The Building Blocks to Success
By Stephen Rhodes

Strategy, tactics, focus and the right people are the building blocks for any business. Together they are part of an integrated approach to growing profitability and brand equity.

I have talked in this space before about the value of strategy. A longer-term view - 3 to 5 years - is vital to business success. Equally important are the incremental steps required to deliver on the long-term goals and objectives.

Tactical planning at the field level recognizes market variances and helps guide your business within the strategic plan. The strategic goals may not change but the often the tactics have to be refined because of factors in the marketplace. Marketing Plans identify specific tactics and help guide the business on an annual basis, reflecting changes, external influences and emerging opportunities. One of your competitors may retire and you might want to respond to that unexpected opportunity.

Focus is something businesses forget about mostly because they are afraid to leave money on the table. Market intelligence is critical to finding your place in the universe. Understanding the marketplace you are in, your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and how your business is different helps you position for success. Simple market intelligence might start with your employees and your customers. Once they know you value their opinions and are prepared to listen, you will be surprised by the results.

Your unique selling proposition, point of differentiation, positioning statement, whatever you want to call it, will help you focus your business around a strength that is unique to the marketplace and one that your competitors can’t match. Be brave. Be good at something…or better yet, be the best at something.

Jeff Bowman talks this month about the value employees bring to an organization. They need to be part of the strategic plan development and annual marketing plans. They are the foot soldiers, often closest to your customer and can, if invited, be a tremendous resource in planning. Creating a team approach to business growth has other obvious benefits. Employees are more likely motivated when they feel part of the team.

Once you have all this stuff figured out – that is a strategic plan, with incremental marketing tactics focused around a unique product or service supported by motivated employees who are engaged and involved - the rest is simple. Develop strong messages - that builds your brand, capitalize on your success and advance your long term goals and objectives - and deliver it to your primary customer target with superior marketing collateral that creates strong brand recognition around you unique product or service offering. But that’s a whole other column.

Does your business have a business or corporate “culture”?

Studies have proven time and again that successful businesses today all incorporate a system of beliefs, or values and norms that all employees embrace.

The culture starts at the bottom where organizational goals and objectives determine the kinds of actions and processes that are required to change, maintain and sustain the identity of the organization. Yes, I did say it starts at the bottom with organizational goals.

Typically, businesses tend to put the goals at the top and plan on how to reach them. Smart organizations recognize that the goals are simply the basis to strategically implement a process or “culture” that encompasses the strengths of each person, in each position in a way that makes the organization innovative and responsible to needs external and internal.

This is where “ATTITUDE” comes in. The most precious resource that any company has is its employees. Employees who are encouraged and rewarded to be creative and innovative are happier and more productive than those that are guided and bound by a formal job description that encourages individuality or an “us against them” mentality. This is often the case in companies where there exists a constant struggle between departments, for instance, between sales and credit collection or inside versus outside sales.

Companies are best served when the employees have the skills and competencies required to succeed and are committed to the success.

Training is an integral part of building the skills sets required in employees in all positions. Workshops on creativity to encourage innovation (lest we not forget that changes in productivity are derived from only two sources, product or process innovation. Some companies choose technology, others look to new ideas from their own employees) result in new ideas, products, methods of production, cost savings and so much more that can drive positive change in an organization. Team building workshops improve communication and promote interdepartmental cooperation. Leadership training for managers reinforces the concepts of empowerment, positive thinking, stress management, delegation and decision making skills, which are critical in establishing corporate culture.
Even the sales team requires a strategic planning process and sales training, often overlooked by upper management, who feel that they “hire experience” in a sales position.

Corporate culture depends on committed employees. Commitment requires some “ATTITUDE”. Compare it to a manufacturing plant where the machines are the capital. These machines require constant maintenance, replacement and highly skilled operators. Your employees are no different; they require an environment that promotes motivation, training and development from the organization in order to produce at maximum efficiency.