And what do you think about when you do your strategic planning?
The vast majority of entrepreneurs, when making their strategic planning, do not realize that what they are really deploying is the culture of the entire organization towards the Client.
If you think about growth without thinking about how to win the Client, you may be misguiding your intentions.
No one achieves his purposes in the market, thinking only of money. It is important to think that this is the consequence of the daily and different work that you do with the clients to assure them that you are with your product and brand the best option.
When a year is about to start for many companies, Strategic Planning is complete. Projections have already been made according to their sales history, macroeconomic variables, and all kinds of arguments that, after analyzing, have given them the magic number to pursue in the market.
But how do you know if this will come true? Who will be responsible for ensuring that this really happens? Have you taken seriously the opinion of customers regarding your brand, product, price and how it serves you ?.
Do you already have the DIFFERENTIATING strategies to make the Client stay with you and improve your market share or are you going to continue doing the same as always with him?
Before answering this, it is necessary to reflect on the following: The result of your Strategic planning will be the philosophy that prevails throughout your organization. If it is not perfectly focused, you will be shooting at the target without aiming and that puts you in a risk zone.
The projections made and the quantitative results achieved in the year are ultimately the consequence of what actually happens day by day in the service we provide to our clients. But putting the number is not everything if it is not accompanied by the strategies of the Highest Priority, because in the end it will be these that generate the Actions that will be part of the mystique of the organization and in this sense the entire philosophy of business in relation to the Client. So if you, as the Director or General Manager of your business, think only of the number, be it the volume of sales, monetary profitability, etc., and do not focus on what generates it, you may be wasting time in your Strategic Planning process..
I am not trying to say that I do not like profits, or that it is not important to set the number to exceed n the following year, no, not at all, what I mean is that if you really want to differentiate yourself in the market and in front of Your Clients must focus on those who serve you and in this sense prepare them to GIVE EVERYTHING in favor of those who make it possible for our company to remain firm in the market.
You can take your history as a reference of what you can achieve in the next exercise, but this does not necessarily happen if you do not include the customer variable and the improved service process in your projections!
What every leader must include in their Planning model are those differentiating actions that will have to be done to give our clients a level of service that no one will give. The actions that will have to be done to position our “Brand”, as the only one in the market where we participate.
To achieve an outstanding level of results in these times, you must be aware that the organization's two great muscles must be nurtured, and these are: Its people and its customers. Both are so important to subsist and it depends on the decisions of both parties to elevate their company or bring it closer to the void.
On the one hand, its people must be prepared to give the best of themselves to their Clients, obsessed to the core to carry out the best service exercise of their lives, in front of those who serve to capture their loyalty and I think that they must hold on to 4 concepts fundamental:
- Discipline: It means ensuring all parts of the process (from product design to delivery to the customer plus post-sale service) with the highest quality standards (or better the only ones, which no one achieves for the customer) and this is only achieved with an overflowing passion to serve those who purchase our products and services at the highest level, that is, to listen to the voice of the client in every corner of our company and to echo in satisfying it as no one else does. Strength: Staying doing the right thing is not easy, it requires mettle to overcome obstacles that arise along the way, such as resistance to change in some areas of the organization and above all to overcome the paradigms of Senior Management, since these are conflict zones where changes are easily aborted. Leadership: Without the engine for the change, you can hardly achieve much. If what you intend is to do for the Client what nobody else does, it is better to decide to unleash the potential of your people allowing them to put all their abilities and skills so that they can achieve the long-awaited differentiation in the market. You have to be willing to invest fully and you must consistently play the game of personal and professional growth with your people. It has to teach you to lead at all levels with the highest efficiency, but first you must also be an expert in the matter or you will not go far. And finally.. Innovation: A preconceived term for product and process design. It is not only about investing in Technology, but doing different things. However, for this to happen, it must be taken into account that people also need to reinvent themselves, that is, abandon old mental models and open up to new ideas and ways of acting in the face of change and in the market. I am convinced that Organizations change if People change and for this it is necessary to be willing to reinvent the profile of those who participate in the organization and not only in terms of their technical competences but at the personal level in attitude, commitment, spirit of service, love for what is done and for the client, overflowing passion for service to others, willingness to unite as a true team etc.
"If you want to be the best, you have to be willing to sacrifice yourself as no one else has."
"If you do not have the trust of your people, surely you will not have your customers."
Take advantage of the moment to clarify the direction of your business and to ensure that your entire team will help you live the vision in each area of the company.
The importance of vision
You now have the great responsibility to ensure that the focus and vision are put in place properly so that future results can occur. But, have you questioned whether people in the organization follow you? Or are they all or just a few? You need a complete Team that is willing to follow your purposes or it will not go very far.
Things get complicated because you have to delegate to others that great responsibility of transferring your dreams or this vision that we are talking about and then you will have to question whether your employees follow their leaders with their eyes closed. If this is not the case, you must urgently regain your confidence and take the actions that are necessary to ensure that your Management Level, and Middle Management do their work in the best way.
The vision gains significant power if we all work consistently to satisfy the Client and see it as the Highest Priority. But this priority will always be the same when it comes to meeting the growth needs of our people. As I have always said, "the size of our results is directly proportional to the size of our people" and their growth depends on all the leaders of the company. Our task is to enable them to decide, so that they can generate ideas and put them into practice, our task of Leading them correctly so that they know exactly the philosophy that we have for the Client in our business and train them to ensure that their skills and abilities are exercised by maximum day by day. Our people require our support and the opportunity for development,so we must help them by empowering them to make them feel that their lives in our company really are worthwhile.
Set high goals and prepare them to reach them, and done this, reward them for having completed a temporary mission and again prepare them to take another jump to make Clients never get bored of what we give them. Either you do it, or it will be done by someone who follows you closely or who has the advantage. It's your time as a leader, don't waste it.
Your company has to become a company in continuous learning again because change is becoming faster and more violent, so either you are ahead of it or you are left behind. I wish you on my part a 2014 challenger hoping to continue in your preference.
Final reflection
"When designing the vision, aim high, don't be afraid, but in doing so make sure you train to learn how to reinvent yourself and abandon any paradigm you have and even more those who led you to success in the past."
