By being knowledgable, ethical and providing quality performance, you should be able to establish good, professional and trusted relationships with most prospects and customers, and, in the end, this should lead to better sales and better associations with those we respect. How do your customer view your business?
How can we get better action plans?
What preliminary work can be done to speed things up in the planning process?
This column is intended to answer common questions related to strategic planning and strategy in general. In each issue we will answer questions posed by seminar attendees, our clients and our readers. Please send your questions to - simplifiedstrategicplanning@cssp.com Mail: CSSP, Inc. 2219 Packard Road, Suite 13, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Systems Thinking in Strategic Planning
One of the most useful tools for good strategy analysis is systems thinking. Some people think this means you have to treat your business like a computer program, but really it's simply a way to think through all of the connections that affect your business and how it both operates and competes in the marketplace.
Challenging Old Paradigms and Achieving Success
That won't work! We've tried that before! The idea is then rejected without consideration. Yes, sometimes you should learn from history, but what if something has changed and history no longer reflects the potential of this idea?
Succession Planning in a Family Business
Good friends of mine were the fourth and fifth generation of their family in a very successful business. I interviewed one of the fourth generation some years ago about how they went about doing succession planning for their company. These are the "rules" that they had literally written out many years ago which governed their approach to the involvement of the next generation in the family business.
As you may know from Simplified Strategic Planning, strategy is the course or direction of an enterprise. In business, this revolves around three basic questions:
Strategic Alignment: Why Isn't Everyone on the Same Page?
Communicating strategy and gaining buy-in enables an organization to truly execute the strategic plan. As President of a financial services firm, I communicated regularly but was stymied by the lack of understanding and buy-in of the strategic plan. What could I do differently?
Why Do Your Customers Buy From Your Company?
Many companies have a stable, often diversified, list of B2B customers who repeatedly do business with them. Their strategies are focused on satisfying the needs and preferences of those core companies. They often take particular care in their strategic planning to be sure they satisfy their repeat customers.
Estimates are, simply put, numerical assumptions. In strategic planning, we must deal with a variety of estimates. Some of these estimates are partially under our control (such as our sales number for the coming year) and some of them are completely out of our control (such as the growth rate in the domestic economy).
How do you keep good employees? Hint: It may not be what you think.
A CEO was perplexed by recent attrition in his customer service area. What was causing this outflow of talent? Pay was at or above the norm for positions in this area, yet several of his key employees had left. Has this happened to you? Are you concerned that some of your key talent might leave as the economy picks up and there are more opportunities out there?
Is an Executive Coach Worth the Time and Cost?
As a C-level Executive, life in the office can be a lonely experience. Each executive has few peers, and each of their peers has different responsibilities, different skills, different work atmospheres and different personalities. While each C-level executive shares some of the same inputs and motivations, each one has his or her own challenges and opportunities.
Customer preference is the currency that most of us in business seek. But what do we know about customer preferences - and how can we manage them, strategically?
Your new product makes the "nifty fifty" list of innovative new product introductions; you envision your picture on the cover of Fortune magazine; and then....you end up in legal battles and with little money. Here are some lessons learned from one company as it tried to capitalize on its innovative new product.
A Two-Day Interactive Seminar Specifically for Executives of Independent Companies and Subsidiaries of Larger Companies Who Want to Achieve Better Results Faster
Company Presidents and CEOs attend free of charge when accompanied by one or more additional paid attendees.
Poor strategic planning is worse than no strategic planning. It can be a big waste of time and money. Even worse, it can lead to disaster. Avoid all this with Simplified Strategic Planning - a proven process to focus for superior performance without straining your resources.
Whether you've been doing strategic planning for years or starting from scratch, you can acquire a streamlined process for developing and implementing your strategy. In just two days, you will have learned this time-tested methodology, which has produced outstanding results for thousands of companies from a wide variety of business types.
Visit www.CSSP.com for complete resources for all your strategic planning needs.
Use the links below:
Frequently asked questions about strategic planning
Strategies for Turbulent Times
Acquisition Strategy Planning Workshop
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Our best-selling book, Simplified Strategic Planning - for Busy People Who Want Results Fast!
Simplified Strategic Planning in Action
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Success in today's business environment requires that a company's leaders have the ability to create a vision of the organization's future direction as well as the course it needs to get there.
While various business improvement techniques such as Total Quality Management and Re-engineering are often extremely beneficial to the ongoing progress of a business, correct Strategic Focus remains the single most important element in a company's success.
Since 1981, Center for Simplified Strategic Planning has provided client companies with the strategic planning tools and leadership required to obtain superior strategy results.
We understand the challenges typically faced by our clients in installing systems and practices necessary to support growth, while maintaining day to day operations.
Call today for more information! 1-734-995-3465
Robert Bradford, CEO
Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc.
2219 Packard Road, #13
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-665-2971
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Center for Simplified Strategic Planning | 2219 Packard - Suite 13 | Ann Arbor | MI | 48104