Executive Wisdom for Business

Branding in 60 seconds

Do you understand Branding and what it means for your firm?

Before you invest another dollar, here's what you need to do:

1. Develop a vision
2. Answer the question: "If not you, then who IS winning your potential clients?"
3. Define your target market
4. Establish your Fundamental Value Proposition
5. Package your points of differentiation
6. Set your marketing action-steps
7. Create uniformity of image

So, how's your brand working for your business?

Ric Willmot

The Single-Most Important Secret to Customer Service

The creator of the Unwritten Ground Rules (UGRs) concept, world-renowned speaker and author, Steve Simpson had a terrible experience last week, which provides us with a lesson on customer service.

No matter what your business, profession or product, this is worth the read: Inspiring Cultures Blog by Steve Simpson

What are you saying?

"I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant!"

Do you know what you are communicating to your clients?

Telephoning the Apple Support Centre this morning, an automated message declares: "Welcome to Apple. The Tech Support Department is closed."

The line immediately becomes disconnected.

Closed? For good? For today? For the next week? Is there a holiday I don't know about?

No, their department doesn't open until 9:00AM. But did the message say that? No, "The Tech Support Department is closed."

I converted to Mac in December 2007 and I couldn't be happier. And, nearly every interaction I have with Mac is superb. This interaction however, brings the realisation of how communication could possibly cost us business.

Take stock of your business and how your communications may be misinterpreted. What is your website saying about you? What messages do your invoices project? Is your communication inviting your clients to recommend and refer you? Is it encouraging them to give you their repeat business? Is it making them feel appreciated because they have entrusted you as their solution?

There would be absolutely no harm in you "secret shopping" your own firm and people to experience what your clients experience.

The meaning of communication is how it is received regardless of the sender's intention.

Ric Willmot

Innovating creativity so much it's boring

In the last few months, speaking at association conferences like the Australian Legal Practice Management Association, Institute of Chartered Accountants, CPA Australia and alike, I've noticed so many people presenting on creative thinking and innovation. There is so much of it, it's boring!

I agree that organisations will benefit through embracing innovation, but it is not a panacea that stands alone, encouraging and guaranteeing corporate success.

Advertising geniuses will tell you, "It's not creative unless it sells." You can have a firm full to the rafters of creative people, generating sensationally creative ideas and service offerings, but if no one wants it, if you can't sell those ideas and offerings you will go broke.

As your firm prepares to bring new, creative and innovative ideas, products or service offerings to the marketplace, answer these questions:

1. What are three reasons someone else would want your idea, product or service?
2. What does it promise your clients?
3. How might you make this idea, product or service offering more attractive to other people?

Accountants have successfully introduced financial planning into their service offerings and have made it now an industry norm. Their clients wanted that type of service, it promised to improve their wealth and financial standing, and it was attractive because it made so much sense to have the people who produced your income tax return to advise you on how to better utilise your money.

Innovation doesn't necessarily mean it has to be a concept that no one has ever used before. Being innovative in your firm could simply mean discovering something incredibly obvious and deploying it in a specific and personalised way throughout your organisation.

"Only the most foolish of mice would hide in a cat's ear," said designer Scott Love, "but only the wisest of cats would think to look there." Never be afraid to consider the obvious for your organisation. What are you overlooking in your legal practice? What are you not doing in your recruitment firm that you should be? What's the most obvious thing you can do?

What resources and solutions are staring you in the face that will instantly create a new (code for: innovative) idea, product or service offering that your clients will want because they can see the excellent return on investment for them?

Helping your clients improve while building your own business will never be boring!

Ric Willmot

Strategic Success by eliminating execution failures

Almost without reservation, businesses have had to face one of their most difficult times in modern history due to the Global Financial Crisis. And, politicians have never had it so easy to explain away inadequate performance.

Now is the time for organisations to be seriously setting their future strategy for 2010-2013. Already, I am working with clients doing exactly this. However, setting strategy is neglected by many business owners and CEOs because execution failures have given the process a negative stigma.

Through observation of many organisations around the world over many years, I have identified the most frequent and obvious reasons for failure. Avoid these 10 mistakes and you will be far more successful.

1) Where's your research? Don't laugh! Numerous times while consulting to organisations, when I ask for the most current research on their target markets, customers, competitors, suppliers and alike, I'm told that it's out of date or even worse, doesn't exist. Obtaining factual research for your planning is vital. To not get it, can be fatal.

2) Failing to challenge the data. Be certain to carefully question and debate the conclusions you draw from the data collected. Imperfect analysis will be just as harmful to your strategy as inaccurate data. Build your strategy on firm ground.

3) Not enlisting the best people. Leaders must second the best and most appropriate people for strategic projects and for strategy execution. Not infrequently, I've witnessed managers nominate names for a strategic project that were obviously inadequate. The reason being those managers don't want to take their best people out of the field or off the floor. Strategy is too important not to afford the best people.

4) Lacking Involvement. Strategy is always best served when created in consultation with the people who have to execute. Having the CEO/business owner in a closed room with the CFO or external accountant and maybe a consultant write a strategic plan and then disseminate this to the management team is destined for disappointment. Involve those that matter such as: sales, warehousing, distribution, HR, IT, accounts, and marketing in the process. There is an enormous depth of talent already residing in your organisation.

5) Too little for too many. Having too many initiatives on the board at any one time will dilute attention and the propensity for success. Move a few things forward a mile rather than a thousand things forward an inch. Prioritise your strategic projects. If there are not three "stand outs" to focus on, brainstorm some better ideas!

6) Resource-lack. All execution plans for strategic initiatives must necessarily include specific resource details. Resources such as: people, time, infrastructure, capital equipment and money. The resource details need to be explicit, encompass all relevant business units and the managers of those units must have buy-in prior to launch.

7) Mis-alignment. Get everyone personally behind the corporate objective. Having developed a purposeful pricing strategy for a new service or product offering is not assisted by sales people who are pitching discounts in the marketplace. This is not the fault of the sales team or their manager. I witness this happening because sales bonuses are paid without considering the consequences on the strategic initiative.

8) Mis-communication. Or even worse, no communication. It is no shock that people consistently explain how they admire leaders who share the vision and paint a picture for the future. Communicate with clarity, passion and sincerity the strategic initiatives to everyone, regularly. Side bar: bullet points in the company newsletter doesn't cut it!

9) Failure to check the instruments. Good pilots understand that even though they have submitted their flight plan, run the pre-flight checks, taken-off in the right direction and have engaged the auto-pilot, they must diligently check their instruments to ensure that the flight is proceeding as planned and are on course to reach their destination. Leaders in business need to constantly check and measure progress. Review the strategy monthly or quarterly with management and ensure that milestones are being met along the way.

10) Unwillingness for the 3 A's. Adopt - Adapt - Accept. Shift happens, change is constant and you must be agile in coping with this. Adopt a philosophic mentality where you cope with the reality that from time to time the best laid plans go awry. Uncontrollable events intervene in the successful achievement of your goals. Adapt to the environment and accept a new set of challenges by modifying your strategy. This goes for people as well. Many strategic projects don't live up to expectations even though they were superbly crafted. Management just failed to embrace the 3 A's.

And, here's my additional 10% bonus for you ...

11) Uncommitted leadership. When the owner/CEO places the bound strategic plan in the bookshelf, so does the team. Strategic initiatives must be passionately driven from the bridge by the captain in charge of the controls. You must be so convinced of the strategy that it is obvious to everyone you are committed to it and you will maintain persistent focus until it's successful.

If you want help establishing your strategies, contact us, we're here to help.