EFFETTI

Strategy <=> Tactics...

How do you think about the connection between strategy and tactics in your organization, is it effective ?

Often strategy and tactics are misaligned. Let's say that the businesses' market strategy is "Customer Intimacy". But operations is training staff be efficient, get the job done, only tell customers what they "need to know" and don't "waste" too much time talking to clients. After all, time is money, right ! ?

Wrong !...

These misaligned strategies and the tactics that support the operations strategy don't produce customer intimacy.

One of the best ways that I have found to think about the strategy / tactics connection is to think about interconnected layers:

Strategy
   Tactics
Strategy
   Tactics...

In each layer the tactics support the strategy AND the next layer's strategy and tactics support the layer above.

Just like Google…

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Extrapoloation is a killer business strategy. No kidding.

The silly illustration above clearly demonstrates how "off" we can get when we extrapolate, but what happens in an entrepreneur's mind that makes it an acceptable practice to extrapolate any one, or more of the critical business strategies that they are relying on to grow a successful business ?

I’ve had hundreds, if not thousands of entrepreneurs tell me that they are going to execute a go to market strategy “just like _____ ” did. Insert Google, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Groupon or any of a myriad of other success stories we see in the media in the blank.

But guess what, such strategies are bankrupt for most entrepreneurs who fall in love with these notions. Why ?

Because your entrepreneurial endeavor is simply NOT Google, nor is it any of the other highly publicized darlings that have become the strategic gold standard.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a nugget you can use here and there. You just need to apply some critical thinking to your situation. The following might get you started:

First, when you look at strategies that have worked in other businesses you have to look past the success to “why” the strategy succeeded.

Demographics, Finance, Technology and Policy are the keys areas where an entrepreneur must make important assessments about how, when and why to apply extrapolated strategies to their unique situation.

Let’s take finance as an example. Most entrepreneurial ventures are under funded, which has a direct relationship on the businesses' ability to effectively go to market. Many of the gold standards pointed to were funded, which makes a BIG difference in the way a business can create large scale market awareness. 

Others forget that low margin models like Walmart have lowered operational costs in strategic ways AND enjoy the benefit of multiple item purchases in a single visit. If you have one offer and think you are going to make a low gross margin offer and make it up in volume you are literally killing your chances of success.

Policy, as another example, can refer to government policy, or it can relate to the business policies that your desired audience has adopted. Either way you have to look at whether, or not the policies are in line with your offer. In other words, do those policies make it easier, or harder to sell your product or service ? If you need policy to change for your offer to be accepted this is never good and generally points to very long sales cycles.

Demographics and Technology must be thought about in similar ways, but I won't go into that today unless I get comments in that direction.

Halo Effect...

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Is there an opportunity to create a Halo Effect in your business ?

The halo effect can be a very effective strategy or increasing sales and growing your business.

The basic idea is to attach a lesser identity to a much bigger identity in hopes that some of the bigger identity's popularity rubs off in the form of higher sales.

For example Australian wine maker Warburn Estate just released four new wines branded to feature the band AC/DC. Perhaps, you remember; Highway to Hell, You Shook Me All Night Long, Hells Bells, or Back in Black ? Well these rock classics are now paired with wine.

Now getting AC/DC to co-brand a product or service in your business might be beyond your budget, but that doesn't mean that there aren't opportunities to leverage such an effective strategy. Be careful though, as seemingly with everything, there can be pitfalls if your strategy, or implementation plan is poorly laid out.

Rock On !...

 

Strategic Alignment...

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What is strategic alignment within a business ?

In the context that I'm using these words it relates to the top level strategies that are connected to the marketing continuum and revenue generation. Business, Market, Brand and Communication. These strategies need to be connected and aligned just like a human's spinal cord.

Sometimes it is clear that strategies are misaligned, or, in fact, that one strategy is too prominent in, or completely missing from the day to day actions of finding and attracting the business' desired audience.

How can you tell if you have it ?

Each day you have:

( 1 ) Increasing numbers of people that are newly "aware" of your offer. ( 2 ) Of those people, and the remainder of people that are already aware of your offer, some number of people choose to show "interest" in your offer. ( 3 ) Some subset of your total interested pool choose a "trial sale" of your product or service. And finally, ( 4 ) some subset of your trial sale pool choose to become repeat customers.

This is the outline of the marketing continuum. Awareness, Interest, Trial Sale, Repeat Sale.

If you have strategic alignment you have effective growth. Now there are many other things in play, finance for instance, and an acceptable gross margin. I don't mean, and you certainly shouldn't leave such things out, but for this post I won't cover them today.

What should you do if this isn't happening ?

First, check your offer. Is your product, or service compelling ? "Selling ice cubes to Eskimos" is a cliche, but it is real. Sometimes product / service offers are nice to have, but not need to have. In today's market those are the businesses that are failing, or the product lines that are being discontinued.

Second, check that your internal audience and external audience are not getting confusing and mixed messages.

Assuming you don't have either of these problems, here is what to do next:

Revisit your business strategy ~ is it simple and can you articulate it between floors on an elevator ride. If not fix it.

Refine your market strategy ~ who is the desired audience you are after ? Broad answers are a sure sign of a problem. Get specific. Create some profile sets that include specific demographic and psychographic detail. Men ( or women ) under the age of 35 is NOT a profile it is only a small subset of the information you need.

Refine your brand strategy ~ how does the business walk and talk and look and feel ? You wouldn't go to a professional networking event in a clown suit ~ unless you were hired to, or it was a clown convention ~ so don't make this same mistake with your business identity and voice.

Refine your communication strategy ~ where is you desired audience hanging out ? Ads at the local bus stop alone won't help if your audience is primarily online.

I'm using broad, quick examples to get you started. This doesn't have to be a hard, difficult process and it doesn't take along time. Lastly, these things need to be continually monitored and tweaked to ensure that you are at the top of your game and that your desired audience has you top of mind.