|
|
|
|
StrategicPlanning360.com - Strategic Planning Information At Your Fingertips... |
|
|
 |
|
If You Don't Focus, Innovate and Evolve, You Die
After 128 years of business, a household word, Montgomery Wards, Inc., closed their doors forever and filed bankruptcy. With 258 stores and 28,000 employees in 30 states, Wards fell victim to competition from service-driven retailers like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Circuit City. Wards claimed a "poor retail environment" for the failure. Interestingly, Wal-Mart and Home Depot didn't shut down. (Editorial sarcasm). Wards is a perfect example of a company that thought it was in the retail business and missed the fact they're in the service business. Perhaps they rested on their laurels. After all, 128 years in business is rather noteworthy in today's ever evolving economy. And clearly, size nor name recognition saved this organization from distinction. The 28,000 employees will soon be looking for work. Why? Because the organization missed the mark. They remained retailers when the competition had evolved to a more personal, service oriented approach. And I'm willing to bet that most of the employees are "stunned," "surprised," "confused". They thought the old way of doing business was just "fine". Perhaps this can be a wake up call for every business. What exactly does your business do? The quick answer is generally, "we make, manufacture, service the best darn 'Gismos' in the universe". The focus is on the "stuff". The focus needs to be on the outcome. Sure you might "make, manufacture, service the best darn Gismos in the universe" but if the end result isn't happy, satisfied customers who enthusiastically spend more of their money with you while telling friends, family and associates, you're destined for short term success, at best. Remember, Wards was in the "retail business". Now their inventory is being liquidated at 40% to 50% savings. A further wake up call might be on the horizon. If the U.S. economy moves toward a slow down, customers are going to be harder to find and still harder to keep. Following years of rapid growth, stunning sales with record profits, most organizations have felt little need to focus on customer retention, customer satisfaction, keeping customers, customer loyalty, customer service, customers for life or any of the current "service" mantras. In fact, talk to just about any executive and they'll tell you their organization is "committed" to customer loyalty. Give them a few more minutes and they're likely to brag about the level of service their organization is currently providing. And just look at the numbers-they must be doing something right. But just wait. The companies that spent the time to build and grow a powerful workforce with a focus on excellence and service will be light years ahead of the game as competition increases. In other words - "Good times can camouflage poor performance". So what's this mean to you and me? First, FOCUS, Re-Focus and continue to RE-Focus. What is your company in business to do? What role does your department play in the process? How can each player move performance to the next level? Keep answering and re-answering these core questions. Second, EVALUATE, Re-Evaluate and continue to RE-Evaluate. Take a hard look at the service offered by your company, your department, your team from the customers' eyes. Be on the lookout for opportunities to take performance to the next level. Evaluate opportunities to enhance performance internally with your important Trapeze Buddies - the people you count on most often to complete a task, function or provide you with information so you can get your job done. And never assume that "no news is good news". Your customers are talking - it just might not be to you. Third, INNOVATE, Re-Innovate and continue RE-Innovating. Buggy whips sold well in their day but if you're in the buggy whip business today, you're short on customers. Innovation is essential for continued, long-term growth. Look for innovation opportunities in the following areas: 1. Enhancing your core product or service; 2. Saving customers time or money; 3. Reducing customer's headaches and hassles; 4. Helping your customers gain a competitive advantage. The rules of the game keep changing but one universal truth is this: the job of every business is to attract and keep satisfied customers. Period. 2005 © Mark Rosenberger All rights reserved. Mark Rosenberger, CSP helps companies transform employee performance, productivity and sanity. He is a sought after speaker, performance strategist and author of six books. Do you count on certain people to make your life work? Discover how to be caught more and dropped less, plus achieve more than you ever thought possible - download the FREE Trapeze Buddy e-book at http://www.NoSplatZone.com
 Strategic Planning News for Monday, Feb 6, 2012...
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Your Business: Will It Have A Happy Ending? "Begin with the end in mind," says Stephen Covey in his book Seven Habits of Successful Living. Those who have created a successful business know it does not happen without planning, hard work, and a little luck. Yet most have no plans for leaving their business, ever. SWOT Analysis If you've ever listened to Warren Buffett talk about investing, you've heard him mention the idea of a company's moat. The moat is a simple way of describing a company's competitive advantage. A strong competitive advantage, or a wide moat, gives a company sustainability, which, as investors, we're highly interested in. If You Don't Focus, Innovate and Evolve, You Die After 128 years of business, a household word, Montgomery Wards, Inc., closed their doors forever and filed bankruptcy. Resilience I. INTRODUCTION Rules to Setting Business Goals and Objectives: Why and How to be SMART We all know that nothing runs without a plan, and a plan cannot run without having its objectives set. During the election we heard about Ohio's Economy Much of what we heard in the mass media about Ohio and the down and out economy was the fiction of spin-doctors of politics who wanted to oust the current sitting President. On further review and first hand observation and experience Cincinnati has people moving in and economic expansion. It is in a good spot with decent quality of life, plenty of jobs and an expanding set of suburbs. Just cross the river into KY and you get a glimpse of the reality. In Business Planning, Competition is Good When developing the competition section of your business plan, companies must define competition correctly, select the appropriate competitors to analyze, and explain its competitive advantages. The Top Ten Rules of Effective Networking Many of us are discouraged by the networking events that we go to. We feel swamped by people just looking to get money from us, and we rarely feel as though the event was worth our time. Don't Just Talk About the Weather, Use It to Advantage A well known, national chain of restaurants discovered that certain weather patterns substantially impacts their business. They have studied it and found that more people go out to eat dinner when there is a series of beautiful days. So they measure the weather quality at their stores across the country. Managers report the weather quality daily. A weather predicting system is then employed to determine the quality of subsequent days. When the model predicts a higher customer count they reduce or eliminate sale items and include higher priced or higher margin specials on the changing daily menu. While they can't control the weather, they know that their customers respond to it. Knowing that, they work to take advantage of factors that can predict changes in business activity. Family and Friends Referrals Make the Best Franchisees As a franchisor it is imperative that you seek, find and recruit the best franchisees to maintain a strong franchise system. Your current Franchisees are your very best sales people, sometimes without even knowing it. As a franchisee starts making more money, it will show. Soon they will be moving out of their apartment or home into a nicer area. They will be driving a nicer car. They will be frequenting nicer eating establishments. Art of Succession Planning Succession planning, like any business acumen, is both an art and a science. That is to say, there are many proven strategies that can and must be followed so that successful transition can occur. Describing Intellectual Property in Your Business Plan Most companies that are worthy of raising venture capital have proprietary Intellectual Property (IP). In fact, the quality of the IP and the management team are often the two most important aspects of a venture capitalist's investment decision. The challenge that many ventures face, however, is that most investors will not sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and NDAs are critical to maintaining the proprietary nature of the IP. This article details the appropriate strategy for addressing proprietary IP in your business plan in order to attract investor attention while retaining the confidentiality of your inventions. Getting Started with Succession Planning: Part I GETTING STARTED WITH SUCCESSION PLANNING: PART I 3 Ps of Planning - Prepare, Personalize, Pilot Here's a really simple way to make sure your plans always produce the results you expect. Call in the SWOT Team: Produce More Opportunities to Expand Your Business Have you ever done a SWOT analysis? No, it's not some dangerous military maneuver. It's actually a fun and incredibly helpful business development exercise that will give your company focused direction and great marketing ideas -- whether your business is brand new or has been around for years. This SWOT exercise will show you where your business is flourishing and where it needs to grow to gain clients and produce more sales. I recommend getting someone else (such as a friend, family member, or trusted business advisor) to brainstorm with you. You'll be determining your strengths and weaknesses, which are *internal* influences on your company. These factors are under your control. Opportunities and threats are *external* influences, things you cannot control, but you can respond to. After you read a short description of each of the four categories, take time to list as many of yours as possible. Top Reasons To Form A Strategic Business Alliance A strategic alliance is when two or more businesses join together for a set period of time. The businesses, usually, are not in direct competition, but have similar products or services that are directed toward the same target audience. Below are ten reasons to create a strategic alliance. 2 Simple Steps Before Starting Your Business There is so much small business information available today that it's easy to be bogged down by the sheer volume of it all. Where does one start? Well, it's safe to say not all the information you'll receive will be of equal value. So it's important to be discerning when you're thinking about applying any suggestions to your new business. In many cases, you'll find some suggestions don't match your business type, management style, budget, or industry. This could lead to wasted dollars spent and time lost. So learning how to research and compile information will be key in developing a plan that is tailored to fit your business needs. Completing the Annual Planning Process Imagine an office without a desk, or lights, a computer, or even something as simple as a chair. When the architects and designers started planning a building or office space they knew they would have to make concessions for these items during each of the building activities. As marketers, we take part in many activities, much like a builder or designer does. The Power of Strategic Thinking: Creating Meaningful Success Too much goal setting and strategic planning can leave you feeling like you're working against the forces of nature; too little and you end up where you never intended to be-with a life or business that is bigger, smaller, or different than what you genuinely desire. Though getting you and your organization where you most want them to be at any given time can be hard work it can also be exhilarating. Is there a better way? Is it possible to minimize the stress and maximize the exhilaration while still accomplishing those things that are most important to you? 19 Questions to Supercharge Your Business Plan Whether you are seeking capital for your company or are optimizing your business strategy, the most important element - particularly for outside investors - may be your written business plan. You can tune-up and supercharge your plan using this 19-step checklist. When your written plan firmly answers yes to each of these 19 questions, your market/product strategy is in terrific shape plus you increase the odds of attracting investment capital.
|
Copyright © 2005 - 2012 StrategicPlanning360.com. All rights reserved. Legal Info Site Map |
 |
