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Add You - Alignment for Growth & Profit
Referrals are important to most if not all businesses today. In a professional services business, such as business coaching, referrals are a major source of new clients. One of the strategic advantages of referrals is that they tend to be good quality prospects. And another strategic advantage is that they also tend to be relatively easy to convert into clients.Okay, so referrals are a major strategic method of gaining new clients.
But let’s say you are one of the 10% of companies who have achieved aligning their mission statement, marketing plan, product position, etc. You should be happy, right? Wrong! You have only done the easiest parts of alignment. What is the one thing that defeats all attempts to align an organization: corporate culture!! This is true even in small organizations but it is easier to change when there are fewer
Research studies can be intellectual, academic, difficult to understand, and sometimes even irrelevant to our specific application. But there are other studies that can be very insightful and help us understand how better to do our job. There is one such study that I would like to discuss in this month’s column. The information is so timely and connected to managing others that I think we all need to read and think about what the researchers
Alignment should be viewed as a long term process, which when done correctly, can yield incredible results. But first things first, you need a reason to consider taking on the task of aligning your company. The two reasons all owners and managers understand: growth and profit!
You must have certain building blocks in place to align your organization. Start by ensuring you have a mission statement. It must be concise and describe your overall mission. This means a one-sentence only description. Your mission statement is not a marketing plan, business plan, or statement of values.
The first alignment that must occur is ensuring the mission statement and any corporate positioning statements make sense together. That is, the corporate statement should not conflict in any way with the mission statement; it should expound on it. Secondly, your marketing position should also grow out of the mission statement and corporate position and not conflict with them.
It is amazing how few companies can even get to this point. Countless companies, large and small, do not even understand their product/service position in the marketplace. As a result, employees, suppliers, and customers are frustrated with the ‘mixed’ messages they receive daily. How can a company try to position itself as a provider of premium products/services when they are known as a low-price company or vice-versa? I see it every day even with Fortune 500 companies.
But let’s say you are one of the 10% of companies who have achieved aligning their mission statement, marketing plan, product position, etc. You should be happy, right? Wrong! You have only done the easiest parts of alignment. What is the one thing that defeats all attempts to align an organization: corporate culture!! This is true even in small organizations but it is easier to change when there are fewer
Considering one's career path could be one of the most stressful times in a persons life. This is of course a scary thought for most people who face their worst fears, they lost their jobs. For most of us, its compounded by dread of the thought of going on a job Interview again and convincing some employer how you are the best candidate for the job. I've heard horrible jokes in the corporate lunch rooms about not hiring a perfectly qualified
You must have certain building blocks in place to align your organization. Start by ensuring you have a mission statement. It must be concise and describe your overall mission. This means a one-sentence only description. Your mission statement is not a marketing plan, business plan, or statement of values.
The first alignment that must occur is ensuring the mission statement and any corporate positioning statements make sense together. That is, the corporate statement should not conflict in any way with the mission statement; it should expound on it. Secondly, your marketing position should also grow out of the mission statement and corporate position and not conflict with them.
It is amazing how few companies can even get to this point. Countless companies, large and small, do not even understand their product/service position in the marketplace. As a result, employees, suppliers, and customers are frustrated with the ‘mixed’ messages they receive daily. How can a company try to position itself as a provider of premium products/services when they are known as a low-price company or vice-versa? I see it every day even with Fortune 500 companies.
But let’s say you are one of the 10% of companies who have achieved aligning their mission statement, marketing plan, product position, etc. You should be happy, right? Wrong! You have only done the easiest parts of alignment. What is the one thing that defeats all attempts to align an organization: corporate culture!! This is true even in small organizations but it is easier to change when there are fewer
Today, companies and corporations seeking bright, young minds recruit many college students right out of school. The allure and prestige of a company combined with the fear of facing the "real world" can make college students jump at a chance to accept an opening.The problem that many students discover is that, after working for a year or two in the job they accepted out of college, the career or employment really isn't what they had i
The first alignment that must occur is ensuring the mission statement and any corporate positioning statements make sense together. That is, the corporate statement should not conflict in any way with the mission statement; it should expound on it. Secondly, your marketing position should also grow out of the mission statement and corporate position and not conflict with them.
It is amazing how few companies can even get to this point. Countless companies, large and small, do not even understand their product/service position in the marketplace. As a result, employees, suppliers, and customers are frustrated with the ‘mixed’ messages they receive daily. How can a company try to position itself as a provider of premium products/services when they are known as a low-price company or vice-versa? I see it every day even with Fortune 500 companies.
But let’s say you are one of the 10% of companies who have achieved aligning their mission statement, marketing plan, product position, etc. You should be happy, right? Wrong! You have only done the easiest parts of alignment. What is the one thing that defeats all attempts to align an organization: corporate culture!! This is true even in small organizations but it is easier to change when there are fewer
If you are an executive, you may sometimes feel like a open jelly sandwich at a picnic. Every crazy critter in the world wants to bite into your budget. Here's how to protect your time and preserve your sanity.Ask questionsMany salespeople work from a script. Rather than let them read it, interrupt with, "Excuse me." Then determine the purpose of the call by asking questions such as, "What are you selling?" or "Why are you c
It is amazing how few companies can even get to this point. Countless companies, large and small, do not even understand their product/service position in the marketplace. As a result, employees, suppliers, and customers are frustrated with the ‘mixed’ messages they receive daily. How can a company try to position itself as a provider of premium products/services when they are known as a low-price company or vice-versa? I see it every day even with Fortune 500 companies.
But let’s say you are one of the 10% of companies who have achieved aligning their mission statement, marketing plan, product position, etc. You should be happy, right? Wrong! You have only done the easiest parts of alignment. What is the one thing that defeats all attempts to align an organization: corporate culture!! This is true even in small organizations but it is easier to change when there are fewer
I had a discussion with Erik Lie about the experiences with Stock Options Backdating (SOBD) and the economic impact of his work. According to Erik, at least 15% of the stock options grants between 1996 to August, 2002,were backdated. Some were within 30 days of the grant date, others more egregious. The number of companies though he said that were going to come clean would be far less than 15%. Here is what we came up with.First the as
But let’s say you are one of the 10% of companies who have achieved aligning their mission statement, marketing plan, product position, etc. You should be happy, right? Wrong! You have only done the easiest parts of alignment. What is the one thing that defeats all attempts to align an organization: corporate culture!! This is true even in small organizations but it is easier to change when there are fewer people involved. There is nothing tougher to do than change an old, large organization with its bureaucracy, fiefdoms, and entrenched beliefs. Some would say it is impossible.
I am not sure it is impossible but it does require tremendous effort and usually some changes in the people. Some of them will not let go of their fiefdom, some will not let go of “the way we have always done it”, some will not let go of their beliefs and so on. If you want to truly align your organization then the company leadership must make the tough decisions even if it means replacing people.
What are the benefits of a ‘Total Alignment’? Organizations which have aligned their processes, mission statement, marketing, sales, corporate culture, etc. have outperformed their competitors and grown at phenomenal rates. Think this is smoke and mirrors? I lead 4 consecutive organizations in 4 separate industries to a minimum 300% and as much as 3,000%+ revenue and profit growth in the first 3 years I was with the organizations. Believe me, it works!
Remember, start with the mission statement and build from there. Make sure you know how your products/services are positioned in the marketplace. And, most importantly, ensure that you align your corporate culture to fit all the other aligned functions. You too can grow at 300% or more!
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