Marketing

Developing An Effective Game Plan
by "Coach Bud"

Fall means football to a lot of people. Whether it's Pee Wee, high school, college or NFL, football dominates the sports media. Many game plans are developed, some successful, some not. However, most coaches develop their game plan and stick to it. In developing their game plan coaches consider the strengths and weaknesses of their "team" and those of their opponents. One of my "heros", arguably the greatest football coach ever, is Vince Lombardi who coached the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. His success was founded in assembling outstanding talent who were "team players" and a fundamental game plan that required successful implementation. Basically, his philosophy was to have dedicated and talented personnel, a well-conceived game plan and an inspired winning attitude. Under Lombardi the Packers won 5 NFL Championships and Super Bowl I & II.

Okay, you see where I'm going with this. Does your business have a team of dedicated and talented members with a positive, winning attitude and a focused game plan? The greatest talent in the world cannot be successful without a focused game plan and successful implementation. Even Michael Jordan had to have teammates to throw him the ball. Most entrepreneurs run hard and fast everyday just to keep up with the fast-paced and ever- changing competitive marketplace.

In this month's column, we are going to explore the value in pausing and reflecting on the current status of your business, making necessary adjustments and developing an effective, written game plan that will substantially enhance your success.

When I work with a client to develop their game plan, we use the FasTrack Success Check Up: "Ten Fundamental Questions Every Successful Business Must Answer" (Business Leader, June 2001 or visit www.whereeaglesflock.com (articles) for a copy) as our guideline. When you "objectively"answer these questions for your business you will cover every facet of your business including your purpose, values, internal structure, best customer profile, customer service, marketing, sales, technology needs and measuring your success. As an entrepreneur, attention to detail is not usually one of your strongest traits. However, to achieve a desired success level, you have to step out of your natural habitat, plan your future and implement the plan.

Here are the elements that result in an effective plan:
The gathering of information - you will gain a dedicated commitment to the final plan if you actively solicit input from ALL the people in your company. Ask them, "What can we do to better serve our customers?" Keep in mind that your employees are your best customers. You will probably be amazed at the results. Most people are seeking job enrichment and when you value their input you create a motivated staff.

Survey current customers - ask your customers, "What can we do to better serve your needs?" (what a concept, huh?) . These responses will probably amaze you more. When you deliver superior customer service by focusing on their needs you differentiate from the masses and have a greater opportunity to attain one of the goals of marketing…retaining customers.

Use available resources - in today's information overload, you should never go wanting for resources to help you be more successful. Your peers, trade association, chamber of commerce, trade journals and the vast resources on the Internet are all available to you. The key is to glean the information appropriate to your specific needs. Yes, I know this is time consuming and you don't have a lot of time. It seems we do find time to do the things important to us. Is the success of your business important to you? Case closed.

Write a draft game plan - armed with all this information you are now ready to write the first "draft" of your game plan. Most people tend to over plan, but don't worry about that at this point. Address all of your identified challenges and opportunities with specific goals that are realistic. Support your goals with actions you are going to take to attain each goal. For example, "We will increase our revenues next year" is not a goal. "We will increase our revenues by 12% by the end of our calendar (or fiscal) year is a specific goal. A support of that goal could be, "We will hire an experienced New Business Development person to obtain 25 new customers. Cull the draft plan - once you have set you possible goals with actions to attain them, you go through and prioritize the most important ones that subjectively can be attained within the specified timeframe of you game plan.

Determine the appropriate timeframe - based on the nature of your business, determine if your plan should be for six months, one-year or longer. Implement - once you are convinced that your game plan is strategically correct, begin implementation. Assign the appropriate person (sales goals to sales manager, etc.) the responsibility for attaining that goal.

Periodic review - build a periodic review (monthly, quarterly) of your progress into your plan. Have the person responsible for attaining a goal within the review period report on the results. In summary, develop a well thought out game plan with specific goals; implement the plan; conduct a periodic review of progress and you will take giant steps on your "journey of success". May you achieve the success you earn.

"Coach Bud" shares 40+ years experience to help his clients Create, Develop and Grow a Successful Entrepreneurial Business. Please visit www.cogginsmarketing.com.

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