced with so many choices and dangers, running seems to be the only answer. Some dart from platform to platform hoping to catch a viral wave that will rain a revenue stream. Others run away from everything new seeking comfort in the tried and true tactics that have delivered past successes. Both strategies are fear driven paths to failure. When everything is said and done, a divided house cannot stand and those rooted in the past will be left behind.
Change is hard. People naturally resist it until the pain of remaining in the status quo exceeds the fear of the unknown. Vision of a better tomorrow shared with the passion of a believer is the only way to move some from the comfort of days gone by. The team responsible for the future of the company has to share the vision. They don’t have to agree on the path, but the final outcome is dependent on their ability to see a better tomorrow.
Maybe the real question is where do you stand? Are you so rooted in the past that the future will pass you by? Or, are you waiting with an open mind, willing to walk through the door of opportunity and do the heavy lifting? The tactics that got your business where it is today won’t take it to the next level. Change like you’ve never seen before is required.
Positioning your company for growth requires a solid plan that encompasses every corporate function, department, and person. The business has to work like a well-oiled machine where every gear provides leverage to the one next to it. The process won’t be easy but nothing worth doing is ever easy. Here are some steps to get you started on moving your organization to the next level:
Assemble
Start with an open mind, blank paper, and the people you need to make it happen. It is helpful if you do this at another location but if that isn’t in the budget, clear your conference room of everything that reminds you of the status quo. List your corporate strengths and weaknesses and then do the same for your competitors.
Analyze
Dig deep into your customer file so you have the best possible understanding of their behavior, buying patterns, and preferences. Keeping customers active longer is the best thing you can do for your bottom line. It increases the return on acquisition costs exponentially.
Brainstorm
Where can you improve service and satisfaction without significantly increasing costs? What do you need to do to offset weaknesses? How can you be more accessible to your customers? What channels are you missing that can make a difference in your business? What customer needs are unfilled?
Eliminate
There are always more ideas and opportunities than there are resources. Select the best and prioritize them by commitment and return. This will help you choose when and what to do based on available resources and potential return.
Strategize
Effective action requires planning. The survival rate of companies managed by knee-jerk reactions and seat of the pants methodology is extremely low. Having a plan provides vision and direction. There may be detours and rerouting along the way, but mapping out the strategy is the best way to keep your business moving forward.
Implement
The best laid plans are worthless without implementation. Executing your strategy inspires confidence and provides feedback that can be leveraged into growth and profitability. Don’t finish the year with a list of things we could have done. Finish it with a compilation of “this worked, that didn’t”. This is the foundation that supports sustainable growth.
Revise
Perfection is impossible. The very best strategy will have components that don’t work. Continuously monitor the progress, eliminating the things that don’t work and expanding the ones that do. In the end, everything may be completely different from the plan but it will be tested and successful.
Celebrate
People need wins to remain motivated. If you are constantly pushing your team to move forward without celebrating the progress, they will burn out. You’ll be left with a failed strategy because it didn’t reward the people who make it happen. Celebrations must be inclusive, crossing departments and divisions. It is only when everything and everyone works together for the greater good that your company will reach its full potential.
Remember
Moving a company to the next level is a process. Trying to plan it in a few days won’t deliver the results you want. Give it time to gestate and expand in your mind so you and your team have full ownership of the process and results.
Source:MultichannelMagic
